We booked this as a last minute holiday. it was a two hour journey from Monastir airport to Le Zenith. We were impressed by the reception area and quality of the hotel. we arived at about 10.30pm and asked if we could get something to eat. we were directed to the restaurant and were disappointed with what met us. To be fair there was not much left as nearly everyone had finished eating but it did not fill us with much hope for what we would get to eat for the remainder of the holiday.
the room was basic (no free toiletries!! which you would normally get in the local holiday inn) but clean. the shower was very basic and there was a smell of drains from the toilet which was intermittent. we had a sea view with balcony which was nice however, there was not much room on it what with the table and two chairs. it was difficult to open the door without holding the chairs up in the air! The towels seemed to have a musty/stale smell to them.
the next morning we were pleasantly surprised by the selection at breakfast. There was a chef frying eggs and gritts to order and continental breakfast. After a short time we noticed the large number of flys which were landing on all the food which was uncovered. Also the staff's uniforms looked grubby. As you can imagine this was very off putting. it reminded us of a late saturday night at the local kebab house! We would suggest not going all inclusive. Half board is enought. we had to make sure we were careful not to take any food from the top of the trays and get it from the bottom. All of the desserts were very pleasing to the eye, however, not to the stomach i would guess! There were some rather unusual dishes like cauliflower and carrots in batter.
There is not a large selection of alchohol which is included in the a/i. There is white, red and rose - as advised by our rep " a drop of lemonade mixed with it works wonders!"
The meats were uncooked. e.g. there was a chef cooking burgers which were raw in the middle. There is also a chef that cooks pasta to order. this was what we mainly lived on for the week, along with french bread and chips! there were a nice selection of salads, but again, the flys were the problem.
between meals you get snacks from the pool bar. these consisted of spam sandwiches, chips and pizza. One evening there was icecream on offer, but it tasted horrible.
The pools and the hotel generally seemed clean. however, we were constantly swatting flys whilst trying to sunbathe. We could not understand what was attracting them.
As english we felt in the minority to the germans and french. I would advise any potential guests to take a french phrase book. it would be helpful.
The gym was non existent. the equipment was out dated and should carry a health warning. the mini golf was a let down and looked like a gravel pit. The volley ball was ok.
The beach was nice but had a lot of seaweed. the quality of the chairs was poor compared to other hotels. also, you had to pay for the cushions on them. there was absolutely no watersports equipment to use at the beach, contrary to what we were told by our travel agent.
There is not much to do in the evenings at the hotel. We went to the Mariner in Hammamet Yasmine, it cost approx £4 in a taxi. we went there three evenings as we did not like the look of the food on those days.
We booked a trip called Arabian Nights through out rep. this wasa good night. however again, the food was below standard. i.e. soup tha had abasolutely no taste. it was simply orange hot water. The drinks were unlimited but was good and the performers were very good. e were seated with two other english coupls and it was nice to hear an english accent for a change. we also had a camel ride.
on Friday morning we went to Nabeul market, this was not what it was hyped up to be. There was some nice pieces of jewellery, however, you have to be able to barter. I bought three bracelets and the initial price was 200 dinars, in the end i paid 40 dinars. you should aim to pay 20% of their original asking price. There is a lot of counterfeit clothing and bags. there a some nice leather items, however, i found a lot of them had a strange smell.
We found most people working in the hotel and all the taxi drivers to be very friendly.
When we got to the airport and were leaving, we found all of the staff to be extremely rude and got the impression, the people we had found to be friendly were probably only so because we were giving them our money!!
All in all, we were glad we experienced Tunizia and got the stamp in our passports, but thats about it!! The HOT weather was the best part!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
No way!
I recommend this hotel for:
Great pool scene
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young Singles, An Amazing Honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older Travellers, pet owners, Families with Small Children, Families with Teenagers, tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Beach / Sun