Karthago El Ksar

We have returned from a two week stay at the Karthago El Ksar Hotel in september 2007. The hotel is magnificent, the cuisine is excellent and we have never experienced such incredible service before, the sea and pool attendants were wonderful. It was so lovely that it was hard to drag ourselves away from the hotel to go to the lovely parks in sousse. Overall I would say this is probably the best hotel we have ever stayed in on holiday and I am extremely certain that we will be back in 2008!!

I really don't understand how anyone could have had a negative experience in this hotel. The architecture is beautiful, the food is excellent (and it wasn't cold!), there's a great pool, the hotel is right by the beach.. What more could you possibly wish for? And all this (flight, room, mails) for a mere 400 euros. Renting a vacation home in Holland (where I live) and eating out every day would have cost me a lot more! And I wouldn't have had this lovely weather in May! By the way, the personnel was really friendly, and we didn't need to give a tip to be served. Just a smile now and again does the trick!

The hotel was fine if you don't mind cats and cigarette smoke absolutely everywhere. The Director of Security was pushy and some of the guards rectums e.g. being told you were not to bring bottled water into the hotel. Getting around was running an obstacle course as half the doors and exits were locked up. I perhaps spend 3 months a year traveling and this must have been the first time I ever took the bother of complaining in writing to the Hotel Manager on an assortment of matters. The public relations lady met with me and lectured me for 20 minutes. Why fuss ............... I will never darken their doors again. The entertainers were sad ..... perhaps if they cut back to 4 packages of cigarettes a day. Something positive to say? The food was just fine and the dining room staff excellent. The air conditioning seemed to be permanently shut off. The front desk staff were excellent and half the guards were excellent but I had the sense that guests were an inconvenience to the senior management. The spa was grossly overpriced.

This was the best hotel in Tunisia from what we could see but that is not to say it is without fault. The bar service and choice is limited and the ques for dinner at nights are horrendous, we did not feel safe venturing outside of the confines of the hotel luckily the hotel is very large so that was not a problem. The nightly entertainment was very poor as were daytime activitives. On the plus side the weather was great the food good and some great pools and beaches with plenty of sunbeds. Ideal for a break in the sun but if you don't get the weather there is not much else to do.

We travelled to the El Ksar and found it to be a very enjoyable holiday After reading other reviews, i found them to be not as accurate as they could have been, and not done the El Ksar the justice it deserves!. Lets just remember this is Africa, not London!. Some parts of Tunisia are very poor indeed, and as you travel around, you will see this, and this should bear no resemblance on the hotel at all. Me and my partener were at the El Ksar for a week, and really enjoyed it, the Hotel rooms were nice, cleaned regually, and the air con was a god send, as Tunisia can get very hot indeed. Their were plenty of bars to choose from, Lobby bar, Pool bar, Club bar, and the Beach bar. Also the restaurants were plentilful, Main restaurant serving Buffet meals, Pool bar that served snacks, and the Beach bar that serverd BBQ buffet style lunches, and the Ala Carte restaurant was available 1 visit per week. The El Ksar also has its own outdoor night club, which was fantastic, starts round about midnight, and carrys on to the early hours, (get a room with sea view to evade any exesive noise). You could never struggle to get a sun bed here as their are more than enough to go around, and plenty of pools to choose from, Indoor and out. For a complete relaxing hour or two, try the Turkish bath at the hotel, then retire to the jacuzzi or the gym. Security at the hotel was very good especially at night. The Beach at the El Ksar was very good for bathing, and the hotel has its own water sports available. If you dont like to get hasseled by Africans selling something, then dont worry, at this Hotel they are not allowed passed the first row of sun beds, and certainly not around the hotel, but you are likley to get hasseled when you are out and about, although a simple 'no thanks' normally should suffice, dont be offended, these people dont know any other way to make a living. To sum the holiday up, we had a great time, and would recomend it. Remember if your aprehensive about travelling to Africa, do your homework on the country before you go, not when your their.

this is a superb hotel and a great shame tour opperators are removing it from their brochures. We had a fantastic stay in July and are returning in 12 weeks later because we enjoyed it so much. The Bar stafff are fantastic and pay at lot of attention to you. this is not an English hotel but then that is why you go on holiday, to experience different cultures. The hotel is spotless and food great. wine is lovely but not a lot of choice in cocktails but then it is a mainly musleem society, so that is expected. Highly reccomended.

This , i must admit , is the worst holiday i have been on so far. I travelled with my friend and my daughter and we were all dissapointed from the start of the holiday. On the transfer from the airport we both felt that the scenery is better in London!!! It was all grotty tourist shops, grotty buidings and scaffolding there. When we arrived about 4 porters ( male) came and took our luggage in despite there being only 2 suitcases . Not because they were being helpful but because they wanted to flirt with us! We then went to reception who ordered us to go to dinner ! We weren't allowed to look at our room , even though we weren't hungry and would have preffered a lie down in our rooms. Being all inclusive had major advantages but it meant you had to wear a tight band! It was horrible so my daughter broke hers deliberately and wasn't allowed any drinks.Even when she presented it off her rist they were not happy and DEMANDED we bought another one !!! The staff were terribly flirtatious and my friend and I were both subjected to it. Even my daughter was told that she would be really beautiful when she was older and would make a perfect wife, my daughter is only 10! If you are looking for history you will not find it in Sousse! They make the wall so hard to find it is like they are hiding it from you. There is very little information about it even when you ask people they just tell you any random direction. We were told it was near the police station but there was nothing near there and we ended up following a man into a brothel!!! something very innapropriate for my daughter to see. buying something in Sousse was not easy , we saw some nice shoes in one of the shops and got down to a very good price but when we said we would look around for a different colour and might come back he refused to have us in his shop again calling us crazy people. We were also chased down the street with sellers! Port el Kantoui looked good though being much more for tourists.We visited there on our last night and wished we had stayed there! Most things are cheap which is probably the best thing about it . The private beach is good but beware of some boats that come very close to shore. The meals at the hotel are very tasteless apart from evening deserts and breakfasts which are lovely! Probably two of the worst things were : there were hardly any British people there for my daughter which was bad because we are used to socialising on holiday. Also, we were in a room directly above the entertainment which was so noisy and relentless. I wouldn't really reccomend here or this hotel but Port el kantoui is good, and if you are looking to buy lots of things at cheap prices here is the place! Hassling isn't as bad as we expected OUTSIDE the hotel , infact it was worse inside. By the way , if someone is Sousse offers to take you somewhere it is most likely they will take you to a carpet shop! Don't think you are an exception! Also , if you say you are Russian in sousse you get lots of money off! We learnt this on the last day! However, if you have already booked here , talk to your rep as they are very helpful and supportive and understand the problems which is good because we felt we had no-one to moan to! Book an excursion , the camal trip is good and our rep said the sahara one is fantastic. Enjoy and i hope i have helped.

The El Ksar hotel was claimed to be a 5 star hotel by Exotik Tours (Toronto, Canada). This is a bit of an exaggeration. The hotel is at most a 3 to 4 star hotel by North American standards. Although the rooms are clean, the carpets are a bit old. One problem we found at this hotel was the FALSE claim that they have air conditioning. In North America, this means air COOLING. But in North Africa, it seems that just circulating the air through the room qualifies as air conditioning ! Note that this is a problem we found at SEVERAL hotels during our 2 week tour through Tunisia, where may claimed to have air conditioning but few really did. One MAJOR problem we had with the El Ksar was the fact that there is ONLY one main restaurant (the second one is "a la carte" and is relatively small). The main restaurant is HUGE, NOISY and STUFFY (no REAL air conditioning and all the windows/doors are kept closed). With what seemed like 500+ people crowding in at supper time, the restaurant looked and felt more like a prison cafeteria or a "feeding trough" than a restaurant. Tables are NOT cleaned properly between customers; the table cloths always seem to be stained. Expect to walk a lot during a scavenger-like expedition to collect everything you need to eat; the plates, utensils, glasses, food, etc, are spread out throughout the cafeteria (sorry, the "restaurant"). Expect line ups for any thing you want to get (i.e., utensils, plates, food, drink, etc). Because so many people are fed at the same time, shortages of food, drinks, etc, are also common. To be fair, it must be said that the staff is usually quick to correct such shortages (typically within 5 minutes). The atmosphere (and noise) in the "restaurant" were so unpleasant that we often preferred to go eat in a restaurant in town, even though our meals were included in our package. Generally, the food was good but this needs to be qualified. To feed so many people at once, everything is cooked in large, cafeteria-like containers. Compared to other cafeterias where we have eaten (e.g., hospitals, at work, etc), the El Ksar food is good. But if you expect restaurant-like food quality, you will be disappointed. The wine (NOT included in the meals) is priced EXORBITANTLY !!! In every other hotel we have been to in Tunisia (about six of them), wine was usually 9 to 15 Dinars a bottle (roughly $9 to $15 Canadian). But at the El Ksar, the same wine typically sells for 28 dinars or more. As tourists in a tourist trap, we realize that we will get "milked" a bit by the locals and are reasonably tolerant of that. But the El Ksar definitely goes beyond the bounds of decency and into the "HIGHWAY ROBBERY" territory as far as wine is concerned. For the sake of fairness, I must point out that the El Ksar also has several positive points. There are 5 separate pools, with a heated one inside the hotel with Zaccuzi. There is weight/exercise room, which is reasonably well equipped. There are many pool tables, games rooms, etc, which will be attractive for visitors with kids. The beach area is well maintained, although some residual weeds can be expected in the sand. There are usually enough beach chairs for most guests, although there seems to be 25% fewer mats than there are chairs. The staff is friendly and usually very helpful. There is always a nightly show, although the 10 PM start time was a bit late for our taste. All in all, this hotel is no hell hole by far. However, the other reviews which rate it excellent or fantastic are an exaggeration. This is a fairly good 3-4 star hotel, with some attractive features but a few UGLY ones as well.

We went to Tunisia for the first time in may 2002 so obviously nervous as to what our hotel would be like !!! We were not disapointed as we approached the hotel at 9pm in the evening it was like something out of the Arabian nights the hotel was totaly lit up down the whole drive. The foyer is beautiful and the staff so very friendly and make you feel so welcome.The food is great and the restuarant staff cant do enough for you. We went again in 2003 and still loved it.. we have never stayed in the same place twice runnung before... but we made many friends and we are off there again this year.. i have to add that all the reps say it is the best Hotel in the area for atmosphere and friendliness!!!!!

What a great hotel this is. Best time to arrive is at night when it is lit up and looks like an imposing castle with massive entrance doors. From the moment one arrives, one is made to feel a friend of the staff and management here. A vast but comfortable lounge area awaits you with large armchairs to relax in. There is a "chill room" with hookah pipes, soft cushions and relaxing music. A very good restaurant with a varied serve yourself menu, plenty for all. Wine is middle of the road prices but good. Rooms definitely in 4 star class, and a minor problem with lights was fixed rapidly. If going to Sousse, stay here for sure