Medina Belisaire & Thalasso — Hotel in Maghreb

I wanted to write this review more so for English visitors planning on their first visit I've spent months reading reviews and worrying about what to expect. I neednt have worried. On arrival at the hotel I was very impressed by the entrance and lobby area. The staff are friendly and helpful and explained everything in detail. Money is easily exchanged I mainly used dinar for tips and the pool table. You can use pounds for anything else. The room was what I'd class as standard but had everything we required. Our room was at the back of the hotel which was very quiet. The room was clean and the cleaners came every day with fresh towels which were displayed differently every day. The only problem with the room was the water pressure. Everywhere around the hotel throughout the day there are cleaners and gardeners and maintenance in abundance. The quiet pool was as desribed. Perfect for reading a book. The larger pool had music not constant more so when animation team were doing aqua aerobics etc it wasn't overbearing. The outside toilets are constantly cleaned. The staff are always smiling, chatting and attentive. Big shout out to the guys on the round bar next to the entertainment on an evening. They went above and beyond for us. The animation team were around a lot very fun, happy and entertaining. The children seem to love them and dance routines. Yes you'll get those kids songs stuck in your head. They encourage you to join in but it's not pressured. We enjoyed the shows especially the guy with the keytar. His voice was great. The dining areas hold a large variety of different foods. If your open to trying something different then this is the buffet for you. If your a fussy eater then you will probably find pizza, potatoes and the occasional chicken nuggets and chips tedious. I did start to crave a simple sandwich. I had been told would be available but never saw any. There is usually pasta dishes like lasagne, spaghetti etc. meats on the hotplate being freshly prepared. Fish are generally still whole. I was also surprised that not everything is spicy. Oh and the variety of sweets treats is amazing. Breakfast has a lot to offer. We enjoyed the freshly prepared omelettes. There is cereal, croissants, fruit, yogurts etc. Also plenty of choice for drinks. Juice and a coffee dispenser just not coffee as we know it. The staff in the dining areas are very attentive. I felt they struggled to keep up with the turnover of diners. If your one of the first in all the tables are set with cutlery, glasses and serviettes. After first service we sometimes had to search for cups, glasses and cutlery and sometimes a long wait for a drink. There's plenty of water dispensers. I'm unsure how the waiters are distributed throughout the dining area. There are plenty of them but I feel if they were given specific areas to deal with it may run more smoothly. We thought a dispenser for things like coke etc would be a great asset and lighten the load for the waiters. We decided to go for a stroll to the Medina and as pre warned we were approached straight away by a man saying he was a chef at our hotel. He walked along side us for a while and seemed to be looking at our bum bags then decided to bid us farewell and went on his way. The Medina was not what I expected. There's a lot of souvenirs and copy clothes and trainers. If you enjoy a barter then you'll enjoy this. We felt quite pressured and intimidated so headed back to the hotel. We booked a boat trip with Stefan at the hotel and it was exactly as he'd described it. The beach is very close and clean and we used the activities. Avoid anyone selling anything. Bar at the beach has very steep steps. There was no mosquitos or cockroaches. The airport food is quite expensive and a bottle of water is €3.30 and you can't take drinks through security. Overall a relaxing...

We had a nice time but that was purely because the staff were so warm and friendly. This hotel is very clean and all the staff work really hard to make everyone’s stay enjoyable. This hotel had clearly previously been great, but the passage of time and lack of investment have rendered it at best a poor three star which is sad. We visited low season, but the reception staff gave us information detailing all the various cafes, bars and restaurants despite them being closed. The main restaurant was good quality and provided reasonable choice but food was clearly recycled from previous, breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. The dine around option was pointless as despite being listed as À La Carte was in fact a set menu with no vegetarian alternatives. After waiting for drinks, first course for over half an hour we gave up and went back to the buffet restaurant. The beach is very close but was effectively closed. We knew the beach bar wasn’t open - it was March after all - but there were no beds/parasols either and it was covered in litter. Minibar in room stated in info didn’t exist, when we asked we were told we didn’t need one! We paid for a hammam, rhassoul and massage which was lovely and good value at £65 each and lasted around 2 hours in total. The women were lovely and worked very hard for us to have an enjoyable experience. The indoor salt swimming pool was lovely and I’m glad we remembered to visit on our last day, it’s only open from 12-3pm for some reason but it is very warm with a high saline content. The free Hammam was actually 20 minutes in the steam room but proved impossible to book. There are a couple of Aviaries in the gardens with a variety of birds, these are clean and well maintained. We found these by accident but they would be lovely for families and children. The Animation team were very hard working providing a full programme of activities including Archery, Tennis, Yoga, French Boules, Darts. There was entertainment every evening with dancing, Quizzes, Bingo, Karoake etc. This all took place in the (only) bar open just outside the restaurant. Unfortunately there were young children in the bar every night and the combination of tired kids and the evening entertainment wasn’t really our thing so we sat outside most evenings. I expect evenings are much better high season as there is an outdoor stage set up, and another two bars either side for more hectic evening entertainment and family fun, allowing for the bar to provide a more sedate setting. Local drinks and cocktails were fine but everything was very sweet with high sugar content. The room was fine, albeit tired looking, with two double beds and a balcony overlooking the quieter pool area. The ladies cleaned it very well every day and provided fresh towels. The bathroom definitely needs urgent refurbishment with broken tiles, a broken leaky shower and rusty grab rails hanging off the wall. Also worth noting is how forward some male staff can be, with unwanted attention, touching, trying to give phone numbers etc. This although harmless, gets repetitive and be quite intrusive, I wouldn’t choose to come here as a...

I cannot recommend this hotel enough! We stayed here for a week in September and had the best week! We had food and drinks on offer 24hours a day, the food served was incredible standard and there was something different every day, we weren’t bored! They had themed nights each night in the restaurant which we loved as we got to try some authentic Tunisian foods. The bar staff were very quick with getting us drinks, and even bought them to our sun beds. The drinks selection was great with some incredible cocktails on offer!

The rooms were clean and provided everything you needed. The beds were very very comfortable with loads of pillows, I slept like a baby. Every room had a balcony or terrace, we were lucky enough to be on the ground floor to could walk straight to the pool from our terrace.

The pool was a dream, there were plenty of sun beds for everyone, we didn’t need to get up and reserve a bed as this wasn’t allowed and we managed to get sun beds in our favourite spot everyday. There was also a private beach a 5 minute walk down the road from the hotel which was beautiful and again with lots of sun beds.

The entertainment team were the main event at this hotel! A big shout out to our favourite team member Khalil! He was full of energy, making us laugh and making sure we had the best stay at the hotel. He really made our holiday special! There was so many activities throughout the day to get involved in, for all ages, the team weren’t too pushy to get us involved but just enough to make sure we enjoyed our stay. They regularly came to chat to us and get to know us, making sure we were happy. The evening entertainment was also 5 star, again the entertainment team getting everyone involved in dances and shows. There was something different every night so we weren’t bored at all! Some of the evenings involved being taken to the sister hotels for parties or shows which was a great way for us to experience the other hotels with the support of our entertainment team there.

The hotel was in a great location, a short stroll from the private beach, 10 minutes from medina town which had shops, markets, theme park and aqua park (great for kids and tickets included in the hotel package), restaurants and bars which were all great quality food! We didn’t feel pressured to buy anything from the hagglers at the markets and restaurants which we were worried about, all the locals were friendly and couldn’t have been more helpful, with many helping us with directions. Being two young girls we worried we wouldn’t feel safe out of the resort, we couldn’t have been more wrong, we felt so comfortable and didn’t need to cover up at all. This place was perfect for families with so much to do at very good prices!

I will definitely be returning to this hotel, It exceeded my expectations and made me fall in love with Tunisia! There was nothing I could fault it on!

Thank...