Holiday Reviews > Africa > Tunisia > Port El Kantaoui > Port El Kantaoui Hotels > Hannibal Palace Hotel > Read Reviews
Hannibal Palace Hotel Reviews
| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sunshine.co.uk |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr M Clarke |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
There is a real mix of comments on here and other sites and I went with an open mind.
I took my 8 year old son on holiday last week and overall the hotel was good. I didn't expect too much considering how much it cost and I was quite pleased with my choice.
When we got there, all standard rooms were full and we were in a suite for a night which was ok. The room was a bit dated but it was huge and comfortable. The next morning we moved to our proper room which was bright and had a bath with a shower that didn't spray water everywhere!
The room was clean and comfortable although the hotel in general could do with modernisation. Alternate lift cars were having new motors which meant a bit of a wait but not too bad.
The staff were always friendly and helpful. We went to the Piano Bar and Nabil and Fadel looked after us really well. Very friendly and helpful.
The breakfast was ok, we only generally had fruit but there was a wide variety on offer.
The pool was ok but towards the end of the week needed to be cleaned out more than once a day as there was a lot of grass etc in there.
The beachfront snack bar was good and we enjoyed a few lunches there.
Overall, it is not a 5 star hotel by any stretch of the imagination but, look at what it costs you!
But, it is worth the money that I paid, it is a good base, near the amusement park, the water park, the harbour and other local shops.
I would go back quite happily.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr A K Walker |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Having previously been here in 2006 we found the hotel has not changed at all. Although advertised as a 5 star i would put it at 4+. The food was excellent and the variety was good every night. The Accomodation although not luxurious was what we expected. This time of year unfortunately nothing is going on in the way of entertainment. We found the staff exceptionally good to us, albeit most were there in 2006.
Pool area is very good, met all requirements. 2mins to beach was also good. Major attraction is the Marina and restaurants around. All of good quality and not to dear.
All in all a nice quiet hotel (Not suited for Children)
Will go back again
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| Board Basis: |
Full Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms L March |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
My partner & I have stayed in Tunisia for our main holidays for the last 5 years. Staying mostly in the Port El Kantaoui area. This year we chose to stay for a second time in the Hannibal Palace. Inside me I knew this was a mistake but could not remember why.
Reading every ones comments bought it all back to me and I am horrified to read that as far back as 2003 people were complaining about the same things: food /bland /tasteless/boring/cold (eggs: boiled/scrambled/omelette - only so many ways to cook an egg but 7DAYS a week).
Not enough Tunisian food... I know that they can do better because believe me I have been to OTHER hotels in the vicinity and enjoyed the food more. As for the service you should not have to tip to ensure you get service despite it being good or bad. TIPS should be REWARDS for GOOD SERVICE that you are happy with not a carrot to tempt them with.
The hotel I believe was opened back in 1977 and it needs updating badly - it rained whilst we were there (thunder storm rain) and there were leaks all round the reception/foyer area necessitating staff to run about trying to clear up the mess before guests were injured by falling. It may have been 5 star then but boy have those stars become tarnished now.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Sep 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Albertours (Malta) |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr G Peplow |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
I stayed at the Hannibal Palace Hotel for 4 nights earlier this month.
After reading some of the other reviews on this page we were a little unsure of what to expect! Here are some of my thoughts after staying here;
Accommodation: The Hotel itself is in a great location, a stone's throw from the bustling (yet somewhat artificial) Port El Kantaoui, beautiful sandy beaches and it is also only a short taxi ride from the historic city of Sousse.
Facilities: Nice, large swimming pool, really close to the beach. Games room, Nightclub, numerous bars, hotel shops, close to all local amenities and a good base for the various excursions offered.
Dealings with members of staff: Staff were generally very friendly and they made every effort to please during our stay.
Local bars: There are quite a few local bars which are an extremely short walk from the hotel itself - all serving the local beer (Celtia) as well as non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails. Unfortunately, there is only one bar that sells spirits/wines/alcoholic cocktails and this is very pricey (by Tunisian standards anyway!)
The hotel itself serves wines, beers and spirits in each of its bars (of which there at least 3 that we found) and there is even a large 'nightclub' downstairs, however this unfortunately rarely seems to get busy!
Restaurants: We went half-board so this included the breakfast (06:30 - 10:00) and the main evening meal (19:00 - 22:00). The seating arrangements are quite bizarre and people sometimes had to share a table at busy periods, but the idea is that each room is allocated their own table. I was unhappy with the breakfast as it didn't have any meat (apart from the Tunisian 'Ham' - which is some sort of processed luncheon meat!), it consisted of the same selection every morning - Tomatoes, Boiled Eggs, Scrambled Eggs (or something vaguely resembling it) and a few cakes/croissants. The main meal was the complete opposite in my opinion and always offered a good selection of Salads, Soups, Main meals and accompaniments (including the local favourite - Cous Cous!) and a wide range of desserts.
Niggles/Problems: *Something which was quite annoying (however I think this applies to all hotels in the area) is that you are not allowed to bring food or drinks into the hotel which were not purchased there. There are signs informing of this at all entrances, however I ignored this rule and was not pulled up on it at any time (I was discreet with my smuggling!). *The shower curtain in the bathroom was nowhere near big enough (in length or width) and this meant that the bathroom floor always got soaked and the water leaked out onto the carpet, whether this was just in our room I am uncertain.
Overall, although it is probably fair to say that this is not a 5* hotel as we may expect in most parts of Europe, it is a very good hotel for the area and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent here and would recommend it, I would definitely go back again.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Direct Holidays |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr A Farrugia |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
I don’t know who gave the Hannibal Hotel 5 stars but who ever it was they need retraining in the Catering trade, the reception staff are not helpful to their customers and they're rude.
I have never paid for towels and for using the swimming pool, not in a five star hotel, the pool man was dressed as he's just come out of a building site, most of the deckchairs are broken.
We complained about the air con twice and nothing was done about it, the fridge was old and it was warm inside plus the door didn't shut properly, the restaurant did not have air con so people were uncomfortable, the waiters did not have a clue about service, hygiene does not exist, the food was plentiful but the same every day and it was not labelled so customers would know what they're eating.
All the staff where concerned about was how much money they where going to make.
I certainly won’t go their again.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Kwik Travel |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs KG Thompson |
| Overall
Rating: |
6/10 |
| Comments: |
Having been to Tunisia and stayed at the Hannibal Palace four years ago on a bed and breakfast basis and told that the food on half board was excellent, we decided to go back and try it again. At the time it was near a five star hotel but I am afraid now this hotel can only be classed as nearer a three star.
The food was repetitive both at breakfast and dinner, lacked variety, there was never enough cutlery or crockery at either breakfast or dinner. We complained both to the staff and reception, also by the suggestion box, but nothing happened during our stay.
We feel the only reason this hotel is five star is because of the location which is beautiful, backing onto the marina.
We also suffered a few days when we got back to our room and this had not been serviced, despite the fact it was 5.30pm in the evening!
The staff I hasten to add were friendly and tried to be efficient with what resources they have.
The entertainment also left a lot to be desired and was very minimal and uninteresting. It could do with a live keyboard entertainer some evenings and certainly should have something on most nights.
All in all we were very disappointed and would not venture back to Tunisia again and if so certainly not to the Hannibal Palace.
Probably the reason we did enjoy it so much a second time around was because we met up with some more English friends who had also been there four years ago with us - however they felt exactly the same and agreed with all our comments. For their part, when they arrived in the early hours of the morning they had booked a room with a sea view on the sixth floor back in February and found this was not available so were given a suite on the third floor and had to wait three days to be re-accommodated. Enough said!!
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr Joseph Gauci |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
My partner and myself stayed in The Hannibal Palace for one week. It is true that the hotel is more a 3 Star than a 5 Star.
The Hotel is situated at a very central palace in front of the beautiful marina, where you can find almost everything you need, from restaurants up to shops.
The Hotel was very nice, both from outside and inside, were the large reception dominates the entrance. People were very friendly and all ready to assist you.
My only disappointment was the room, which was very basic and almost every switch was broken, even the knob for the air conditioner:) However they are very spacious and cleaned every day.
The pool area is very nice but still I got disappointed with the amount of broken deckchairs and rusty sunbeds we found.
Food was good, but not too much of a variety, especially for breakfast.
Overall it was a great holiday, were we experienced a lot of new things and above all it was nice mixing with a different culture and way of life. I recommend this place, and have a good one:)
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Oct 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms Lorna Shinnick |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
Overall Our stay in the Hotel was perfect...I went on holiday with all my family for a week, only came back on Sunday 10.Oct.04. The only drawback I had with the holiday was the 4 1/2 hour delay with the flight coming home.
There was everything we needed in the Port El Kantaoui, which meant that we didn’t have to travel far from the Hotel, as they had everything we needed - the beach was beautiful, pools for both adults supplied with bar and the pool for children were all spotless along with the hospitality also. I had my little girl with me who’s almost 2 1/2 and everybody in the Hotel and around absolutely loved her, and couldn’t seem to do enough to make our stay as homely and warm as possible. I would strongly advise anybody in search for a good holiday with minimum travel to keep this one strongly in mind...
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sunway |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms J McCormack |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
My partner and myself stayed in The Hannibal Palace for two weeks. It is true that the hotel, by European standards, is 3 Star.
I had my partner warned to make sure and give good tips for the first few days as it might make a difference to how we were treated. After day 1 we were treated like royalty. Leaving a few Dinar after breakfast, Dinner and drinks in the bar made a huge difference to the level of service we received. Two Dinar (1 euro 30cent) was more than sufficient at any of these times.
The hotel rooms are pretty basic but are comfortable and spacious enough. Our rooms were cleaned meticulously every day and the chambermaids were extremely polite and helpful.
The staff in the hotel love the Irish (probably due to tipping). They are not too fond of the French, probably due to their non-tipping and high expectations. They could not do enough for us.
The beach belonging to the hotel was a bit small but if you were down early morning you would be guaranteed a sun bed OR else tip the beach man and he will always reserve some for you. The pool was very spacious with an abundance of beds. The beds were free but if you wanted a mattress it was 2 Dinar.
We went half board and were delighted with our choice as there was little / none outside the Hotel. Apart from one restaurant in the Port - La Mediterranean (which is closed on Tuesday’s). There was good variety and choice every evening.
Do not go to Tunisia if you are after good nightlife- there is none !! Early nights and early rises are the call of the day. Suited us perfectly as we are self employed and needed a good rest. Met up with some lovely people and had a few late ones.
Humidity is very bad, although we did go last week July and first week August !
All in all a good holiday and I could not fault the hotel in any way. If you go away, you have to expect changes and differences. You will NOT get the local pubs, restaurants etc. that you have at home. After all isn’t travelling supposed to be about learning new cultures etc.
Have a good one.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Sep 2003 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Panorama |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr J A Russell |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
We have booked to go back to the Hannibal Palace again in June 2004, this will be our 4th visit to this resort & hotel,
The Hannibal’s a 5star but in reality its a 3star, the rooms are very nice, and are cleaned daily, the staff are all very friendly, and are always on hand should you have a problem, there was always a great selection at mealtimes, last year my niece asked for chips, and they were only to pleased to oblige, the pool is kept very clean, with a waiter on hand to serve you, We have nothing but praise for this resort & hotel...
John & Carole
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