We have just returned from Hotel Marhaba and had an excellent time. The hotel itself is beautiful and spotless. The staff are excellent and always on hand to help. The food is delicious have never ate so much. The location of the hotel is in a quiet area and to get to the medina or marina you can get a taxi which will cost around 5 dina (about

Just before we left, my friend told me about the negative reviews for this place. I told him to ignore it and quite rightly. The place was absolutely lovely. It is true the food got a bit repetitive but the deserts were great.
The room was cleaned with efficiency and they even changed our pillows as I can't sleep on the big comfortable looking ones we were given.
As for the staff, they certainly have a sense of humour,that might take some getting used to. But we have to remeber it is a different and a unique culture. They were attentive to the point they made me laugh. To me, they made a big difference to our holiday. I improved my Arabic.
The entertainment was good. i did not expect less or more. i think they did the best with what they got.
I would definitely go back!

First off, All Inclusive is'nt. We couldn't get small bottles of drinking water (availble for people on half or full board to buy), a glass of water was offered or if you had an empty bottle they would offer to fill that for you. The food in the 'Restaurant' was bland and greasy. Grilled slices of steak were like rubber and the fruit juices at breakfast were diluted 1000 to 1. Tea to drink is only available at breakfast time and not with other meals and there is no such thing as soft boiled eggs, no matter what the signs say! The quality of the local alcohol drinks is poor. We were All Inclusive and thought there would be ample choice of snacks,wrong. The snack option was only available from the poolside bar between 4 and 5 pm. The choice was either a sandwich of dry bread with cheese and a small round slice of ham or a wafer thin pizza, very disappointing. There was a comprehensive snack menu available but anything from this had to be paid for.
The outdoor pool is quite pleasant but very loud music is played so you don't get any peace and quiet if that is what you are after. Fortunately we had noise reducing headphones which made our sunbathing oblivious to surrounding noise.The sunbeds are not that comfortable although they are free.
I needed access to the Internet and tried for 5 days without success to purchase the cards from the hotel reception. Each time, I was told 'tomorrow', but 'tomorrow' never came. I got internet access from the adjacent hotel (5 dinar for 30 mins) the trouble was that the keyboards are in Arabic and English with sometimes 4 symbols on one key. You can imagine the problems trying to find your way around the keyboard and enter passwords/codes etc. None of the staff were available to assist.By the time I had managed to access my accounts I had run out of time (and I am computer literate)
The 'Entertainment' was abysmal so be prepared for that. A bingo session took place and you pay 10 dinar for one game to win 40 dinar, there were over 20 people playing (therefore 200+ dinar) so someone is making a good profit!
The hotel room was acceptable with plenty of hot water all of the time and the towels were replaced each day. Our holiday rep. 'Jamie' from First Choice was very helpful. We would probably not go All Inclusive again due to our experience at this hotel but instead go for the Half Board option. We would not visit this hotel again nor would we reccommend it to anyone.

we stayed at the hotel on an all inclusive basis. I enjoyed the food mostly and always found something to eat. Rooms were cleaned daily and although basic and a bit tired looking the rooms were ok. The maid was making sure she got her tip though even with do not disturb sign on door on the last day of our stay (because I was very unwell and in bed) took no notice and actually came into bathroom whilst i was chucking up down toilet and asking for her tip!!!!! Staff were ok but entertainment staff only wanted to know and speak to you if you were under 25 single and female. very poor entertainment whole week, and as there is no where outwith hotles to really go we ended up just going to bed early because of sheer boredom. Mary the rep was excellent. Dont drink Bhouka the local drink which is like paraffin or lighter fuel. Also dont go the Medina unless you like being intimidated and scaed for your safety

My friend and I had our first holiday abroad in several years, staying at Maharba hotel in Sousse. Yes the rooms were a little basic but at the end of the day it was clean and tidy and a place to rest our heads at the end of each night.
We found the food to be delicious and our waiter was very friendly and gave us great service. We did have a warm week and this always makes your holiday better.
We found the Animation team to be fantactic. We enjoyed the volley ball on the beach especially. Those guys went out of their way to make everyone feel happy including us ladies over 40 and they were very respectful to us all and we felt looked after by them. They made our holiday just that little bit more special so thankyou lads.
The staff in general were as helpful as can be and always had a smile for us.
There were a lot of families there that week and it was lovely to see everyone looking after each other.
We had a fantastic time and have already booked to go back for two weeks in May. I would recomend this to all my friends.

Very close to the airport which is the first bonus, we were the 2nd drop off and it only took about half an hour to 40 mins transfer.

When we arrived at 1 in the morning, we were put in a terrible room which was directly above the kitchens and all you could hear were air con machines whirring, but we were told by the reception staff that we would be moved to another room in the morning - this of course stopped up from relaxing from the offset, not being able to unpack etc. When we got there it was pitch black, no bar open, no way of getting a drink except for walking to the main road where there is a shop open (slightly disconcerning when you dont know the place in the dark)

We were moved to a better room, after a slight argument in the morning with different staff, but as soon as I mentioned the toilet did not flush we were immediatly showed another room. We ended up on the 2nd floor facing the pool and palm trees and you could just see the sea, much better.
The rooms are basic and slightly tatty but were kept very clean by the friendly maids. We were advised by the rep to tip the maids at the end of your stay (2-3 dinas a day) we gave her 12 when we left. (

the hotel is excellent, the food is wonderful, a huge selection on offer catering for all, the hotel is very close to its own private beach which is beaautiful, not alot in terms of entertainment, and i would highly recommend this hotel to anyone, it has a huge pool wiyh waterslides, staff are very polite, i would definately return,

We had a great holiday and would definately go back again.

The hotel was clean, the rooms were clean and if you asked the maids for fresh towels they give fresh towels every day. Don't forget to tip at the end of the week.

Unfortunately if you are all inclusive you don't get waiter service(unless you tip well). But if you are half board you get amazing service. You only need to tip 1 or 2 dinars per day to the waiters by the pool to get a great service. It's also a good idea to tip the pool guy daily, then he'll make sure you get a good spot each day.

The food is great and the waiters are really friendly and helpful. Its better to tip the waiters in the dining area at the end of the week. Usually about 10 dinars minimum.

The hotel is right on the beach, the pool is lovely and has three water slides.

As half board customers we had no complaints it was the best holiday we've been on.

Mixed bag is the only way to describe this hotel. The food and waiters were excellent. The room we had was immaculately cleaned every day and although basic was the usual Tunisian standard for the price. Thomas Cook Rep very good and all the staff (except the animation team but more on that later) were polite, helpful and not just after tips, in our opinion. Location is good and Sousse and Port El Kantoui are easily accesible by taxi or Noddy Train. Beach is just through the gardens and apart from thousands of tourists fag butts is cleaned every morning and has lots of water sports and sun beds available. We did parascending, pedalo's and sea canoes and felt they were all good value.
The bad was truly bad though. It was ramadan so we were hoping our 17 year old daughter would get some respite during day light hours - not a chance! The animation team were feral and the majority of activities didn't take place as they were too busy getting women to sleep with them. Sadly many English women are only too happy to oblige and so they think all English women are up for it (thanks girls!!). One little lad was telling one of the animation team it was his birthday only to be totally snubbed as the animation team decided it was time to push bikini clad women in the pool. The only activity that did happen every day was aqua aerobics which ended in a very sexually explicit dance by the pool. Children as young as 6 were taking part and parents were actually encouraging children to do it. I am not a snob but I found it offensive and cheap and if a similar dance was suggested in the UK by teachers/ scout masters etc the Sun would be screaming "padophile" headlines. The music was too loud, boring and repetitive and the pool was dangerous. The whole area became slippery when wet (it's a swimming pool near a beach does water come as a surprise?)and numerous people had nasty falls, including my daughter. Also, the "life guard" is too busy ogling bikini clad babes and people jumping off the bridge and swimming under the slides make it even more dangerous. Finally, the other guests, it is the English (I am English and wasn't proud of it) that come out at 630 to reserve sun beds and umberellas, it was the English women who swore loudly, gossiped inappropriately and found it hilarious to belch loudly and snipe at other guests and the English who were rude to staff.There are three pools you can use but one of the others is used mainly by families with small children and the other has a two foot surround above the water level.
If there was a quieter, nicer pool I would definitely stay again.

First night arrived and was taken to the furthest part of the hotel possible and when carrying four suitcases and with a baby in a pushchair it was not good.

Spoke to the receptionist and we were moved straight away to a room right opposite a lift.

Food good, lots of variety although some of the waiters were toooooooooooooooo friendly, uncomfortably so sometimes.

Rooms were immaculate and the maids always came back if you were in your room.

Animation team were great, friendly yes, too friendly not at all. Spent alot of time amusing the kids even when they probably werent in the mood.

Me and my sister are going back again in 2 weeks.