Blue Beach Golf and Spa — Hotel in Maghreb

We are on our fifth day at the hotel. We have stayed in many all-inclusive hotels in various countries, ranging from 3 star to 5 star. This is quite a typical African four-star hotel. And I would say it’s quite similar to hotels I have stayed in in Egypt. Don’t be put off by the journey from the airport. It looks very dilapidated and scruffy, but the resorts that we saw were all very nice and clean. ||Positives:|In terms of the food, there is a good variety between the things that would suit a more basic palette, ranging to very traditional Tunisian food which is delicious. There is a really good range. The salads are amazing and so are the desserts. Although some food is reused either the next day or for dinner, it’s all prepared safely and we haven’t had any issues with poorly tummies etc|The restaurant is clean and the service is very good. You can also book for the à la carte restaurant at no extra cost. ||The staff are very friendly and willing to do anything you need as long as you give them a small tip. (10 Dinar- £2.50 ish) The wages out here are very low and people who work in hotels average around £200 a month so small tip goes a long way.||There is a cash machine in reception which charges around £2.50 per withdrawal.||The rooms are comfortable. We had a double and a family room which has four beds. Very spacious and well set out. The family room had a wet room which was nicely presented. The double room was also nice, but some of the fixtures and fittings were a little shoddy. Recommend taking a fire stick as they are very easy to connect and the Wi-Fi is excellent until you get on the beach where the signal is obviously weaker. Be aware that some rooms are just above the entertainment stage. It is noisy but the music goes off at about 10:30 pm so it’s not so bad but check where your room is. The advantage of having one of these rooms is the beautiful view over the sea.||The pool area and beach are very well looked after. Clean, comfortable and the gardening team work non-stop. There is also constant security. I would recommend putting towels down on the sunbeds at around 8:30 am, as at busier times they go very quickly. If you want to use the water park, be aware that you have to pay for drinks at the bar as they are not included. Having said that it’s a very good waterpark and entry is free if you are all inclusive at the hotel.||On the first day, we ended up paying for six sessions in the spa which worked out cheaper. This cost £320 but well worth it. One of the best spas I’ve been to abroad including Turkey due to the range of different treatments.||There is a decent range of activities for children and teenagers. The staff who lead these activities are fun and friendly. We played boules and crazy darts. Water polo was also fun. There are also sales people who will come around and sell various activities off site. We paid for two trips. We went to the island on the pirate ship. Saw dolphins and various other Sea Life. The island wall is very pretty but small. Be aware that the beer they sell at the bar is non-alcohol which we discovered after my partner had bought six bottles of it. Stick to soft drinks if you don’t want to be disappointed. We also did quad biking. Recommend this and you are given helmets so it felt safe. Make sure you take 10 dinar each for the face coverings as it is very dusty. If you want to buy the photos it is also 10 dinar. It cost 30 dinar each for two hours and they take you to a small Tunisian bar for drinks halfway through. Same thing with the beer. ||We went into Monastir to buy some “cheap goods“. We mentioned we didn’t want it to be pushy and it wasn’t. I think being able to speak French also really helped in the situation. The goods are relatively cheap but most of it is not as good quality as the things you can get in Turkey. We then ventured into the centre which was very typically Tunisian. Watch out on the roads as the traffic is a bit crazy and it feels like there are no rules. Same with seatbelts in vehicles. Two taxis we went in did not have a fully working seat belts. If you book from the hotel, you may want to mention that you want a taxi with working seatbelts.||Even better if:||The kids disco provided some good entertainment, but they only have one CD, and there’s only so many times you want to dance to Agadoo! In terms of music, it is very much the same things been played whether it’s in the reception area or pool area. Spotify would really help with this! Having said that if you really like Céline Dion, you’re going to love it!||Alcohol-I have never really been to an all-inclusive in this part of the world and had a good range of quality alcohol. This is obviously because it is a Muslim country and quality alcohol is expensive. We tried pretty much everything. The white wine was passable and the beer was okay. None of the spirits tasted like the name on the bottle, but they did the job in terms of dancing to Agadoo. You may want to buy some duty-free at the airport and just get soft drinks at the bar. We now wish we had bought two bottles of vodka instead of one. ||All in all it was a lovely holiday. The weather was beautiful for the entire week ranging between 27° and 37° when back home it was 8° and raining. We will...

The hotel is good considering how much I paid for the accommodation. Where I come from, it's very cheap so I wasn't expecting much other than peace and relaxation. And so it was. I enjoyed my vacation in this hotel and rested properly. I spent most of my time on the beach, which is cleaned every morning. Even though it is being cleaned, you can always see seaweed on the shore because there is only one person in charge of cleaning as far as I could see. The beach is made of fine sand, which I like, but the sea is shallow in the swimming area. A lot of people say there are jellyfishes, but I only saw one once and it stung me. Nothing terrible. The burn goes away in an hour and the mark remains visible for a week. The sea is warm and when there are no waves the sea is transparent, but when there are waves you cannot see the bottom because they stir up the sand. So overall, the sea isn't that good compared to others I've swum in, but it might work for Vitamin Sea lovers like me. I also tried the pools, but as the hotel is family-oriented, there is only one 1.5-meter deep pool, which is full most of the time. So I didn't use them much, but I would like to praise the staff who take care of the cleanliness of this part of the hotel. I didn't use the pool bar much because I was on the beach most of the time like I said. I also tried the water park. It's great but I experienced an unpleasant situation that I don't want on my vacation. Two older guests got into a fight. The staff working in the water park are all young boys and are unable to prevent such situations. There were no security guards and guests from other hotels also come to the water park. The rooms are clean and the cleaners are very kind. They are classically equipped: Bed, TV, air conditioner, fridge, safe, small table and chairs, bathroom with shower, towels, shampoo, hair dryer... Nothing special, but enough considering that I spent the least amount of time in the room. The food is great. I liked everything I tried. I especially liked the seafood dishes. The staff is friendly. The tables are cleaned every time after the guest has eaten. The dining terrace is beautiful with a great view. The meal schedule is good and I like that each one lasts 3 hours. I also ate at the snack bar. I liked the croissants the most. The hotel bar has the dirtiest tables I've ever seen in my life. They are not cleaned at all. In the evening, when a lot of guests sit down at the bar, all the waiters disappear except for Zaid (if I remember his name correctly). I would praise him because he is the only one who tries to serve all the guests and is very kind and hardworking, unlike his colleagues. The staff at the reception are very accommodating and friendly, as are the employees of the hotel store. Animators work hard and there are entertainment programs for both children and adults. The only complaint is that they are almost the same every day. As a person, I'm not very demanding and not too picky about food. I enjoy relaxing on the beach and in the sea without too much noise. I'm not looking for luxury because I don't even have it at home. I like talking to local people, especially if they're kind and honest. So my review won't help everyone because we're not all looking for the same things. In general, I had a nice vacation in this hotel and I would like to thank them for the service provided. I hope that the things mentioned in the review will be improved in the future. I wish you...

Some points might be negative, some positive, I will write out my full review without this distinction.

food is ok, good enough, no upper class food (e.g. salmon), but tasted ok, enough variety I'd say.

liked that the eating periods were lengthy. 6-10 am breakfast, 12:30-14:30 lunch, 6pm-9pm dinner, so quite flexible to eat when you want and not rush to schedule.

beach is not super great, because there is not much to walk to. One side blocked entirely by some construction, and the other one ends with fields, so its not a place where you could walk (safely) on the beach side for hours.

furniture in the hotel is new, in the roomd and in the dining hall. For people who care about that, it is quite freshly appointed. Not sure though if this hotel is 'built in 2024' as it claims or being refurnished post covid.

gorgeous sunsets visible from hotel territorry every day.

WiFi at the beach works really poorly, so if you want to use devices, you must stay at the pool, which has BANGING music all day long. Literally 9 am to 10 pm the whole beach area is like a club. I am very confused as to why so, because you'd assume people want to chill in peace, read books etc.

also lacks beach beds, overall, but especially at the pool area. No beach beds empty after 9 am. It's like if you have 300 rooms and take 1000 guests, then match beach beds to this number!

construction was not finished in June, 2024. There is quite some construction noise, both the rooms being built inside the hotel, as well as another hotel being built next to this one.

cleaning is not superb, brushed over quickly, not thorough.

a bit weird situation with water. You get one 1,5 L bottle a day per room (and only if cleaners come, if you leave do not disturb sign, then you get no water) -- but then there are water dispensers in the cafeteria, but you weren't allowed to refill the bottle there. It's treated in a stingy way, like a rare commodity, which is not acceptable in a country where tap water is not drinkable. Request to management to put water dispensers out on each floor and around, not just inside the bar and let people hydrate. Even if you went to the bar, its behind the bar, not directly accessable to guests, you still need to wait in a long line while people order cocktails to get to the bar man to ask for your 150 ml cup of water. Weird.

bed sheets are clean, and new, thin and thick pillow options, slept quite well.

AC was working at the time we stayed, although temperature is preset by management, but it was not hot at night, so thats good.

rooms are spacious

hot water in shower as well as sink

I read reviews before about animation team being amazing, not sure I'd agree. Seem a bit clicky and hung to one another (there is loads of them, like 15 total) and less interested in hanging out with guests. Yet again, the guests are almost exclusivelly eastern european, so maybe its a two way street, where a lot of them are not receptive to entertainment.

Due to the constant banging music in the pool area, I would not choose to go to this...