Saadia Hotel

I have recently come back from the Saadia Hotel. The Pool area is really the only main attraction, with sun beds readily available and lots of scenic palm trees.
The food is DISGUSTING and on the last day I developed an upset stomach and have since arrived home with food poisoning, which several other guests also suffered from on the last day and on the plane journey home. The alcoholic drinks are not worth buying, the cocktails are made up of squash and the wine, I tried White, Rose & Red are all revolting.
As it is very isolated you can are subjected to eat in the hotel, unless you take a taxi / bus into the neighbouring town. There are no other restaurants within walking distance to eat at.
The music is annoying, as it starts about 10 am and goes on until 1 am, playing the same songs over and over. We only tried going to bed before this time once and wished we hadn’t bothered as it was impossible to get to sleep.
The staff are friendly and helpful but beware if you are female, expect a bit of harassment from waiters.
The rooms are basic and in need of redecoration and updating but are clean and your towels are changed daily.

Overall I enjoyed my holiday, but the food was the main cause of concern.

Hotel overridden by flies, generally dirty, staff sullen & dour.
Unless you were giving them money. The food being offered in the hotel was usually cold or out of synch. With the rest of the menu. Trying to get a drink for four people without having a chip in our of the glasses was impossible.
The overview of the district is that any rubbish was dumped anywhere, the hotel was in need of major renovation. The gardens were the only saving grace of the whole property.

To give you an idea of my demographic: I’m 28, enjoy drinking, eating out and clubbing. I don’t have children.
I stayed with my girlfriend at the Saadia Hotel in Skanes for 1 week. Firstly the hotel is clean, the staff are friendly, the pool and grounds are beautiful and the hotel is situated close to the airport (but not so near that the noise will bother you) and half way between Monastir and Souse.
The food is sub standard and I recommend that you cut all meat in half to ensure that it is cooked. A dodgy meatball put me out of action for half a day. There is very little variety and I guess the logistics of cooking for a vast number of people means that food won’t be cooked to perfection. I can’t help thinking that if they concentrated of cooking local dishes rather than trying to pander to westerner’s tastes they would not produce such lousy food. The Tunisians also have issues with freezing meat for religious reasons I think. In the sort of temperatures that can be encountered you can imagine that the opportunities for meat to go off are plentiful.
The beach is about 300 meters down the road, there is a horse and carriage that will take you down there for free, but the horse looked so dilapidated and knackered we walked. There are sun loungers and a bar down there that belong to the hotel and a section of beach and sea is cordoned off for the use of guests. We did some snorkelling and saw a few fish but nothing all that interesting. The beach is fairly clean and the water is very clean.
Monastir and Souse both have Medinas. Medina is the word for the oldest part of the city but it is always where the markets are situated. The only thing worth buying are the leather bags, the rest is tat. They will try and rip you off and they have an arsenal of tricks to do it. Never buy anything that the store holder picks up and gives you, there will be something wrong with it. Always make him say the price of the item before shaking hands on the deal. They will start obscenely high so that you feel bad about starting low. For example I went to buy a large humbly bubbly tobacco pipe and the shop owner opened the bidding at 200 dinar, that’s about £87. I told him he was crazy and went in at 10 dinar; I eventually got the thing for 18. If they won’t budge walk away, it always gets their attention and lubricates the bartering process. In Tunis (the capital) don’t buy from the stalls at the beginning of the medina, they don’t need to drop their prices because they have a good location, get into the heart of the market for a better deal. You can pick up a good size leather hold all for about £20, leather handbags for £9, heavy olive wood salad bowls for £11. All the stalls are pretty much the same in Tunis, Monasitr and Souse, which is a shame as you never feel like your buying anything unique, the place has been homogenised. There are bargains to be had but you have to work for them, my girlfriend was far better at haggling than me; everyone’s getting handbags for Christmas.
Restaurants are similar to the markets in that they all offer the same pseudo European food. The best meal we had was in Souse where we had a three-course meal with a few beers for £15. Do not order anything with ham in it, it will be Spam, and Tunisian Spam at that. This is the consistency of pate and the chances that it’s ever been near a pig are slim to none. Same goes for Salami but they do do a good omelette. In restaurants fish is often priced by the ounce, this leaves the door open for the waiter to fleece you and he will try to convince you you’ve just eaten Jaws. They will also offer you dessert, ask for the menu or they will start inventing prices.
Take a taxi and take your life in your hands, Tunisians drivers make the Italians look cautious. Want a seat belt in the back? Can’t have one as they are all trapped behind the seats, without exception. They are cheap but the price goes up 3 dinar after 10 PM. You can usually get your ride cheaper by waiting at a bus stop, a taxi will arrive eventually and try to persuade you to ride with him. We got from Monastir to the Saadia, a 10 minute drive at speed, for 4 dinar, less than £2. You can usually expect to pay 6 – 7 dinars to Monastir and 8 to Souse. The bus is less than a dinar but takes longer.
Our tour operator was Thompson and we went on two of their organised trips, one to the El Jem Coliseum and the other to the capital Tunis. Both were very well organised and good value. Our Guide on the El Jem trip was very entertaining and brimming with local knowledge. The coliseum is well worth the visit, the dungeons are still intact and you can investigate the whole place from top to bottom. Probably the highlight of the holiday for me.
The room we were given at the start of the week overlooked the pool and grounds and I initially thought we’d landed on our feet. Then the music started and I realised we overlooked the stage too. You should know that I go clubbing and I’m not adverse to loud thumping music. But I don’t want to listen to it for six hours a day while I’m trying to relax by the pool or on my balcony. One day the DJ played the song with the chipmunk singing “lonely, I am so lonely” 6 times, and Shania Twain’s “gonna get cha” twice… IN A ROW! It got worse. At 9pm the children’s entertainment started with possibly the most irritating children’s TV type music that I have ever heard, once this repetitive abomination had finished boring into my skull like some jolly brain eating maggot, we were treated to the birdie song, in French, (with the voice of a duck, with the voice of a duck), Agadoo and various other “fun” songs that left me feeling persecuted and longing for a crossbow. The reason I can describe the children’s entertainment so accurately is that it was the same every night, and so loud you couldn’t escape it.
Next the adults had to be entertained which usually involved audience participation and subsequent humiliation. One night there was a drag act, which consisted of two blokes dressing up in various women’s clothes and pretending to be famous singers by miming over their songs, Edith Piaff and Tina Turner were among them. Watching from our balcony my initial amusement at the depths to which the entertainment had sunk was rapidly dissipated when I realised we had an hour and a half of this trash to endure. The volume was such that even when we were moved to another room we couldn’t escape being brutalised by the music and the MC who’s talents began with being able to utter every sentence in 4 languages and ended abruptly there. The most pleasant night we spent in the hotel was when the entertainment was rained off and we were able to sit on our balcony drinking our duty free and listening to the Cicadas. Just to nail the coffin of variety shut every evening was rounded of at 10:45 with a German version of the conger. The entertainment seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator, common being the operative word and the only way I can account for the numbers in the audience. This is but a droplet of the pints of venom I have to spill on the subject. More than anything else this ruined the holiday for me.
Do not go to the Saadia and I don’t recommend Tunisia as a Holiday destination. The people are friendly but only because they are trying to rip you off. You constantly have to be on your guard and this in it’s self I found tiring. The place looks like a building site, as there seems to be some tax loophole, as in Spain, that means unfinished buildings are exempt from building tax. Hence no one finishes their houses. There are pictures of the President everywhere and the same party has been in power for about 40 years, this party won the last election with a 99.9% majority. Tunisia is not a democracy. Walk anywhere and you will be confronted by a fowl smelling drain every 100 meters or so. Every menu is limited and basically the same. Tourism seems to have ruined the place and in their eagerness to please the Tunisians seem to have lost their cuisine and their markets have just become outlets for factory produced tat, it’s a real shame.

When in the hotel we drank beer and wine as we had paid all inclusive and thought we might as well get something out of our money. Nearly every drink we had was served in either a chipped or cracked glass or most of the time they were dirty. The water behind the bar used to was them in was filthy. When we ordered a beer we could only have a small one, in every other all inclusive hotel we have been to once you have paid you can have what you want and this could be a large beer. It was absolutely ridiculous and felt that we were being treated like children. The soft drinks which are in the all inclusive were served in white disposable plastic cups and if you asked for it in a glass you were just laughed at, it felt like we were still at school. People who bought cola and lemonade etc from the bar were given glass bottles with a straw. The people who were all inclusive were given it in cups from a plastic bottle, which tasted very sweet rather like soda stream I suspect as a cost cutting method. This should not be the case we should get the same treatment as everyone else. On a few occasions the outside bar was not manned and the barman would be hiding behind a screen eating his dinner and would make it obvious he had seen you but still not serve you, this is just arrogant. A lot of the staff were very rude with the odd few been friendly. If you were sat at a table you got waiter service but if you had a blue band indicating you are an inclusive guest then they would ignore you as they did not think they would get a tip from you. One bar man in the inside bar was very suggestive and made rude comments he even followed one female guest into the toilets to harass her and when she threatened to get the manager he left. You do not expect this behaviour on holiday and it was most unwelcome. We would like to know why you had to sign a chit/receipt every time you got a drink when you have a band on to indicate you are an all inclusive guest. The glasses and tables and general bar area we thought were not kept very clean. We observed a table with a spillage on it, which attracted about 30 bees the waiters walked past it for over an hour. Anyone could have been stung. The bar was a disgrace and for most of the holiday we purchased drinks outside the hotel.
As previously mentioned we both suffered diahorrea and sickness for the 10 days we were on holiday and we were not the only ones. On day two of our holiday we complained about the hotel and hygiene standards to the 1-2 Fly Representative, but he just said that it would improve which it did not.
Firstly mealtime at lunch was supposed to be at 1230-1400hrs. On numerous occasions the doors were not opened until 1255hrs. People were stood queuing, which is not good when you are supposed to be on a relaxing holiday. The food itself was mostly the same choice every day for the whole ten days. Breakfast was croissants, which were hard, bread, which was like rock and you, could hardly cut through it. Boiled eggs, fried eggs, and sausages on some occasions and beans which were drowning in some sort of congealed liquid. If you were brave enough to sample lunch or dinner the meals were nearly always the same. The food was disgusting and most of the time there were trays running out and the chefs were not very quick at replacing the food, which had been taken on the buffet. The chips and potatoes were rarely cooked properly. On one occasion we both got meatballs and when we cut them open they were raw. We told the waiter who just told us that the chefs were busy.
The chefs uniforms were filthy and we witnessed the chef in the pizzeria which is a separate restaurant wearing the same uniform for the whole ten days we were there. This is unacceptable hygiene. The floor in the kitchen of the pizzeria was always filthy even when the kitchen had just opened and there was no wonder that so many people at the hotel were ill. The pizza which was cooked for the guests was cooked fresh if you were all inclusive you got slices from a big tray which can only be described as cold bread with tomatoes puree on. The all inclusive pizza did not resemble pizza in any way. Also pasta was supposed to be served in the evening as part of all inclusive but never was.
On several occasions in the main buffet restaurant we just eat pasta as the rest of the food did not look edible. Most of the time we just took one look and ended up eating elsewhere. We witnessed a chef again in a dirty uniform come out take some paper napkins wipe the hotplate down. He then brought out a tray of meat took the old meat off and used the same napkins he had used to wipe down to push the old meat onto the new meat. This is disgusting practice. The waiters in the restaurant would ask if you wanted a drink with your meal and then bring it when you had finished your meal and it was often warm beer with dirty glasses. There were flies everywhere and the windowsills were full of dead ones. All they need to do is invest in some fly zappers. Instead of plates being taken away straight away to be washed, they and the unwanted food was piled high on side tables, which attracted even more flies. Our dining experience at the Saadia hotel can only be described as feeding time at the zoo.
entertainment at the beginning of every night was a kid’s mad half hour. The entertainment team would get the kids up and play the same naff songs every night, this was rather irritating to most guest especially those without children. Why not have the kid’s entertainment separate or if they must do it vary it. The entertainment itself was some of the worst we have ever seen relying most of the time on audience participation, rather been like at Butlins. The CDs played during the day were the same day in day out. The so called DJ was annoying as he kept spinning the records and slowing and speeding up the music, which irritated a lot of people. The Nightclub we thought would be great to escape and unwind, wrong again. On the door as you would expect it clearly stated ‘No Under 18’s’ yet every single night you would have under eighteens running around playing chase. This was brought to one of the nightclub managers attentions on several occasions who just laughed it off, or told them to get out then let them back in. The all inclusive drinks stopped at 2400hrs which meant you had to buy your own drinks in the club which were served from the same bar area as the ones you got all inclusive before 2400hrs. This is absolutely ridiculous. You were not allowed beer at the beach bar if you wanted it you had to buy it, this All Inclusive deal was a total rip off we have never known anything like it. The toilet at the beach was in an absolute state most of the time with toilet paper on the floor and faeces around the seat, has this hotel never heard of hygiene. The carpets in all the main corridors were badly stained and the hotel smelt unhygienic, especially the pizzeria. There were electric sockets without coverings, which is a serious health and safety risk. Down the corridors were cupboards with pipes in that we witness children opening and shutting and this could have resulted in a nasty fall. The door to the hotel roof was left open and children would run around up there and again a serious risk to life. The cleanliness and hygiene in the entire hotel was disgusting and I would not send my worst enemy there. The towels in the room were supposed to be changed if you put them in the bath. On a couple of occasions ours were taken out of the bath still unclean and placed back on the rails. When they were changed they still smelt disgusting and sometimes wet. We witnessed maid using dirty water to clean the rooms and the bath was absolutely filthy. In the morning when guests were going to breakfast the cleaners would fill the floor with soap suds, why not clean before guests go to breakfast this was a serious risk, anyone could have slipped and hurt themselves. In the morning the patio area would also be scrubbed with detergent and swept into the plants and into the swimming pool, absolutely disgusting. One day we were in our room with a ‘Do not Disturb’ Sign displayed. There was a knock and the cleaner asked when she could clean our room. We said in five minute, two minutes later she knocked again to ask if we could changed some UK pound coins for Dinars, we said no. She then returned immediately asking us to change Euros. If it says don’t disturb then you shouldn’t be. we would like you to know that we have travelled to many parts of the world and stayed at many hotels so we are experienced travellers. Our holiday which we paid All Inclusive for was an absolute disgrace it felt like we were in a prison camp for 10 days. By day two we requested that the 1-2 Fly representative move us to an alternative hotel or get us a flight home, he told us that this was not possible. When you complained about anything you were just laughed at because as far as the staff were concerned they had your money already. We spent a lot more money than intended on food and drink outside the hotel as every time we eat in the restaurant we would then spend most of the time in the bathroom.

I went to this hotel despite reading comments left on holiday watchdog by previous guests. Beware, the food is always the same and never fresh. The maids take belongings from your room and the management will never admit responsibility.
The hotel hosts more French, polish and various European guests than British and hence there is alot of stealing around the pool area, queue jumping in the restaurants and rude guests all together reminded me of the British generosity. I will definitely go back to Tunisia but not to Saadia hotel.
Despite stealing your belongings, the maids will leave you with no clean towels for a few days. The waiters and restaurant staff were great, who only worked hard for a good tip. Watch out for the dirty and misty pools. Always take the safe offered.