Holiday Reviews > Africa > Tunisia > Port El Kantaoui > Port El Kantaoui Hotels > Soviva Hotel > Read Reviews
Soviva Hotel ReviewsPage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr S Carroll |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
only go to soviva if you like the following
1.getting up at 6am for sunbeds
2.ants in room, holes in curtains, patios doors that do not lock
3.warm watered down drinks(sober for 2 weeks better than rehab)
4.towels and rugs in rooms that i would not let dog sleep on!
5.same food at dinner as for tea,but in general food not too bad
6.rubbish entertainment!!
7.rude and very slow barstaff
8.overcrowd hotel
need i go on cannot believe poeple who gave it a high rating was at the same place?
To give it some plus points would be the pool and the beach.But my overall view is
that the hotel is in need of a refit and is not much better than a cattle market and
would advise anyone 100% not to go. As for Thomas Cook if anyone reads this
please take it off your list of hotel 4 star your having a laugh!
This is the first time i have wrote a review but thought you should all know a true account.
p.s watch your teenage girls man over there very pervy!
will not be coming back to hotel or country.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr B Reid |
| Overall
Rating: |
5/10 |
| Comments: |
Just back from Soviva and although we enjoyed our holiday I will tell you a bit about the hotel,the food is probably the worst I have encountered this being the 4th year we have been all inclusive, It is really repetative and most people were eating at the Formula 1 restaurant across the road but you will manage to get something to eat, Also the bar service and in no circumstances am I blaming the Bar staff, its the management that the problem lies, For instance you will have to stand in a queue to get a till receipt for your drinks and then stand in another queue to hand your ticket to the Barman to get your drinks but I will give you a little tip,the people working at the hotel are getting 1 td per hour which is roughly 45p if you hand them a little cash and this goes for the sunbeds,bar and restaurant etc you WILL!!! notice the difference!!! The people working in the hotel were all friendly and you can have a good laugh with them it just amazes me how they can be so enthusiastic with the pay they are on!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs S |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
DON'T GO TO THIS HOTEL IF YOU ARE USED TO GOOD QUALITY ALL INCLUSIVE RESORTS.
The resorts facilities are awful. e.g one golf club for the crazy golf for the whole resort and it was even broken!!
The only good thing about this holiday was the weather and that had nothing to do with the Soviva Resort. Don't go.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss L Pound |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Booked the holiday to go on 20th August 2008, insisting that it had to be a 4 star hotel.
As previously been to Tunisia, there is a big difference between 3 star and 4 star!
Taking 4 children, highly recomend 4 star!
Today (31st July) confirmation arrived informing me that there was an adjustment to the brochure and the official rating of 4 star had dropped to 3 star.
Also drinks are not free in the nightclub to 2am as described.
Panorama brochure did not indicate that you had to pay for sunbeds, gym, air con but in another brochure anything with a star * was payable locally, and all these had stars next to them!
I've been to Tunisia 4 times. Once in Port El Kantaoui to the Maharba Palace which I was treated like a queen. It was only Half Board so I took a thousand pound for 2 weeks and ended up coming home with 600 pounds after buying the children everything!
People say you get what you pay for. I paid 250 pounds for a last minute bargain deal to Maharba Palace and I've paid 4 THOUSAND pounds for 2 adults 4 children to be told that the place stinks, and the officials have had to drop the rating!
I have since cancelled where to be told a number of people have also done the same today, and got a FULL refund without any charges. Things must be bad because no company does that! Hope anybody that has already booked doesnt experience what I have had to go through today. To tell the kids we wernt going on holiday!
Luckily after 5 and a half hours, got a replacement holiday to Es Cana in Ibiza at the Caribe Hotel, and the ratings on this website prove that I have made the right decision!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss Am Myers |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
I have just returned from the soviva resort in tunisia and I have to say it was one of the best holidays I've been on. I can't beleive it is only a 3 star; in my opinion it deserves to be a 4. The entertainment team are fantastic and host nightly shows garenteed to give you a good time. The food was generally good, although by the end of the holiday I was getting sick of chips, pasta and chicken nuggets. I would also advise anyone who is going there to avoid the seafood dishes as we think this is what may have given my mum a stomach upset. Just recently at the resort they have built a new indoor dining room which is very clean and less crowded than the main dining room. The waiters were also very helpful and friendly. I have to say I was apprehensive when looking at the hotel my mum had booked for us, and the area didn't look very interesting. However when we arrived and had a chance to look around, i was pleasently suprised at how wrong I was. The resort of port el kantouie has a beautiful marina with a gorgeous white sanded beach. Transport is cheap and easily accesable. However the local people in the markets are very pushy and will try just about anything to get you into there shop. But a firm no should do the trick. Also the men in tunisia are very fond of young girls especially with pale skin and are very forward, but yet again a firm no should give them a hint.
Overall I had a great holiday at the hotel soviva resort in tunisia and would definetely consider going again in the future.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs L O''Mahoney |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Just came back from Tunisia. As a party of 15 we thought it would be a wonderful holiday but there were a catalogue of errors in store. Firstly we found ANTS in the wardrobe and on the wall next to a bed, we were getting pestered by blokes to go on trips but when you are relaxing you dont want to be pestered, if you want to go on trips you find the person relevant for that trip. The food wasnt upto to scratch, my husband had vomited because the food wasnt cooked properly and everyone came down with the runs. My sister and mother in law went on a excursion which entailed a camel ride, my sister in law was on a camel when the guide left them on their own with the camels and the one she was got scared and bolted then she came off and she had a nasty gash to her head, jarred her jaw, big graze on her shoulder and possibly chipped a bone in her lower part of her back. She couldnt go in the pool because of the extent of the injury. All i can say is that rather than a holiday it was a break away. At monastir airport you cannot use your dinar in duty free you have to convert it back to either pound sterling or euros which cheated us out of 25pounds
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr L Burrow |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Having read the reviews before departure, i was a little concerned about Soviva but need not of been, ok, the place may be in need of a revamp but was livable for 2 weeks, we were located on the top floor of the Golden Soviva block and never had any problems with fixtures and fittings, insects etc, the maids work really hard and we had our room cleaned everyday along with clean towels.
The food was good although the first few days everyone had to use the main resturant, which proved to be 'everyman for themselves', but after a few complaints, all the British were moved to a newly decorated dining room, much to the disgust of other nationalities, this was much better with a table allocated to your room number, our waiter was fantastic and nothing was to much trouble for him and tipped him generously every meal.
The Lobby bar system in the evening is a joke, having to queue for a ticket and then queue again for drinks, but never had any problems with the amount of drinks i could order, the Golden Bar is a much better prospect if you want a quiet drink and towards the end of our holiday we were using it every night although the drinks are limited, its much more civilised and no ticket system!
The entertainment got really repetative in the evening, although the Ukrainian acrobats were good, the animation team are funny but never really changed their act and after the first week we had got bored with them and come 22:45 the entertainment finishes although the all inclusive bars stay open till midnight.
What i will say to anyone going there is dont agree to any trips without haggling the price, we went on several trips ie Camel caravan, Captain Jacks pirate ship and got both for around half their original price. what i would definately recommend is the African dream night were you visit a safari park and then go for a 3 course meal with unlimited soft drinks and red wine and entertained by traditional Tunisan and African Zulu dancers.
Overall we really enjoyed this holiday and would say to anyone venturing to Tunisia is to remember its a poor country with a totally different culture to Europe and dont believe everything you read in the reviews, go there and make your own mind up!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr Vc Tilbury |
| Overall
Rating: |
5/10 |
| Comments: |
Just arrived home from tunisia, Hotel soviva from the outside looked spot on. Marble floors everywhere inside. Reception was fast and very friendly,shown to room in no time.
Room was basic, problem with toilet seat, ants comming from wall socket, even though we was on the 3rd floor. But otherwise room was ok for its purpose. Found we could leave money etc in room, maybe we were lucky. The staff get paid very very little a month,so risking stealing was not an option for them as they would not find work in the resort ever again. I found from experiance, tip the staff who go that extra mile for you at the start of your stay. It works trust me.
The restaurant is a busy place, you can get food from 0600 til 2230. The waiters work damn hard for little wage so please always say thank you,it goes miles with them. They love the British and look after you. The food was ok, depending on your taste. Did suffer tummy trouble on two days, so stayed away from the meat after that. Most things are cooked in olive oil.
The bars are ok, dont expect a british style bar. The beer is warm and you only get 2 choices. Stella or the local Kelta,poor excuse for german style beer. At the lobby bar you queue up for a ticket for your drinks then queue up again to be served, only 2 drinks at a time, in half pint glasses.ADVICE. TIP THE GUY WHO ISSUES THE TICKET. YOU DONT WAIT TO BE SERVED. THE GERMANS HATE IT. The soft drinks are warm aswell and very sweet.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms C Moreland |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
From the moment I walked off the bus with my family I knew that this hotel could not be a 4*. We were given our key and a porter packed three of our suitcases on top of another families cases and then another and trollied us back out of the building and around a corner and over a court yard area to what seemed like the rear of the building. There were no lights on and the place stank of sewage. We had to go with another family and take them to their room and wait unitl we were escorted to our room. There were three of us and there were 2 beds in our room. The light seemed to be faulty so we chose to put on a dfferent one and this brought with it more trouble. There was a ball of hair on the bathroom floor and the toilet had not been flushed from someone using it before we got there. The lights were flickering and the switch was hanging off the wall. The carpet was old and musty and the thought of not having shoes on repulsed my. I refused this room and demanded that I go to the main hotel and have a room there. We were told to wait until after breakfast, so we proceeded to the dinning room where the realisation of what we had entered was setting in. The food was placed in the centre of the room and there were flies everywhere. The floor was showing the remains of the previous evenings dinner and not a pleasant thing to see.
I complained to the management who said " what do you want me to do . We are fully booked".
I politely gave them back the key and waited to see the rep and asked to be transfered to another hotel and was offered the Sahara Beach in Skanes and would recomend it to anyone.
DO NOT GO NEAR THIS PLACE IF YOU CAN HELP IT.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr J Simpson |
| Overall
Rating: |
6/10 |
| Comments: |
We have been to Tunisia five times before,so we pretty much knew what to expect as far as food etc goes.The hotel was clean with an excellent pool and courteous staff generally,well all exept when ordering drinks at the bar which had one beer pump to serve a couple of thousand people,which did'nt help when you had to collect a ticket for a maximum of two drinks per person per visit to the bar.We had three people in our party so a least two of us had to wait in the queue of about 15-20 people each time we wanted a drink,although some guests seemed to manage to get 4 or 5 drinks for some reason.The food was fine but it was a race to get you're food with the amount of guests racing and pushing to get as much as they could in case they missed out.The only other bad thing was sun loungers taken about 5 a.m. before anybody else could get one,so if you wanted to use the pool,you had to walk at least 200 yards to get to a seat.Anyway if you like a bustling busy hotel that is pretty nice this is for you,if you want a nice relaxing break and don't want to run around with hundreds of people being watered and fed at set times then go elsewhere.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss K Smith |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
After booking the holiday in January, I looked on here to read some of the reviews on the hotel. After reading them, i was filled with panic and dread. Everyone was saying such horrible things, and i seriously considered changing the hotel. However, i decided to go with an open mind, and was pleasently surprised.
the first thing i will mention is the food;
as a vegetarian i was slightly worried that the choice of food would not be the best. in all honestly, the food isnt anything to write home about. but there was always pasta, salad, pizza chips, vegetables, soups, ice cream and cake. there was also a wide variety of meat aswell. i never saw any cockroaches in the restaraunts and always thought the hygeine was of a really high standard.
the pool is just amazing. sunbeds are a bit of a pain, having to get up early (6.30am) but we found if you tipped the pool maintenence people they always managed to get you beds.
the animation team are really friendly and nice. yes the entertainment is a bit repetitive, butwe made our own entertainment, and you can easily get a taxi (4 dinars) to the port or to sousse (11 dinars) where there is plenty to do.
the waiters are worked off of their feet as are the bar staff. the bar staff work 56 hours a week and only earn about 20 dinars a day, but despite this they are extremely friendly.
the beach is nice and clean, although the sea is sea weedy, that cant be helped. you HAVE to do the water sports, so fun. the food at the beach bar is really nice, although the tables were quite dirty.
there are two things i will complain about however.
the drinks system is a bit strange, queuing once then again. i think its supposed to reduce queue sizes, however it made it longer.
and also, it was so busy often at meal times there was no cutlery, but if you asked a waiter they would go and wash some for you.
i loved this holiday, and will say to anyone reading these reviews;
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU READ HERE YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs J Prince |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
Have been back from the Soviva a week now and still think I have gone deaf, the so called music thumped and blared out from early morning till late at night, even making conversation around the pool almost impossible. The staff were fantastic especially the Animation Team, wish I could say the same for the guests staying there, I have never meet such rude and surly people on holiday before, it seems obvious to me that the Poles and Russian dont know the meaning of the words please, thank you and excuse me. How the waiters in the dining room put up with them amazes me. The hotel could do with being refurbished, our curtains had so many holes and tears in them they could have passed for old nets. All the furniture and fitting were in a delapidated state. To finish all I can say is dont bother to go to this hotel.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss Clare Thurley |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
When i first booked my holiday to this hotel with my boyfriend and i came onto this site i was so nervous about going to the hotel as there was a lot of bad reviews! When we got to the hotel one of the workers was quick to help us find our hotel room (which we never would have found on our own!!).
The hotel was very clean and tidy, and the room was adequate for what we wanted to use it for.. The food wasnt the best but okay, what i expected really considering how many guests there were to cater for!
I felt no pressure into having to take part in things if i didnt want too unlike outside the hotel where you are constantly hassled into going in to shops etc.
The staff were great!! We became really good friends with a few of the staff including a waiter and some of the entertainment (animation) team. The waiters were only paid 12 dinar a day (of which most work 10 hr shifts!) which equals to under £6 a day!! We actually went out with the waiter one night for some drinks at the marina which was really nice and we also went to the night club Priviledge (which is brand new on the hotel complex) with the animation team.. it was good fun..
The hotel also has a spa in it which seems to be really cheap!! and all the staff there are lovely too, and the equipment is all brand new!! i went twice while i was there and loved every minute!
If you ever want to pop out for a quick meal outside of the hotel but not too far theres a place called, Formule 1 (F1) its directly opposite the main enterance. the food was so nice and all the workers there are really nice, although it does seem quite strict for them, the place is spotless and really really nice! It is apparently a 'fast food' place so being a typical brit we went in to get a kebab.. we decided to sit in and eat.. when it came out the plate was HUGE and on it we had, a kebab, rice, chips, salad, and some other stuff. its worth every penny to go there!! shame we only went there 2 days before we left!!
I dont think i would ever return back to tunisia as im only 19 and want to experience some other places in the world but i cant really fault the hotel or the staff as they were all amazing!! It is definately a good place to go if you have kids because all the kids seemed to love it!!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr R O''Connor |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
as boyfraind and girlfraind 23 and 21 for 2 weeks jun-july
Our 1st imprestions of the hotel was a bit disapointing the room was very basic and at first the food was really bad on day 1, but after we had been there for a day or two we started to make the most of it and the food started to get alot better, the pool and slide was 1st class very very clean and big the best pool iv ever seen.
The staff were great and we started to make some really good conversations with mahdi the fitness man. kize, joker and Sam always played silly games with us every day and we were sad to say goodbye to them. and the doughnut boy!! they will always be a big part of our holiday memorys
the downfalls were:-
Food. the que for chips!! what a joke, compleate chaos
Entertainment. not funny 1 little bit and finishes to early very poor
The Sunbeds. lots of selfish people putting towls down at 6:00am
Bars. drinks were warm and the pool bar has no ice
glasses wernt washed just dipped and re-used
only 2 staff on at night
we will be returning to Tunisia but not to this hotel
i also won a prize playing bingo to go on the quade bikes, it turned out to be more hastle to try and claim it than what it was worth and then when i did get it we had to pay so i didn't bother
But overall the hotel was ok
our Rep shara was great, funny and very helpfull couldn't fult thomas cook or any of our days out, i would recomend the rep ramble it was brill. we did most trips every one was worth it
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss Helen Lewis |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
hotel soviva was way above average for a poor country. the staff were all really,really friendly (possibly cos i am blonde!) everyone was very efficient and helpful.the pool was great,but possibly a bit too busy.............over popular by far! food, bar service,reception,maid service all very good.other nationalites that dont understand queues was my main concern. they were rude and arrogant to the hard working staff...
loved the place, and everything was very clean (fresh towels daily if required)
animation team tried very hard to drum up activities - we liked lying on our beds - we fought to get them! particularly liked their sketch about the british on hol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i feel that the hotel is in danger of being very overcrowded in full season.............
would go back out of season.................
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