Port El Kantaoui, Club Soviva

We stayed at the soviva in sept 2013 , we based our decision on the photos and information supplied by Airtours. All of which turned out to be lies or omitted from the descriptions, firstly there are areas such as the Sushi bar a rather swanky looking area with a piano and other changes that are not included in your inclusive package if you wanted to use these you had to pay UK hotel prices, even the one visit to the A La Carte restaurant didnt include drinks and to be honest was no more than basic and in our case very low grade, which you would tolerate anywhere else.

Hygiene food serving was terrible on just one of many occassions one of the chefs(i use the title chef but really they had no training) was cooking turkey pieces on a grille he used the same tongs to put the raw meat onto the grille and then used the same tongs unwashed to put the cooked meat onto your plate in addition he covered most of the grille with fresh meat left them cooking for a period then started to feel gaps with more raw meat among the already part cooked ones.write to me for photos [email protected]

Was a nice stay in Soviva, the pool is good and the room was fine.

dirty rooms, especially the bathroom, very old and dated, dirt and hairs everywhere...bedroom was 2 single beds with dirty sheets, air conditionong that didnt work, ants all over the beds,...warm flat drinks served in plastic unbreakable type beakers, loud music all day though to 12 at night each and every day, i have never stayed at such a run down dirty hotel in all my life, the best part of the holiday was when the couch came to take us to the airport, holiday companys should be ashamed to send people to theses places, discovered later it had just been on secret tourist and news of the world. we went all inclusive with THOMAS COOK, i wouldnt go to the SOVIVA again even for free

Stayed at Club Soviva in Tunisia. Everything was perfect, nothing bad to say. Would definitely go again.

All in All we had a great holiday at the Soviva, the animation team were fantastic,they worked so hard,especially the person who also did the kids club, my daughter loved every minute of it. Bar staff and Restaurant staff were also very friendly,also Maids cleaned the rooms everyday... I'd like to say we have made many friends by visiting the soviva, and hopefully one day we will return again.

Entertainment team very nice and entertaining and waiters very pleasant!

Club Soviva in port El Kantaoui in Tunisia is a good venue, but it is let down by the restaurant and food, and it's a fair distance from the Port Centre - most people need to take a taxi to get anywhere.

My intention was to have a beach holiday, and I chose the Club Soviva hotel in Port El Kantaoui because the reviews and descriptions indicated that it is just 250 meters from it's private beach, and it was reasonably priced.

THE BEACH:-

Unfortunately, getting to the hotel's beach involved walking 250 meters along a dirty road with lots of rubbish, and clouds of dust after every passing vehicle. The hotel's beach seemed to be littered, and there was lots of seaweed in the water making it very unpleasant to swim. Also, the beach is not protected by buoys, and given the number of various speed boats and water-bikes speeding close to swimmers, I would not consider using the beach for this reason alone, even if it was otherwise perfect. I never really used the hotel's beach, instead I used another hotel's (Sol Club Kantaoui) beach. This beach is more like a kilometre away from the hotel, so it was quite a walk to get there. Club Kantaoui beach is one of the best in the area. However, it suffers from one problem affecting all beaches in the area - air pollution caused by very fast water-motorbikes. They pass very regularly along the perimeter of the buoyed swimming area, and they cause lots of air and noise pollution (just like a powerful motorbikes).

So, to some it up: the hotel has no decent beach, and to get to a reasonable beach you will have to walk about a kilometre and hope that some other hotel will allow you to use their beach. Whatever beach you use, expect the air to be quite polluted by speedboats.

THE HOTEL ITSELF:-

Communal areas look very impressive. I would even give 4 stars to communal areas such as the entrance, foyer and swimming pool etc.

However, I would only give 1 star to hotel rooms because:

1. Shower head was very dirty.

2. Shower curtain was very dirty (bring your own if you booked this hotel).

3. Overall, bathrooms are dirty. They clean them every day but very superficially, so corners and areas that are not easy to clean are quite dirty.

4. Air conditioning did not work, despite them assuring me on the telephone and in the description that rooms are air conditioned.

5. No TV and other luxuries normally associated with three star accommodation.

On the positive side, rooms seemed to be well built (proper brick and plaster walls - no plasterboard), reasonably sized and quite reasonably decorated.

I had a few problems with cleaning staff as a few items have disappeared. However, it was probably a misunderstanding. They claim that they had thought my worn socks and T-shirts were rubbish, and say they have disposed of them, although I do not think that they would dispose of such items in this third world country.

THE FOOD:-

Plates and dishes were dirty. It was difficult to find a spotless plate. I suppose they just rinse them and do not wash them in proper dishwashers. Undersides of plates were especially dirty, and I could often feel some remnants of food with my fingers.

I would describe food as fair. Food cooked by display cooks, especially pancakes, was good. However, buffet food and deserts were quite plain.

I am glad I stayed on HB rather then on AI, as I would struggle to lunch in the hotel as well, giving that the beach I was using was about 1 kilometre away.

Waiters were very friendly and helpful.

SAHARA TRIP:-

Offered by almost all reps at a cost of about £70. It involves spending two days on the bus, and it is very tiring.

During the trip you see:

1. Eljem amphitheatre - very impressive, but you only spend 45 minutes. I would definitely spend more time there.

2. Matmata dwellers. Not impressive at all. Basically people dig a hole about 5 by 5 in the ground and then dig caves in it and live in the caves. It was not as impressive a described. Also a local dog bit one man in our group and he will have to receive several vaccinations.

3. Sahara Camel riding. Very interesting experience. However, you do have to hold handles on the camel, and if you are not strong enough you can easily fall off. The camels did appear to be a bit dirty and badly treated. In particular some of them have burn-marks as locals treat skin infection by burning it out rather than by a more civilised treatment that they could well afford giving the prices charged for trips.

4. Sunrise on the salt lake. The lakes (actually the salt fields left by evaporated lakes) are quite impressive, but there is nothing dramatic about meeting the sunrise their. Also, you spend only about 15 minutes there, and I would probably spend more like an hour or two there.

5. Oasis visits - quite impressive, especially in Chebika. Chebika is a lot better than the other one they take you to, but you have no free time at all in Chebika, as they just quickly guide you through it.

So you do get to see several interesting bits, but I would not say that it is worth going on it, as in total you literally spend 2 days on the bus and it is quite tiring. Also, at £70 it is quite expensive for what it is. If Egypt becomes safe you could have all of that for a fraction of the price without having to endure the two day bus ordeal.

TUNISIA:-

When they see that you are tourists, locals will try to rip you off. Prices in shops near hotels are on par with Harrods (the most expensive food shop in London). A kilo of bananas = 2 pounds (they are 1 pound in the UK, and then only because the UK give their former colonies preferential treatment - a kilo of bananas is only 40p in France). Mars bars are 1 pound each or even higher. You can have a pack of six for that price in the UK!

Once I had to use a toilet near Medina in Sousse. "The toilet" was just a hole in the ground with some floating excrement's in it - stinking, dirty and disgusting. The attendant demanded 2 dinars (1 pound) for the privilege after I used it.

On arrival our bags were taken by a luggage handler who appeared to be working for the transfer company (that's his corn trick) who later demanded 10 pounds for a three minute job and received 5 - not bad for London let alone a third world country.

Taxi drivers are awful. Thanks to the rep we knew what the fairs should be abut 2 dinars from the hotel to the port and 6 dinars to Sousse. If you take a taxi and then ask the price it can be several times more, and it will never be the price it should be. They do have meters, and if you insist they will agree to take you on the meter, but as the rep explained, at the flick of a button they will change it to night time rate (starts from 9pm) and will charge you 50% more. The rep advised to know the rates, not to negotiate in advance, and to pay just what is due, regardless of how much the taxi driver demands. Instead, I was negotiating in advance and sometimes they would not go down to what the price should be. I would then, as a matter of principle, walk to the hotel. I probably should have just listened to the rep and paid what is really due at the end.

MEDINAS:-

Lots of people in their reviews describe their disgust with Medina sellers. They can be problematic. However, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING. They will try to rip you off or be aggressive in their selling techniques, but you can be aggressive in your buying techniques too, and if you play it right, you can drive the price down to bare minimum. The key thing is to be prepared to walk off and to be slightly rude. Decide on your price (never pay more then 1/3 of the UK price, as you have no recourse if it's a fake, faulty, and you can't take back if you do not like it, and after all you did not come to Tunisia to pay UK prices), then halve it and never go above your price. Be prepared to walk off. Being slightly rude will prevent them from following you with their persuasion speeches. Apart from leather goods that can be bought there for a few pounds, and scorpion souvenirs, there is not much worth buying in Tunisia.

To sum up - prepare to be ripped off. You can fight off the attempts to rip you off by asking the price in advance and knowing what the prices should be (ask your rep), and by avoiding buying food in Tunisia.

TUNISIAN WEATHER:-

I spent 2 weeks there at the start of June and it was about 24-28 Celsius on the beach, which was far below the 30-40 that I was expecting. When I arrived back to UK it was actually hotter here than in Tunisia. So basically, if you want to be able to swim comfortably then the season for that in Tunisia is from Mid June until the end of August - i.e. it is no longer than anywhere else on the Mediterranean or the Black sea. You can expect air temperatures on the beach to be 26-35, and water temperatures about 24 during the season.

Summary:-

I do not think that I will go to Tunisia again. It is a third world country with Harrods prices, and it is no more exotic than many European countries. If I were to go back I would go to Club Kantaoui (and definitely not to Soviva), as it is very nice and it is on the nice beach. I would go on HB or AI, and I would stay within the sanctuary of the hotel.

The hotel I stayed in, despite, in my opinion, being a very poor choice, has many excellent reviews. Through talking to people staying in the hotel I have established that many of them are quite happy to spend their holiday just lying near the swimming pool and having drinks on All Inclusive. They never swim in the swimming pool, let alone in the Mediterranean. If they do not notice the dirt in the bathrooms and the less than spotless plates and cups, it could well be a very nice hotel for them.

Club Soviva is absoloutly great, I had the most wonderful holiday there and would definately go back. The staff were so nice and helpful. The annimation team are great at there job.

I found Club Soviva fantastic. There was a couple of bad things that I didn't like about all the inclusive deal, such as in the brochure it said that you would get free drinks all night until 2.30am which didn't happen. Another problem was that in the brochure it said that we would be able to get free food all day long, we got free drinks all day but not free food all day. I would recommend hotel soviva to any one I know.