Hannibal Palace Hotel

After our 2 summers in Tunisia (Hammamet and Mahdia, hotels El Mouradi) we were very very shocked with this one, and said NEVER AGAIN. One thinks - information you get from agency (Suncani odmor) and another in hotel. Of, course, we were mad. Not even got welcome drink. Restaurant food is relatively OK, but so poor choice, choice for breakfast terrible – every day the same think plus leftovers from the day before. The chef and waiters cloths are very dirty and just discussing. Rooms and the hall need to be upgrade. Also, dirty chairs on balcony. Staffs attitude is terrible, simply to say they are rude. Coctel on pool is 10 dinars, far too much while in town restaurants is less. Animators are OK, but too noisy. As the hotel is situated in marina the see is dirty green, and the beach is full of see grass, so the impression is not nice and far away from wish to swim in it. All, in all, never again in Hannibal Palace Hotel. Please, Croatian people, check this hotel out before you make final choise, and do not believe everything our agency says (Suncani odmor). All inclusive do not exest in this hotel, olthow our croatian agency sell this option, what to say!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

After our recent stay in the above hotel,what can we say.
Poor greeting,not made welcome.Rooms in bad need of upgrade.Restaurant food was apaulling and no choices whatsoever for English people.Staffs attitude terrible,and we where made to feel uncomfortable.There where only seven English residents in the hotel,and it was quite clear that they did not cater in any way for these peoples needs.Would not recommend this hotel and will not be returning

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.

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

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.

2 readers found this review helpful

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.

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.

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!!

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:)

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...