Skanes, Hotel Saadia

Wouldn't go there again. The hotel is basic, food is poor and the staff and locals are on the pull, some kept touching my girlfriend or asking for money. Expensive for drinks in the nearby bar and mostly local men. Boring location.

PS

Photos on holiday sites are mostly false!

great hotel really good value for money. very friendly staff cleaners worked very hard to make sure the place was shining.

- animation made the holiday they are amazing getting you involved in diff activities including archery, mini golf, gymnastics, wateraerobics and best of all the french bowls which we all enjoyed.

food was average a bit repetative but always something to eat and the pancakes + pizza was nice at snack times.

bar was good drinks are watered down but you can pay in the british bar also the barmen were really nice.

local markets were a pain very annoying but a swift saying of 'imshee' would send the shopkeepers on there way, the zoo was a great day out and also the camel trip was good for money.

i would definately reccomend this place to friends and hope to go back the end of summer we all had a great time.

Hotel is rubbish and underage daughter ended up having sex with the entertainments manager. He calls himself chief. Not a safe place for your children.

am going back again this year for my fifth visit. It can not be beaten on price. It is a great cheap holiday and as long as you are realistic with your expectations then its a brilliant little bargain. PLEASE NOTE - if you pay £300 for an All inclusive holiday please do not expect the Ritz

I had a really good holiday and I liked everything and all the staff were all really nice and I would recommend this hotel. Loved it and I will be going back again. Bad points the bed rooms.

The hotel is in an isolated spot which meant eating or drinking down the road was impossible forcing you to stay in the hotel grounds where there was never enough seating for everyone, never enough glasses for drinks or plates and cups in the dining room.

Hygiene was none existent, when the barman passed your drinks it was usually with fingers dipped inside the glasses - which often sported someone Else's lipstick or even fruit from the previous drink of sangria. I even saw a barman open a cocktail mixer, test the contents add more spirits and then pour it into a glass for the waiter to take to a customer!

The beach was filthy and the sea was full of seaweed. Within 5 minutes of entering the sea my son, a young girl and a woman got stung by jellyfish; the staff in the hut provided by the hotel said to rub it with tomato when we got back to the hotel and that he was lucky because had it of been a couple of weeks later the jellyfish would have been a lot bigger. If this is a common occurrence why aren't there tomatoes in the hut and why aren't swimmers made aware of this fact?

Overall I'd say don't touch this hotel unless your dream holiday is to lie by the pool all day and sit by the stage for 3 hours before the show starts, which lasts approximately 45 Min's and is mostly done by the entertainment staff, just to make sure you have a seat, even then, make sure you're not all inclusive or you'll never get served a drink.

Diane

If you've read any of the bad reviews about Hotel Saadia in Tunisia, then ignore them and discover this hotel for yourself. It really isn't as bad as people make out.

My friends and I stayed at the Hotel Saadia for 2 weeks in April 2006, and we had an amazing time. The rooms are basic and the food leaves a lot to be desired, but then again what do you expect for a 3 star low budget hotel? The indoor swimming pool is heated, and although I didn't use the Turkish spa myself, I've heard from others staying in the hotel, that it is highly recommended. The grounds in the hotel are extremely well maintained, and the staff are really friendly, if not a little crazy!

My friends and I had a brilliant time, and we would go back to hotel Saadia again in the future.

The food at the Saadia Hotel in Tunisia was the poorest I have ever seen on an All Inclusive holiday. There was very little choice, and the food looked and tasted bland. There was very little for the kids, and my kids love food, but they lived on crusty bread and chips for a week.

The alcohol was a disaster. AI means all local drinks and soft drinks, but all you were offered alcohol wise was wine (albeit red, white and rose), Buka and Thimarine, and if you wanted Vodka or brandy etc. you had to pay for it.

Who ever rated this hotel as a 3 star perhaps should compare with other 3 star hotels in the area, as it is more like a hostel.

The entertainment was a washout. 4 young guys did their best, and the singer thought he was good, but he was awful. The dance floor and the entertainment stage was smaller than I have seen in a bar.

The hotel is run down. I believe it had a overhaul during the winter, but all they seemed to do was paint it. There were loose tiles on the floor, which was dirty. There was holes in walls, and it generally needed to be gutted and redone.

The only positive thing was the pool. It was set in nice surroundings, but even then the unevenness of the surrounding ground meant you would not dare try and walk with high heels, on which you had to cross to access the accommodation blocks.

The dining room was not kept clean at all. I only witnessed the tablecloths being changed once in the whole week I was there. There were obvious dirty marks on the table that were present at breakfast time, and still there in the evening, and then again at breakfast time again the next day.

The waiters were good, and certainly they did their job, but the bar staff were moody if you asked for two drinks at a time, and by no means were we being greedy. The alcohol they did serve did not even make you merry.

I certainly won't be going back to this hotel, and I would not recommend it to anyone in its currents state of repair. A major overhaul is required, and I think management should visit other AI hotels and see what 3 star standards are in place, but as far as this hotel goes their standards are a joke.

The inside pool was dirty, walls and ceilings were full of holes, and it was just utter shabbiness all round.

The towels were blue, and some were torn and rotting away. We had 4 people in our room and had to ask various times to get 4 towels, and they were eventually changed. The dust under the beds looked like they had not seen a brush or a mop for months.

The glasses from the bar were always chipped, and we had to be very careful. Even the kids were getting chipped glasses. They have plastic cups sometimes, but they generally give you glass, even for outside around the pool, which again reveals poor safety standards. The plastic cups were that cheap and flimsy that when you picked them up without any force, they collapsed and you lost half of the contents before you even left the bar.

The reception staff were very helpful, and I have no complaints there.

God knows what they are thinking about. When we were there there were at least 5 parties transferred out on arrival due to the low standards. We however were not in a financial position to do so at the time, so we had to endure the consequences. We made the most of our holiday, met some lovely people, and had a relaxing break, but it definitely was not what we expected, having stayed in Tunisia before, and we have seen what standards can be achieved in other 3 star hotels.

It put me off Tunisia for life, and has spoiled my kids holiday and mine. I will be putting in a complaint with Med Hotels, and I will tell them that they need to have a good look at this hotel, as it is a disgrace to the travel industry.

Room decor was very basic,ie shower head resting on a screw. Toilet flooded twice. Food was absolutely disgusting. Served boiled potatoes and onions for breakfast. Hotel Saadia seems to ignore outside contractors selling excursions. These contractors can be a right pain as sometiomes they don't take no for an answer. Two in particular should be avoided Tariq and Mohammed as they misled tourists reguarly. Entertainment was dire, kids club followed by cabaret which was very poorly executed. Skanes is in the middle of nowhere and Taxi's are your only form of transport. Although theses are reasonably priced the drivers are extremely poor and view driving as a game of chicken. The lager is very poor compared to choice and quality available in the UK. This may not seem important to some people but for those wanting a decent drink then Tunisia is not the place for you!

When in the Hotel Saadia we drank beer and wine as we had paid all inclusive and thought we might as well get something out of our money. Nearly every drink we had was served in either a chipped or cracked glass or most of the time they were dirty. The water behind the bar used to was them in was filthy. When we ordered a beer we could only have a small one, in every other all inclusive hotel we have been to once you have paid you can have what you want and this could be a large beer. It was absolutely ridiculous and felt that we were being treated like children. The soft drinks which are in the all inclusive were served in white disposable plastic cups and if you asked for it in a glass you were just laughed at, it felt like we were still at school. People who bought cola and lemonade etc from the bar were given glass bottles with a straw. The people who were all inclusive were given it in cups from a plastic bottle which tasted very sweet rather like soda stream I suspect as a cost cutting method. This should not be the case we should get the same treatment as everyone else. On a few occasions the outside bar was not manned and the barman would be hiding behind a screen eating his dinner and would make it obvious he had seen you but still not serve you, this is just arrogant. A lot of the staff were very rude with the odd few been friendly. If you were sat at a table you got waiter service but if you had a blue band indicating you are an inclusive guest then they would ignore you as they did not think they would get a tip from you. One bar man in the inside bar was very suggestive and made rude comments he even followed one female guest into the toilets to harass her and when she threatened to get the manager he left. You do not expect this behavior on holiday and it was most unwelcome. We would like to know why you had to sign a chit/receipt every time you got a drink when you have a band on to indicate you are an all inclusive guest. The glasses and tables and general bar area we thought were not kept very clean. We observed a table with a spillage on it which attracted about 30 bees the waiters walked past it for over an hour. Anyone could have been stung. The bar was a disgrace and for most of the holiday we purchased drinks outside the hotel.

As previously mentioned we both suffered diahorrea and sickness for the 10 days we were on holiday and we were not the only ones. On day two of our holiday we complained about the hotel and hygiene standards to the 1-2 Fly Representative, but he just said that it would improve which it did not.

Firstly meal time at lunch was supposed to be at 1230-1400hrs. On numerous occasions the doors were not opened until 12.55hrs. People were stood queuing which is not good when you are supposed to be on a relaxing holiday. The food itself was mostly the same choice every day for the whole ten days. Breakfast was croissants, which were hard, bread which was like rock and you could hardly cut through it. Boiled eggs, fried eggs, sausages on some occasions and beans which were drowning in some sort of congealed liquid. If you were brave enough to sample lunch or dinner the meals were nearly always the same. The food was disgusting and most of the time there were trays running out and the chefs were not very quick at replacing the food which had been taken on the buffet. The chips and potatoes were rarely cooked properly. On one occasion we both got meatballs and when we cut them open they were raw. We told the waiter who just told us that the chefs were busy.

The chefs uniforms were filthy and we witnessed the chef in the pizzeria which is a separate restaurant wearing the same uniform for the whole ten days we were there. This is unacceptable hygiene. The floor in the kitchen of the pizzeria was always filthy even when the kitchen had just opened and there was no wonder that so many people at the hotel were ill. The pizza which was cooked for the guests was cooked fresh if you were all inclusive you got slices from a big tray which can only be described as cold bread with tomato puree on. The all inclusive pizza did not resemble pizza in any way. Also pasta was supposed to be served in the evening as part of all inclusive but never was.

On several occasions in the main buffet restaurant we just eat pasta as the rest of the food did not look edible. Most of the time we just took one look and ended up eating elsewhere. We witnessed a chef again in a dirty uniform come out take some paper napkins wipe the hotplate down. He then brought out a tray of meat took the old meat off and used the same napkins he had used to wipe down to push the old meat onto the new meat. This is disgusting practice. The waiters in the restaurant would ask if you wanted a drink with your meal and then bring it when you had finished your meal and it was often warm beer with dirty glasses. There were flies everywhere and the window sills were full of dead ones. All they need to do is invest in some fly zappers. Instead of plates being taken away straight away to be washed, they and the unwanted food was piled high on side tables which attracted even more flies. Our dining experience at the Saadia hotel can only be described as feeding time at the zoo.

The entertainment at the beginning of every night was a kids mad half hour. The entertainment team would get the kids up and play the same naff songs every night, this was rather irritating to most guest especially those without children. Why not have the kids entertainment separate or if they must do it vary it. The entertainment itself was some of the worst we have ever seen relying most of the time on audience participation, rather been like at Butlins. The CDs played during the day were the same day in day out. The so called DJ was annoying as he kept spinning the records and slowing and speeding up the music which irritated a lot of people. The nightclub we thought would be great to escape and unwind, wrong again. On the door as you would expect it clearly stated 'No Under 18's'yet every single night you would have under eighteens running around playing chase. This was brought to one of the nightclub managers attentions on several occasions who just laughed it off, or told them to get out then let them back in. The all inclusive drinks stopped at 2400hrs which meant you had to buy your own drinks in the club which were served from the same bar area as the ones you got all inclusive before 2400hrs. This is absolutely ridiculous. You were not allowed beer at the beach bar if you wanted it you had to buy it, this All Inclusive deal was a total rip off, we have never known anything like it. The toilet at the beach was in an absolute state most of the time with toilet paper on the floor and faeces around the seat, has this hotel never heard of hygiene. The carpets in all the main corridors were badly stained and the hotel smelt unhygienic, especially the pizzeria. There were electric sockets without coverings which is a serious health and safety risk. Down the corridors were cupboards with pipes in that we witness children opening and shutting and this could have resulted in a nasty fall. The door to the hotel roof was left open and children would run around up there and again a serious risk to life. The cleanliness and hygiene in the entire hotel was disgusting and I would not send my worst enemy there. The towels in the room were supposed to be changed if you put them in the bath. On a couple of occasions ours were taken out of the bath still unclean and placed back on the rails. When they were changed they still smelt disgusting and sometimes wet. We witnessed maid using dirty water to clean the rooms and the bath was absolutely filthy. In the morning when guests were going to breakfast the cleaners would fill the floor with soap suds, why not clean before guests go to breakfast this was a serious risk, anyone could have slipped and hurt themselves. In the morning the patio area would also be scrubbed with detergent and swept into the plants and into the swimming pool, absolutely disgusting. One day we were in our room with a 'Do not Disturb' Sign displayed. There was a knock and the cleaner asked when she could clean our room. We said in five minute, two minutes later she knocked again to ask if we could change some UK pound coins for Dinars, we said no. She then returned immediately asking us to change Euros. If it says don't disturb then you shouldn't be. We would like you to know that we have traveled to many parts of the world and stayed at many hotels so we are experienced travelers. Our holiday which we paid All Inclusive for was an absolute disgrace it felt like we were in a prison camp for 10 days. By day two we requested that the 1-2 Fly representative move us to an alternative hotel or get us a flight home, he told us that this was not possible. When you complained about anything you were just laughed at because as far as the staff we're concerned they had your money already. We spent a lot more money than intended on food and drink outside the hotel as every time we eat in the restaurant we would then spend most of the time in the bathroom.