Just returned after 11 nights at SRB, Djerba island, Tunisia.
Starting with the positives;
Speedy check in and shown to the room (by the bellboy) the room was fine and everything worked well, air con, shower, safety deposit box, nice bed, private balcony etc etc.
Hotel was in good condition overall, good layout, nice ambience, plenty of palm trees/bushes etc, nice warm pool and patio area, great beach, warm sea, plenty of sun beds, water sports were available.
There are 3 bars, one in reception area, one by the pool plus a beach bar. There are 2 restaurants, a main restaurant and beach restaurant.
Guests were mainly French and Italian plus a few other nationalities, not many British guests but this was not a problem, English is widely spoken and understood by staff and guests.
The weather was perfect, mid thirties with a nice breeze most of the time and it didn’t feel so hot that you had to take cover under the parasols all day! Great for sunbathing (with a bit of lotion) and nobody had sunburn!
The negatives;
The major problem here is the restaurants!!!
1) If you don’t get a table at the start, your tablecloth will be dirty and food stained as they only change the table runners (if you’re lucky)!
2). All the plates are either dirty or have dishwasher residue on them, we had to clean them off with a serviette every time!
3) Mostly, we had to ask for cutlery, glasses, water etc on the table which was met with indifference from the waiters and sometimes they just swiped them from another table! We ended up getting our own half the time, which they didn’t like!
4) Spoons were not put on the table, you had to get them from the soup or dessert areas and often there were not any there as the spoon trays were not replenished until you complained.
5) At first, the food looked nice in the serving trays, however, a lot of it, although it seemed to be cooked ok, was lukewarm .
6) The meat was mostly cooked at the buffet but it was always the cheapest cuts you can get, generally consisting of bone fat and gristle and any meat on it was inedible! We ended up having chicken most days as it was the only meat edible enough to eat, even that wasn’t particularly palatable but we didn’t feel like we had much choice!
7) Wine was only offered on two occasions (out of 11) whilst in the restaurant, which we didn’t bother with, we just had the bottled water, as the other drinks such as cola and sprite etc was generally flat!
8) Desserts were actually quite nice, but again, if you weren’t there at the start the dessert area looked like the leftovers at a kids party! And again, if you wanted a. Spoon……..!
Entertainment;
We’re happy with a bit of music, which there was, during the day and evening. There were a few extra bits of entertainment which were at best very amateurish, such as a cobra show, belly dancer and magician, which were actually quite entertaining, but not in the way you would think! The cobra show was ok for about 5 minutes, until he tried to get children involved and embarrassed a teenage girl plus scared the hell out of a four year old. A bit of karma though when a stray dog ran into the area and took an unhealthy interest in his cobras! As for the magician, it was half an hour of boredom and kids party sort of magic. He did manage to make half the audience disappear though, (whilst he was wearing a blindfold for his main trick!!!)
The beach;
Lovely beach, soft white sand, gentle sloping seabed, perfect! Only issue was the seaweed along the waterline, not a major problem but there was no attempt to scrape it up, (there was a tractor with an attachment to do this), all they did was push the seaweed out of the way into a heap on the beach for the water sports access to the sea, such a shame as the beach could have looked pristine! The hotel next door looked after their part of the beach, it doesn’t take a lot of effort!
Overall;
Would I go back there? Yes, if the above negatives were addressed. However, I think there must be an underlying problem with this hotel as everybody, (staff) with a few exception, gives the impression that they are giving the absolute minimum possible effort! It could be so much better…….
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