Topkapi Beach

“Good family oriented hotel”

Just got back from a week away at Topkapi beach hotel, it was just what we were looking for. The hotel itself is a standard 3 star hotel. Will try to give as much info as possible for you so this may be quite long. Our coach transfer took 3 long hot hours to arrive (not the hotels fault) so I would… more

Just got back from a week away at Topkapi beach hotel, it was just what we were looking for. The hotel itself is a standard 3 star hotel. Will try to give as much info as possible for you so this may be quite long. Our coach transfer took 3 long hot hours to arrive (not the hotels fault) so I would advise taking 500ml water bottle each, from London airport after you’ve gone through security. You’ll need it!! On arrival you’ll check in and pay tourist tax in dinar so either get your dinar from Tunisian airport (atm or money exchange desk) OR walk left of the hotel for literally five minutes and there is a bank and atm machine which you can get your money from. We changed £200 at the hotel desk and lost a nice chunk of it. If you’re going to change it at the desk have a screen shot of the correct currency exchange amount and check your money straight away, at the desk to make sure you’re given the correct amount. After 13 hours travel from London to the hotel the man checking us in decided he wanted to offer us a room upgrade (once he’d seen how much money we’d exchanged). We told him we weren’t interested but nonetheless he decided to drag us up 2 floors, showed us a lovely family room with adjoining rooms which was to be our original room and we told him we’d take that. He then says “no, no, I’ll show you the other rooms with pool view” we told him we weren’t interested yet he walked off again with our key so we had no choice but to follow him protesting all the way with three kids and suitcases dragging behind us. Up another floor and along a maze of corridors he showed two rooms which weren’t even together and tried to get us to upgrade. We told him no and finally went back down to the 2nd floor room. He then decides to tell us that all of a sudden there is a problem with the original room so we’d have to upgrade. By this time I was fed up to say the least, we’d been walking round for literally 20 minutes with this guy trying to squeeze money out of us, bloody tired and want to rest. I took the key put our bags down and shut the door on him. There was NO problem with the room whatsoever and we had a good week in it. Do NOT be forced or feel obliged to upgrade. Go for a room with a road view, it’s so peaceful and watching the chaotic traffic and hoards of people crammed onto a moped from the balcony will keep you amused for hours!! Trust me. FOOD - food was ok but got a bit samey after a few days. It’s mainly spam, fish, mixed salads and potatoes all in different variations each day. Was cooked well though and there was plenty to go round. I’d advise letting the hungry and pushy Russians get their grub first otherwise you will literally have adults trying to take the serving spoons from your children’s hand - true story. They scoff it down quickly though so turn up half hour after the start of meal times and have a nice relaxed dining experience. You are only allowed ONE free bottle of water from the front desk each day per room (not so good when there’s 5 people in a baking hot country sharing one litre of water). There is a small shop attached to the hotel which sells the same litre bottles for one dinar (around 30p) so stock up in the morning for the beach or pool. The all inclusive drinks are advertised as sprite and Fanta but they’re not. Oh and you only get proper Coca Cola at meal times. They’re ok but are fizzy syrup drinks so you will not get or feel any hydration from them so make sure you get your water from the shop especially for the kids. There is also tea, coffee and beer on offer. No spirits or cocktails of any kind come with all inclusive but there is a beach bar you can buy these at, not cocktails though sadly. It’s quite pricey for spirits in the beach bar so pop to duty free in London before your flight and grab a bottle of your favourite drink to take with you to the hotel. Also take a leaf out of the Russians book and take your own large plastic cup to fill up each time rather than having to keep going back for a tiny plastic cups worth of drink. The shop sells an array of souvenirs, drinks, sweets, toiletries, sun cream and knock off clothes and bags. Beware sun cream is bloody expensive in Mahdia. We took hand luggage only so filled up lots of 100ml bottles and still ran out. Ended up spending £15 in English money on one bottle of Nivea factor 50+ in a pharmacy. Do take the time to leave the hotel and visit some of the other shops which are just a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. You’ll get better fixed prices on a lot of things. Walk left of the hotel and you’ll find the town with cafes, little shops, bank, supermarkets etc. If you’re up for it walk half hour left of the hotel along the pavement then onto the promenade and you’ll come to the lighthouse and Medina. We did this one evening and came across a fun fair, camels and donkeys were there. Didn’t go on any of them due to safety concerns but if your brave enough it’s worth an evening stroll. We felt perfectly safe walking around at night amongst the locals, the same as anywhere though just beware of your surroundings and keep your wits about you etc. There’s a nice gelato stand next to pizza Hot you should try. If you want a nice family meal walk right from the hotel for 3 minutes and on the opposite side of the road there’s a restaurant which sells pizza, steak, lobster and deserts. We got 4 pizzas, one steak covered in mushroom sauce and fries, 8 coca colas, 2 lemon sorbet, one Oreo style cheesecake and an tiramisu for around £30 English money. Right back to the hotel. The pool is lovely and clean! It’s very deep though. The shallow end is 1.8m deep so a ten year old has to stand on tip toes. Don’t forget armbands/snorkel. My kids preferred the pool to the beach (weirdos). The pool and beach close at 6pm. THE BEACH - well it’s bloody lovely! The water is crystal clear and very warm in July. I was swimming at 8am and it was even warm then. Please, please, please do NOT tip the beach guy. The straw umbrellas and loungers are free so you’ve basically paid for the use of them already in your hotel costs. The guy is paid by the hotel to set up the loungers and watch the beach all day, it’s his job. We got loungers and an umbrella for FREE for two days then as we were leaving the beach the guy said to us “tomorrow you must bring money at 6:30”. I quite abruptly told him NO. I made a point to get down to the beach at 7:15 the next morning to ensure we all had beds and an umbrella. The guy pointed at some unoccupied beds and lingered for a tip. I simply thanked him, laid our towels on the loungers then went for breakfast. while I was getting my loungers i watched the beach guy taking bribes from Russians, guests from other hotels and even locals for beds. It’s not a tip as you tip for good service etc. It was a bribe as once a few of the beds were taken, he covered the rest with his own towels and would take money off people throughout the day to take his towels off so they could have a bed. DO NOT PAY HIM. If need be go and get your bed early and if you can’t get a bed early complain to the desk!! There’s over 200 loungers and he’s getting “tipped” 10-20 dinar for each bed every day. His pocket is literally bulging with notes. Set an example and make him realise that British people will not be bribed. If we all do this he will learn not to tell us that we MUST bring money in the future. Take a snorkel with you as there are fish to be found along the shore line. I also recommend booking a pirate boat excursion for a day through one of the guys that comes along the beach. He will approach you. We paid around £60 for two adults, two teens and a child to go on the pirate ship. You get picked up by coach from outside the hotel. We saw dolphins and jumped in the sea. Only lasts for around 3 hours but it’s defo worth it. Take extra sun cream, a hat and a carrier bag for sea sick kids though! Two of mine threw up but then they were fine and jumped in the sea. Do NOT buy cigarettes from the sellers on the beach. They charge extortionate prices and they’re fake fags from Algeria, covered in spilled chemicals. You can buy cigarettes from a shop two minutes walk to the left of the hotel or even cheaper in the town ten minutes walk to the left. Oh YOU CAN NOT BUY RIZZLA OR ROLLING TOBACCO so make sure you stock up before you fly out there. Right nearly finished (hooray I hear you cry). The animation/entertainment team are ok. They do work hard all day and night and keep the kids entertained with the evening mini disco and shows BUT do keep an eye on any teenage girls you may have with you. Do not let them wander off alone as they will be prayed upon. Whenever our 16 year old wasn’t with us the young animation men (Adults in their twenties) would approach her and make her feel extremely uncomfortable by stroking her arm or saying things like “you’re a very beautiful young girl you should come back without your family” also a guy on the reception desk asked her for her social media info to which she replied she had none. I don’t want to tie all of the men with the same brush but women are definitely treated like second class citizens out there. They also act like they’re gods gift to women and don’t take to kindly to being ignored. Oh also do not let young ladies go to the attached shop on their own. I went to get water and the guy who works there shut the door behind me and started stroking my arm and tried to stroke my face. I became quite stern and told him my husband will be here in a minute and he backed off. I didn’t really need that hassle early in the morning. One man which I must give a shout out to is Mohammed from the beach restaurant. He’s amazing, speaks excellent English and nothing is too much trouble for him. We tipped him 10 dinar (around £3) each evening we had drinks there. I recommend trying pastis with coke if you like Pernod it’s exactly the same but nicer. Ok well I think that’s it. Any questions please feel free to message me. Do book this hotel if you’re thinking about it, I would go back again but a week is definitely all you need as there isn’t much to do during the day and night as it’s just becoming a tourist town. We were literally the only British family in the entire place. It was nice to be honest.

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“Holiday”

Perfect place for family vocation. Very friendly staff. It will be perfect if they have bigger meals choice. But breakfast was totally the same all 7 days...In shop near the hotel normal price. They have security so you will feel safety. Beautiful view from the windows