Holiday Reviews > Africa > Tunisia > Djerba > Djerba Hotels > Melia Djerba Menzel Hotel > Read Reviews
Melia Djerba Menzel Hotel Reviews
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Oct 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Airtours |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss H Smith |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
After reading the reviews I was worried about this hotel, but please don’t take any notice of bad comments! I wish I knew why some people moaned about trivial things.
Firstly the flight was good, only 2.5 hours, the airport is very new, bright, clean and very reasonable compared to other airports, yes you do have to queue at passport control for sometime, but once through the baggage came quickly and we was off to the hotel, we arrived at midnight, as a lot of flights do, and just missed the free bar!
But the hotel kept the restaurant open and laid on food, hot and cold for us, which is a nice touch I've not had that before arriving that late.
The hotel its self is very inviting, nice reception area, pleasant staff and tour reps, the room very clean and very spacious, bathroom with bath, shower, and basin, bidet, all working well with no smells !
Plenty of towels, changed daily if you wanted, just leave them on the floor or in bath; maid cleans every day, and makes pretty patterns with your nightwear if you leave it out!
There are lifts or stairs around the hotel, several bars, none of which we ever had to pay for, 2 large restaurants, help yourself buffet style, all hot and very nice, something for everyone, drinks are free in restaurant, wine very nice, as is the beer, the waiters cant do enough for you, also fizzy drinks are real coke and Fanta, not cheap brands.
The pools are out of this world, although my one complaint would be that not all of them are fresh water, the large one is sea water, but it helps you float well!
Lovely outdoor restaurant serving pizza, chips, lasagne etc, you can eat here for free once per stay, we eat there a few times as the kids didn’t want to go indoors, it wasn’t expensive, portion chips £2, pizza £3, also you can dine in the al a carte restaurant once per stay.
But you do have to moan and ask, we was told it was a printing error in brochure, so if you saw it and asked then they would let you, but they don’t promote it.
We went and its was lovely, staff so nice, food great they waited on you like royalty, a nice treat where you can dress up a little in lovely surroundings with music in the background.
The entertainment was good throughout the day, bowls, archery, football, aqua gym; the entertainment in the evening was ok! its different, and done to cover all tastes and nationalities, so a lot in German.
If you want a seat, you do have to get one at least an hour before show starts, not really enough tables and chairs, but there is bench seating at the front of stage, ok if your small, but great view.
One night there was a snake show, very funny, comedy sketch, the staff try so hard, but its not up to European standards on the entertainment side I felt.
Little shop to buy drink and crisps and limited blow up toys, sun beds etc, gift shop, but haggle as its dear, spa which is lovely, staff from spa do pester you and will pretend to the ladies that you are the love of his life and never met anyone like you before, sales talk!! But it’s great for the ego.
Plenty of water sports, and fairly cheap, beach nice, pool bar right next to beach and the pool there is fresh water, so nice in the afternoon, also toilets there as well.
Make sure you go on the pirate ship day trip, excellent value for money, they take you in convoy to a sandbank/island, very beautiful.
You get time alone on beach, then they cook you lunch on the beach, fish cous cous, bread and chicken with plenty of salad after they perform a comedy sketch in 3 diff languages, very funny, then you set sail home.
Saw lots of dolphins, just beware all food is free, but you have to pay for any drinks, so make sure you take some money, they take photos and sell to you, refuse at first, if you wait until your on your way home they become cheaper!
All the crew entertain you, dancing, throwing the fishing nets in water, putting the sails up together, they get everyone to join in and it’s a fab day out.
This hotel is lovely, yes the staff don’t yet speak much English, but they do speak 5 diff languages, how many can you? I think they try brilliantly, they are so friendly, will do anything to try and make you smile, laugh and enjoy your holiday.
We was trying to teach them some English, its was so funny and they was grateful for us making the effort to talk to them, why do people want to go abroad, not want to learn the language, expect English food, English food and English entertainment, if so, then why the hell go abroad !
All in all this hotel is a oasis of peace, in a beautiful un-destroyed island, the weather is glorious, the food good, service great with the most friendly staff about, I'm going back to same hotel and cant wait.
So please if you go, make the effort to talk to them, learn a little Arabic, you say "shokaran" spelling prob wrong, and see their little faces light up, they think your amazing if you learn a little about their culture and it will really make a difference to your stay.
So go with an open mind, if you love culture, great weather, relaxation, pampering then your love Djerba, its a hidden secret, shame all the Germans found it before us.
If you like Blackpool, benidorm, Margate, Majorca etc then this isn’t the place for you.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Sep 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
MyTravel |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs J V Searcy |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
I have just returned from a superb 2 week holiday in this hotel and feel I must stick up for it! We had a fabulous holiday and will definitely be returning next year.
The staff are very friendly...if you treat them with the respect they deserve. We did notice alot of moaning Brits snapping at staff because they've had to wait two minutes to be served. These guys work very long hours (08:00 - 00:00) - give them a break!!
The food is good, it's hot, there's plenty of choice and there's plenty of it!! What more do you want?
The rooms are very spacious in the main hotel and there are Menzels spread throughout the complex. Although this is a very big hotel we never felt crowded. There are plenty of sunbeds to be had but you just have to go in search of them. Do not expect to walk up at 09:00 and have a sunbed waiting for you in a prime location - it does involve a little work on your behalf! We had two small children with us (4 years and 12months and we never struggled to find them shade.
The entertainment is a little odd but it does cater for all nationalities. There are plenty of places to escape to if it really isn't your thing! There are lots of activities during the day for the more active but if you're like me and don't like to join in you never feel pressured to do so.
The only problems we encountered were not enough seating at night outside (but we just pulled up a sunbed!) and one receptionist who was very rude but this was being sorted out following a string of complaints. The MyTravel reps were always on hand to iron out any difficulties.
If you are looking for a British seaside resort with better weather this IS NOT the place for you!! If you are looking to embrace another countries culture for a couple of weeks, try new foods and experience different ways of life this is an excellent place to go. Most complaints we heard were regarding the lack of burgers and chips for the kids and lack of Stella lager but I have to ask...why go abroad?!!
Yes, the hotel is a little tired and is in need of some repair work but it is clean, friendly and in a superb location. (P.S. the horse riding (camels available too!) is fantastic for riders and non riders and is only across the road from the hotel - definitely a holiday must do! As is a trip to the crocodile farm.)
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr J Pedley |
| Overall
Rating: |
5/10 |
| Comments: |
Let me start by saying this is not a 4 star hotel. It maybe scrapes 3 star. Not too many plus points for the holiday.
The weather was exceptional as you would expect being in the med at this time of year.
We found the staff very friendly even with their limited english. The wine served in the bars and at meals was very drinkable. There seemed to be lots to do round the hotel judging by the amount of times the enternainment team blew their whistles. The rooms were kept very clean and towels were changed daily.
The minus points.
It is not 4 Star (maybe is by Tunisian standards). The food was not that great and very repetitive, but there was always something you could eat, breakfast time fresh made omlettes and pancakes were very good, and in the evening there was always different pastas on the go.
This hotel is the worst I have ever been to for getting a sun bed, if you want a sun bed and parasol be prepared to be out of bed at 5 O'clock in the morning, and it is no use complaining to the pool staff as they are the biggest culprits for reserving beds for people, obviously a nice little dinar earner for them, I watched them one morning and they must have reserved upwards of 40 sun beds for people who could not be bothered to get out of bed.
The evening entertainment is very bad. Make sure you wear something on your feet around the pool area as there are a lot of broken tiles around (although they had made a start repairing them). The mini bar is just a fridge and you have to stock it.
We never had to pay for any drink in any bar that we drank in, and the hotel seemed to making improvements to bring the hotel up to scratch and if they keep doing the work the hotel will be worth another visit. Having talked and listened to other holiday makers on the flight home it would appear that this hotel was in fact one of the better ones! I am sure there are other points that I have missed but all in all I would return to this hotel but next time maybe only for a week.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss H M Green |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
Hi guys,
After arriving off the plane at the airport we all joined massive queues for passport control. On the plane you are given a form to fill in that you give to passport control. There tare off the top part and you use the bottom part on the flight back home so keep hold of it. Arrived at the hotel after a 40 - 50 mins couch ride. Reception area seemed nice and clean, and we were shown to our menzel.
The menzel we stayed in seem nice and clean. The bathroom could have been better. The sink looked like it had been replaced and glued in using grout which had gone a grubby brown colour. The fridge in the room was dirty, and the toilet always smelled like a public toilet. We seemed quite lucky with our rooms, as we got to know and spend time with 4 other couples and they had to change rooms 2 - 3 times. Problems were beds had been slept in and it was filthy, toilet overflowing, one room was in a basement that was small, cramped and damp.
And as it describes in the broacher that you get a mini bar, you don't. The hotel it self seemed fine. The first week there was a Jewish convention, they were there for a week on a pilgrimage, so one of the two restaurants was out of bounds for everyone but them because this was doing only koso food. They also took over half of the pool area during the day where other holiday maker were not aloud to sit. Because of this we had to be scanned and any belonging put through an x-ray machine, every time we entered the hotel, the army helicopters got a little irritating flying over the hotel while you were trying to relax.
Now to the all inclusive issue. This hotel is not all inclusive. There are 4 bars in the hotel, only 1 is free the rest you have to buy drinks. The drinks insist of 1 cocktail, Vodka with ether coke, sprite, or Fanta or beer. That a lot of the time was flat, weak and only comes in half pints with a massive head.
The 4 restaurants were 2 free ones (only 1 free one for the 1st week, cause of the Jews) that the food came as slop, (we nicknamed them school canteens) the main meat was veal the was chewy and fatty. and deep fried everything. it was ok for the first few days but after 2 weeks you don't feel like eating anymore. Very rarely got fresh fruit and veg. The other 2 were a pizza/bbq that you were allowed 1 visit per stay the rest of the time you had to pay, and lastly was one you paid for but the service was very, very slow (p.s don't have the chocolate moose as after, it tastes like powered thick custard.)
The ice-cream you can buy from the poolside bars, please check the sell buy dates as we had 2 out of date ones.
The beach was ok ish, the first 2 days the seaweed was horrible loads of it on the beach, then it was moved via digger to piles at each side. As the beach was 4 small ones separated by large rocks that were covered in dead seaweed from early moving off the seaweed. Then there was a strong wing and the waves washed all the seaweed piled up back into the sea. The following morning there were piles and piles of seaweed. To get to the sea you had to jump over it. The sea looked black cause of all the dead black seaweed so never spent anytime down the beach. While walking from 1 beach to the next I stood on some broken glass so make sure you wear your flip flops everywhere.
The attitude of the staff was really disrespectful. They were arrogant and when in the restaurant you would be seated at a table with no knifes and forks and you had to ask twice to have some.
This hotel really isn't geared for the English, as most of the staff don't speak English, I know you shouldn't expect everyone to but when staff are just rude and you can’t say anything back or complain properly it so irritating.
The main things that let this hotel resort down were the food, attitude of the staff, the beach and a 4 * hotel that should be a 2 *.
Apart from that we had a good holiday at least it was good weather and I got a good tan.
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