Iberostar Sahara Beach Hotel, Monastir

The hotel is rated by Thomsons much more highly than 2 star,The star rating of 2 probably suits it.
The hotel is extremely clean but is probably now lacking a bit of sparkle. The lounge and bar areas are a bit dingy and tired. Similarly the rooms have had new curtains and obviously a lick of paint, but the bathrooms need refurbishing urgently.
Why not have safety deposit boxes in the rooms? i do not like being observed by others when ...
...the assurances are.
I visited in february 2007, and there were only 800 guests- I would not like to be there when it can have 3000. The dining room is very large and if travelling alone, you are allocated a table with others- not always a good thing as you may prefer to sit on your own.
The food was good and I regularly observed staff probing the buffet dishes to ensure tempaertures etc were OK. No matter what your food preferences ... more

The hotel is rated by Thomsons much more highly than 2 star,The star rating of 2 probably suits it.
The hotel is extremely clean but is probably now lacking a bit of sparkle. The lounge and bar areas are a bit dingy and tired. Similarly the rooms have had new curtains and obviously a lick of paint, but the bathrooms need refurbishing urgently.
Why not have safety deposit boxes in the rooms? i do not like being observed by others when storing any cash or valuables etc, no matter how secure the assurances are.
I visited in february 2007, and there were only 800 guests- I would not like to be there when it can have 3000. The dining room is very large and if travelling alone, you are allocated a table with others- not always a good thing as you may prefer to sit on your own.
The food was good and I regularly observed staff probing the buffet dishes to ensure tempaertures etc were OK. No matter what your food preferences you should be able to find something to suit your palette. I can't speak for the qulaity of service in the restaurants when at full capacity, but the service throughout the hotel was good while I was there.
There is a small range of shops within the hotel, but they are very pricey and just like visiting the medina you get pestered to buy- in the hotel this should not be necessary and they would probably make more profits if they did not harrass guests to buy

If your are there for the weather, then be aware that when stormy (as it was for a few days) then you could become very bored very quickly as not a lot of in house activities for those of us who don't wish to play pool, or table tennis. there are outside bar facilities and even on the beach. Cushions are available for the sunbeds and the beach is easily accesible- please do something about the camel excreta on the beach.
A couple of TV rooms with sky television to suit all nationalities (only TV room available was in Germanlanguage and screen extermely small) would be good and possibly an internet cafe would be useful. The entertainemnt lounge is dingy and seating is not very comfortable. entetrtainment- well leaves a lot to be desired and guests in the main provide entetrtianment in the form of karaoke
The hotel is convenient for the airport and there is surprisngly very little aircraft noise. However, if you're into walking you could walk to Sousse, or Monsatir, but in a group , as the road could be quite isolating and crime seems to be a problem. There are however, taxis available form the main gate or reception.and the Noddy train runs into Monastir frequently. Negotiate your prices for taxis. bus services and local trains run nearby and are very cheap
Another downside is that when arranging excursions, the reps don't tell you that you will probably spend an hour and a half each way on pick ups and drop offs from other hotels and resorts.
 

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