Port El Kantaoui, Golden Soviva

Reading all the terrible reviews the night before we left I got a bit worried, however, when we got there, I wondered if they were talking about the same hotel! I (16) travelled with my brother (10), my sister (12) and my mum. We were there for 2 weeks, arriving on 10/10/10

Our room - On arrival(about 7pm) We got given our all inclusive wristbands and had to fill out some forms then got taken straight up to our room which was not the cleanest but definitely not as dirty as some people say! Its a developing country, it's not going to be absolutely spotless. The maid came in and changed our towels and sheets every day. We were advised not to drink the tap water by our rep, but I wouldn't drink tap water anywhere abroad anyway.

Food - Very good in my opinion, there is plenty for every taste. Its a buffet style which is ideal really as you can have as much as you want but not take to much or too little. We had the same waiter and the same table every day, he knew what drink we were having before we even got in! All the waiters were lovely and our one even taught us a bit of Arabic!

Pool- Very good, but very cold! A cold pool can be refreshing in the hot sun but if its a cloudy day and the sun is not out I avoided the pool, too cold. There was an indoor pool that we never went to as we were satisfied with the outdoor pool but speaking to some of the other guests that went in, they said that it was even colder than the outdoor one! There's a giant slide which is very fun but is only on for a couple of hours during the day. We did not have trouble getting a sun bed or a spot round the pool, we went down to the pool at around 10am everyday and managed to get our usual spot by the pool. Also, watch out for the doughnut man who comes round your sunbeds, he is brilliant! Being young and female, he was very flirty towards me but never failed to make us laugh. Every time he came round to us, he had us in tears of laughter!

Entertainment - It was very repetitive, almost too repetitive. Throughout the day the Animation Team would come round and try and get you involved in darts, table tennis, football ect.. which was fine for my brother but as for me and my sister, we felt there was nothing else to do. There is a kids club on in the day underneath the slide but that is more aimed at younger children. The night time entertainment is average. Every night there would be a kids mini disco which has the most annoying songs ever and you knew all the words after a couple of days. Then there would be bingo which was 10 dinar a strip which is ridiculous. Then there was 'show time', which was the Animation Team dancing or doing a comedy sketch or a competition which was all right. They do their best and that's all they can do.

Staff- The Animation Team are great. I have never met nicer people. Chatting to them, we really found out how hard it is living in Tunisia, they work extremly long shifts and work very hard. They are a bunch of flirts but its all in good fun. The waiters, barmen, maids, reception staff are all lovely too, without tipping they are all very nice people and I enjoyed chatting to them as they are very friendly. Their English is very good considering it their 2nd language. The barmen would always know what we wanted to drink as we got to know them, which was nice!

Drinks - The alcoholic drinks are watered down according to my mum, as I never drank any. Talking to the other guests, the only place you could get proper alcoholic drinks is at the other bar, and there you had to pay for it. The soft drinks are from a bottle, as we saw it getting poured, but they are very uptight with their ice. We expected to automatically get it in our drinks as of the hot days but we had to ask for it, and they didn't look too happy about giving it to us either.

We booked some excursion trips and went to the shop across the road, and to the beach a couple of times but that is the only time we went outside the hotel. The beach is about a 5 minute walk from the hotel and is an easy route to get there. It's quite clean apart from the odd bit of rubbish. Again, we didn't have any trouble getting a sun bed.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent holiday, do not take notice to bad reviews, most of it is over-exaggeration or lies. We made some British friends who we still stay in touch with, and Tunisian friends who we miss a lot. We had a great family holiday at the Soviva, which has its minor flaws but I'm not complaining at all. :)

I'm gonna start by saying that you shouldn't read these reviews; just go with an, open mind. I (17 year old girl) went with my 13 year old brother and our mum, and we actually dreaded leaving by the end.

Arriving, we found the reception staff welcoming, friendly and helpful; they gave us our inclusive bands and yellow cards, and told us to get a drink and wait until our room was ready. We were waiting a while, but a lot of people were arriving and you have to remember that there are still other guests who have questions/problems etc.The porter who took our suitcases was lovely, we had a lovely conversation with him and mum tipped him (although this didn't seem to be necessary, it wasn't like he refused to take our suitcases until we tipped him, as some people have suggested)..

Our room was simple and smaller than we are used to, but the beds were freshly made and it all seemed clean.

Our air-con worked and was definately great, considering the 50 degree heat! We had a small ant infestation, but we didn't complain about this

The restaurant, we thought, was lovely. As we walked in for our lunch, a waiter explained that we get given a table that is 'ours' for all evening meals during our holiday and introduced us to 'our' waiters, who took our orders for drinks. Throughtout the entire holiday, we had the same 2 waiters who were friendly and made us feel welcome, and we didn't tip them throughout (Just to make it clear, as some people have said they'll only get your drinks if you tip them beforehand, this isn't true!)

All three of us found something to eat/try every meal, and none of us ever went hungry. For people who complain that there is no 'English' food, all I can say is 1)There is lots of English food, just with a Tunisian twist e.g Tunisian lasasgne - which is lovely! and 2) If you're aren't going to try new foods, maybe you would be better on a European holiday?

As for the other restaurant, we didn't use it as we were happy enough with the main one.

However, the 2nd restaurant has snacks three times a day. I've seen people complaining that there wasn't a lot on offer for snacktimes - but I think salad, sandwich fillings & bread, hotdogs, chips and pizza is plenty! If you don't think that there is enough on offer at snacktime, maybe you should try some food at meal times and eat more...after all, it is only 'snacktime'.

The entertainment team work from about 10am until around 2am. They organize MANY different activities around the pool for all ages, will come round for a chat with the guests and to allow you to order "Animation Team" tshirts. In the evening, they put on a kids disco, entertainment (which consists of irish dancing, comedy sketches and traditional dancing) and then an adults disco. For anyone who moans about the entertainment, which hotel were you staying at??? We thought that the entertainment was brilliant, and its great to see the entertainers getting up and getting involved. My advice would be, if an entertainer comes to you to get you involved with a daytime or nightime activity, at least have a chat with them! They are absolutely FAB, and we got hugs upon leaving. Most nights, you can pay extra for 'Fantasia shows' in the discoteque, but we didn't go to any as I found the Fantasia man quite creepy. If you're going to moan about the entertainment - particularly from this August - I think people should remember that the team are working through Ramadan. This means that they haven't eaten since about 3am, and won't eat again til....god knows when, seeing as they only get a short amount of time (lunchtime) and again at our dinnertime for 'freetime'.

ALso, the hotel has a private beach area...which is only about a 5 minute walk. It has a bar, toilets snack area, and free sunloungers to hotel guests. and we thought it looked really nice. On a friday, the entertainers, a fire-eater and belly dancers put on a 'beach party' - it isn't actually on the beach, but we found it fun all the same. A camel walks you down to the beach, and the vibe there was brilliant. However, it does cost (15tnd for adults); we got told there was 'free drinks', but obviously there would be...we were all inclusive!

The waiters at the Lobby bar were extremely friendly. once again, we didn't tip them throughout the holiday, yet we still got served with a good service. By the end of our holiday, we were laughing and joking with them and they knew exactly what we wanted to drink if we turned up at 10:30pm (a cup of tea!).

The waiters on the terrace are also really friendly, and will help you find a spare table (without a tip!). My only complaints are that 1) they will move your table without warning and 2) will move ANYONE so that a family who has tipped them can sit where they want to sit. Being English, I find this unfair - what on earth happened to 'first come, first serve'??

We only used the main PoolBar (not the Tobaggen Bar, I think its called). The barstaff at this bar were just as friendly as at the lobby bar. Poolbarboys walk around regularly collecting empty/unused cups (i mean REGULARLY - once they've put some cups in to be washed, they are off again. People have complained that these are only students, and after speaking to one, yes they are. But why complain? It's not like they are doing anything wrong, and in England, we expect students to have jobs!

The sunloungers and mattresses are free to use, but be prepared to get up 6am to get one! Once again, we didn't once tip the poolboys to get us a mattress.

The hotel is a 5 minutes taxi journey from the Port, and everything is within reach.

Also, don't moan about the locals - firstly, its THEIR country, and secondly, this had nothing to with the hotel itself. Ignore the children selling flowers, and ignore the men trying to get you into their stores and you'll be fine. If we can do it, anyone can!

We went to Lanzarote, and found that around the pool was sticky with drinks, we didn't have that problem here. Yes, we had a few problems with other (English) guests, and the maids (who sometimes didn't leave toiletroll, and are suspected to have stolen 3 packets of cigarettes from our room), but my only real complaint would have been about the beauty salon - I had UV nail extensions done, which were messy and hurt. When I asked them to take them off, they got quite snotty towards me, hurried me into a smaller room away from other guests/customers and ended up doing more damage to my nails. Almost a week later, they are still bruised.

Yes, the areas surrounding the hotel look 'rundown' but PLEASE remember that you are in an underdeveloped country. This is also an explanation for any carpets, or bars, within the hotel that could do with refurbishing.

So basically, anyone who complains shouldn't be having a holiday in a 3rd-world country because it is a cultural shock and you will have to try new things.

All in all, I love this hotel and would recommend it to anyone who isnt afraid of trying new things. And talk to the staff, the waiters, and the entertainers because they are so lovely. And unlike some people have said, there are NO language barriers. They are fluent in English (they have to study it, and French, at school) and will help you to learn some easy Arabic phrases (which you should try and remember, becasue you're in their country afterall...you'd want them to speak english if they came to the uk, wouldnt you?)

After reading half these reviews after visiting the hotel, I'm not convinved they stayed in this hotel as we had such a nice time.

Also, for those complaining that the hotel made them ill.... I had a bad stomach the day before I went on holiday, and honestly thought I'd be too ill to enjoy myself. However, after some medicine from the pharmacy by the hotel, within a few days I felt great. Furthermore, with the excitment, heat and the fact that even bottled water is going to be 'differen't, it's probably just that... My family has been known to get bad stomachs after travelling in the UK, simply because of the water differences. ALSO, your holidays reps and the hotel nurse will warn you that bad stomachs are often caused by cold drinks in warm weather, and you'd be better having a warm drink... me & my mum made sure we drank cups of tea regularly, as well as water etc, and we were fine!

We spent a six week holiday here in Jan.-Feb. 2010 having been at the Royal Kenz for each of the previous three years and got a little disappointed at falling standards and rising prices there.Having read some of the reviews on the Soviva we were a little apprehensive at what we might find, though we had spoken with another couple, who had also become disenchanted with the Kenz,and who having stayed at the Soviva, stated that while it was a little basic,it was OK. We took the view, that for the price we paid, should things be unacceptable, we would ask to be transferred and pay the difference.In the event our fears were soon dispelled. We arrived at 1am at a very pleasant reception area and were allocated our room straight away.The room was basic though a decent size and clean.During our stay, the room was cleaned every day,sometimes with a lick and a promise,our bed linen was changed every third day and our towels every day.After a couple of days we met our Thomas Cook rep. when we had just had our breakfast.He enquired if everything was OK and i could see,that he was hoping for a positive response. I am happy to say, that our reply was indicative of our experience at the Soviva- that while the hotel was a little basic and the food a little repetitive, we could find no reason for complaint. I am sure,that there were little things that we did not care for,but to reiterate, nothing that we would complain about.On speaking to fellow guests,who had stayed at this hotel last year, we discovered that in Jan-Feb 2009, there was a maximum of forty guests.During our stay in 2010, i would estimate around two hundred and fifty. We found it noticeable that the hotel staff were making an effort to be pleasant and to keep folk happy. e.g. any small repairs,replacing light bulbs etc.in our room,was attended to quickly.The animation team (all nine of them)were seen to be circulating among the guests regularly.I must make a special mention for Naima, on the reception desk. Every morning we were greeted with a smile on our way to breakfast and when i had the misfortune to have my wallet stolen in Sousse, her help was invaluable, in fact i have to say she looked after me as though i was family. I should also mention the guest relations officer, Jan and our new Tho. Cook rep Jo. who were also helpful. The fact that we, as well as some of our fellow guests have booked to return,in 2011 probably says as much as all i have written above.

we went to the Golden Soviva last year and had a fantastic time so we booked to go back again but wot a difference the food was terrible and we ended up eatin out most of the time.the waiters are brill and we have kept in touch with some from last year.i would not go back to the soviva the standed of hygeine has gone down we were gettin a drink and the glasses were dirty there were ants all over the coffee and tea area. apart from that we enjoyed our holiday and would go back to tunisia but we will not be going back to the soviva. really disapointed with the hotel this year.

I want to be fair to Port El Kantaoui, Golden Soviva, but the bottom line is I would not go back in a hurry.Our room was so-so, if you don't mind cigarette burns in a badly fitted plastic sink and paint stains in a grubby bath. The beds were very hard. The balcony door did not lock properly, though it was probably safe. The view was pleasant, overlooking the deserted pool! Many of us had a dip, and even a slide (when slides were turned on on demand; they were not running according to the advertised schedule), but the water was freezing, so you would not have wanted to be in for long. Only one set of slides was ever turned on, and they were steep and wide, so you were liable to turn around and had no real control over how you entered the water. Definitely obey the rules about age on these and go at your own risk.The hotel was fairly empty, and so we did not have problems with obtaining drinks, as is likely when it is busier. The beer was excellent and the wine as good as many I've paid for. Other drinks were also available with all-inclusive, but there was little choice for children apart from fanta orange or water.Entertainment was limited, but pretty standard fare for these kinds of places in my experience. The childrens' entertainers I give top marks for effort (standard mini disco). There was some aerobics type stuff also, and darts, a quiz or two, but no kids club as such. (Presumably this runs in high season.)The beach was not worth a second look really, and required a 5 min walk through half built, grotty side streets. It may be better in other weather, but it did not appeal to me.Weather was very variable including cracking thunderstorms, jacket and jumper weather, and good warm spells, in the space of a week.Indoor pool was okay, not very warm, not very large, but okay for an hour's dip. Not terribly well maintained (broken steps, e.g.)The food was variable, including some local fare, nice freshly made pancakes and omelettes, and a variety of vegetables, fish and meat in local and international styles. You just had to find what you liked - there was enough to find something worth eating, although it was a bit samey and doubtless recycled from one day to the next in one form or another. All rather over salted. Again, no queues for us, but your experience may differ in high season. Chairs were wobbly... Waiters were attentive and friendly. A 'thank you' goes a long way... particularly if you say it in Arabic.We enjoyed a visit to the spa in the hotel, which was very good value compared to UK prices.I have three main gripes with the hotel:1 They have a full volume professional disco in one of the buildings on Sat/Sun night that lasted until 4 am or so, and you can hear every thumping bass note or drum until that time. After that you can expect shouting and carousing outside, showers running and so on. So, good luck sleeping on those nights. When I complained, the hotel owner was fairly non-committal about dealing with the problem, saying he would tell them to close the doors. In fact, according to the person on duty, the owner was in denial that there was a problem and she had had many complaints.2 The whole place is permeated with smoke, even to the indoor pool on occasion. It was quite sickening. Admittedly, most of this is down to the guests, but the staff could do something to create or maintain relatively smoke free areas. 3 Rather too much pressure to buy stuff from stalls inside the hotel.Outside:Nothing to see nearby really, apart from litter and uninteresting shops. You have to go 40 mins on foot or a few by taxi (be prepared to pay £4 for a round trip) to the marina, which is pleasant enough, though there is not much to see beyond the dancing fountains and the shops and restaurants. There is quite a bit of badgering to buy things, and if you don't buy you may get a bit of muttering behind your back also. We had decent food here though - steaks recommended, as well as fish. Not all places are as good as others though. Rather over-friendly staff in some cases, including with the children, although it was clearly meant to be just friendly and in one case reduced a child to tears through teasing.If you are bolder you can take a bus for as little as 15p to Sousse and visit the market and other sights there. You definitely want to get out of the hotel and go places, or why bother going... And I have to say that almost everybody was friendly and I never felt unsafe outside the hotel. There were some lounge lizard non-residents hanging around inside the hotel to be sure, which was a bit creepy.I had a day trip to Roman Dougga which was too much bus time and too little Dougga time, but the site itself was very impressive. I would not do it again because of the time spent travelling.

After visiting the Soviva in June/July, I can now say that all the bad reports on here are rubbish. I read the reports before going and was a little worried but once there, all my worries dissapered. The hotel was large but immaculate the staff were very friendly. Yes you have to queue for a drink ticket and drink but it is all the same queue, you dont have to join a queue then join another. They do this to speed the queues up and in my experience it was proved to work. After our first day we never queued again our drinks were served before we even sat down, glasses are small but there is a shop over the road and you can buy a pint glass for 50p and the bar staff are more than happy to fill them for you. Yes the sunbeds are taken up early on a morning. The food was certainly different but what do you expect when you go to another country. Of course it is going to b different but for anybody worrying they do serve pizza chips chicken spagbol burgers and pancakes that are amazing. For anyone who wants to eat out on a night there is a restraunt over the road that is cheap and very nice (formula 1). the only thing that I can complain about is that I was not there long enough so I have booked up to go again in June this time taking the children as I know this is ideal for them to go to.

The food! I thought the food looked okay and of what I ate it tasted fine, but after a couple of days I had major stomach cramps and was in bed for couple days. I do not know if it was the food but after that I was very wary and survived on melon and bread and the odd bit of freshly cooked chicken. The food was boring and the same thing every single day!

The hotel was clean and tidy; the staff were mostly nice. The pool was big and nice although there was a pathetic rush for sun beds at the crack of dawn, some pay the pool man to keep seats for them and others take 10 sun beds for a family when they are for over 16's only (drove me nuts) be we got up about 8 and always managed to get 2 before breakfast.

Not a lot of exciting activities and the football kept bursting. There is a non inclusive bar in the hotel. The beach is fine and you get a pedlar and kayak for free which was a good laugh everything else including Para gliding, speedboat jet ski etc is extra.

Another tip haggle haggle haggle never pay their first price, you can usually get them well below half what they say just walk away and they'll chase you if they don't it will probably be in the next shop anyway as it is same stuff different shop, everywhere you go.

I enjoyed Tunisia and would go again just not this hotel due to the food! But I had a great holiday and didn't allow it to effect me that much!

Golden Soviva is a stunning hotel, especially liked Chelby, one of the waiters.

We had a nightmare holiday at the Golden Soviva from day one. Rooms are about 200 metres from bars and restaurant and is not in covered access. In wet weather you are slipping everywhere. Corridors are dark with minimal lighting. Variety in the menu is lacking. Entertainment is fine if you are 7 years old and like the same six songs every night. Otherwise, take a board game or cards. Everyone was going to other hotels for the entertainment on the evenings.

We had a great holiday in Port El Kantaoui but will not return to the Golden Soviva due to the fact that the hotel next door was so much better. The Royal Kenz was far better and also 4 star. We spent a lot of time in there at night.

Taxis to Sousse should cost no more than 6 Dinar despite the fact they all ask for more.

Tunisia is a country where haggling over prices is expected, therefore the asking price is always higher.

Do not do the Pirate Ship sailing trip, as it is very poor indeed. Camel trekking was great and so was the 2 hour quad tour. Well worth 30 Dinars each.