Vincci Saphir Palace & Spa

In context this is our second visit to Saphir and of many holidays to Tunisian Hotels but find there is here a distinct contradiction in Trip Advisor reviews. There are four parts to a Hotel: Room, Food, Pool and Ambience. The large Room was in need of refurbishment, the bed covers were too small, valance faded, hall lights bulbs blown and doors and windows creaked. No usual information in room on safe operation or meal times or anything. Room entrance doors all bang unless you take absolute care in closing and don't forget the next time. Don't know what the floor tiles markings are, never seen such odd discolouration markings. Heavy duty carpet cleaning was undertaken throughout the hotel but left with untidy bits of carpet sticking up. How many director managers does it take to do a "Snags List"? Air conditioning was turned off at the end of September for all hotel rooms but not staff, the room humidity was high and night time temperatures 20c plus. This however was non-negotiable! Hard to get basic sleep. Reasonable? Hospitable? Legal? Negligent? Liable? TUI un-contactable and rep didn’t turn up on scheduled spec day. There was a customer relations manager in a pink silky blouse but why would be needed and of what use evades comprehension, talked the 'no' or 'blank' without a management function, did have other staff’s fawn favour most mealtimes and otherwise preoccupied on the mobile around reception? Food was giving most people bad infected digestion stomachs, little and repetitive choice with a lot of fish, so many flies on all the foods and even sweets, with no restrictive fly screening. Two table types with corner legs were used for the long benches and centre leg in other positions, so had to screech drag the table to get out of the benches, without drinks toppling, switch the tables as original design! A restaurant is a class place for the ladies to dress for dinner, here it was a canteen setting and no table clothes. Thought could be given to people flow logistics absence creating queues and cross avoiding :-(( The special restaurant on the left was cut off and in use with the inner courtyard by an unusual dozen dementia Patients and their Nurses. The Concert hall and large stage were so also cut off and not in use. BBQ restaurant hardly used and was itemed as three a la carte but just three different fixed menus on three different nights. In the afternoon very limited nibbles located here out of the way. Beach restaurant served fish menu only, had to book and or pay; incomplete and dangerous walkways, one filthy men’s toilets didn’t flush and other pan had been removed; Ladies toilets? Bar lounge had three chandeliers with lots of bulbs needing replacement, very dark, odd lamp shade shape? Think I saw the manager One Daytime, sitting in the bar lounge below one of these discoloured lights, having a fag and coffee chat with another unrecognised individual, looked like popped in after a round of golf? Office? Responsibility

I have just returned from a 7 night all-inclusive stay with my girlfriend, and after reading some of the reviews, we were a little dubious. However, fear not we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The hotel itself is a little dated, and the 5 star rating was earned in 2005. This said the hotel and room were nice and clean, and the Seaview balcony was sensational. The pool is fantastic and again always clean. We would always see people cleaning wherever we went in this hotel. The only minor downside was the restaurant. The food was very hit and miss some days were really good and some were awful. I think the restaurant is to small for the amount of people and this caused a lot of queues. All in all a very enjoyable stay and we will be returning to Tunisia next year

The hotel has great potential, but it is completely unused. However, I will start with the positive things, which unfortunately are fewer: - location - close to the promenade and the sea - private beach with sun loungers for guests - large rooms - open employees - cheerful and smiling However, there are much more minuses and they are the reason why I will never return to this hotel or recommend it to anyone. 1. The first and biggest minute is the kitchen - dirty tables in the restaurant, sticky armchairs, lack of cutlery, constantly missing some meal and waiting for refills, very low quality of food - low quality ingredients, unappetizing, processed. Long queues for dishes prepared on site, which causes crowding and nervousness. Total lack of management of the restaurant hall by the manager - If there is one on site? I have often seen waiters cleaning the table leaving cutlery after previous guests. Totally unacceptable behavior. Serving food with hands by staff without gloves. For us, the punishment was to go to meals. For dinner we used the a la carte option which was a better option but not amazing. The kitchen needs a complete reorganization by the hotel. 2. Rooms - although large, they need renovation, bed linen dirty on arrival - either dirty or not washed and definitely need to be replaced because they had the white color a long time ago. 3. Fruit only with meals, no access to it during the day. Snack bars only with fast food - fries, hamburgers and other crap. 4. Bars during the day - glasses rinsed only by hand and running water without washing with dishwashing liquid. So I drank in a coffee mug. 5. Garden - completely unused area, playground falling apart with one swing, which is scary to put a child on, there is supposedly tennis but there is not, no developed space around for entertaining guests after dinner. 6. Surrounding dirt around the hotel - rubbish, also appearing on the beach. Unfortunately, my rating on a scale of 5 is 1.5 and my family and I were counting down the days until our return. The hotel does not deserve the stars it has. If the managers want to change something and disenchant the place, they should start by renovating the rooms, reorganizing the kitchen and improving the quality of products served to guests because even animals eat better. To sum up, I do not recommend it and I advise you to choose another place for your vacation if you want to spend it without stress and disappointment.