El Hana Beach Hotel

please do not go to this hotel,it is very dirty with ants all over,maid put dirty sheets on our bed

Worst experience in my entire life! Food inedible, all of our party of 4 ended up with ecoli as confirmed by my gp . Rooms filthy, blood on sheets, ants and cockroaches everywhere. Meant to be all inclusive, only allowed vodka or a spirit extra had to be paid for the mixer!!!! UK holidaymakers were treated as 2nd class citizens. Toilet leaked in rooms, reported to reception 8 times, nothing ever done about it. Shower faulty was also reported, never fixed either. The bath was filthy dirty, there was rust in the plughole. I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST IF YOU HAVE NOT BOOKED THIS HOTEL YET THEN DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DONT!!!!!! The only positive was the lovely view we had of the beach from our room.

Hotel disgusting,unclean,cockroaches,lifts don't work,no drink,food slop,awful,no lifeguard,no ac

9 readers found this review helpful

Most people get a room with a beautiful sea-view.
Good location to all the amenities, esp beach.
Reception staff have limited patience, however.
I spent about £110 for two weeks at this hotel and the food was surprisingly ok (two meals a day). The waiters were a bit weird, tho. They don't get paid much, however. Neither do the maids.
For more in depth stuff on this hotel, see below.
The hotel was ok overall - very good for the money. In this sense i'd rate it at least 4/5 because it was only £110 (with tips) for two weeks with food (half board - 'breakfast & evening meal'). So, the food was essentially free!
If you had to pay extra for the food (as with other more expensive hotels, which are no different in terms of the dining arrangement), then it would not be as good because the waiters are weird, daft and quite unfriendly at times. I was going to give my tip at the end, as explained in the travel guide from Sunshine Tours (excursion people). But maybe they thought that i wasn't going to give them anything.
They do a weird spoon thing whereby they keep the spoons so that they end up giving you one and hope for a tip. Very bad idea, even tho it is self-serve (buffet).
The food was ok, esp if you eat meat. I just ate the fish, which was served in a variety of ways almost every evening. Veggies will have some choice; but it will be hard for them when they eat out. Tunisia is not good for vegetarians.
The food is cooked ok, but never to chef standards. I guess they were just simple desert people at one time [i don't mean dessert here - more on that later]. The buffet at the hotel has a fair variety to eat including salads and is at least potentially very good - but most of the hot (heated) food is meat, like stews etc.
Dessert is ok; but no real cream or really good things you would get on a cruise. The ice-cream was rather cheap and watery, for ex. The strawberries were often over-ripe or under-ripe. I found a few good red ones in there, tho - i had too look hard, however.
Breakfast was decent - a choice of boiled, poached (or fried eggs or scrambled) with brown or white french stick slices of bread. Margarine, not butter; and the jam was not great. There was a bit of salad in the morning, if u wanted?! Freid/boiled tomatoes, etc. Three different types of cheeses - slices of edam, feta, and cottage type cheese. No tasty cheeses in this country, i'm afraid - not even in the supermarket (i might be wrong there, tho - but you'll have to pay for it!).
I took my own tea-bags with me. The tea and juice drinks were not great.
Anyway, this is free in a way - so, you can't complain.
If you are a single female then you might find it hard to get used to the dimly lit corridors. There can also be a lot of rowdy Tunisians at this hotel. The door slamming woke me up the first few nights.
I never put this hotel down as good for families because of the busy nearby roads and the balconies can be scary for toddlers - wide holes and a long way down.
I met a few old ladies (English too - they are more up the road in Port El Kantoui) and they were fine with this hotel and they were on their own.
You have to cross a busy road (constant traffic with no traffic lights) to get to the beach. It is right next to the hotel, but there is a road between the hotel and the beach; which is a shame. The promenade and beach is nice, tho.
Once, you get used to Tunisian traffic, then it is ok. Not good for kids tho. You need a kind of mature know-how to cross the road. Some old people will find it hard. The ones in the hotel were ok, tho.
Tunisian drivers seem pretty bad - it's just the way it is over there; they have a policy of only stopping at the last moment, even at crossways. They sort of expect you to stop them/the traffic. I just waited a while (sometimes quite a while) before i got a chance to cross quickly, but in the normal british way. [See tips below.]
The Bank (safety deposit boxes behind the reception) is a good thing - you can keep your passport there and other things. It is safe. Tunisians in general are trustworthy in this sense. This place can also change money fast at a good rate. Other banks can be slow and awkward. You will get a receipt just in case, but it is not as strict now; unless you declared a lot of money coming in.
You get 2 dinars to the pound (as of the date of this review) - it has been like this for a while and is good for the pound; unlike the euro now.
Don't use the phones near reception. National & International calls can be made at the Publitel just over the road and the Publinet (Internet) around the corner is good. It is about a dinar for a 1.5 min call to the UK and really cheap to another Tunisian City. Use smaller change for local calls. It is 2 dinars an hour for the internet.
Buy water at the Supermarket - e.g., Magasin Generale. Take a back-pack with you - it is heavy and it is not good etiquette to display food shopping in the hotel. There is some of food and toiletries there at a good price. A 1.5 litre of water costs about 20p. Safia, the best water, is often 2L and is the same price. Jektiss is good carbonated water. All the others are floridated (maybe naturally) and taste a bit weird. I went to the toilet a few times after i drank/bought the Garce gaseous water from one of the waiters for 1.5 dinars. I bought one or two more a few days later and was ok, tho. It's flouride content is 2ppm - the highest, but not too bad.
I wouldn't try the tap water - altho, they say it is ok. They must wash the salad in it. Perhaps you get used to it after a while. My bowels were ok in the 2nd week and i never got diarrhea. I used a Brita filter kettle for extra tea, soups, pot noodles, etc.
Take a kettle. I also took a lot of dried food with me, because i wasn't sure how i would like the food in the hotel. I never ate all my dried food. I ate out a few times. I took loads of nuts. Pistachios are not so cheap in Tunisia. I took lots of chocolate. Good choc is hard to come by in Tunisia and Lindt bars are very expensive there.
My kettle had a brita filter in it so that i could use the cooled water for cleaning my teeth.
I went on an excursion to one of the best roman sites in the world - Douga. It was good, but avoid organised excursions if you can, because you don't get much time at the sites and the people that go on these trips are very superficial and make for very poor conversation, esp the non-english ones.
Douga is hard to get to, tho. You have to spend a nite in the nearby town of Beja after getting a Louage thingy from a small town near Douga (Teboursouk) and that's after hitching a ride from the actual site. It is easy to get a cheap taxi from Teboursouk to Douga.
Get a 'carte bleu' - railcard for 45 dinars. It will get you all over Tunisia for free. You usually have to spend a dinar or so to reserve a seat. They are confort class and the seats recline and you can sleap, esp on the midnite trains. I saw all the major tourist attractions like that at a fraction of the price an excursion would cost.
The Douga Excursion was all in one day and used a crowded mini-bus full of germans and it cost 65 dinars. The longers excursions cost at least 150.

1 reader found this review helpful

I visited El hana beach hotel in april last year.
And i had an amazing time there.
I didnt actually stay in the hotel but i went the every day for a relaxing time and socking up the sun.
Its such a great place and the people are very nice.
Ill be coming back to Sousse in july this year for my Birthday. And i really cant wait :)
its a great place to go if you like something different. and you enjoy meeting new people and having a laugh.
Every little thing that we did when i went was just amazing.
i didnt stay in the hotel because my mum has a aparment out there. Because she enjoys t so much shes been there about 30 times.
Xx

3 readers found this review helpful

I have been to this hotel 4 times in 2 years. I am aware of its shortcomings, but am also smart enough to recognise value for money.
The location on the beach is quite wonderful and the access to Sousse city centre is very good (in fact it is a comfortable walk for the able bodied). I (that is we) have always found the hotel staff to be extremely helpful and friendly, so much so that we visit their homes when we are in Sousse, and we exchange phone calls when we are at home in the U.K.
Surely British tourists are smart enough to appreciate that the 'star ' system in North Africa does not equate to the corresponding systems implemented in Western Europe or the USA. I book the hotel and flights independently via the internet, and we finish up paying about £7.00 per night per person, and I cannot find a guest house in the U.K. that would offer me B&B for that.
Please if you have booked in this hotel go with an open mind and enjoy.

1 reader found this review helpful

This was my first visit to El Hana Beach although I have stayed at the Residence next door several times.
The hotel is in an excellent location, facing the beach across the road, which being only one-way doesn't cause problems. It is an easy walk to the Medina and the port.
On arrival about 11.30 p.m. I was shown to a room which was totally unsuitable, facing the main road, noisy, balcony furniture in the room, broken telephone and electricity socket and very scruffy bathroom.
I expressed my disappointment and was promised I would be moved in the morning. I went to Reception by 8.30 the next day and was promptly moved to a very nice room on 4th floor overlooking the beach.
This was fairly basic with no TV, fridge, or safe but beds and pillows were comfortable (quite firm) and part of the wardrobe could by lock which worked as a safe.
Staff were friendly and helpful, one even keeping my mobile charged up as my own charger was broken, and he never hinted he expected a tip, though I gave him one the third time he did it for me. The chamber-maid was lovely and always stopped for a chat when I saw her.
Breakfasts were dire unfortunately. I am quite happy with bread, butter and jam with a decent cup of tea but there was no butter, only 'spread' and tea was undrinkable (problem solved with Liptons Yellow Label from supermarket across the road!).
Evening meals were better and the beef was superb, as was the lamb once you'd got it off the bone. Big bowls of strawberries most evenings, and always three flavours of ice-cream.
Entertainment most evenings, which could be noisy, particularly when there were local drummers. Being a large hotel there were plenty of places to sit and relax with a book or to talk with friends.
I would use this hotel again if the price was right, despite its inadequacies, as it is well situated and the staff were so nice, but I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone who might expect rather more in the way of luxury of haute cuisine!

2 readers found this review helpful

My family and I have attended this hotel for 10 years over New Year.
Yes I agree that the hotel is dated but it's the best we have found for entertainment.
Over the years we have attended with a lot of family 11 was our biggest total one year and we have all been treat fantastic.
Last year we went and stayed at an El Mouradi Hotel I agree it looked fabulous but oh I was so disappointed after all when we work all year we wish to enjoy our hols when we go away.
El Hana did everything they could to provide a fabulous service. Staff were so friendly and helpful.
The indoor swimming pool was lovely and hot, as oppose to our icy cold pool at el Mouradi I think I was the only fool to go in the pool whilst there last year.
If I visit Tunisia again next New Year I’ll go to El Hana. It caters for every age from the very young to the very old.
I would rather stay in a dated hotel and get top entertainment than stay in a classy hotel and sit twiddling my thumbs in silence.

1 reader found this review helpful

OK, Hotel is dated and ready for a refurbishment but if you are looking for a basic hotel in a great location this is the place to be.
The staff were all friendly, rooms cleaned every day along with towel changes.
Food in the restaurant basic but plentiful and tasty, snacks such as Pizza and burgers available for less than a pound in the hotel snack bars.
The one outside the indoor pool was great as was the pool which was like getting in the bath. In summer the place, pools and gardens must be terrific.
Entertainment was poor but it was first week of January, hotel was warm and rooms had heaters.
The beach is a few meters across the road and the shops and food all around along with banks and cash machines. Taxis cheap, 20 dinar £4 for four of us by taxi to the hotel from the airport don't pay more than 25 dinar.
We ate in various places from restaurants to fast food and all was excellent, kazim open 24 hours for burgers, kebabs, chicken sandwiches, close by is Planet Food where you can get a steak dinner for less than £2.
Prices vary so it is worth asking before you go in Coffee varied from 2.5 dinar down to 0.8 dinar about 30p.
You can haggle on everything including trips, we hired a taxi for the six of us all day and travelled all over for 120 dinar about £50.
Don't be put off by negative comments, if you want a base to visit local areas and see local people and not be stuck out in a soulless resort full of Europeans, then this is the place to be.

1 reader found this review helpful

I’ve stayed in this hotel before and love it that’s why I came back so many people have different views on this hotel but I always find the staff to be extremely helpful. There was clean towels and linen every day.
I have been to Tunisia now 4 times and I can’t fault it, yeah ok been blond I did get hassled by the local men/shopkeepers but a polite no thanks and they get the message. I always feel safe on my own out the complex. If you go out the complex you will see that there are lots of nice restaurants and even an English bar called the rose and crown in the Taj Marhaba hotel there is even a good night club which plays international music.
I would recommend this hotel to everyone from parents with young children to the elderly as the location is really good just over the road there is a lovely beach with lovely white sand and even the sea is not cold. Overall I rate this hotel a 9 and I will definitely be returning.