"I recently stayed at Sentido Bellevue Park in Port El Kantaoui and unfortunately I do not feel this hotel deserves its advertised 5 star rating at all.
The overall condition of the hotel is very tired and quite dilapidated in many areas. There are chipped and peeling surfaces on furniture, poorly finished walls and repairs, exposed wiring around fixtures, damaged fittings, loose sockets, rust marks, cracked sealant in the bathroom, dirty air vents around the doors, and general signs of neglect throughout the property. Even the dining areas had dusty decorative plants right next to tables where guests were eating, which did not give a clean or luxury impression whatsoever.
The room and public areas looked like they desperately need refurbishment and proper maintenance. For a hotel marketed as luxury, the standard of upkeep was genuinely disappointing.
The patio doors in the room were also loose, so whenever it became breezy outside they would constantly rattle during the night, which became extremely annoying when trying to sleep.
The mattresses were also very uncomfortable. Both myself and my friend regularly woke up most mornings with stiff necks and sore backs, which is not what you expect from a hotel claiming to be 5 star.
The cleaners came into the room daily, however it became obvious that bedding was not being properly changed regularly and housekeeping mainly seemed to do only the very basics rather than a proper clean. For a supposed 5 star hotel, the cleanliness standards simply were not there.
The dining area was also concerning at times from a hygiene perspective. Birds were regularly flying around inside the restaurant area and there were a noticeable amount of flies around the food. A lot of the food was also left uncovered and open, which only made the issue with flies feel even more concerning.
The food itself was another major let down. It is definitely not 5 star quality and there was very little aimed towards British guests. Most of the food seemed to cater mainly towards Tunisian, French, and German tastes. Choices became repetitive very quickly, and the drink selection was also extremely poor with limited variety.
One of the most uncomfortable parts of the stay was the atmosphere in the restaurant. Some of the waiters were openly giving dirty looks and appeared to be talking about guests amongst themselves. Service also noticeably changed depending on tipping. If you tipped heavily, staff were attentive, but if you didn’t, you were practically ignored the following night.
I do want to mention that the waiter working outside was consistently lovely throughout the stay. He was polite, welcoming, hardworking, and never once treated guests differently depending on tips, which made him stand out positively compared to some of the other staff members.
The animation team, or “the cavalry” as I ended up calling them, were also a mixed experience. Every time they arrived to perform their dances, they would play what sounded like a cavalry trumpet call before appearing, which became unintentionally hilarious after a while. However, outside of the scheduled dances and performances, there was actually very little interaction with guests around the pool area.
One member of the team in particular really stood out though, a dark skinned African guy with beautiful long braided hair and a genuinely fantastic personality. He actually made the effort to properly interact with guests, make people laugh, encourage participation, and even offered to help people make TikToks and videos. He brought real energy and friendliness to the atmosphere, and honestly felt like the only member of the animation team consistently making a genuine effort with guests.
Another frustrating part of the experience was the constant pressure from some of the shopkeepers inside the hotel. No matter how many times you politely said you were not interested in buying anything, they continued bothering you daily every time you walked past.
The same issue applied to many of the taxi drivers waiting outside the hotel entrance. They seemed to linger around waiting to approach tourists constantly, and if you mentioned using the Indrive app to book taxis at proper local prices, some would become annoyed and argumentative because they clearly did not like losing overpriced fares.
Ironically, the taxi drivers I actually used through the Indrive app were very friendly, respectful, and not trying to rip tourists off, which made the contrast even more noticeable.
There was also very little nightlife or evening entertainment within the hotel complex itself. Outside of the resort there was not much nearby either, as the hotel is situated quite a distance away from most local bars and nightlife, meaning evenings often became very repetitive and quiet unless you travelled elsewhere.
There are some nice aspects to the hotel visually from a distance, but once you actually look closely at the condition and standards, it falls far short of what you would expect from a genuine 5 star resort.
Overall, this hotel has potential, but in its current state it feels more like an ageing 3 star property pretending to be luxury. We would not return."
