My wife and I stayed at the Marhaba Palace hotel in Port El Kantaoui for one week from May 18th to 25th 2008. I had read before going about the queues to get through passport control at Monastir airport and sure enough it was absolute chaos. In fact there were no orderly queues as such, just a large room full of people and a

First impression on arrival was wow it looks so good, bus pulls up and a swarm of porters rush for your bags short delay as we fill in our forms then off to room 616 not a sea view but view of town and countryside magical.

Room big and airy plenty of wardrobe space, TV, fridge, shower and separate netty(toilet) air con and a built in radio that did not work.

Reception was very light and full of marble, money change place not open I'm my opinion long enough I think 0900 till noon and 1700 till 2000hrs.

Three bars good service prices not too much dearer than resort.

Food excellent, service good.

Right on beach and the cleaner was brilliant room cleaned every day she was an angel.

should have gone to skanes but due to refurbishment we were asked to choose another hotel we paid an extra

Marhaba Palace
Port El Kantaoui
Tunisia
Alan Thomas
December 2007
Being an wheelchair user, I was very cautious about the accessibility of the hotel.
Even though the ramps, in Tunisia, are STEEP (some times there is NO

Having just returned from our holiday, I felt it important to let others know how our stay went. The hotel is generally very clean, although our friends and I were eaten alive and are convinced that there was something in the carpets. We had ants in our room, the room smelt very musty.
I thought the food was very good with plenty of choice for most people, although you had to keep asking and asking before you were given tea or coffee in the morning, except on our last day they couldn't do enough for you they were after tips.
If you wanted a cover for the sun bed around the pool you had to pay 2dinar each (5 people for 14 days adds

Just returned,our second visit to this hotel,and wasnt disappointed.Excellent choices in food,lots of salads,three meats and one fish,pasta,roasted potatoes,and always chips,and fresh vegetables,although the first week I found the meat quite tough,we filled in a questionaire after a couple of days and I stated this,and it definetly improved,lots of desserts to die for and always a choice of four icecreams.Breakfast is served in a different dining room,nice and light,but can get quite busy,chefs making you fresh omlettes,fried eggs and pancakes,along with the choice of cereals,coissants,fried potatoes,doughnuts,and lots more,staff bring you pots of coffee or tea and hot milk nice change from queuing up at a coffee machine.Bedroom was larger than most hotels we have stayed in,kept very clean,and the cleaner would arrange the bedspread in the shape of a fan and leave a few sweets on the bed for us,she always liked to talk and always smiling.We had a room overlooking the front of the hotel,always had the sun,so left our room nice and warm,very little or no sun on sea view rooms.The outdoor pool is beautiful,sun beds are free but if you want mattresses they will cost 2dinars each.Sun beds are free on the beach,not very comfortable,the man will put your beds wherever you want,most people give him a tip,which payed off for us when it rained,we had left our towels on when we when to lunch,I thought they would be soaked,but he had folded them up and put a small table on top of them under a brolley,they also had water sports,Jet ski,banana boat,parasailing,very cheap I thought,

When we arrived at our hotel it was about 8pm, due to the length of time it took to check in at reception we missed our evening meal and no one really seemed that bothered - not a great start. Our room on arrival was musty and looked like it had not been dusted for quite some time, the hairdryer didn't work and it took three days of constant requests before a new one was brought to the room. The food at breakfast and evening meal was good, plenty of choice. We were a bit miffed that as a 4 star hotel you are charged extra to have a sunbed mat and to have use of the gym/sauna. The evening entertainment was very limited, we tended to have our evening meal, go for a few drinks in the lounge bar or the Irish Pub across the road and then to our room - not a hotel excitement in an evening! The staff were friendly enough but as in some other reviews they seemed a lot more helpful on your last day of holiday - tips!! We would go back to the Marhaba Palace but not in a hurry. Its ok if you just want a few days to chill out and relax with a book but there is very little in the way of entertainment and the weather when we were there was not that great so it seemed to make it a very very long week!

The hotel cleanliness was very good, the reception are was emaculate and the rooms were kept to a good standard. We thought the food was quite poor and for a 4* rating it was very disapointing! The hotel location was ideal, only a short walk into the Marina where all the main shops are situated. The staff on the whole were very friendly and helpful, but we did have trouble with some of the reception staff who were very unhelpful to say the least, especially when it came to exchanging money. Also during our first week, we found that our maid was steeling from guests, we had all our baby's equipment stolen and we had to buy more supplies from the local Pharmacy, also the lady in the next room had money stolen and another resident of floor 6 had a gold bracelet stolen. We reported this to the Thomson rep and also the Manager, but little was done, no compensation was paid, but we did receive a fruit bowl as a gesture! The hotel will only change travellers cheques etc at certain times during the day, which most guest found very inconvenient, especially if you have just arrived and have no local currency. I think the hotel entertainment was non existant, at least if there was entertainment, we didn't see it! However, if you are situated at the front of the hotel as we were, the Irish Pub over the road will keep you entertained with loud music until the wee early hours of the morning! After all that happened to us in this hotel, there willbe no chance of us returning. We also think this hotel should be downgraded to a 3* rather than a 4*!

Just returned from two weeks at the Marhaba Palace, and we were very happy with our choice of hotel.

The hotel has 7 floors, and the location is excellent - only 5 minutes walk from the Port/Marina and town square of el Kantaoui.

We didn't book a seaview room, but we had a room overlooking the main entrance of the hotel, which also featured a golf course, and some lovely gardens, so we didn't feel we missed out on a view.

Our room was on the 6th floor, and was clean and spacious enough, with a bathroom and seperate WC. The room also had a mini fridge, which was very handy for keeping drinks cold for us, and prevent chocolate from melting for our 3 year old son. The room had satelitte TV - among the german/french channels were BBC Prime, and an english speaking movie channel. The room was air conditioned, and there was maid service every day, including sundays.

To the rear of the hotel is a large Pool, and small childrens pool, where we spent most of our mornings. There is a poolside bar, and a path leads right onto the beach, where there is a small snackbar/cafe. This snackbar stayed open late if you fancied a drink watching the sun go down.

Inside the hotel, was the main bar, and a number of restaurants, but we only used the breakfast room and the dinner room (men need to wear long trousers for evening dinner - I was sent back to change out if shorts on the first night!!). The food choices at both breakfast and evening dinner were very good, and there has to be something for everyone - even our son, who is a very fussy/picky eater!

The staff, and in particular the waiters are all very friendly, and loved our 3 year old - they made him feel very special, and made us feel very welcome - and nothing seemed to much trouble. Yes, they are after a tip, but they also seem to respond well if you show appreciation to them.

Overall, we thought the hotel was very good - but the only thing that really let it down, was a lack of entertainment for children, and a lack of any real evening entertainment for anyone! The main bar either featured a small resident band basically playing 'lounge music' or an instrumental pianist laying background music, but that was the extent of any activities. During our two weeks, there was only one show - a 'Fakir Show' which featured a man who lay on beds of nails, had swords pushed into him, and the like, and ate fire. I was one of the 'lucky' participants on stage!!!

As a result of the lack of evening entertainment, we found oursleves spending quite a few nights at the 'Puca Irish Pub' which is over the road from the hotel, at the neighbouring Hotel Kanta. This is a very good pub, which has live resident band, Karaoke (ok - thats pretty naff), and a solo singer. But it just had a better atmosphere.

Also, some of the decore was a little 'tired', and in need of redecoration - some of which was going on when we were there, but nothing to disrupt any guests, so dont panic!

The main percentage of the guests during our two weeks seemed to be british, though there were some german, french and arabic guests also.

Overall, we would recommend the Marhaba Palace, and would go back - buit hopefully they will improve the evening entertainment, and cater more for children.

Hotel was great except for poor bedroom furniture + air con, though air con in main area was great.

Pool area was large with enough space for everyone, had to be up early to beat the Brits grabing all the beds underneath brollies-plenty of beds without brollies.

Waiters are ok, but made it obvious they wanted a tip on last day but service was that good you didn't mind. Room was cleaned every day, our lady saw it was my birthday and left me a lovely present, the Tunisians are a lovely, friendly people and can not wait too go back to Marhaba Palace.