
Vincci Resort Alkantara Thalassa, Djerba
Centred on the sea world, the hotel concentrates all the light and blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Traditional ship cabins inspire its 310 rooms decoration, with views to the sea or the gardens.
The resort also offers 12 apartments, 5 junior - suites and a spectacular Presidential Suite. Every room has individual temperature control, minibar, direct telephone, Satellite TV, hair-dryer and a full-equipped bathroom.
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Me and my wife stayed at the Alkantara from the 31.03.07 till the 07.04.07 on a half board basis with Airtours.
First the positives.
The hotel was very clean and the staff, although English isn't their best language, tried their very best to communicate with us. This hotel is mainly for French and German holiday makers so the staff all speak those languages. We have found that if you try and speak a little Arabic you get a very good response from all the locals.
Our room was first class and was cleaned every day, in fact the hotel seemed to be being cleaned 24 hours a day.
The food on the half board option was excellent, the choice and standard was definitely 5 star. I would have been disappointed if we were all inclusive as there were only two other places to eat in the hotel apart from the main dining area.
Unfortunately those are the only positives, now for the negatives.
Once you get past the reception and the rooms, the rest of the hotel is in a poor state of repair, and looks very tired and old.
The entertainment was woeful, the band that played in the bar at night was worse than the dregs of fame academy, but the Germans seemed to like it so I can only presume it was aimed at heir tastes. There was what seemed to be a stage area on the beach, but this was run down and never used. The animation team as a whole were disinterested, the day entertainment being non existent.
Being half board we had to pay for our lunches and drinks, and this is a major moan from me, because the prices are extortionate to say the least. We've been to Tunisia twice before and have got a taste for the local grog Boucha. We bought a bottle on the plane over for £4. In the hotel bar it was £4 for one glass with coke. The beer is also very nice, but at £1.20 for a small glass I soon lost interest. Lunch was also very expensive, averaging at about £15 for two with drinks. If you get hungry between breakfast and evening meal, and you don't like pizza, burger or lasagne then you're not going to enjoy this hotel. We spent about £200 on food and drink in 1 week and we aren't heavy drinkers.
The biggest problem is the beach. We booked specifically for a beach holiday, the brochure says "ringed by miles of fine sandy beaches". Our beach was hidden under 4 feet of seaweed. This isn't an exaggeration; I have the film to prove it. A JCB and 3 tractors spent the whole week moving this mountain of rotting black goo, the smell of diesel was unbearable, and in fact the beach was deserted, everyone opting to sit by the pool. If you want a peaceful time then don't go here. The pool is only feet from the beach and the sound of these ill-maintained machines trundling up and down all day made it impossible to get any peace or concentrate on a good book. On the last day the tractors started moving in big piles of sand. The JCB had got the seaweed down to about a foot deep and they were intending to bury this under new sand. If they do, the smell will eventually find its way through and the whole lot will have to be replaced. Reading other reports on this hotel it seems they have done this before, and obviously don't learn from their mistakes.
All things considered I wouldn't go back. Souse, Monastir and Port El Kantoui are all better and cheaper. If you go to this hotel don't let it put you off what is a beautiful country full of very friendly people.
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Me, the wife and two kids arrived at 5am on the early hours of a Sunday morning. The hotel is 35 minutes drive from the lovely Djerba airport. Even at that time the check in and the staff were very good. I was worried after reading reviews concerning the "algie" issue with the sea, let me clear this up, this is not algae, or sewage but a natural dilemma facing the hotel, it is seaweed, however, it covers all of about three feet from the beach head into the water.
To counteract this the hotel have built a large pontoon walkway into the sea which allows you to bypass the seaweed and get to the good, clear, warm sea waters. Many people use the pontoon and it can also be used for sunbathing. The water depth at the end of the pontoon is around 3 feet deep. Also to add, the beach outside the hotel is wonderful, it is totally clean apart from the bit joining the waters edge, it is a rather large beach as well.
Ok, the rooms, excellent, clean, tidy, well equipped and very comfortable. One word of warning, when you place a do not disturb sign on the door, the staff still knock, not once but twice, make sure if this happens to you that you complain.
The air conditioning is excellent and the beds very comfortable. Word of warning, if you want a sea view and you do not like noise, make a point of saying you want a view away from the disco area. The disco is really for the youngsters, and too be fair is pretty good, but it is noisy and goes on until around midnight. After midnight it shuts down and becomes quiet again.
My only hate of the hotel was its breakfast, basically, no real fruit juices, just cordials and as they tell you not to drink the local water then cordials are a no no for me. Breakfast is far too French and is totally unfair on other European visitors. Do yourself a big favour and take your own t bags or coffee as what they have on offer leaves a lot to be desired. Eggs are plentiful and you can have fried eggs freshly made or an omelette.
Dinner, well ok, but I stayed for two weeks and it repeated itself, they have a bar b q but be very sure to check any chicken you have as I found traces of uncooked meat. If you are British then to be honest they do try, but not hard enough, again the food is more a taste for the French.
The swimming pool is superb, big and very clean, lots of sunbeds but as usual the continentals enjoy taking them before others have even got up, even though the hotel says no before 8am.
Bars, well in short, very expensive, 4 dinars for a beer (small) 3 dinars for a coffee, although i did go as half board, i would really recommend going fully inclusive, especially if you have children. But the bars are managed well by very friendly staff and are totally clean.
The locality of the hotel is 15 minutes from the town of Midoun, which costs around 2 dinars by taxi, around 90 pence, the Town has a wealth of shops but be prepared for haggling on a big scale. My overall judgement of the hotel is that it is well worth a visit, forget the algae it really isn't that big a deal, the staff were excellent, the hotel is very clean, and take a phrase book in either French or Arabic, learning the speak is part of the fun. The hotel was better than I expected. I would ask the hotel though to move away from their total French ideal, there are many other Europeans who would enjoy this hotel.