Liberty Hotel

Myself and my girlfriend have just returned from The Liberty Hotel, And have gotta say - its one of the best holidays we have been on. The Hotel is a stones throw away from Monastir airport, its 6Dinar in a cab which is a bargain at £3. We arrived at the hotel and we were amazed when we got into the reception, it was decked tip-to-toe in white marble and had 20 foot chandeliers from the ceiling, It was beautiful.
The days were kept busy by the sports activities or if you prefer - just laying by the pool. In the evenings, shows were excellent, which leads me to the Animations team comprising of DJ BeBe, Dancers Wisem & Kimo, General All rounder Patricke and Music men Nino and Joe. The team were some of the finest and most upbeat people we have ever met, they are so full of energy and the talents of the dancers are truly wasted in a Hotel In Africa. The DJ plays all sorts of Music and for a small African country they are well in touch with modern chart music and the DJ even knows his underground Urban scene too.
The only qualm if a small one about the hotel was that we holidayed during the same period that the French national ballroom dancers were on a whistle stop 2 week-break from their touring and they insisted on practising between the hours of 8pm - 10pm every night in the nightclub, but as soon as the DJ wacks on a bit of Sean Paul, they soon retire back to their Ovaltine and Bed. We are from London and met all sorts of English people from North to South and as everybody knows, there ain’t a party until its an English party.
We are already in the process of arranging to go back in the summer of 2006.
Whatever remarks have been made about the hotel such as the English people having to pay for their sunbed loungers and nonsense like that is absolute trash, the Tunisians love the English, its a beautiful country, and we cant wait to go back.

Just returned from a week at the Liberty Hotel, the hotel is very clean, with excellent swimming pool, tennis courts and the animation team are constantly on the go. The beach is just across the road, which was also very nice. The hotel staff were on the whole helpful and the maid cleaned the rooms every day, with new towels being left every time.
The food was good for a north African hotel, with a good choice of food to suit the mixture of English, French, German, Dutch etc. visitors. But don’t go if you expect to be catered for as though you were in Blackpool i.e. "burgers & chips" etc. We met some great people who like us thoroughly enjoyed the holiday.

Good points: Lovely pool. Rooms clean.
Bad points: British guests had to pay for sunbed mattresses. All other nationalities were free! The bar staff were fairly unfriendly most of the time and refused to serve us with bhouka and coke (even though both were free with the all inclusive package). The pool was lovely but our peace was shattered for several hours a day with the boom boom boom of the 'music' played by the animation team. We understood that some people wanted to be entertained around the pool, but equally people wanted to relax on holiday. There was no middle ground. There was absolutely no atmosphere in the restaurants and bars in the hotel so it was a dull place to stay during the evening.
A trip to Sousse or Monastir is a must to relieve the boredom. The medina in Sousse is wonderful. However, watch your bags. I was mugged on my last night (I was approached from the front and knocked to the floor). I managed to hang on to my bag though. In fact, don't take a bag with you. Wear a money belt under your clothes. The beaches are filthy - there's an open sewer very indiscreetly flowing straight into the sea and there is a lot of rubbish on the sand. People we met who had visited ten years ago were very upset by the state of the beaches which were apparently beautiful when they last came. I wouldn't recommend Tunisia in general to anyone, let alone the Hotel Liberty.

I have just returned home from Skanes, Tunisia with 2 of my friends. We had an excellent holiday and thought that the Liberty was a wonderful hotel.
Firstly, for all those people writing reviews saying there are no tennis courts or mini golf, then you obviously don’t know how to ask the staff, incidentally most of which do speak fluent English (as well as about 4 other languages; some respect due I think!) or explore the hotel, as all these facilities ARE present on the hotel site. (Around the side, past the Animation hut for those who wish to know. The sister hotel; Neptunia also has these facilities, but you don’t have to go over there to use them.
Secondly, I would like to say with regards to the hotel star rating, a 3.5* hotel as the Liberty is rated is a different standard in Tunisia to those same ratings in Europe. However, a little research into the country before travelling there would have informed those people who have complained about this, and I say if you're not going to research somewhere then you can't complain if there is something you didn’t expect. The Liberty hotel does live up to it's rating and is very clean, spacious, with generously sized rooms and all the amenities you need.
The food seems to be a issue with most of the reviews I have read, and I would have to say that I wasn’t overly impressed with the selection, but as a mainly European hotel (lots of French and German guests) factoring in the cost of the holiday (not expensive at all!) I would say they have done their best to accommodate a range of nationalities and tastes on a budget. There was always something on the menu that made a decent meal, but the pizzeria was a welcome alternative with gorgeous pizzas at around £2.50!
The animation team at the Liberty were fantastic at their jobs, there were plenty of activities to keep you busy during the day and the evening shows were usually very funny and entertaining. They were always enthusiastic, but would not bother you if you preferred watching to joining in.
There were a few minor points of the holiday that were slightly annoying, including the all inclusive bar closing at 10pm, although the price of drinks in the American Bar and the nightclub was not too expensive. The shop staff were fairly over-bearing with some of the female guests, including us, but generally they understood that a polite no meant no. Also the resort itself was not within walking distance of any local towns, but the taxis and buses were cheap and reliable. In general the hotel location best suits those who want a relaxing holiday with all the facilities to hand. But it is easy to explore the wider area if you so wish.
Overall, we had a great time. The weather was great, the beach lovely, hotel fantastic. I would recommend going on at least one excursion to see more of Tunisia and to take in some of the culture. Also, practice your haggling skills as you can get some real bargains in the Medinas and markets.

Having read comments before I travelled I had mixed feelings about going to Skanes and the Liberty hotel. Overall I’m glad I went ahead with the trip.
First impressions are good it is rated as a 3 star and after all it is the North Africa their version of a three star is very different to European standards.
The food was good its mainly French influenced dishes not too much choice but there was always just enough choice to make a meal up.
The inclusive drinks are limited but once again it is a cheap holiday so you shouldn’t expect the same service as Dominican Rep, Mexico, or Spain.
Skanes has nothing to offer however for about £3.00 UKP 5-6 TND (Tunisian Dinars) you can get a taxi to either Monastir or Sousse. Both have very good markets. In Monastir the sales men are a little more aggressive as its a smaller town and there are less shoppers.
Overall the hotel and staff were great! Especially the Animation team.
One word of warning! Watch out for Ben in the indoor market at the Hotel. He tried to sell me a carpet worth maximum £10.00 for £500.00 plus my watch and pestered us all holiday. Go to the markets you will get pestered but you will get great deals on bags and trainers for next to nothing.
If you want to get away for next to nothing and sit in the sun all day this is ideal.

Although Tunisia’s culture is rampant hard sell, the upside of this culture is that anything you need is available easily and in abundance. For a good quality holiday on a thin budget -Tunisia is the place to go!! I found exploring towns that were off the beaten track gives an insight into local and national culture. Also without the hustle and bustle of main tourist trap areas you do not get hassled to buy goods. Make sure you have selected local guide, you cannot really get ripped off because everything is so cheap. Food excellent and interesting cuisine-tea, coffee, soft drinks all great. Wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks are excellent in quality and value for money.

I LOVED my holiday! The bar staff were friendly, the shop staff were friendly and the management were friendly!
I have no complaints except that I'm back here! there is tennis courts... they’re at the side of the hotel, go behind the animation room and walk round you cant miss it! Animation team are great with the kids... even the not so young ones! When you say no, they take it! Amazing holiday...
Holidays are what you make them! I made mine great!!

After reading the reviews on this page I thought nowhere can be that bad I’ll always have a good holiday no matter where I go. I was wrong. And that’s an under statement. I don’t want to go on holiday and be hassled into buying camel rides whilst trying to relax. The hotel management did not seem to mind that its guests were getting annoyed all day along, camel rides, jewellery, carpets, massages the list goes on. However if you plan it right you can plan a route, which dodges them, but they always find you along with the little boy selling roses all night. This hassle could be accepted but when you are eating dinner it’s a bit much. On second thoughts maybe it was a welcome distraction for some for the dire food selection that there was. I didn’t expect nouvelle cuisine but food with a little taste would be nice. Some food was rather nice but the majority was bland. Watching ready steady cook on the television before dinner only added to the disappointment each night. I have never worshipped bacon butty so much since I got back. The drinks selection was poor and I mainly opted to drink the bottles of water available. My partner managed the local lager, which he said was all right and he likes to think he is quite the drinks connoisseur. Because all inclusive drinks stopped at 10pm it usually brought the night to an early end, but the American bar kept serving till late but had the cost to go with it. Much of the entertainment was geared towards the elderly holidaymaker of whom there were plenty.
Down the road at the Sahara Beach Hotel was a different story, they had a mini market shops, restaurants, bars all of which there was no hassle. We visited the pizzeria there which was a welcome change from the Liberty food.
The resort of Skanes was a bitter disappointment. Imagine a derelict road with a few hotels scattered along the way. The beach looked like a hurricane had hit however this was probably cleaned up for the summer. We went in February and it rained for the majority of the holiday apart from the last day when I burnt like hell, through fear of entering the hotel ‘bazaar’ for some sun cream.
On the plus the staff were friendly and rooms were kept clean, the lobby area of the reception was impressive but you couldn’t relax in there long without being hassled. The entertainment staff probably made our holiday and made the best of what they had. They were a group of young Tunisian lads but they worked hard and made us laugh a fair few times.
One tip make sure you take food with you to the airport on the way home. We paid £2.50 for a Twix and there’s no bartering in the airport as well as nowhere to get a proper meal. When you are delayed for three hours a Twix does not go far.

Mainly catered for the very mature French holidaymakers.
Most staff speak French, German and very little English.
Entertainment basic.
very little to do at Night.
very quiet resort. Good if you wish to stay in Hotel at Nights very poor if you wish to venture out.
Staff varied from friendly to very poor service especially most of the bar staff.
Very basic AI compared to any other in Europe for the same price.
I would say the hotel was not 3* accommodation although communal areas and rooms were clean and tidy, carpets in hallway badly stained.
overall a fair holiday due to the crowd we made friends with probably 2 star accommodation with food not much better.
Oh the flies are terrible!
Once you step out of the hotel the country of Tunisia is filthy and YOU will be hassled everywhere you go from taxis to shops.

The liberty hotel is ok. The rooms are of a decent size and clean, the hotel itself is spacious and air con is throughout. The hotel is entirely geared for Germans and French, very little English spoken and communication can get very strained. The food is also designed with Germans in mind, which was also extremely poor. Look out for being barged out the way in any queue you may be in, rudeness is amazing. My idea of all inclusive seems to be miles away from the liberty hotels. The main bar is closed by 10pm, serving only local beer and 1 local spirit ! These are not pleasant. The bar, which is open till 2, charges all guests. As there is nothing to do in the general area, being stuck in the hotel becomes extremely boring and expensive. You could try going to a local town but be prepared for a crazy taxi drive and plenty of harassment from locals to buy their goods. One final word of warning concerning the hotel 'shop', be very careful in here as one particular staff member is adept at talking rubbish.......