Hammamet Safa

I enjoyed the holiday. The food was average but rooms were kept clean. Nothing was stolen. Good entertainment for all ages.

We have spent a week in Hotel Safa (in Hammamet,Tunisia) booking it after our agent from Avantura (travel agency from Slovenia) mislead us saying that it is an excellent hotel for a 3 star rating. The only good things are that the hotel has a good location (150m from the beach) and that there is always something going on (program by the animation team)... However, all the rest was a disappointment.

First, rooms were not cleaned properly. They only used water for cleaning the floor and never cleaned them thoroughly (we found bugs' legs on the bathroom floor the first day). Other surfaces were not clean either. When we wiped the night tables and other surfaces the first day we saw they haven't been cleaned properly before our arrival. Last day when we were leaving the room we saw a room maid casually (in not more than 2 minutes) wipe the night tables with the towels we used the previous day. Sheets and towels had also some visible stains that could not be washed out. Second, in the dining room when having an early breakfast we saw two cats running through the hall - they probably had a late dinner and a nap :) and we woke them up.

Next, the first day the air-conditioning didn't function so we had the maintenance person come and fix it. We hoped that was the end to the AC problem, but it meant the beginning. The next day water started leaking from the AC's vent in the ceiling and we had a small "pool" in our room. We didn't complain about it because we didn't want to complicate too much. However, when it got worse the next day, we complained.

The maintenance person tried to fix it but couldn't and it was just getting worse. We had to put towels on the floor constantly and had the AC off during the night. When we asked at the reception if we can get another room they said no other rooms were free and that AC has to be fixed. They called the maintenance person again and he explained to them that it cannot be fixed without certain parts... and by a miracle there was a room free. We went to see it but the balcony door could not be locked so we decided not to take it (we had things stolen from our room some days earlier so we didn't want to risk it again).

Then they promised to fix it the next day. Since we were leaving for a two day safari trip the next day, we hoped it would be OK by the time we return. However, when we came back and turned on the AC (they of course turned it off to prevent the leaking) water started running from the ceiling. We were too tired to complain again and just started putting towels on the floor. The next morning, however, we woke up without electricity and water in our room. Electricity was just missing in our room (they just used the switch outside our room to put it back on) and water was the problem for the whole hotel. The AC never got fixed and we saw there is no use in complaining and ruining our holiday even more. The reception desk was just not as helpful as one would expect. Probably because we were just one in hundreds. Namely, the hotel is very big (over 700 rooms), which also meant crowds and lines at breakfast and dinner (they had three short tables of food for over 1000 people) and in the pool (much smaller than for instance the size of a half of basketball court).

The last thing I would like to mention was a theft in our room. It was our fault to leave our mobile phones and some money in the room, so I don't want to stress the fact of stealing but the attitude of the personnel. We left for a trip to Tunis and we thought that it was safer to leave them in the room than to carry them around in a crowded medina. We left them each in a small bag in a suitcase, not displayed visibly. Someone had to go through the suitcases to find it. My fianc had a mobile stolen and they took all the Euros I left in my valet. The room was not broken in so it had to be someone from the employees (we suspect the room maid because there were extra sheets missing on the bed - he/she must have been to busy stealing our things and forgot about the sheets). The reception personnel were not very cooperative, they said they would talk to the manager and he would do internal control. When we asked them later, they said the manager asked why we hadn't put things in the safe because management is not responsible for the thefts in the hotel. The safe? YEAH RIGHT! There was no safe available as they only have about 100 safes for over 700 rooms. And we even doubt they did the internal control. We asked for someone to go with us to the police to report it and they said we should wait there for a few minutes ... after 40 minutes of waiting and asking and waiting and asking someone finally went with us to the police. Their attitude was just terrible! And later on we found out there are many thefts in this hotel. When we were picking up the key at the reception there was a couple complaining someone stole the safe key they kept in their room and another couple had also a mobile phone stolen.

Overall, it was a terrible experience. At least for us, SAFA was SUFFER!