Visited Palmyra Aqua park Hotel last year. Went there with Detur from Copenhagen Airport. Me and a friend went there for a all-inclusive holiday. The week was quite an adventure.
The trip from Gothenburg to Copenhagen went like clockwork. From the train platform it was a short walk up the stairs to the airport information desk and check in. In Sweden they did a survey in the Nordic countires what country had the largest portion of life quality. Denmark was at the top. In the airport terminal at Copenhagen airport I understand why. The daily news with a big elephant beer. A hotdog vendor called “Pölseman” that also sells drinks. That is a way to start the day.. 😉
The flight to Sousse was nice. Squeezed in a tiny seat in a budget airplane. But that made up for the uncomfortable ride was the staff on the plane. Patient and kind. For a European like me it was a unique experience. To walk out from the airplane in Sousse was like walking in to a blow dryer. It took a little time to feel that the body adjusted to the african heat. Outside the airport in Sousse it was 40degrees. A little hard to handle in the beginning. But after the body had adjusted it was quite nice. To Palmyra Aquapark hotel we took a yellow taxi. Driven by a tunisian in a tunisian way. That means fast. With a attitude you also can have while playing Grand Theft Auto.
Back to the review of Palmyra Aqua Park hotel. The vacation did not start that good by having to wait in line for almost two hours until we got our rooms. For basically one elderly man who did not have any basic capacity at all to multitask. To watch him hand out one check in form at a time. Then having a small chat with each person. Not caring that at least 60 people stood in line in 40 degree heat. Since the air conditioning at the hotel had broken down. One bonus point was the serving staff that took it on themselves to bring something little to drink for the people standing in line to get the keys for the rooms.
The management of the Hotel seemed to be something out of a old History book. The man sitting behind the computer with the face of a person who has his first day behind the keyboard.
We had to go back to the reception.. I think it was the day after. Asking for a room change. Since the ac in our room sounded like a tractor had been abducted in been plastered in to the wall. The bed was like being created by something harder then stone. It was about 22:00 when I went down to the reception and told them that the ac was not working. They wanted to go up and start to fix it right away.. That it good when it comes to customer service.. But I told them I do not want to stay up all night. The day after they did not come at all. When I again went to the reception I got the information from the same man who kept all the people waiting during the check in. That “We will fix it very slowly”.. So me and my travel companion gave them another 24 hours to fix the ac. But nothing happened. So we went down to the reception again and talked to a girl behind the reception and she did show alot of passion for her job. And she did help us to change room. To a room that was a little nicer. With no built in tractor in the wall and with a ac that did blow a little cold air.
What Detur (the vacation company where we booked the holiday) did not do anything. We send them an email from tunis. We did not see them on the airport. No tourguide on the hotel what we could see.
Also a notice to the ones who plan to go to Palmyra. They do close down the pools at the hotel quite early. By the beach a couple of the lifeguards told us that they did start to work at the hotel by the pool. But since they developed a allergic reaction to the chlorine that had to stop working there. I could see on my own swim wear that they started to lose color after a week vacation.
But all was not bad during the week of vacation at Palmyra. The staff working at the restaurant did welcome you as a guest that they probably had done to people in their own home. The female staff who made crepes for breakfast to all people who wanted a couple. The entertainment group who had a water aerobics and evening entertainment. How they in between went around talking to the guests doing their best to keep everyone smiling. The security staff around the hotel who did speak to people going in and out if you said “Hi”. The beach that was quite close to the Hotel. With I guess a Tunisian version of Baywatch. The water was nice. But 40 degrees almost all the time was sometimes a little hard to handle. But it was nice compared to the cold weather back home.
If I would go back to Tunis again. My answer is definitely yes. But I do not think I will go back sometime soon. Because I have read the news about the terrorist attacks. At the Hotel there were armed guards with guard dogs. The Police did patrol all the time at the beach on ATV´s and in most road crossings. But what made up for all that was the kind people. Like a taxi driver we had going back to the airport. That showed us what tunisian “yalla yalla driving” was. I am not going to tell you what that is.. Go to Tunis to find out what that is for your self.. 😉
Stay safe…