Magic Life Club Manar Hotel

Me and my girlfriend stayed here between the 12th and 19th of September 2007. We chose this hotel based on the excellent tripadvisor reviews. It is a 5 star hotel and needless to say, with the money we spent, we we're looking forward to it. In summary, we were both very dissapointed and after expecting so much from the Magic Life Manar it failed to deliver in more ways that one. Service: I cannot fault the service we received from the staff, eventhough there was a tendancy to hover around you a bit too much, they were very pleasant and helpful. Room: We ended up on a shared balcony (with 5 other rooms) which while were there was quiet but the day we left a large family moved into the rooms either side of us. The thought of being there the following week in that position would have been a little offputting. The finishing in the rooms and the hotel was very basic and didnt even come close to resembling a 5 star. However, the maid was excellent and kept the room nice and tidy. Food: In a word: shocking. Im the type of person that will try anything at least once, especially when it comes to food. Sadly, i spent most of the week eating chips and grilled meat. Breakfast was awful, i didnt think there was a great selection and the food was always cold. The lunch buffet was also cold and i found the dishes they offered were a bit mishy mashy (what i mean is, they've tried to cater for different cultures resulting in it being extremely difficult to find dishes that go together). The evening buffet tended to follow the same suit. Over the week the choice varied very little. One slight redeeming factor were the a la carte restaurants. We ate in the Spice Market, Milanese (poor - the buffet was more italian) and la Careta (although i brought a stomach bug home and i think it came from here). The snack bars we're very nice either. A quick note on drinks: while i understand why they give you small measures - in some cases i felt it was completely unjustified (lager). It was a bit of a chore to go back and forth the bar every 5 minutes (the glasses werent even half a pint!). Pool and facilities: Not much to say here really, the adult pool area was lovely (no kids!), and the free sports facilities are always welcomed! You do have to pay for the Spa though. We had our camera stolen from the bar on our second day too. While it was my mistake leaving it on our table and was there for no more than 15 minutes, it wasnt handed in. Also, the Thomson tours: dont bother. We went on the Legends of Tunisia tour. 10 hours out of the complex, at least 6 on the coach. The colleseum we visted was fantastic, but the rest was a big let-down. The food we had in Sousse was probably the nicest meal all week though! So all in all, regardless of being in Africa, this hotel is not a 5 star - a 3 star at best. We went to Fuerteventura 2 months ago all inclusive in a 3 star for half the price and i honestly enjoyed everything more.

Just got back from The Magic Life Club Manar where we stayed for a week. There is lots to do from watersports to tennis (although we just relaxed around one of the many pools), so plenty to keep the whole family entertained. Very much enjoyed our week there and would go back without a doubt.

This was our first time to Tunisia, we travelled as a family with children aged 5, 6, 15, and 17 we all had a fantastic time. I booked this hotel due to the great reviews on trip advisor and getting advice from a few people from this site who had travelled there before. We had two rooms - they were clean, modern and both overlooking the beach. The food was good lots to choose from - you have to book the day before to eat in one of the speciality restaurants but to be honest travelling with young children the best thing we found for them was to use the buffet, where there was so much to choose from that if they didn't like the taste of something on their plate they can just go and get another plate and choose whatever they like again and again. When travelling with my children I always particularly worry so much about 1) cleanliness and 2) the food - for me that's top priority and I was not disappointed by either of these issues and once I got there and realised that all was ok I could then relax and enjoy the holiday. The staff were very friendly and made lots of efforts to interact with the children and make them smile. My kids would loved the fact that after their meal they could go and get an ice cream and choose their own flavours or fill their glasses with as much drink as they liked. I like the fact that whenever on the beach you could go to the hut situated on the beach and get a bottle of water however many you liked, they would even give out 1.5 litre bottles of water - absolutely everything was all inclusive even a glass of wine at dinner, you didn't feel as though you would have to ask for it, it was always offered. We saw the Manager Alex quite a few times at dinner and outside the resort and he always gave us a wave and a smile he also came over to talk to us too at dinner. We only went to this resort for 1 week but it was just not enough to be able to do everything in the resort, their are lots of activities and things to do for the children and adults too. If you are going to tunisia for the first time and have heard lots of horror stories about the food and the accommodation and so forth which was what I encountered, I would strongly recommend that you stay at Magic Life Manar, you will not be disappointed.

We returned from our 1st visit to Club Magic Life Manar yesterday and I wanted to share what a fabulous time my family and I had during the 2 weeks we were there. The hotel is huge with two massive blocks of rooms. The main hotel block houses the guest services, internet, shops, cocktail bar, spa, restaurants and video games/pool table area. Set away from the main block down a covered walkway is the family block, which also has a bar area and the Mungo (kids club) situated next door. Staff at the hotel cannot do enough for you and want to make sure that all is well. The general manager Alex is totally committed to his guests comfort and every day was walking round the hotel and grounds speaking with guests to ensure all was well. He is obviously respected greatly by his employees as he could be regularly seen shaking hands with them. All the staff are really bright and cheery and of course, they all love you if they think you'll leave them a small tip!! The hotel is kept spotlessly clean by staff who were constantly sweeping/polishing/brushing etc, etc and they all seemed to show a pride in it's appearance. Our room was huge with 3 beds and a massive balcony overlooking the sea. Rooms were cleaned daily with fresh towels and clean bedding. In each room is a mini fridge with bottled water, fanta orange and cola provided every day. Our room was in the main block and other people have commented on the noise but we did not experience this. Having said that, I can imagine that if you had a room above the main lobby area where they do singing and dancing each night, you might be able to hear this. The singing generally stopped at about midnight but the 24 hour "Wunder Bar" is also located in this area. Entertainement and activities are available and each day there are shows @ 9.30pm in the outdoor ampitheatre. There is a Mungo club for kids, a gym, aerobics, dancing, tennis, shuffleboard and a whole host of other activities and water sports - you can do as much or as little as you want! Then hotel is set back from the beach and has beautiful gardens, which are permanently attended to by the gardeners. Within the gardens is an adult relax pool, a pool for activities such as water volley ball, two small childrens pools with water slides, a huge pool with a swim up bar plus the aqua park, which has 7 slides/chutes into a large splash pool. There are loads of sunbeds - enough for every guest at the hotel and you do not need to reserve one as you could find somewhere to sit or lie at all times of the day. We loved the fact that you could have a lie in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast and go outside at say 10.30 - 11.00 ish and have no problem finding a sun bed. Towels are provided for use by the pool and beach and the sun beds also have padded mattresses on, which was lovely! There is an outside bar in the gardens where they also serve salads, burgers, pizza, chicken, chips etc and this was all really nice. Plenty of tables shaded by trees and canopies and a great place to chill over a beer - or 3!!! Walking through the garden leads to the beach where all the FREE water sports are available. There are also lots of sunbeds and again, it was not a problem to get one. The beach was clean and there was a bar serving drinks and snacks plus toilets and showers. Food and drink is plentiful 24 hours a day and you really can have as much as you like - no one seems to mind how much you eat and drink plus soft drinks water are in your room There was always a wide selection of food plus 4 speciality restaurants - our fave was Milanese, which was italian and superb .... we went there 3 times!!! The speciality restaurants are open 6 nights a week and you just book in the day before. The bread and cakes in the main dining room were delicious and even though I don't eat meat, I could always find something to eat and enjoy. Guests at the hotel were primarily German and Austrian and there were very few english people but this was not a problem for us. We booked via Thompson and they are the only UK agent selling these holidays. My only slight complaint (and this didn't really affect our holiday) was the number of very young children at the hotel - it seemed to us that nearly every german family had a toddler and a baby in a pram!! We noticed there were a lot of youngsters running around the main dining room and climbing over the seats etc but then I guess that you can't blame the children - their parents were allowing them to do this!!! Our son is 9 years old and was not interested in the kids club as he was too young for the oldest group (age 12 +) but when he tried the group for his age, all the kids were 4 and 5!!! Perhaps they should have a group for 9-12 years old to solve this problem? Due to the lack of english people there was a limited amount of kids he could make friends with although he was delighted to strike up a friendship with a 10 year old welsh girl and they had fun together in the aqua park. In summary, I would recommend this hotel to anyone wanting a fantastic holiday. However, be aware that it is a 2 hours coach trip from Monastir airport.

We had a great two weeks with our two children, aged 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. We did, however, made sure that we were put into a room in the 2nd block which is the one away from the lobby. I understand that in the 1st block you are exposed to the noise of late evening activities taking place in the main lobby and at the main bar (as one reviewer here experienced). The hotel guests came mainly from Germany, Austria, Russia and the UK, and we (I am German, my wife Bulgarian) had a great time with all of them, no unpleasant incidences, which we were afraid of because 'all inclusive' also comprised alcohol. Maybe there were some - we didn't hear of any - but the 'family block' towards the sea was well shielded. The bad habit of reserving chaise longues with towels in the early mornings (or late nights) is clearly not wanted, but still exists. The hotel management made their rules more clear in form of information posters in the elevators and towel stations, and less reservations were made the morning after, but the situation went back to 'normal' another day later. Seems nobody can beat that nuisance.... Still we always found a good place close to the children's pool, so why get mad about it. Food was fantastic, though a tunesian french-resident tourist we talked to complained it was very 'europeanized'. Even as a strict vegetarian I was fully satisfied. Last but not least, the General Manager said good-bye to everybody on departure, even at very early hours. They do take their guests very seriously. We were amazed.

Stayed at Magic Life over Easter. Hotel is lovely, rooms are huge, facilites are excellent, beach is superb, food was very good. Water slides are great for kids. On Easter Sunday a little barn apeared on the terrace filled with real rabbits and chicks. I would give this place 10 out of 10, but we did have a few problems. We spent the first night in a 4th floor room above the foyer and were awake till 1 am listening to the house band singing 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon' at top volume; even ear plugs didn't help. Got moved to a room further away from the foyer activity the next night, which was much better, but still suffered nightly from shouting Germans in the corridors. The hotel was full to capacity at half term and we only came across one or two English people, all other guests were German and Austrian. We had been at the Royal Azur in Hammamet for a few nights before and it was quite a culture shock to come from a really quiet hotel to a really noisy, busy one. The hotel has great facilities, but the directions/instructions that you get when you arrive are a little vague and it takes some exploring to work out where to go and what to do. Although the grounds were beautifully kept and though we found a surprising amount of glass on the beach. Despite these things, I would highly recommend this place to people with kids as there is so much to offer, but I would make a point to ask for a quiet room away from the enterntainment. We booked direct through Magic Life, otherwise from the UK you have to book a package through Thomsons.

Lovely clean welcoming rooms, friendly staff, loads of water-sports and activities for those who don't want to lie on the beautiful beach all day. All inclusive really means all inclusive - there are even free tennis lessons and haircuts! Would recommend booking into one of the three a la carte restaurants - The buffet is fine but these are better.

We had an absolutyly fabulous week here. Food was lovely always hot too much to choose from Drinks very good. Nice bottle of wine with dinner Staff very freindly and helpful - nothing was too much for anybody. Great for children

You will need more than a week! We sadly didnt know this and went for just a week at the beginning of September, There is so much to do at the hotel, relaxing, eating, drinking, dancing, lounging by one of the many pools, swimming in the clear blue waters of the warm sea, etc etc as well as all the free water sports, entertainment, sports facilities, which include aerobics, tennis, table tennis,a well equipped gym, archery etc etc all too many to name. The staff were fantastic, all treating you as though you were a long lost friend, couldnt do enough to help and make your stay more enjoyable. The whole hotel is spotlessly clean, you could eat off any of the floors. The choice of food is extensive and delicious, very hot and always well presented, i cannot imagine anyone having a problem finding something they liked - there is so much choice and there are also four themed restaurants. I have told everyone about it since i came home and given the chance i would be back on a plane heading for the hotel right as this moment. If you chose not to, you wouldnt need to use any money for the whole stay, unless you want treatments at the health spa. when they say all inclusive, they mean it. Congratulations to the staff and management for giving us a wonderful holiday.

Anyone planning on visiting Tunisia should stay at the Magic Life Manar. I have been to several all inclusive vacation in North America and this one (albeit in Africa) was by far the best ever. Accomodations - the hotel is very contempory. The hotel lobby is extremely large and well furnished to accomodate all guest of the hotel at the same time. The rooms are extremely clean and are a perfect size. Keep in mind, some have balconies/terraces and some do not, but regardless, the view from the rooms are amazing, and balconies are not a necessity. Food/Drinks - amazing selection. There are several choices for lunch (buffet, italien, mexican and pool grill). There are also several choices for dinner (buffet, italien, brazilien/turkish, lebanese, and seafood). Great selection and great quality. As for the drinks, they are always flowing. Beach - The beach was quite large and private and very nice. There were very few (if any) locals. I didn't swim in the Sea, but it seemed very clean and was clear. Pools - There are four outdoor pools and a couple large waterslides. There is also an indoor pool, hottub and sauna. Entertainment - This is what did it for me. The entertainment staff were amazing. The evenings consisted of the nightly show, followed by live music in the lobby (to which everyone danced) and ended with late nights at the disco (where the drinks continued to flow). Children Activites - I don't have any, but there were quite a few there and it seemed there was a lot often for them to do. You never saw them after the evening show (which was good for me) Off the resort - I would recommend the Souks (outdoor markets) in Hammemet, Tunis, Sousse and Nabeul. For Sousse and Tunis, you would need to taxi to Nabeul and then get on a bus or large taxi to the city (quite cheap and safe to do). And of course......don't forget to ride a camel!! I would recommend this resort without a doubt!!!