Iberostar Sahara Beach Hotel

starve. The entertain was ok in the day time around the poolside if you like that sort of thing but the evening was more kids not much for the adults.

you have booked see for yourself, but you will be wasting your money.

can see so you know that it is fresh, its amazing. the waiters are really nice and smiling all the time. most people on their leave give them a little tip because they are so nice, and they are very very grateful for this.
Well, the location is just okay, you would have to get a taxi into monastir or anywhere else because it is too far to walk. but you can walk to the go karting place which is about a 2-5 minute walk but its worth the walk...
the staff behind reception are willing to talk to you for any reason what so ever, the men at the front door waiting for your arrival or departure will try and carry your bags or suitcases, and like most people like this, they would expect a tip, so if you dont want to give them a tip, carry your own! or tell them no.
the entertainment couldnt get any better, the daytime entertainment is awesome and they do stuff for people of all ages. most animation team members can speak about 2-6 languages which i find awesome. they also do shows at the night time, these are brill and well thought out. the animation team work so so hard to make your holiday enjoyable and to the best of its ability.
also, the lifeguards have to be mentioned, they are such nice people its untrue. professional about what they are doing, but will have a laugh with you too. people push them in the pool, and if you do, watch out, they will be watching for you at the edge of the pool haha.
the beach, well what can i say, clean, warm and just basically fantastic.
overall, everything, in my eyes was amazing, from the cleaners to the beach... strongly strongly recommend it, especially for those people who have a personality and sence of humour. amazing. get booking people.

No annoying wristbands here just a plastic card with your photograph which you flash at the bar/snack bar, and there\'s an independent trader in the hotel who sells neck straps for a couple of pounds each so the kids can carry theirs around their necks safely (there is a 15TD charge for replacement cards). The porters then showed us to our rooms and hung about for the obligatory tip. Give them a quid each and their happy. I found them all to be a real friendly bunch, quite often stopping for a chat on the way through reception.

ROOMS AND CLEANLINESS

The rooms are compact and basic but they have everything you need for your holiday. After all, how long do you spend in your room anyway apart from sleeping. As for cleanliness, well the Sahara Beach isn\'t brand new and neither are most of the furnishings. There are signs of wear and tear and the odd repair but our rooms were spotlessly clean. I became convinced that Salim, our cleaner lived outside in the corridor. He greeted us every day and had learned all our names on the first day. Every time we came back to the room there were interesting sculptures made from towels/clothes on the beds. Some of them were so nice it was a shame to move them to go to bed.

PUBLIC AREAS/POOLS

The reception area is very much like the rooms. Old furnishings but scrupulously cleaned and maintained. We got up for an excurion one morning at 05:45 one morning and there was a cleaner mopping the floor even then. Reception is nominally a no smoking area with smokers asked to go to the Asfar Bar to enjoy a cigarette but there were some ignorant people who would light up where they pleased. To be fair to the reception staff they were usually politely asked to smoke elsewhere. Off reception there is the Skanes Lounge where the entertainment takes place at this time of year (in peak season it,s outside in a purpose buit area) and another large room with a big TV where, some days, they screened UK football matches - OK if that\'s your bag but not for me.
To the right of the reception desk is the hotels exchange facility in it\'s own room along with the safety deposit boxes (42TD per fortnight). Because we filled the form in on the first day we didn\'t need our passports to change cash just a room number and name. On the other side of reception (round the back)are some little booths with computers for those who want to connect to the web. It costs 10TD for an hours connection time. It\'s a good facility but to accomodate this they\'ve moved the phones into the main thoroughfare off reception where it can be pretty noisy. Phoning home, however, is very cheap so it\'s not worth using your mobile even if it does work.
The gardens and pools are one of this hotel\'s star attractions. The large, more conventional pool is where the games take place and is the noisiest/busiest. Over from this is an even bigger freeform pool with a waterfall tunnel and a kiddies section separated by a bridge. Over again and on a higher level is the round relaxation pool with a gentle jacuzzi section on one side. We wanted quiet so we spent most our time up here but there something to suit all tastes. There\'s also a heated indoor pool for the less adventurous. The gardens are very pretty and the paths are regularly cleaned but on one back path there were signs that the peacock/hens had been there. This was gone the next day.
Last time we stayed here there was a zoo but it\'s pretty run down now and the paths are covered in duck poo so it\'s probably best to avoid that unless your desperate to see ostriches, especially if you\'re wearing flip flops.
When you go to the pool , at this time of year at least, you can always find a sunbed. If you want a particular spot get up at 7ish and put your towels down. We are early risers so this wasn\'t a problem. The matress guy will bring you your matresses and want a tip. We\'ve stayed in other places in Tunisia- this is normal. He was carrying 6 matresses for us and sweating for his tip so I didn\'t begrudge it. If your too tight to tip a low paid mattress attendant 50p a day then stick to Benidorm and pay for the sunbeds over there. Some mornings we came back from breakfast to find our matresses in place, under our towels, without even asking and not knowing who had put them there. That\'s what regular tipping gets you in Tunisia.
The other main public area is the beach. Again this is nicely naintained with the sand raked over regularly and litter/cigarette ends removed although you can guarentee that as soon as the cleaner moved on that someone will make a mess. The beach is the only place where you are likely to be bothered by hawkers and then only on the shoreline and at the edges because the hotel security guy will chase them off. We had one who had sneaked into the pool area one day and were quite impressed by his turn of speed when hotel security spotted him.

ENTERTAINMENT

This isn\'t one of the Sahara Beaches strongpoints. The animation team seemed a little impersonal and unenthusiastic. We don\'t always go for jumping about around the pool but we weren\'t even asked if we\'ed like to join in. Younger children seemed to enjoy it though and the daytime kiddies club appeared to be very popular and well run. There\'s also an amusement arcade which is pretty run down(it has the same machines as 5 years ago) and really sucks money out of kids\' pockets. I\'m sure the guy who runs it must drive a Mercedes.
As for the evening entertainment, quite frankly I\'ve seen it all before and done 10 times better. Bad enough that the obligatory kids show is repeated every night and goes on forever (Great if you\'re under 6) but you have to sit through a lotto type raffle with some of the most awful prizes that you wouldn\'t want to waste your baggage allowance on. All this crammed into a sweaty room with a couple of hundred other people and with pillars down the room so most of the audience get to see half the stage at best. This is something that the Sahara Beach really needs to think about for the future. Most nights we were royally entertained in the\"Piano Bar\". You can sit outside in a little enclosure formed by the buildings and listen to the resident singer. He was bloody awful! He was so bad he had us in hysterics most nights. If you visit and he\'s still there ask him to sing \"Sex Bomb\" - you wont regret it.

RESTAURANTS/FOOD

If you want to eat you have to traverse what one of our friends dubbed \"ambush alley\" You\'ll be pestered to buy this or that or go on camel rides or trips to carpet shops. If you\'re nervous walk in a group and look straight ahead and ignore them. The shops in the hotel are a rip off. Go to Sahline, Monastir or Sousse to buy your gifts and save yourself some money.
The food is excellent. I\'ve eaten at 4 star and 5 star hotels in Tunisia and the food at the Sahara Beach is the best I\'ve come accross. I\'ve got an intolerance to dairy products and even I had a choice of dishes at lunch and dinner every day. It\'s all very well cooked and the staff are extremely helpful - nothing is too much trouble. There is a range of dishes available. There\'s always a couple of traditional Tunisian dishes on as well as classical French food, evening meal carvery, make your own pizza counter, kids menu counter, very fresh salads, soups and fresh bread and olives by the cartload. You can even get chicken and (really nice) chips most days if it suits you. If you can\'t find something to eat here then you should have stayed at home. There were no flies on the food because of the ultra violet fly zappers hung inside the square island type service areas and the restaurant was even cleaner than the rest of the hotel. You get your own table and waiter for your entire stay. Again you give him a tip after the meal - it\'s the way it\'s done in Tunisia - and he looks after you.
If you don\'t fancy tearing yourself away from the pool to go for lunch there are a couple of snack bars around the grounds. There\'s a limited choice here and it\'s all western food. Pizzas made to order (which I was told were fantastic), home made burgers, hot dogs, tuna rolls and chips which arrived par cooked from the main kitchen and were finished off at the snack bar so they were always fresh.

LOCATION

The hotel is situated very close to the airport so you do get some aircraft noise particularly if your on the outer side of block 1 where we were. This shouldn\'t be a problem next year because Monastir will be much quieter due to most flights landing at the new Kantaoui Ben Ali airport which will be opening on November 7th 2009. Sahara Beach is set in a created \"green strip\" with it\'s own beach. There are other hotels in the area but you are a taxi ride distance from any towns. Sousse is 10TD one way and is well worth a visit just to see the Medina and Ribat. Sahline, the nearby village with a really tacky gift shop centre and the nearest pharmacy, is 10TD return. If you feel adventurous and fit you could walk it in 25-30 minutes. Monastir is about 10TD one way and has the impressive mausoleum of Habib Bourgiba. You can take the \"Friendly Train\" (a little \"Noddy\"road train)from the hotel but I can\'t recommend it. You don\'t get much time in Monastir and the word \"suspension\" seems to have been unknown to it\'s designers. If you don\'t have a bad back when you get on you will when you get off - no wonder the masseur at the hotel was doing so well!

CONCLUSION

Would I go back to the Sahara Beach. Definately YES. It\'s clean, the food is outstanding, the pools, beach and gardens are a lovely setting for a holiday and other towns and attractions are a cheap taxi ride away. If you are nice to the staff then they are nice to you. Give a little tip now and again and you get extra special service. It\'s especially good if it\'s your first Tunisian holiday and your a little uncertain because you can hold the \"real\" Tunisia at arms length and only venture out when you feel confident enough.
The Sahara Beach is being taken over next month so Iberostar will be moving out. I also found out that over the next two years it is to be converted into a full 4 star hotel with enlarged rooms and remodelled reception and public rooms. One block was already closed during our stay. I\'d still be happy to stay here during this time though as the design of the hotel means it can be closed off in sections without affecting any other parts.

I hope my \"little\" write up has been helpful to someone and whoever reads this I hope you have a great holiday wherever you decide to stay.

there was always sercurity on the beach and around the pools 24 hrs a day.
The staff were all very freindly and efficiant but they expected a tip all the time espeacially the guys who give out the sun beds,but tip the guys at the bars and they would look after you.
the food was ok, always something for everyone apart from the bacon at breaky ( Heart attack materiel ) fat and salty ! bit manic at times as its a huge resturant.
The entertainment is more for the kids ,but dont let
that put you off, The drinks are not bad, the lager is not bad and im a premium lager drinker.
The beach bar ,you get a better solection of food at lunch time.
Like i and other people have said, its a 3 star but dont let that put you off.
One more last thing, dont get a transfer from the airport, its much cheaper to get a taxi only 10 Dinar (

but a bit repeative. Having said that if I went to my favourite restaurant in England for three meals a day 14 days in a row I would soon get bored with it.
But while we were there everybody we spoke to had had some form of stomach upset lasting from the odd day to a whole week. Some people had to cancel their planned and paid for excursions due to this.
There was also a bit, no lots, of non interest in this being reported or coliated so it was just dismissed as \"too much sun\" when there was clearly a problem.
The entertainment was not our cup of tea and we did not attend very much and the location of this hotel was the thing we had the largest issue with.
It is a bit isolated and getting about usually involved a taxi and a haggle over the price. There are buses but they stop running abot 8.00pm and there is no where to really walk to outside the hotel of an evening.
All in all though we had a nice holiday. We would not
go to this hotel again, but then we have never been back to the same one. We wouldn\'t recommend this hotel but nor would we deter anyone from going.
It\'s your money and your choice.

Ice cream and cakes / fruit flans. Nothing particularly special, but well cooked and presented for a three star hotel.

The hotel is very near the airport, but I was hardly disturbed by the noise of take-offs and landings, and found this preferable to a slog of a long transfer time. The grounds and pools were immaculate.

The beer and cold juices were OK by British standards - you could do worse (and I have!).

The staff were almost exclusively male with varying levels of friendliness and attention, depending on whether you tipped or not - of course.
Reception staff were very helpful and efficient.

As for the entertainment, they seemed to work very hard at a butlins style programme. Great if you like that sort of thing, but not really my cup of tea.

There are several bars both inside and outside the hotel, most of which are smoking - a bit of a novelty after the ban in the UK if you are a smoker, a bit of a pain if you are not.

Overall a nice place for young families if you like the hustle and bustle of a very large hotel - not really for the lone traveller looking for a relaxing break though.

wasn't good enough for me and definitely was aimed at the children but I had the bar and was happy with it I was there to relax and that's just what I did, got a lovely tan too.

The cleaners bless em were on the go constantly and I couldnt fault them at all not just the rooms but all over the hotel. Another thing which stood out is they restrict smokers to certain bars so I could avoid the coffin dodgers and their fags(stink)this was appreciated greatly.

Finally go with open eyes and enjoy we did. Met some lovely people there too.

were very good at there jobs. we felt our son was very save there plus he was having fun.
the food was good lots to choose from and you had the same table each night while you stayed there so always had the same waiter which was nice, after two weeks the food did get to be a bit samesame.
entertainment was very good and ran on a weekly basis so if you were there for two weeks had the same entertainment twice on your stay, but we went each night and enjoyed what they laid on.
one thing I would say for us once you got out of the hotel there was nothing really to do or you had a long walk to get anywhere. so we went on tours with the hotel to see out and about.
they had a mini zoo on site which our son loved to visit and there were play parks in it also, makes a change from the beach!!
all in all we spent most of our time in the hotel for the two weeks but did enjoy our stay here and would go back again.