has anyone been to sahara beach or skanes in tunisia?
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has anyone been to sahara beach or skanes in tunisia? have read loads of reviews online but dont know weather to trust them or not! x
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Hotels used to be great and guests were treated like royalty. I went a couple of times, but later discovered Turkey and everywhere seemed to pale to my experiences there.
Hope to go back in next couple of years, but further down into Africa. Would recommend it to anyone!
whats your view on the tipping??????? in the reviews that seems to be the only downside? how did you give if any?
oh great! thanks
x
PS: We always go end of May but I would imagine it would be very crowded in peak season.
oh great were going 16th may! have you had any probs with weather at that time? and how did you find the tipping problem? x
We've always been May/June (school holidays). Had the odd day of (warm) rain and rest of the time very hot and sunny.
The staff were always nice and we tipped the pool man for sunloungers each morning and our waiter in the restaurant.
Tip the guys for getting a sunbed, get to know one or two and they will look out for you - they say 'I look after you and you look after me!'. Well worth it and much better than getting up at the crack of dawn to put down towels.
You get allocated a table in the restaurant for your entire stay (ask to change if you don't like it) and there is usually the same waiter who will get your drinks. Tip him a modest amount too.
Also, your luggage will be set aside when you arrive and brought up to your room, again a modest tip. Ask at reception for a porter when you are ready to leave.
The tipping is not really a big issue - just how it works there and makes your stay a lot easier as you get good value for a very modest tip.
You can't take money in or out of the country but the hotel has a bank - sometimes runs out but will limit what it gives out on arrival days to make sure everyone gets enough to get by for a day or so. If you have time at the airport you can get some local cash there.
Checking in can involve a long queue but while you are waiting have one of your party go to the bank (at the left-hand-side of reception).
To change note into coin (for tips) go to the amusements room down the corridor in the hotel and the guys in there are more than happy to oblige. Can't remember the rate but recall that the big silver coins work well as tips, about a pound or a Euro I think.
Taxis are quite cheap agree in advance and they are honourable. Watch out for the scam where they drop you off at the medina and then someone says 'hello, I know you from the Sahara Beach hotel' - that is because the taxi has told that person where they picked you up from and are in on the scam to take you to 'the best shops'.
If you are into horse riding then the on-site stables provide a really good service on the beach. Some of the guys appear a bit shifty but get to know them and you can negotiate a good deal and some extra time when its quiet.
Enjoy.
Found there was a lot more in Sousse then in sahara beach, it had a really good medina (ok you have to get used to being pestered, i just mimicked it when they always said hello lol). The only thing we brought from the medina were some really good cheap spices!. Sousse also has a nice bit of the old town and its ok waking up to the sound of the call to prayer (wierd really when your half asleep)
Another good reason to stay in Sousse is there are some proper local places to eat rather then places aimed at tourists. Food in those kinda places are ridciously cheap, they dont look the sort of places to go but were amazed how good the food was.
Also we used the train twice in Tunisa , using the main station at Sousse. We did a day out to the capital (Tunis) we went 1st class, was good fun, nices views on the train and good experiance. (tunis sort of place you wear trousers not shorts to as capital,but not that touristy). Went to the cartharge ruins. well worth seeing. A few days later we went to the colosseum/apitheatre @ el Jem. (http://www.seat61.com/Tunisia2.htm)
Some of the areas can be a bit dirty but you get used to that. We used the banks to exchange our money and it went a long way. Drink the tea/coffee, lovely and strong/sweet.
If you do stop @ sahara beach and want any culture then expect to use taxis a fair bit. After going past skannes am glad we didnt stop. Seemed a bit of a mess!
All in all we had a good time.:)
Enjoy
great thank you so much for the info! any problems with language?? x
No most speak english, thier first language is either french or arrabic. As we speak french to it was easy to converse in non toursity areas. Most signs etc are in french to .
I assume you aint after culture then? just sun and sand? You will miss out if you dont make the effort while you are there.
oh 1 dinar then. I know it had a 1 on it, it was silver and worth 50p
yeah defo want to go and see a bit of the culture there! really hopeing to see where they filmed life of brian! thats why i wanted to know about the language x
I was a picky eater but seem to remeber the food being ok but you were at the same table every night at the same time. Horses were cool and free to ride
Anyway- sure it has changed now. Tunisia is great- food and culture. Do some trips and don't be deterred by the haggling