We have just returned from a week at the Sahara beach, 7-14 November and we loved it. I was a little apprehensive as there is some bad feedback about the hotel, and until we had kids (now ages 2 & 4) we only stayed in 5* hotels, so a 3* was a new experience for us. But it turned out well.

The reasons we chose this hotel were that Tunisia is only a two and a half hour flight from London.

The hotel is 5 minutes from the airport (but not on the flight path). It's on the beach, it has interconnecting rooms for no extra cost, an indoor pool, a kids club and its very cheap for all inclusive. For a family, it

We stayed in the Sahara Beach for 2 weeks all inclusive.

We found the Hotel Staff couldn't have been more helpful which was good because we never saw our rep the whole time we were there and nicknamed him the scarlet pimpernel.

They helped us organise our trips and gave us any information we needed about places to go and the prices we should pay in taxis etc.

Overall cleanliness

They were always cleaning, the floors, tables and I'm sure if you stood still long enough someone would try to dust you too! If you put a cigarette out, someone would appear to empty the ashtray.

Having read other reviews I kept an eye out for rats but never saw one. There were lots of cats though!

Food

I thought the food was excellent. Always a lot of choice, from lamb and beef stews, roast chicken pieces, couscous and rice, usually 2 kind of potatoes and always chips. I found that the traditional dishes were always really tasty but you need to put salt on just about everything.

There are also lots of different salads available and lots of fresh bread. But there were occasionally long queues.

There is a childrens buffet which usually had pasta, batterered fish, more chips, meatballs and things like that.

We did hear people moaning a lot about it but if you want proper English food stay in England. They did their best to cater for all palettes and I think they succeeded.

We weren't keen on the Tunisian milk, so drank virtually no coffee at all.

Their alcoholic measures are huge so be warned.

Rooms

The rooms themselves were fine for 2 people but I think it would be very small for 3.

Our room was located in the 1st block and had an excellent view of the sea and pools.

Our cleaner was very friendly and always left us flowers in our room. The room was immaculate after he'd finished.

Entertainment

I must agree with other reviews that the entertainment was limited and reminiscent of a holiday camp. But all in all it was okay and some of the shows were funny.

Activities

The sporting activities were great and there was always something happening, we played tennis and archery and really enjoyed them.

I also had 2 full body massages and facials and would reccomend that if you go you will not be dissappointed!

The animation team were great, especially Kamel and Adel, they worked very long hours but were always friendly and organising some kind of tournament. Especially ping pong!

Beach

The beach was nice but the sea was quite rough so there was a lot of seaweed. It is patrolled by Hotel security and they were quick to move any traders that bothered you.

We went on the 2 day Sahara Explorer excursion and although it was a lot of travelling, it was amazing, but if you go you must wear insect repellant on the second day as they take you to an oasis, which is where they grow the dates. We were eaten alive by mosquitos in there.

Visiting Monastir on the Happy Noddy train is an experience not to be missed. Monastir itself is brilliant and I preferred it to Sousse as it was quieter and much more beautiful.

I highly recommend this hotel and will be going back next year.

What a fab hotel the staff are very helpful and always friendly.

The food was excellent and the rooms were great very clean.

The hotel gardens and pools are out of this world.

Children are made very welcome by everyone. The animation staff work really hard and do great shows the lion king was fab.

All in all a really great holiday and a great hotel to stay at I would return for sure.

First class hotel, food, entertainment and staff

Just returned ,After a great holiday with our two grand children and relieved to say it was great(after some of the wright ups)
Wheelchair access very very good.
Out of the three blocks ( 1 of which is for germans)
We were put in a room over looking there mini zoo so your view is of lush greenery as oppssed to looking into apartments opposite ,but a little noisy with a dawn chorus, but still nice.
Air conditioning useless, so slept with balcony doors
Open, would advise taking small fans. Plus next time i would take a couple single door size net curtains to selotape over balcony doors to keep flies out.
( No locks on bacony doors for youngsters )
We could not stay there for two weeks because the food is almost the same every day eggytoast/omellettes/chips/ pizzas altough nice started to urge at the site of them at the end of the 7 days. ( so take some British snacks)
Been Tunis about 5 times this is was the best.

10 mins from airport.

Fantastic horses on beach for riding at a cost.

Got up at 8 so as to get the right umberellas etc.

Tunisians are a different breed , and some are abrupt
Compared to brits. But saying that don`t take messing around from the yob culture , so you don`t have to put up with anything like the behaviour you now come to expect in countries like spain / tenerifee etc.
( and that was a big plus for us with grand kids )

The cheapest holiday i`ve had as you get a swipe i d. Card with a pic on it , and believe me the kids did use them and so did we . Remember to take all cards up to the bar if you want to buy a complete round in, ( so i.e. Only one person need go up )
Only phone we had that worked was on o2 network, so texting cost 20p each and worked find.
Will return.
P.S. ajoining rooms were great ( 2 bathrooms perfect)
I lifted doors of hinges so as to make access less restricted whilst there.

Well what can I say, we had a wonderful week the first week of October and the weather was hot hot hot. First impressions, straight off the plane and the heat hits you, airport was ok not too bad getting through, hotel was nice and the wait for forms/photo's was surely exagerated by some other reviewers, a few minutes was all it took. Got to room, porter expected a tip, we were really embarrassed as we never took any cash and had to go back to airport for an ATM. Kids spent most of time in the pool which was cold but welcoming at times. The food was ok, we survived on it, if people wnted steak and kidney pie/fish and chips they should stay at home the saying "when in Rome" springs to mind. A small tip to your waiter goes a long way we found. Entertainment we found to be very good, bearing in mind they had to perform to so many nationalities and every night, remember this is a holiday resort and not the west end of London!, all in all we had a very enjoyable and memorable time and would recommend this hotel to all familys, and yes we will be returning.
P.S beware in the Medina in Sousse, this is not a place for women alone, I went with my sister and our daughters and found some male stall holders very rude, stick to the Shopping Mall, no hassles in there and very reasonably priced.

We have just returned from Iberostar Sahara Beach yesterday and I am very pleased I went there and very sad to be home!

After reading reviews about this hotel before I went, I can honestly say that I was dreading it, I even tried to change the hotel before I left but everywhere was fully booked. I had read that there were rats around the pool, the rooms were tiny and there were flies crawling all over the food and when I arrived to my room I expected a box room but it was ample space for 2. My sister had two rooms inter-connecting with 3 beds in one and a double in the other and there was still enough space for the family.

There were flies around but no more than to be expected in the country of Africa. I did see flies on the food in the outside snack bars but you would get this anywhere, and in doors in the main buffet restaurant I didn't see any. I did not see any rats for the whole time I was there and never heard anyone else mention about them and the grounds of the hotel and the hotels itself was always spotlessly clean!

The food was fine, the hotel had to cater for all nationalities so some of the dishes did seem to be a bit odd at times especially when they had sweetcorn and pork for breakfast, but they still had cereals and croissants and fruit, there was always something to eat that tasted good.

The staff were really friendly, our waiter called Abib was fantastic, he was so friendly and would do anything for us just because we tipped 1 dinar which is about 50 pence, we made his day when we tipped 5 dinar the last day!

Some bar staff were unhappy and not particularly friendly but you have to understand they work more than 12 hours shifts everyday and I know I wouldn't have a constant smile if I did those sort of hours.

The entertainment was the best I have seen, all day long by the pool there was water aerobics, water polo, darts games mini golf the list is endless and in the evenings the staff would do shows like Grease, the Lion King, Mamma Mia, they were all worth watching and a lot of effort has been put into the shows!

I have been to a 5 star hotel in Mexico called Moon Palace and although the rooms were more luxurious and there was more choice of places to eat, I would rate the overall holiday as good as that in Mexico. If you pay for a 3 Star hotel you can't go with expectations of a 5 star but the Iberostar Sahara beach was fantastic, the pool area the grounds the beach the service, everything was great including the weather for the whole 2 weeks!

I would recommend this hotel for families and couples but if you are looking for a group holiday with your mates, I wouldn't come here as you may find it quiet, although there is a night club on site for 16 years and older that is open until 2am.

I would give this hotel a 9 out of 10 and it only misses out on 1 point as there is a hand held shower in the bathroom and no proper shower which at times could be annoying!

If you are thinking of going to this hotel just go and have a great time, you won't be disappointed, ignore the other reviews about rats and flies as I promise I did not experience any of that and everyone I spoke to at the hotel didn't either!

My husband and I booked a 1 week holiday with our friends to celebrate a birthday at this hotel. It was awful.

Large, noisy and the all - inclusive system of cards is a joke, with surly bar staff serving you eventually. You can only get 2 drinks per card but if one of our friends was not with us at that moment of ordering we could not get a drink in for them !

The food was lousy, not much choice and not very hot and served in a massive canteeen like restaurant. No a la carte restaurants and the whole hotel was very noisy and smokey.

If you don't smoke 40 a day, have 8 tatoos and live on burger and chips then don't go to this awful hotel.

We moved after 2 nights and it was worth every penny !!

The Iberostar Sahara Beach was like a prison. We went on an all inclusive basis for one week. In the reception where we waited for one and half hours until our room was ready, the staff would spray to try a get rid of the flies when new arrivals would come in, otherwise they would not spray at all.

Everybody smoked in reception, no good for non-smokers and children. Eventually, we went to our room in the first prison block. We had a room with an interconnecting room on to it.

The rooms were not big enough to swing a cat, and very basic. they hardly had any storage space. The balcony had a lovely view of the sea but they where a death trap for young children. We were on the second floor but felt like the 5th floor.

The balcony doors had no locks so little hands can open them very easily. Also, we had a lovely view and noise of incoming and outgoing aircraft from Monastir airport, especially at night, when noise was worse. This was not mentioned in the brochure about aircraft noise.

The cleanliness of the hotel was o.k. The towels were changed everyday if you put them in the bath, but they did smell as though they had not been washed for six months. The sheets were changed 3 times a week but the cleaner would smoke while cleaning the room so everything smelt of fags. And fag ash everywhere.

At night, the doors in the corridors would bang shut and echo so sounds like cell doors shutting. The food was not that bad. Breakfast was a bit odd. There were things like pork in tomato sauce, beans, runny scrampled eggs, bacon was so fatty with pigs hair coming out of the rind. They had nice croissants and pain au chocolats and cereal.

The main meals where ok. but they had some strange dishes. The Lasagne was fantastic and spagetti bolognese. The Location of the hotel was right on the beach which is very good.

At night they have secruity patrolling the beach. But not much to do outside of hotel. The hotel staff where very pleasant with an exception of some. If you are all inclusive they get a bit moody with you in the snack bars andgetting your drinks.

The staff in reception where very helpul and the staff in the restaurant where really friendly especially if you have young children like we did. You have have the same waiter for breakfast, a different waiter for lunch and a different one for dinner the same everyday. The only downside was on the way to the restaurant you ahve to walk down the, 'The Commercial Street', where they try and give you the hard sell.

Basically, we would not return to this prison camp. When we got back on the coach to return home we gave a bifg sigh of relief.

Our stay at the Sahara Beach Hotel was great

Food was fabulous if you keep an open mind, some things may not be to everyone's taste as the hotel caters for various nationalities. I tried most things and enjoyed them all especially the salads - everything is fresh. The restaurant was clean and well laid out. A guy we got talking to from Barnsley was a chef and he did a tour of the kitchen and told us it was absolutely spotless - he was very impressed.

Our waiter, Salam, was like a stand up comic. He kept us laughing the whole week and when he found out we were from Derbyshire he kept calling us Wasacks, which is regional speak - we were in tears (of laughter). When he found out that it was Richard's birthday he made a big fuss and decorated our table with some gorgeous flowers and candles. This guy was a real star and didn't pressure us for tips at all.

Fair enough, some of the staff were a bit abrupt but most were friendly. Try smiling and you might get a better response.

The animation staff were really good at getting people motivated. Day activities included darts, ping-pong, water polo, aqua aerobics, mini golf and Arabic lessons. They also performed a club dance twice a day- very catchy song too, I'm still singing it now!

Entertainment at night is geared towards all ages and is well organised. The Lion King show was the best.

The hotel itself is very clean. All three pools and surrounding areas are spotless and lifeguards patrol all day. Rooms are cleaned and fresh towels provided daily. The rooms are not very big but who goes on holiday to sit in their room all day? We were literally only in our rooms to sleep.

There was a good mix of people holidaying at the Sahara Beach Hotel. Brits, Germans, French, Swiss. We met some great people - everyone was having a good time and we heard no complaints.

As for the bad reviews about the alcohol, we certainly didn't have any problems with that. OK so its not all the brands you are familiar with but it tasted fine to me and it had the same effect as you would expect when having a few drinks!

What I can't understand is all the bad reviews I read about this place (it nearly put me off).

I would recommend this hotel to any of my friends, family and anyone who fancies a visit to Tunisia.

After reading a lot of the reviews on this page we were not really sure what we were going to at this hotel but we found the hotel to be very clean the rooms were cleaned everyday with clean towels and sheets daily.

The food was good always plenty to choose from and our waiter Ali was great always greeted you with a cheery smile and a handshake and we never had any problem getting drinks from any of the bars.

Throughout this hotel we found all the staff friendly the only fault we had with the hotel was the evening entertainment which we found extremely boring as there was not a lot to do. The shows they did were mimed and even then they were out of sync with the tapes that were being played. The childrens disco was not suitable for kids over 4 as it was things like Agadoo but apart from the evenings the holiday itself was great.