Melia Djerba Menzel Hotel

Having just returned from this hotel can partly agree with some of the comments, but would disagree with quite a few. The hotel is not 4 Star by british standards but maybe by Tunisian standards, it may just about scrape into 3 star category. Not too many plus points. The weather was excellent as you would expect in the med. We found the staff quite friendly even with their limited english and our limited French and German we could make ourselves understood. The red wine served at bars and with meals was very drinkable for being cheap plonk. We never needed imodium (unlike the 5 star hotel we stayed in Turkey last year). The towels were changed daily and the room was kept clean. never saw any cockroaches and very few ants about the whole complex. Minus points are quite long The food was not great but was edible, but this seems to be a general thing through out Tunisia and probably something to do with what the British expect as the other nationalities there did not seem to have a problem. There constantly was no plates and so big queues bulit up and when the plates did come they did not look very clean, The lack of English was a problem. They just dont cater for English speakers at all. Evening enterainment was a joke as was the gym. If you want a sunbed with parasol be prepared for a very early start 0530 at the latest,. dont bother complaining to the pool staff as they are the ones that are reserving the beds for the lazy people to make some extra dinar,this has to be the worst hotel for sunbeds I have ever stayed at. There are numerous broken tiles around the pool area and you could cut your feet very easily,. The beer is quite good but through the day is served in silly plastic cups and quite often the pour 20 at a time and so when the last one is served it is warm. YUK The mini bar advertised in the brochure was really just a fridge with nothing in it. The hotel could really do with a total refurbishment and they had started doing quite a lot of repairs in the second week of our stay which will make a difference to the appearance. Overall given the price that was paid for the holiday we did not really expect it to be top quality but did expect it to be a little better than it was. Would we stay here again? Yes if we could get a good last minute deal. A holiday is what you make it and I am sure that there were many problems that we did not see but we actually enjoyed our holiday.

Under the ‘User Review Guidelines’ of Trip Advisor anyone submitting a write up on this page should report anything that is “Relevant to the Traveller”. My piece of advice can be summed up in three words – DON’T GO THERE! Also under the ‘User Review Guidelines’ under the sub heading ‘Family Friendly’ it says I cannot report on this site a certain thing that happened there… sorry about leaving out that vital blip of information folks. May I take this opportunity to say that the good (ish) reports on this site must be coming from people who have very, very poor standards? I read some of the write ups the day before I went out to this hotel, but because I am a positive person and open minded, I thought that it couldn’t possibly be that bad and that I would make my own mind up when I got there. How right I was…it wasn’t as bad as everyone had made out – it was worse. I’m well travelled and don’t expect everything to be ‘English’ when I go abroad, but it would have been nice for someone at this hotel to have been able to speak English who you could go to with your concerns, you know just little things like, why does the maid ask my 15 year old son for money? Why are the pool attendants bribing holiday makers to save beds? Why were grown men fighting by the pool over their sunbeds being sold twice by the pool attendants? Why do you have only a range of four spirits for the ‘all inclusive’ but have on sale 30 + choices of spirits? Why are the people who handle food so unhygienic? Why are the waiters so ignorant and rude? Why are the bar staff so ignorant and rude? Why are ALL the staff so ignorant and rude? Why don’t they like the English? What have the Germans and French got over us? Etc etc etc…. One review says that ‘you can eat all day’ Do you really want to pay for an ‘all inclusive’ holiday and then pay for your snacks in-between the restaurant opening hours? By the way, the selection of food consists of Turkey, Veal Spaghetti or Fish – every lunch time, every dinner time EVERY DAY!! Of course there is the salad – complete with whatever was served on the warm (the food wasn’t warm!) selection the day before, or was it the week before…..? Another comment says something about ‘spectacular shows’ – Horse riding once a week! Wow – some (nice looking) horses bound down to the beach gallop around a bit and then disappear. Spectacular!! Snake charming – Yes there is – in a bar 200 yards down the road where you have to PAY for all your drinks (good selection though!) and the charming is having the snake put around your neck whilst you have your photo took that you have to PAY for – charming! As in other reviews – if you want to be in bed for 7pm, want to lose weight, (my 10 year old son lost half a stone in a fortnight!) and speak German or French this is the place for you. Eight were in my party and we were all ill – as were the rest of the English we spoke to. One woman actually messed herself at the side of the pool the diarrhoea was so violent. And whatever you do if you do go there – DO NOT SEE THE “DOCTOR”. Airtours are completely mis-selling this holiday – it is not all inclusive – even the Director of the hotel was aghast when I showed him the brochure. The a la carte restaurant is next to the pool, but it is also the ‘barbecue’ ‘snack bar’ and ‘buffet restaurant’ (according to Airtours) You get one visit per stay. The menu looks good – until you sit down and they bring you the ‘all inclusive’ menu. Pizza on an a la carte? Classy – not. I cannot begin to tell you how bad it was there, all I can say it was the worst holiday I’ve ever had, this experience has eaten away at me and I, like others who have been there, am determined not to let Airtours get away with sending people to a place that I cannot put into words (that can be printed). Oh and if you fill in a ‘customer service form’ (complaint form) whilst on holiday, don’t expect any action to be taken…and if you do fill in a form, take note of how many cc copies the rep has!!!!!! The biggest lesson I have learnt from this holiday from hell is to check out Trip Advisor well before I go and weigh up the negatives and positives. I know that you cannot judge a country by one bad experience, but the word ‘Tunisia’ turns my stomach. Good advice for travellers: Learn French / German Take some bottled spirits with you. Get up at 0530hrs for a sunbed. Take your own towels. (And sheets if you have the room!) Take a big bag with you so that you can go to the supermarket and buy crisps, coke etc to live on for the week you are there. (The bag is to smuggle the food in – they don’t allow you to so). Change money as individuals – they don’t like it if you try and change more than £20 at a time. Just try very, very hard to ignore the ants and cockroaches – they are more scared than you, ya know! Don’t drink the fizzy drinks – it’s made with tap water. Don’t bother with breakfast. Take plenty of Imodium with you. Take a camera and video camera – good for evidence. Don’t forget not to see the doctor. Above all, no matter how rude anyone is to you whilst you are there, rise above them, keep a big smile on your face, it’s your holiday and you’ve earned it! Finally on a positive note, the sunshine was b*@@dy lovely! P.S I will try to upload some photo’s for you, hope it works!

Hotel Melia Djerba Menzel Operator and Date: Airtours - May 27th - June 10th 2006 Opinion submitted in June 2006 by : A & L Perry - Warwickshire 39,38,11 Resort Rating: Below Average Accommodation Rating: Poor My/Our Holiday Opinion: We have just returned from the worst holiday we have ever had. We arrived at the hotel at 1am. We had paid extra for a quiet Menzel with a sea view, we were actually allocated a filthy menzel with a view of the main road and the disco. Following 12 hours of complaining and being fobbed off by hotel staff, we were eventually moved to another much smaller room within the main hotel block. This room was slightly cleaner, however the towels and bedlinen were always stained and smelt stagant. The rooms were not serviced until after 3pm. Any complaints were not dealt with by the hotel reception staff who were arrogant and uncaring. The holiday received was not as advertised, the facilities were not well maintained. The gym consists of two pieces of very old equipment, the weights machine was rusty and incomplete and the exercise bike was rusty too! Drinks in the disco were charged for. The pool and surrounding areas were poorly maintained sharp pool tiles cut our feet, the paddling pool was filthy, and there were uneven and broken paving slabs all around. I am in the process of submitting my complaint to Airtours, however please be aware that this hotel is also marketed as a four star hotel by Panorama, My Travel, Crystal, Thomas Cook and Thompsons. We ended up chatting to a number of other British holiday makers and signed a petition set up by a twelve year old girl because her family had had such a rotten time on holiday - this petition was signed by 45 unhappy British holiday makers (including ourselves) within the space of a few days. One guy is still suffering from food poisoning and he has been back from his holiday for nearly two weeks. I would not recommend Djerba for a holiday, and would certainly not recommend this hotel. If you have already booked, I would recommend that you try to change your booking - this hotel does not deserve one star never mind four!!

Hi, My wife & I have just returned from the Djerba Menzel Hotel. We wre really put off by peoples comments regarding the Menzel & were thinking of changing hotels before we went. First of all we must say the Hotel is in North Africa & of an Arabic nature, and it is not Blackpool or Bognor. If you want fish & chips and things English go to Blackpool or Benidorm. Also Tunisia is not the place to go night clubbing & is is not part of their culture. The hotel is nice, the pools are clean and in excellent condition. The food is of a French Mediterrean/Arabic nature not English. We stayed in the main hotel in an excellent room, no ants. If fact we did not see that many ants at all within the hotel complex. Yes the Germans do get up at 5:30 am to the book sun-beds, but they do this the world over. Go with an open mind remember it is not England or Spain. We had a fantasic holiday & it was most enjoyable. Yours, Ray & Joy Harrison

i booked our holiday from the brochure it looked beautiful, then i thought i would look it up on the internet with only 10 days to go before we left, what a shock, reading the reviews, i was a little worried, but i thought every one likes different types of holidays and we did love mainland tunisia, hammamet. we were treated like lords and ladies there, the food was excellent just pure pleasure. i wanted to be the person to write a really positive review to elliviate other peples fears, but i am unable do that, it really was the holiday from hell. the only good thing about the melia djerba menzel was the swimming pools and the massages. the food was terrible, things being raw in the middle and always luke warm, never piping hot. we never had a hot meal all the time we were there, unless we paid extra for it at the calypso bar, we were all ill, i was really pleased that i had taken two boxes of imodium. hotel was very jaded ans scruffy in need of a makeover, staff were unhelpfull apart from the odd waiters that were pleasant and helpfull. there was nothing in english anywhere, no menus no newspapers no instructions, posters, flyers etc and complaining was out of the question as you could not make yourself understood. although on the last day of our holiday a menu in english was to be found at the calypso bar where you could buy a meal at lunch time by the pool, which were hot by the way and cooked properley. flat coca-cola, beer in platic cups, queues, early morning wake up's oh!!!! don,t forget your alarm clock to get up at 5 am every morning to reserve your sunbed by the pool, because if you dont you will not get a bed at all., the beach, looks pretty enough, every morning huge amounts of seaweed are pushed up the beach by a tractor so you are able to get to the sea, but seaweed does not smell too good when left to dry out in the sun. we did not swim in the sea, which was a first as we normally prefer the sea to swimming pools. if you did venture out of the front gates of the hotel there were three shops within walking distance and nothing else. THIS HOTEL SHOULD BE RATED AT NO MORE THAN A TWO STAR. advice:- take plenty of reading material, take lots of imodium, a good alarm clock and beach towels. tip waiters on your first day they will be more inclined to look after you and leave a bottle of wine on your table instead of just one glass full. keep to the bread, salads and fresh fruit for main meals. to end on a plus , do go and try the massage for backs or stress they are well worth the extra money. i have added a few photos of the beach, the rocks and the seaweed.

My thanks to all those who do take the time to place reviews - both good and bad. But let's also try and do something to address the problems. We're due to go out to this hotel end July. Like many others, I have read with alarm the feedback coming back from recent guests at this hotel. I have formally taken this up as a concern with the Travel Agency and the Tour Operator (Panorama Holidays), referencing many of the reviews. Panorama (letter dated 14th June) claims that they have no complaints on file about the hotel. Can this be true if the TripAdvisor experiences are as bad as people have written (or maybe Panorama holidaymakers are all quite happy). I can huff and puff all I like, but unless returning visitors a) formally complain to the tour operators in writing and b) make as much stink as possible on their return, things won't get better.

"Let The Buyer Beware" After reading the reviews and witnessing it at first hand, I would reccomend any young English Family not venture anywhere near this place. All the reveiws are repetitive for one reason, they don't now how to accomodate all inclusive packages. Also, the so-called childrens club is fine if you are French & German (there we go again). It appeared that if your child wished to join in, then you had to look for where the 'mini club' was otherwise your child became bored ! My partner and I felt that the Hotel was great although the language barrier became a problem for us. I was kept waiting at the bar numerous times and the French & Germans would take priority over us getting served. I even resorted to speaking French so to make the bar staff aware that I could speak their lingo. In other words, so they wouldn't assume that all English people are ignorant by not being bi-lingual. Again, the food was the same everyday and night but just dressed up a little differently, however it was still luke warm at all times. My partner's young lad had to eat spaghetti for 2 weeks because of the lack of variety. They even had what was called a 'Tunisian Night' on the night before we left which meant I had no evening meal because of what was being served up all the time. They could easily have advertised this at luchtime so as people could make up their own mind whether to stay in or go out and get something more substantial than VEAL, TURKEY, et al. I could go on forever, but please if your lucky enough to be able to cancel your holiday before you leave, then please do so otherwise you WILL BE EXTREMELY DISSAPPOINTED.

IF you are going to this hotel and expect an all-inclusive holiday you are in for a shock. their all-inclusive is full board with free drinksThe staff do not speak English and are very ignorant towards the English. The food is disgusting what is left over from lunch is reheated for dinner.You will have to get up at 530am if you want a sunbed. If you drink Bacardi take a bottle with you their version of rum is evil.Also take plenty of Imodium tablets you will need them.I have been home 3 days and am still suffering from gippy tummy as are the rest of the people I went with. Happy holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Again, after reading a lot of negative reports, we were not looking forward to our holiday. What a great surprise, we arrived after 12 midnight, the reception staff insisted we went to the restaurant for a cold buffet and water before signing in. The room was in the hotel part, most people who seemed to have any problems were in the Menzels. Rashid the rep was very helpful, go to the welcome meeting, lots of useful tips on the Hotel, what is included in all-inclusive, and general tips on the hotel and resort. Rashid asked if anybody had any problems, out of about 80 people in the room only three people raised their hands. Those with room problems had theirs changed. The complex is huge, still kept finding different parts up to the last day. Main pool was very busy, tended to go to the smaller pool by the pier, yes seaweed on the breach, a tractor cleared this most days. Towels changed everyday and returned in the afternoon no grey ones, roomed cleaned everyday, bedding changed during the week. Staff are constantly cleaning around the hotel. Restaurant: The hotel is catered more for the French and German, I printed some simple french phrases off the internet, thank you, good morning etc. We had no problems at all, people who ate in the L'Oliver restaurant thought some of the waiters were unhelpful and surly. I can't comment on that because we ate in the ground floor restaurant which was facing the pool. Our waiter Khaled couldn't be more helpful, I tipped him 5 dinars on the second day (about £2) and subsequent days, instead of just topping up the glasses of wine, he used to leave the bottle, reserved us a table for dinner and on the last day decorated our table with flowers, fantastic. He serves at the front of the room near the patio doors. Show some respect, smile and leave a small tip, it works wonders. We liked the food, always a choice of salads and hot meals, if you want burgers, nuggets, deep fried mars bars this is not the place for you, maybe thats why the french and german children looks so much healthier than ours! Breakfast was served from 6.30am to 9.30am egg dishes etc. A continental breakfast was then served from 9.30 am to 11.00am. Dinner started from 1 p.m. Tea and cakes were served in the afternoon. Dinner was from 6.30 p.m. till 9 p.m. You could eat all day long if you want. You are allowed one free reservation in the poolside bar with a set three course meal at lunch, nice setting. Drinks: Yes local beer, wine and spirits served in small cups in the outside bars but you could have as much as you wanted, just go back for more, halves served in glass in the inside bars. Wine, again find a friendly waiter and he will just keep pouring. Complaints we heard coming home "couldn't get Stellar"? Shows: Spectacular horse riding exhibition mid week, six horsemen racing and then doing tricks. Snake charming in the disco once during the week, continental style shows in the outside pool area. World cup matches shown in the indoor cinema. Island discovery excursion: Not really worth doing, not much to see on the island, more a case of local traders trying to sell their goods. People who went on the Sahara expeditions really enjoyed the experience, as we only went for a week, two days away was not our cup of tea. Summary: Unfortunately everybody is an expert on all subjects, try to smile, enjoy your holiday I'm sure you will have a great time.

Having just returned from The Melia Djerba Menzil Hotel In Djerba and after reading the awful reviews before we travelled, I am complelled to have my say on this hotel and Djerba. We booked this holiday in Feb this year and was near to cancelling after reading some of the reviews, but went ahead with our holiday. I am a single Mum with two girls 12 and 9 so was concerned. Having travelled extensively throughout my life and having been to many destinations including that of mainland Tunisa. Firstly the airport was quick and easy to get through, the coaches waiting to take us to our hotels, it was about 30mins to The Menzil and yes we arrived close on midnight. We were allocated a menzil room in the grounds of the hotel, it was clean, large and well located almost opposite the indoor pool, throughout the week we had no problem with ants, infact I get more in my Kitchen at home... the room was cleaned every day with fresh linen and towels and on a couple of occasssions adorned with Hibiscus flowers which my girls thought very pretty.. The hotel has over 600 rooms and most on all inculsive basis we worked out it provided about 3000 meals a day.... it wasn't A la Carte, but there were choices many for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the staff in the restaurant were fine with us, so they don't speak English. I can't speak Tunisian!!!! We got by, we were on Holiday if I wanted them to speak English I would of taken my family to an English resort...(none of us were ill, infact before we left England everyone here had stomach upsets...!!) The pool areas were clean and the beach was raked every day..... yes there was some sea weed but you could easily access the water... the sea was warm clear and clean.... And the weather was lovely 80ish all week mostly clear blue skies and sea breezes...and that was what we were looking for.. Yes the English people were in the minority, but once again I didn't expect or want it to be full of English people, we had no problems with the French, Dutch, Germans etc... In all I was quite happy and so were the girls who didn't need constant entertainment but were quite happy to enjoy being on holiday as was I.. Don't be put off go with an open mind, you are in a Foreign Country, North Africa, standards will be different, people don't speak our language nor have the same ideas as we do ... and most of all remember you are on holiday...........................