Vincci Djerba Resort

There are not many places within 3 hours air travel and in February where you can leave the grey cold snowy vistas of the UK and arrive in cloudless blue skies, get a tan and enjoy such excellent value for money. Three girlfriends and myself have just had a marvellous week at the Vincci hotel in Djerba and will def. return to this unspoiled, delightful island few people have heard of. The hotel was great for a week, clean rooms, comfortable with good views, food plentiful if rather 'samey', efficient, pleasant staff and excellent shopping in the souks. A wonderful winter break, we are all determined to return one day.

We had a two week family holiday in this hotel in October. On the good side, the rooms are great, well equipped and very clean. The outdoor pool area is great and the kids absolutely loved it. The indoor pool is clean although the room is on the bleak side. The waiter serving the mint tea is really nice and makes a mean mint tea. The staff are friendly but reception staff can be somewhat incompetent at times. For visitors speaking only English this can be challenging at times, however, they are fluent in Arabic, French and German and some have a workig knowledge of English. Food is absolutely hopeless and I can honestly say that the Halls at Uni served some better grub than we got there. There was little variation in their offerings, very little in the way of Tunisian cuisine and what ther was was blunt to the point of tasting like cardboard. Being there in Ramadan meant even fewer staff and shorter serving times which meant the queues were incredible. Yes your wine and beer is free with the meal but that doesn't make up for the bad food. The animation was a bit on the lacklustre side which didn't bother us much. The beach is far too small for a hotel of that size and there were relatively few things available to guest of the Vincci Djerba compared to many other hotels around. Rather annoyingly they played music until 23:00 from public speakers in the hotel outside areas which on a couple of occasions was much too loud to have kids sleeping. In summary: If you are looking for a hotel with great rooms and a great pool area to use as a base for then exploring the rest of southern Tunisia, this might be the right hotel. If you have children and are looking for rooms that will sleep 4, again this hotel may not be so bad a choice. Just don't go for the food.

For what you pay, this is a fantastically well equipped hotel and we had a lovely holiday here (two couples with 3 kids aged 6,7, and 10 between us). The service is not 5 star but is good enough (speaking some French helps greatly). The hotel is very clean and well cared for and provides a wide range of facilities, the best of which is a huge free form swimming pool. Kids will love it. There is a fab little playground next to the smaller kids pool, a games arcade, tennis, soccer, a little train down to the beach and entertainment in the form of a 'Snoopy Disco' every evening. The buffet style meals also enables the kids to try a bit of everything. A big advantage for families of 4 is that the hotel has a lot of 'suites' - really one big room split into two. This brings the cost down hugely when travelling with a couple of kids. All the standard rooms also have a well thought out third bed area. The hotel is wonderfully European - French voices dominate of course, but there are Italians, Germans, Scandinavians and a fair number of Brits in the hotel. Some of the Brits don't like this, but we found it a plus point and it also meant that the food was varied in order to cater for a wide range of tastes. The animateurs are a little too vigorous sometimes and it can feel a bit like Club Med when they are doing a tug of war in the pool at 11am. But if you say you don't want to join in the games they don't pester, and the 'fun' only goes on for a couple of hours a day. Those who like to dance in the old fashioned way are well catered for, with a classic dance session in the main bar every evening. Finally, the ice cream shop on the outside edge of the complex is absolutely fantastic and well worth tearing yourself off your sunbed for.

Was slightly worried about our visit with our 4 and 1 year old, due to web reviews but no need at all. Vincci is a very glamourous looking hotel with a vast reception and lovely grounds. Depending on what you are looking for all needs are catered for. Around the lagoon style pool there is a quiet area, music area, kids playground and pool. There is gentle Musak played between 12 and 2pm, for siesta time. Followed by the annimation team organising aerobics, water games and poolside activities for those that want to join in, there was no pressure. There was no sun bed hogging at 6am. WE went down at 11am to find plenty of sun beds. We were looking for a week of sun and swimming, which was what we got. We are well travelled and have stayed in some fantastic hotels. The Vincci cerainly has the ability of being one of these hotels, but the restaurant and staff do make it into a 3/4star plus. The main language is French, the staff try to speak in English. This was fine for us, as it was nice to be away without the English. My 5 year old was not that interested in the kids club as the majority of kids were French, although the staff tried hard. During another week, if he had found a mate, it may have been another story. The buffet food is plentiful and a good variety. If you are a fussy eater there is bolognaise, but the fresh fish, cooked infront of you was lovely and there was plenty of salads. Breakfast was great with cereals, fry ups, breads, fruit etc. On arrival in the restanurant you have to find a table and grab a waiter to lay the table, which was not a problem and an excepted way of doing things. For a week or 10 days Djerba Vincci was great, we felt no need to leave the pool side, as we wanted to rest and recuperate. The kids were in the pool all day and the glorious weather warmed the pools nicely. We ventured on the Pirate/Castaway outing which was good fun for the kids, but I was not expecting 15 Pirate ships to foolow one behind the other. The entertainment, food and beach was well worth it for £20 each. Djerba is untouched by the English which is lovely. There is a supermarket a walk away and a few building sites, but we did not venture out except for a trip on the hotel's noddy train to the private section of the beach. The haggling at the local market was a pain. Bought a gift for £10, which started off at £60. We had a room, with another room attached to it, was lovely, big, airy and very clean. ANnimation team work very hard and are extremely friendly. We saw a magic night, riverdance, tradtional dancing and each night there was a kids disco. ALternatively you can sit at one of the various bars, or outside, with a smoking bong, which looked very relaxing. Drinks and food resonably priced, ice cream a bit of a rip off at hotel bar, but at the front of the hotel is an ice cream parlour, which was cheap. Depending on your travel companions there is plenty to do via the rep (quads, star wars trek, sahara trip, shopping, historical sites etc). But for the first time ever, we wanted to rest and recharge and that is exactly what we did. A great holiday for £1000

This hotel is not 4-star in the sense of the Radisson in Manchester or the Bloomsbury in London - no resort rating anywhere in the world equals the business rating - but in terms of Tunisia and Djerba it equates to the Dominican Republic and Mexico and to a 3star in Majorca or Rhodes. The food was adequate, plentiful and varied and mealtimes were long enough to cater for everyone - breakfast 0700-0930. dinner 1900-2130. At peak times it was never hard to find a table;those that did seemed to be the arrogant "I want it now" brigade both Brit and Italian not prepared to let the staff clear away decently.. Take tea bags if you wants a decent cuppa but the coffee at breakfast is good, along with cold fruit juice. Tunisan wine is not noted for being the world's best but the rose and the red were very palatable - and free! The Celtia beer, lager-style - is also quite palatable. The dress code was not followed which I think is a great shame - but everyone to their own ideas! The rooms in several 3/4 storey blocks with lifts, were large, with interconnecting doors for family use with either large double beds or two wide singles. Clean linen regularly and towels when you need. Wall safe in the wardrobe at 2dinar per day. Need a fridge because the aircon is adequate but won't keep drinks cool - hire from reception at 7dinat per day (exchange rate set by Tunisian govt at about 2.36TD to £). Pool is user friendly - shelves gradually no sudden drops to about 1.5mtrs. Is very large and very clear and clean. Also a separate childrens pool and playground. Bag a sunbed by putting towel on it - earliest I saw was 2.15am!! but so many beds that this practice is not the annoyance you get at most hotel poolsides. Tulip bar provides all drinks - 1.5litre mineral water is 2dinar, CocaCola can is 2.2dinar. Icecreams are upto 5dinar, but then you can discover the ice cream parlour near the disco and Latino's bar where you have a choice of 10 flavours at 1.2dinars per cornet!! Hire beachtowels from reception for 10TD deposit each refundable in full on last day. Free exchange of dirty towels when required. The English do have a dedicated Engish-speaking staff member and she is very good if a little laid back - your tour rep, especially if it is the very smart and knowledgeable Scott, will introduce you. Other wise as the hotel has only taken us this year and only books a max of 60 at a time, you have to smile and be inventive to get your message across to other staff. They're learning!! Atmosphere humid, not like Sousse or Skanes, and temps 35-40 celsius - remember this is 45-50 in the open - so 0-to-lobster in 3 days is achievable as is chronic sunburn! Around - good fastfood place across the junction as part of Le Pecha hotel/restaurant wher the chef speaks English - proud to have learnt it at school! He makes a good wrap with chicken, lamb kebab meat, etc and chips; two large wraps and bottle of water is 7TD. Alongside is "taxiphones" - phone booths. Direct dial home with 1TD coins - each will buy you 3minutes or about but don't use mobiles unless you are daft, desperate or rich; a text may even take two days to reach its destination either way. Shop sells 1litr Coke and Boga (lemonade) at 1.1TD Also good restaurant Alyssa (Italian) towards the sea. 10inch Pizza about 5-7TD. The "Big Shop" sells 1.5litre water at 0.5TD and I litre Coke at 1.7TD Hotel train will take to/collect from the beach which is security guarded - not against crime but against non-guest use!! You will understand why if you buy the Djerba map from Le Pecha shop and find that 89 hotels (and not all are listed!) cover less than 13 kilometres of shoreline. Each jealously guards its bit! Sea beautifully warm, but waves can be strong though it shelves very gradually and there is no undertow. There is some standlije seaweed but this is free floating and bot a hazard. You can buy drinks on the beach. Travel - take a taxi - to Midoun 2-3miles is 3TD inclusive of tip! To Houmt Souk 7TD. This is for the taxi, not per passenger. All taxis are bright yellow, with or without dents, and have meters - just make sure they set them other wise you are liable for whatever is asked!! Plenty of taxis - you'll never want to see another yellow car again! Money exchange - same rate everywhere so use reception. Coming back you can't bring it with you but you can spend it in the departure lounge at the cafes (despite what your rep may say) - but not in dutyfree. Euros or Sterling. Duty free prices better than Gatwick but English cigarettes limited but alcohol is reasonably cheap as is perfumes etc. Dunhill International or Rothmans/Bensons about £19 but on Nouvellaire flight Bensons and Dunhill £15.

Had a very nice huge room infact 2 rooms and bathroom 2single beds and sofa and armchairs, then a very large double with superkingsize bed and then a bathroom off that. We requested a high floor with pool views and got exactly that and more. Not many english which was not a problem only in the fact you had to get up early to beat the germans grabbing the best sunbeds. However no problem at the beach on the few occasions we went were plenty to choose from and at least there is a nice breeze as very hot while we were there. Food very nice on an evening lots of choice and lots of it the only slight negative thing I could say was tended to get busy at certain times and was a bit like a smart school dinner hall. Staff on the whole very friendly and helpful.

I have just returned from a family holiday at the Vincci Resort and the whole family (kids 16 and 10 yrs) thoroughly enjoyed it. We could not fault the hotel staff - they are friendly, attentive and incredibly hard working. Language was not a problem, either in the hotel or outside, but it does help if you can speak a bit of French. The food was, in my opinion, adequate. Having said that the rest of the family was perfectly satisfied. There were always many choices and the fresh fruit and fish were great. There was always a pasta fall-back meal. Our room had an annex for the children, was cleaned daily and the AC was perfectly fine for July/August. Our rep, Scott, was helpful and business-like and we were able to consult with him whenever needed. He sorted out my requirement for non-feather pillows immediately. He was well informed about the hotel and seemed to have a good relationship with management there. We did a 2 day Sahara Explorer excursion which, at £66 each, was incredible value for money. Our guide, Tarek, was well informed, chatty and funny and the whole family enjoyed it. We also did the Flamingo Island (Castaway) excursion at a cost of £16 each. Expected cheesy and got it, but also had a whale of a time. Everyone was very good humoured. It's hard to be funny in another language but the Tunisians try hard and succeed. I don't understand the criticisms on this site. Djerba has been a resort area for well over 40 years catering mostly to French and Italians. Perhaps other guests need to realise that they are travelling to an undeveloped foreign country which the British have only recently discovered. Of course everyone doesn't speak English, but how many Brits can converse with our foreign visitors in their native tongues and why should we expect everyone to speak English? I can assure anyone that neither Djerba nor the Vincci Resort in any way resemble Beirut. We would definitely return to Djerba and to this resort and the sooner the better.

My wife, myself and our 2 boys , 10 & 9, spent 2 weeks at this hotel, chosen principally because of the pool - great for our children who are both keen swimmers. The room was comfortable and clean as was the hotel generally. Airconditioning was very effective and much needed in the heat (95 to 98 degrees). The pool was great although the management appeared to ignore the "towels on the sunbeds" syndrome so you needed to be down before 10am to get any chance of sunbeds under an umbrella. Stay clear of the icecreams from the Tulip bar - ours worked out at nearly £3 sterling each! The baech was easier to obtain sunbeds and seemed cooler with a breeze. On the negative side, the management need to pay much more attention to the restaurant. When I visit a 4* hotel I expect to be able to at least sit down at a clear table but it was necessary to first locate a suitable and vacant (but dirty) table for 4 people and then attract the attention of a waiter to clear and re-lay it. I expect this in a canteen but not a 4* hotel. I eventually reverted to asking a waiter to find us a table and that sometimes worked. On one occasion, having chosen a table ourselves, a waiter waived vaguely to us to choose another one in a different part, but there were no clean ones, so we sat down at a clean but unlaid table for 6 and another waiter started to protest ( tired of this game we sat down anyway!). I saw other guests also complain about this problem. Some waiters were in my opinion unhelpful ( bordering on disinterested). It is not just a language problem - there can be little excuse for not welcoming guests into a restaurant nor showing them to table nor having any clean tables night after night. There was no table service once the table had been laid. In my opinion the Restaurant management badly needs a total review of their systems and staffing in this area. The food itself was Ok except for main courses which were generally below expected standard. There was no wine list that I saw although free Tunisian wine was available but nearly undrinkable. Reception staff were generally helpful although one lady had a problem with English and tended to ignore guests if she didn't understand. There were some slightly curious characters standing around in the lobby who would approach us then try to sell their wares/trips - not sure why the management allowed this inside the hotel. There is a nice restaurant about 200 yards away near the beach to which we bolted occasionally but not many others that we found. Overall bacause of the restaurant, 2 weeks was too long in this hotel. It has the capacity to be much better if it addresses the issues with the restaurant. We were glad to have seen Djerba but, with hindsight, would probably choose a different hotel even though with a lesser pool.

We stayed for 2 weeks with our children aged 9 and 10.Had alovely big room with an ajoining room for the children.The only trouble was at night it was very noisy,there was a hotel next to this hotel which played loud music and the dj was forever shouting in the microphone!(room 3315).Alcohol was expensive ,so did'nt drink too much!We didn't think the staff were over friendly and there is a problem with the language communicating.There was a shortage of staff serving at the bars,you never got a drink straight away.The food in the restaurant was not fantastic.Food was presented nicely but nothing was ever really hot unless you went as soon as it opened!It did not have the best variety of main courses and have had better at other 4 star hotels.I knew this as my son generally eats anything!he only picked at the food served here.The downside of this hotel is there is not much on offer outside the hotel apart from the beach and a couple of shops.We all went on a quad bike trip which we booked up in the hotel and it was great fun the kids loved it so we would deffinately reccomend doing this.We got to see some good sites. We think more british need to be introduced to this hotel to make it a better holiday,especially from our kids point of view.If you only want to sunbathe and relax this place is ideal,has a great swimming pool..the best by what we saw from visiting other hotels along the way.Glad to say we've been to Djerba and glad we've been now before it gets too developed.In 5 years i think it will have dramatically changed.

been back just under a week and i'm amazed at what people are writting about the hotel. I think it was a brillant place if you want a holiday to relax and enjoy the sunshine. The animation team are friendly and are always encouraging you to join in daily activities, (especially Tcthito). I was a bit disappointed when i was travelling to the hotel as there was baron land everywhere (but i travelled at night) which made it look worse than it actually was. The food wasn't the best and there wasn't much of a selection to choose from as it is all in thier languages, but i would recommend the crepes served by the pool, they are the best. Weather was good except on the first day when it was slightly cloudy, plenty to do during the day and at night. A market comes to the hotel on a tuesday so if you don't want to be hasseled by the sellers don't go near it. reception aren't completly helpful but it can't be helped as they didn't have a clue what the english was saying. There was photographers around the hotel which was good as the photos they took were always of a good quality but if you don't like your picture being taken then you might have a bit of a problem. Beach was ok. only walked down there at night but it seemed ok althoough a litlle small. Rooms very tidy and the maids do a brilliant job, they also leave little surprises on the best that they have made from towels.