My family and I stayed at El Mouradi El Menzah in Hammamet, Tunisia, and sadly, it was one of the worst holiday experiences we’ve ever had. I’m generally someone who makes the best out of any situation, but this hotel and overall experience left us feeling extremely uncomfortable, unsafe, disappointed and came home very poorly from what I believed is from poor sanitation.
On our first day, we were approached by the hotel’s excursions representative. We explained we wanted to compare prices before booking, as we’ve travelled widely and know hotels often charge more. Despite this, the man was very pushy and called over another colleague to pressure us into booking. He wrote down a “quote” on a ticket and insisted it was the best price. When we said we’d get cash and decide later, he demanded we use the hotel’s ATM, and when my card didn’t work, he insisted that someone from the hotel drive us to an ATM elsewhere. We refused and walked as a family – only to realise that a hotel staff member was following us in a car, watching who we spoke to and even confronting local vendors we approached for better prices.
When we later told the hotel representative that we’d found a cheaper excursion elsewhere (about £100 cheaper), he became visibly angry, demanded his ticket back, and tried to find out who we had booked with. During our next excursion, he followed us again and threatened the local vendor we had booked with. It was extremely unprofessional, intimidating, and upsetting for us and the local seller.
The restaurant was chaotic. It was almost impossible to find a clean table – we had to wait around holding plates while staff ignored requests to clean areas. Some tables were deliberately “blocked off” despite others waiting to sit down.
The hygiene standards were appalling: flies everywhere, landing on food, drinks, and tables. Plates and cutlery often ran out, and the drinks machines didn’t work, meaning guests had to rely on reluctant, rude servers who poured tiny glasses and disappeared. The restaurant manager walked off mid-conversation when we tried to raise a concern.
The hotel is very run-down and in desperate need of maintenance. Our curtain rail fell down several times, and nothing was repaired properly. The Wi-Fi only works in the lobby, and even then it’s very weak.
Around the pool and communal areas, we didn’t feel comfortable at all. As a woman travelling with two teenage daughters, we experienced constant staring, filming, and photographing from groups of men — even within the hotel grounds. It made us feel unsafe and unwelcome.
Outside the hotel, the atmosphere wasn’t much better. We were filmed by groups of men while walking, and one restaurant nearby overcharged us heavily and refused to provide a receipt. We also saw the horse-drawn carriages being used for tourist rides — the horses looked malnourished, exhausted, and whipped in the heat, which was distressing to witness.
I’ve travelled to many countries and never felt the need to leave such a long review, but I genuinely want to warn other families. This hotel is not four-star quality in any sense — it’s poorly managed, unhygienic, and fails to provide even basic comfort or safety.
Love Holidays, who we booked with, were also unhelpful when we tried to change hotels before travelling. I wish I had read TripAdvisor reviews more carefully — they are accurate.
Please do your research before booking. Tunisia may be beautiful in places, but El Mouradi El Menzah is not a hotel I would ever recommend or return to.
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