Thalassa Hotel

We arrived late at night. The hotel was in virtual darkness. Welcomed? by the night reception staff who didn't speak very good English. Didn't explain about any of the hotel facilities, but did give us information about the Thomson's welcome meeting. Our hotel room was dirty. Hairy floors,bedding and bathroom suite. No drinking glasses in bathroom, no hand towels, no extra pillows. Toothpaste on the bathroom walls. Sweet wrappers on the floor. The patio set on the balcony was falling apart. When we complained to the rep the following morning she asked if we could be moved, but apparently there were no empty rooms until the next day. She asked them to give the room a thorough clean for us. This consisted of giving us hand towels and drinking glasses. The sweet wrapper still remained. We finally moved the next day to a slightly cleaner room but the floor was never washed in the 12 days we were there. More importantly the bedding was not changed for our entire stay. We had a new set of towels every day, sometimes they were clean. Reception staff very unhelpful and unwilling to speak English and were very biased towards the German and French guests who were always served before us. Of the 1200 guests, apparently 40 were British, but I think this was an overestimation. This is not a hotel for British guests. As a vegetarian I struggled to find main courses in the restaurant. On the plus side the waiters were lovely and the Thomson's rep was very good at her job.

We have just returned from the Thalassa Sousse 25/10/07 we were only there 1 week thanks goodness. On our arrival at 2am we were put in a room where the bed and the sheets were soaking wet, 3 times my husband went to reception they sent someone with clean sheets which was of no use as the mattress was wet, they asked if we would stay in the room the night we told the reception if they didn't sort us out a room we would sleep in reception this they found totally unacceptable and put us in the German block ( which by the way the hotel is overun with them and there 6am sunbed allocations with towels) At meals times which you are given alotted slots not able to eat as and when you please, the Germans start queueing 15mins before hand then its like a cattle stampede into the restaurant. In all a very stressful holiday. Not recommended!!

We were a little nervous after reading the most recent reviews but, went with an open mind and have really enjoyed our week at Thalassa Village. We arrived late at night and were welcomed with drinks, a brief intro to the restaurant timings and our water vouchers, we were then taken to our room by a friendly porter. The rooms are clean, comfortable and provide everything you need. A small criticism would be that they are a little sterile - could do with a few pictures etc and there are no tea/coffee facilities. The hotel complex is lovely - marble floors, lots of glass, modern decor and very clean. The pool area is one of the largest we've seen so, never felt crowded even when busy. The main restuarant is huge and has lovely views across the pool, the waiters are friendly and attentive and the choice is quite enormous! Soups, salads, breads, pasta, hot meats and fish, cold meats, and the usual anti-adventurous chips, pizza etc. Admittedly by the end of the week it was a little repetative but, even the fussiest eaters could not go hungry! The a la carte restaurant is beautifully decorated and the food and service don't dissappoint. The beach restaurant also offered a good choice of salads, pizza, burgers, pasta and meats, with full waiter service. We unfortunatley didn't get chance to sample the Tunisian as we'd booked on a day ruined by thunder storms and it flooded! Olive oil is used in vast amount in the cooking and it's worth keeping this in mind, we all experienced a little stomach discomfort which we put down to this. The all inclusive has limitations mainly in the way that only the main bar serves spirits and both the pool bar and hotel bar close at 11pm. Instead of spending more money by using the American bar and the disco, both which serve until 2am, we just adjusted our days to start at about 7.30am and finish by midnight. This worked really well - breakfast was less busy and we got loungers along with the Germans! All the staff were polite, friendly and most spoke English, German, French and Arabic. A lot of guests were rude and abrupt but, we weren't and it made a real difference - better table in the restaurant reserved for us all week, table service for drinks all week, an extra a la carte night when the Tunisian got flooded, flowers in our room etc. The entertainment was aimed at the mainly German guests but, it was still fun to watch and there seems to be plenty for the kids. We booked three Thompson excusrsions via our rep Emma (who was a bit of a star) and would definately recomend "Zulu Night" and "A tale of 3 cities" but give "Sail away" a miss. Our guides were passionate and knowledgable and we really came away feeling we knew more about Tunisia. Tunisia is a beautiful, interesting country and the Thalassa Village Sousse made it a special one too.

My husband and I returned from a 2 week stay at the Thalassa Sousse on 3rd October '07 and we were very relieved to be leaving. This hotel fell far below the indicated four stars on the thomson website and brochure. On our arrival we were not welcomed in any way by the reception staff but were dumped in the waiting area after our journey, when were eventually shown to our accommodation it was to a room housing sparse and shabby furnishings with broken tiles and ingrained dirt on the floor, the bathroom was equally uninviting the bath was daubed with tile paste at one end and was raised from the floor making entry and exit precarious; totally unsuitable for the very young, old or disabled. The sink leaked when in use and we used towels to soak up water on the floor to avoid slipping, the toilet was placed in a very tight corner and my husband who is 6 feet tall was unable to sit on it in the normal way and had to sit sideways. The dining area was very basic in design and at meal times it resembled a "free for all", with people dashing to the hot area to get food before even being seated at a table, children had no separate area and ran freely around in and amongst adults carrying plates with hot food. The soup tureens were placed on wooden trestle tables covered with table cloths and twice during our stay to our knowledge there were accidents with hot soup being spilled firstly down a ladies clothing ruining it and a child knocking into another lady spilling very hot soup over her hand scalding her. The food was ok not inspiring but edible, this was however ruined by the total lack of organisation in the restaurant and a lack of understanding of the dangers associated with hot food, heating elements and safety considerations. We both feel that it is only a matter of time before a serious accident occurs here. The situation in the restaurant was raised by us with the bar and restaurant manager Amir however he was unwilling to take on board the issues simply blaming other guests and did nothing to resolve them. We followed up our concerns with Thomson Rep Emma who was resigned to the situation explaining that she had noticed what was happening but that Health and Safety was not enforceable in Tunisia because it is outside the E.U. So little comfort there, and then when we saw other problems further into the holiday, for instance there were cats and kittens in the hotel grounds and on two occasions we observed them deficating into the childrens sandy play area; it was just intensly frustrating being there powerless to do anything about it. The hotel was grossly understaffed, queues were on average 20 minutes long to get served drinks and unhygienic practices of filling used coke bottles with beer etc to speed up the serving process were used routinely. During our stay we suffered stomach upsets I assume in part because of this. I cannot in all conscience recommend this hotel to any traveller I sincerely hope that this is not indicative of all hotel standards in tunisia but I do not think we will be returning to find out. Anyone thinking of visiting Tunisia and in particular the Thalassa Sousse should ensure they have good quality comprehensive travel insurance because the likelyhood is you will need it.

When we first read the reviews on this hotel before travelling we can say that we were a little nervous, however all our doubts were soon forgotten about upon our arrival. The hotel was modern, clean and really exceeded our expectations. The food although a little limited was cooked lovely. All the staff especially the waiters and cleaners are extremley friendly and polite. The hotel has mainly German guests staying which could become a tiny bit annoying with the sunbeds reserved at six thirty am!!! The only downside to the holiday if there was one was the 'Sahara Experiance' costing £68.00 each was not great to say the least. The two long long days spent travelling to the Sahara on a cramped coach in 30 degree heat was not ideal. All the meals are set menus and drinks are to be paid for on demand. The Star Wars cafe was not clean or pleasent, but definatley an experiance. The toilets are obviously not the best and when the majority of the tour got an upset stomach it was not a great situation to be in. The hotel in the Sahara was clean and the food was good however, the bar staff do try to short change you. We were both very pleased to return back to the Thalassa. Overall this holidays was fantastic, a great experiance and one that shouldn't be missed. The Sahara Experiance isn't something that should be embarked upon lightly but again something that we wouldn't of missed out on but there again one that we would not do again. 9/10 for the hotel. We hope you have a great time like us.

we have just returned for aweek at the thalassa sousse,upon arrival we were given a room that overlooked a cat house not a nice veiw stray cats all over the place,if you strained your neck you could just see the pool, i went to reception to see if they could change my room but to no avail. we arrived around about dinner time so after ashower which i had to clean before i could use it as it was covered in long black hairs,the floor was not clean. we the went to the restaraunt for dinner, it was disgusting the chairs were filthy, none of the food looked edible,anyway i found some soup and a bread roll nd stuck to that hoping the evening meal might be better,teh evenuing meal was the same terrible so i stuck to what i had at dinner,put it this way i ende up in bed for 3 days with terrible dioreah and sickness my husband was also bad he had eaten diffrent things to me. We were about the only brits in there,and its a huge hotel,we did meet other couples during our stay and they had also been bad with the food, after 3 days with no food as we dared not eat we ventured out of teh hotel to see if we could find food outside it was just as bad nowhere is clean,its hard to find decent food anywhere in tunisia. The hotel does have some good points the pool is lovely if your lucky enough to get a sunbed you have to be up really early , the beach is lovely as well they also have a restaraunt on the beach which is a bit cleaner, but the foods not much better. I must say the staff are lovely tip them when you get ther you wont have to wait in the qeue for drinks they will get them for as long as you want. In my opinion this hotel is more for the germans and french,thompson only took over this hotel in 2007 but they do need to look at the food situation otherwise they will have many unhappy customers I would not advise staying in this hotel,saying the i would not go to tunisia again

We booked through Thomson Holidays, it was misleading and i feel it was a fasle advertising all round. Tunisia was an utter disappointment! Yes, the scenery can be breath taking, many locals are polite and welcoming, but this always gets spoiled by many who are rude and insulting if you don’t but anything from them. Simply put, they will ALWAYS understand English when they want your money, but then miraculously loose the ability to understand any English when they have taken your money. Thalassa Sousse was supposed to be 4 T rating, this is misleading. The photos on the website do make it look a lot better than the real thing. The reception is modern indeed, but with only one receptionist who seems to be the only person in the entire complex who can actually answer your queries. When we first arrived, we were given a room which was dirty. The bathroom wasn't cleaned, there were hair on the bed, etc. We were however given another room without any fuss, but that wasn't much better either. The food in the hotel is below average, depending on your taste, however, the 2 a la carte restaurants is of slightly better standards, you can only book them once during your entire stay though. Of course you will be able to eat until you are full in the buffets, but your taste buds definitely won't be excited. The service the hotel provides is more like 2 or 3 stars, everything is slow and you will always have to wait for everything, everywhere seems to be short staffed. There are no luxuries such as a mini bar or room services, you will have to queue for such things I'm afraid. Anytime before 10am or after 11pm precisely, then you will not be able to get your coffees or any beverages at the bar, so having a watch with you 24.7 is essential! The location of the hotel is good, is only 5 dinars away from Sousse or Port El Kantouri. The beach can be over crowded at times and you will have to arrive early,9am precisely as you are not allowed to reserve sunbeds before 9am to get a mattress with your sun beds. There are plenty of watersports on offer, but at a price. Please note that there are NO scuba diving or a dive centre in the hotel or on site as it seems to indicate on the website. Extremely disappointed as the scuba diving was one of the main reasons who I decided to book Thalassa Sousse! Before you go, bare in mind that you are in a developing country so do not go there with any expectations. If you don’t expect or you have an average expectations then you will not be disappointed. Also, do try out the Sahara Experience, even though it involved long travels, it was an experience not to be missed.

I was a little concerned after reading some of the reviews, but we loved the hotel and would definitely go back. The rooms were very clean and fairly basic - and no there were no English speaking TV channels, but we didn't expect there to be! Rooms were cleaned very thoroughly every day, all new towels every day and beautifully made beds, sometimes with flowers scattered on them. The rest of the hotel was beautifully decorated, nice contemporary and very comfortable furniture and very clean. All the staff - reception, waiters, cleaners, bar staff were very friendly, and absolutely delighted when they found out we were English. It's true that most guests are not English, but all the staff spoke English, as well as several other languages. The daytime and evening entertainment team were very enthusiastic, friendly and fun, and we found it charming how they were so happy to be doing their job. Contrary to what one review said, they don't only speak in German - every announcement they made was in Arabic, French, English and German. The beach was really nice, private and clean with a great bar and cafe (part of all inclusive), and you can have a barbecue lunch on the beach instead of main restaurant if you want to. Non motorised water sports like canoes and pedaloes are free, motorised small extra charge, but very reasonable. We spent most of time at pool rather than beach though, which is huge and has four big slides. There is a bar by the pool which serves coffee as well as soft drinks and alcohol. If you get up too late for breakfast (6am to 10am) you can have a late breakfast at the bar of coffee, pastries etc. Afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes and donuts also served at the bar, as well as ice cream, candy floss or popcorn for kids. We loved the food - loads of choice at breakfast - freshly baked french bread, pastries, croissants, yogurt, toast, choice of cereals, eggs cooked to order, fruit plus much more. There were several choices and dinner and lunch too, I really cannot understand anyone saying there is little choice. My (19 year old) daughter is very fussy, but always found something she liked. We really could find no fault with the hotel at all, absolutely loved it!! It's only 4 or 5 dinars to either Sousse or Port el Kantoui (about £2) by taxi, easy to get one, they wait outside hotel, just agree price before u go. There is a little shop just outside the hotel which sells gifts plus sweets and drinks, so if you're dying for a 'proper' coke or something, you can get one there. Only 30p a bottle, cans are more for some strange reason, only 40p though. If you get the chance, go on the Pirate Ship trip from Hammamet (our tour operator arranged ours), absolutely brilliant, they all dress and pirates and entertain you brilliantly the whole time.

I booked this hotel thinking it was a 4 star rating hotel, but it clearly was not. It was a 4T rating which apparently is a Thomson / Tourist rating. This hotel does not cater for British people the staff speak very little English. There are mainly French and German visitors. One of the main points that angered me is that on several occasions there was broken glass just left on the floor of the restaurant. They do not clear up until the end of the sitting. This was disgusting as there were children walking around in bare feet. There are 2 different sitting times, 18:30 and 20:15. There was 12 of us in our group with 3 very yound children, yet they put us on the late sitting of 20:15. When I complained to the Thomson tour rep she had us moved to the early sitting. Also if you turn away from your plate or leave your seat to go and get something the waiters have cleared your plate away, assuming that you have finished eating. There were huge queue at the bar's as they only have 2 people behind the bar and only one beer tap running. The waiting time about 20 minutes. Most evenings we gave up and went to the bar where you have to pay for your drinks. Maybe this was there plan to make more money out of guests. There was 2 a la carte restaurants but you can only use it once during your stay, and you have to book in for this. One International theme and one Tunisian theme. At the beach there is snack bar, serving food from a limited but pretty decent menu. The only thing that less this down was the lack of staff, as they could not manage the number of guests. The Supervisor had a poor attitude, no customer service in mind. On the first two days our air conditioning was not working correctly in the room, When we told them at the reception they told us that was the way it worked. Only when we complained to the Tour Rep Emma did it get fixed. On the positive side the outdoor swimming pool was huge with fantastic water slides. We spend most of our fun times at the pool. Also the indoor pool has warm water which was great, really enjoyed it. Emma was helpful, she offered to move us but also said that we were in the best hotel for that area and that anywhere else would probably be worse. This comment put off the other members of my group, but I was gain to move. However as we wanted to stay together we decided to stay put. We thought the gym was All Inclusive, but there was a charge. A big let down to Thomson Holidays, would not book with them again.

Let me start by saying that we are not fussy!! Hotel decor and amenities are wonderful, rooms however lack in imagination and do not have any coffee/tea making facilities, no fridge, no safe and no power points (unless you unplug the television - no channels in English). Air con did not work in most of our block - just blew hot air around! Stunning pools and fun waterslides (seemed to keep all the young at heart happy!). There was no booking of sun loungers, although finding a shady area is a bit difficult as the umbrellas are more for aesthetics rather that usefulness. The beach although clean (last day there was a condom on the beach!!!), one has to put up with vendors trying to flog off their cigarettes, carpets and dates. Parasailing, banana boating and jet ski rides are affordable (about £10 per trip). The sea is clean - however with the large amounts of sewerage been pumped into the sea in the Sousse area one wonders what we are swimming in. The whole time we were in the area it smelt of poo (at the hotel, Sousse, Monastir and Port El Kantoui - must be because it doesn't rain often!) Now...... the food. They seem to cater only for the German & the French pallet - breakfast was extremely disappointing as dried cheese, ham & huge chunks of tomato were the main option; you could kill someone with the pastries. Lunch had some imagination although completely predictable throughout the week (but what can you expect with AI buffets?). Dinner had one or two different option every night - but pretty much the same as lunch. The A'la Carte restaurant downstairs is a waste of time - unimaginative; better to just stick with the buffet. Some important advice! Tip the staff & waiters to be served cold drinks and to be looked after (tip every day - we did not and paid the price!). Drinks are served in Barbie doll glasses (no joking), and you are guaranteed to get flat soft drinks (which are decanted from elsewhere into used plastic bottles). The water used in the drinks machines and for the water on tables is NOT filtered as all 3 of us picked up PAINFUL kidney infections. Be careful of taxis. Agree a price before you leave. Should cost no more than 4 dinar to go to Sousse and also 4 dinar to Port El Kantoui (very nice place - treat yourself and go there!). Check your bags before you leave stores; we got to our hotel, looked in the bags and were a few items short! All in all we were disappointed as we have stayed with the LTI group before and sadly would not return to this hotel.