Tej Marhaba Hotel, Sousse > Reviews (4)

Getting some Winter Sun

My husband and I decided we would like a lazy holiday away from our winter climate. I looked on the web for a late deal and booked this holiday for us.
We booked the Tej Marhaba for a week, it wasn't long enough to explore the hotel properly, never mind the surrounds of Sousse and the rest of Tunisia! It is about a twenty minute walk into Sousse town centre and a few minutes from it's own lovely private beach.
We had a great time there and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to friends. Having booked with Thompsons' I can't tell you the price of the rooms, but we paid £600 for flights and room on a half board basis. Considering how much we enjoyed the hotel and the small bit of Tunisia we saw, I was very satisfied with our bargain holiday.

~~Booking in~~

Booking in was swift and pain free. Our bags were taken up to our rooms before we got to them. The reception staff were friendly and spoke excellent English. As we were booking in and filling in a few forms we were offered a complimentary cool drink. We were advised about meal times and the dreaded Rep's welcoming 'party'. The receptionist told us about the safety deposit boxes and a few other necessary pieces of information. They also told us that they were there to help if we needed any more information. They were true to their word and we found throughout our stay that they were always available to advise us.

~~~The Hotel~~~

The Tej Marhaba is set in very large grounds. The site is a large oval with the residential part of the hotel at one end, the pool and lawns in the middle and a shopping mall and apartment flats at the sea end.
The front of the hotel is fairly imposing, the grounds are tidy and car parking is ample.

Walking through the entrance a huge arch holds a massive glass lantern in Moorish style. Comfortable seats and tables sit either side of the doors. We tended to sit out here in the evening and have a drink and a game of Scrabble and watch the world go by. The bar staff would stick their heads out every so often and check if we needed anything. One of the waiters was fascinated by the game and would solemnly point out words on my tile rack to help me. I think he was trying to help me but some of the words were not quite in English. I don't think they were Arabic either! Apparently Scrabble is available in Arabic but there is a difficulty buying the real version so most people make do with a bootleg version and the board falls to bits. (The things you learn when ordering a drink in the Tej Marhaba!)

The hotel lobby is absolutely massive, You could hold an aircraft sale in there! Reception is to the left and we were quickly booked in by the friendly and multilingual staff. Behind the reception and money exchange are the safety deposit and luggage rooms. A safety deposit box cost us about £7.00 for the week and is a wise investment. A returnable deposit of 20 Tunisian Dinar (about £10.00) was required for the key.

In the middle of the hotel lobby stood a bar surrounded by a water feature where the fountains played periodically.

Large leafy plants and palms gave the impression of an oasis. Comfortable chairs and sofas were dotted about around little tables. The lobby is on two levels, the far side being slightly lower but connected by stairs and ramps so wheelchair access was easy enough. In the far left hand side were a few baized tables for card players and a non smoking area. Far right contained a small stage where nightly entertainment was provided. The space was big enough for the entertainment not to be at all overwhelming if you wanted to sit away from that area and have a drink and a natter. The musicians were competent but wouldn't last long on The X Factor.

To the right of the front entrance was a piano and sports lounge and just beyond that was an internet room. This held about eight computers and gave very cheap access to the internet.

Overall the entrance lobby of the hotel was welcoming and interesting. It was very large but managed to have a lot of smaller more intimate areas to just relax in. The layout was good and the space was used well.

I was continously warmed by how pleasant all the staff were towards us. Even the busiest cleaners would stop to greet us or just give a big smile in greeting.

~~~Our Room at the Top~~~

Our room was on the fourth floor and overlooked the pool and gardens. It was a lovely quiet place to sit and gave a good view out over the sea and grounds. Curiously, the balcony had a table and only one chair and we kept forgetting to ask for another one. Had we asked I am certain we would have got one because the staff were very efficient and helpful. When we rang down to reception for replacement light bulbs, a chap arrived within ten minutes to change them. We thought the light bulb on our balcony was broken but the man pointed out all the balcony lights in the hotel were off. "Law" he said, pointing at the dark balconies, "Rule for all Sousse!" We later discovered that this was a local energy and mosquito saving ruling. We used the provided candles instead, which was all very romantic until it got windy! Then it was just dark!

Our room was spacious with a comfy pair of single beds pushed together and made up as one bed.
The room was carpeted throughout in light green. It amused me that the carpet ran a short way up the walls and covered the shelves at either side of the bed. The carpet was completely clean and dust free, as was the rest of the room. A long desk and seat ran along the wall opposite the bed, with a fair sized TV at one end. The remote for the TV was sort of plumbed into the wall at one side of the bed. I thought it was another phone for the first two days! It was easy to work but a bit frustrating if you had chosen the wrong side of the bed to sleep on, thus losing control of the remote! (Maddening if your partner hogs it and flicks through the channels endlessly!)

The bathroom was off a little, wardrobe rich corridor, there was plenty of hanging and storage space with extra blankets and pillows there too!
The door to the bathroom was also the door to the loo, (as you opened the door it closed across the seperate little room that housed the loo.

) This saved space and meant that you had a bit of privacy whilst enthroned.

The shower was located over the bath and was powerful enough and never short of hot water. Lots of various sized but slightly thin towels were provided. The wash basin was a good size and with plenty of space on the surrounding vanity unit. The customary complimentary toiletries were provided and replenished when needed, a very efficient hair dryer was installed in there too. The bathroom was in good repair with no cracked tiles and a sparkling mirror. The decor might have been a bit dated but it was clean and roomy. It was fine!

I thought that our accommadation was good value. Some hotel rooms are cramped and dingy but ours was well maintained and comfortable. The curtains covered the whole length of the balcony end of the room and had blackout linings so we were never disturbed by the early morning light. The balcony door slid noiselessly back but had no handle on the outside so beware of locking yourself out! (We did this once in Tenerife and were marooned on our balcony for ages so I'm a bit neurotic about it now!)

The air conditioning unit worked well and wasn't noisy, in fact it made less noise than the little fridge which made a curious ticking noise every so often.

The room was cleaned daily by a very sweet woman. Fresh towels appeared every other day and the sheets were changed daily. The sheets were good quality and always pristine. They were a real pleasure to get into.

~~~Food! Glorious Food?~~~

Many of the guests were on package deals which meant that they were nearly all eating at least one meal a day in the restaurant. Breakfast started at 6am. The dining area was large but again, broken up by the use of plants and different levels to prevent it feeling like a huge refectory. The buffet servery was in the middle and a large variety of different food was available.

Brekky tended to be a good variety of pastries and fresh bread, rolls, croissants etc. Boiled, scrambled or fried eggs, the fried eggs done for you on request. Freshly made crepes, (which I loved to watch being made.) Very odd looking sausage slices which even the hotel cats were a bit fussy about! Lots of tomatoes in various guises, a roll on roll off toaster which actually worked properly! Fruit juices which defied the trade descriptions act. Huge bowls of fresh dates, (scrumptious!) fig jam, quince jam, fresh yoghurt, delicious curls of butter, local curd cheese, (tasteless!) and slices of fresh cheese, (tasty). So breakfast was eclectic but something for everyone if you looked around. You could make your own coffee, (not good!) tea, (never any boiling water!) or hot chocolate which was suprisingly good. I get so fed up with hotels that can't make tea properly! This one was no exception. Why is providing boiling water for tea such a universal problem?

Dinner was also buffet style with a good mixture of different salads, virtually everything I mentioned for breakfast (in case you want to have it again!

) and at least three different main courses every night. There was always a different fish dish too. The vegetables were varied but often overcooked. Rice was always available and on one memorable occasion a pan of couscous and lamb which looked big enough to bathe in! I don't know how they got it in there, it was huge!

My husband thought the food was really good (given that he would eat fried socks, that's not really a great endorsement!). I found it a bit repetetive to be honest and got bored with it after a few nights. I have to say though, that the dining room was spotless and the food looked hygeinic and was usually hot. Our waiter for the week was attentive and fast to provide anything we needed. Wine and beer was the only thing we had to pay for and that was not expensive, if we didn't finish our bottle of wine the waiter kept it for us and brought it out at our next meal. As we were given the same table for the week there was never any rush to get us in and out. The tables were a decent size and the linen was always fresh and clean. We were lucky because our table overlooked the gardens.If I got bored with waiting for Chief Sevenbellies to finish eating I could look at the view.
The food was plentiful if a little unimaginative. I think I would have been fed up with it (no pun intended) if we had been there for two weeks.

~~~Getting into hot water!~~~

The inside pool was more like a spa, the large domed glass building was full of palm trees and very steamy. It had the hottest water I have ever swum in! It felt very peculiar to get into a hot swimming pool and it was strangely tiring. A lot of elderly and arthritic people found it very helpful for their aches and pains. It had quite a large round pool with islands of palms and flowering shrubs. The pool furniture was uncomfortable and sparse which was disappointing compared to the comfort of the rest of the hotel.
Adjoining the pool house was a suite of beauty treatment and massage rooms which you could walk through to get to the hotel lobby. I never had any treatment here but they looked and smelled wonderful as these places always do.
I missed out on visiting the Hotel's Hammam (Turkish bath) because the only time I went down for one it was closed for cleaning and inspection. Blooming typical of my timing!

Getting into cold water!

The outside pool was shield-shaped with a seperate toddlers pool at one end. The water was crystal clear and inviting. I was brave and had a dip every day even though the water was bloody freezing! (I got nipples like chapel hat pegs!) Sun beds and mattresses were free, but Ali, the pool man, expected to be tipped for lugging the beds and mattresses to where you wanted them. A tip of 1 TD did the trick and you can't complain about 50p a day can you? Little tables were provided and a waiter spent the day bringing tea, coffee and soft drinks. He would also bring snacks from the cafe if you bribed him a bit!
The gardens around the pool were well kept and planted with some beautiful trees and shrubs.

The obligatory stray cats were courteous and begged very decorously. I got adopted by a little ginger female who happily lived under my sunbed once I had given her some titbits smuggled out of breakfast. She also like a saucer of milk left over from my tea or coffee. I got the odd dainty little pat from her if she thought she had been ignored for too long.
There was no feeling of being crowded around the pool and it was a very pleasant place to relax in. I don't know what it would be like in high season.

~~~The rest of the Hotel~~~

I don't think got to explore it all, I saw games rooms, a gym, a spa, a few shopping arcades, many shops selling clothes and leather goods, an English pub at the far end of the complex, at least two cafe bars, an internet lounge, a pleasant and comfortable piano lounge bar and a collonaded walkway around acres of gardens. In fact, if you were lazy or very tired you wouldn't really need to leave the hotel grounds. It seemed to have something for everyone.

~~~A bit of drama on our last night!~~~

Some like it hot!

At the far end of the hotel grounds was a shopping/entertainment complex on three levels. The shops that were open were very smart but a lot of units were empty and I got the impression that the complex was struggling to survive.
On the very top floor was a nightclub which opened until the early hours of the morning. Fortunately the disco music never disturbed us as it was too far away from the residential part of the hotel. After a lovely meal out we returned to our room and I went out on the balcony for a cigarette. I was amazed to see smoke pouring from the buildings at the end of the grounds and it became evident that the nightclub was on fire. We had heard a fire engine earlier but took no notice. We watched as the firemen clambered out onto the flat rooves to get to the seat of the fire. All we could see was their silhouettes against the skyline. My husband, the avid birdwatcher, got his binoculars and we were able to see five firefighters trying to get into the back of the building. They had one set of breathing apparatus between them so were basically unable to do anything.
What absolutely amzed me was that two floors down, it was business as usual in the pub! It was clear that the customers were engrossed in watching football on the large screen telly and the little matter of the nightclub being on fire above them wasn't going to spoil their appreciation of the footie'! Even when the fire was raging at it's height, nobody moved from the bar. It was all a bit surreal watching the fire being fought at one level and the football and beer being enjoyed less than thirty foot lower down. Some experiences really let you know you are not in Britain!
At about midnight, for some reason which I don't understand, the firemen started to break all of the nightclub's plate glass windows. The noise was horrific. The windows that we could see were large and took some breaking. They did it with poles and had no safety clothing except their uniforms.

It was frightening to watch (and hear)! Smoke poured out of the broken windows but the fire had been put out. Windows continued to be smashed throughout the night. When I went to bed, the people in the bar were still watching the sport on TV. Incredible!

The next morning we found out that nobody had been hurt in the fire and that they thought it had been cause by an electrical fault in one of the lifts.
I was stunned to see workmen up on the roofs and balconies, which must still have been hot and covered in large shards of glass. They started to paint over the smoke damage on the walls before we had even gone in to our breakfasts! How extraordinarily fast they were to start repairing the damage!

~~~The Hotel overall~~~

It's a large comfortable place which has seen richer days. It has everything you would need to entertain or relax you. The staff were unfailingly and authentically pleasant, helpful and communicative. The food is okay but not spectacularly good. I found it a little repetetive at times. For such a large complex it manages to be friendly and homely. I would recommend it as a good base for exploring Sousse and other nearby towns.