Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas

The resort facilities and rooms are great, ambiance and location perfect. Good things: We were upgraded from single room suite to two-room villa, which we appreciated. the villa was at the end of the property, which was great for us as we wanted privacy and isolation, but for others may not be so good -takes 10 min to walk to swimming pools and restaurant (we enjoyed walking, only used the golf cart service for the luggage; the golf cart sevice was prompt and efficient). Bad things: - we had booked the new year eve stay with Anantara; but then the resort changed owners, and when we attempted to contact them to reconfirm our reservation and to inquire about New Year eve gala, we sent several emails, with no reply. Sent instagram message to The Mora account, we received reply from the Mora Zanzibar, who said they can’t help as ours was in Tozeur. We called on the phone, we spent 30 minutes on expensive international call, to be put on hold every 5 minutes by staff to “wait for the manager”, so we finally hung up and called our credit card travel agent, who was able to confirm the reservation. We couldn’t confirm if there will be New Year Eve celebration until we got to the hotel. Service is not great, not sure if since a new owner/management, but if you expect the level of service that was Anantara (the previous owners) for an expensive high-end resort, this is subpar. we spoke both French and English, but still couldn’t get proper service. There were “insider” guests received a very different service - everyone was waiting on them all the time. I wouldn’t care, I don’t want to be waited on all the time, as long as we received the level of service appropriate for a 1000 usd per night price tag. The prior 5-star reviews are from when it was Anantara; the recent 5-star I suspect may be from the “friend” guests. Check-in took 25 min, a person took our passports, another came 10 minutes later asking if we have a reservation, we told her we are waiting on her colleague. Concierge services none really. Communication between staff is not great- on check out, we asked the front desk to keep our suitcases for the day and to help with calling a taxi to the town for a visit, as our flight was 7 hours later; they said no problem, will tag our bags. But when the taxi came, the door staff started putting our suitcases in the taxi, even though there were hotel luggage tags next to the bags, so clearly no effective communication. Also, when they called taxis, they should make sure that the hotel guests are not taken advantage of: one taxi came and asked the hotel staff how much will be more or less, they said “the meter is running properly” -it was running the meter properly (although charged 8 TND just to come to the hotel, so from the hotel to the town was 15 TND; the next time, the taxi they called don’t start the meter and said 30 TND, “because it was called on the phone”, we had to argue that price. In contrast from the town back, one taxi we hailed in the street ran the meter at 6 TND, another time in the evening the taxi told us 10 TND flat, which was also expected. While the hotel is not responsible for taxis, at this luxury place they should call reputable taxis for the guests and make sure that the guests are safe. The first night they showed us the villa and told us that they will send someone to start the fire in the fire pit, but no one came. The last night we called 3 times to ask for the fire pit to be started, every time they said they will send someone; after the third call, a staff came and brought towels. we explained again that we wanted the fire pit started, he said “after food, will do it”, never came back. So we never managed to get the fire pit used. The men at the door/ the cart drivers were prompt and helpful and friendly, their service was appreciated. The New Year eve gala information we finally managed to receive at the check in. It was reasonably well done, although it was overpriced and the food was average but the service there was good and the music band was fun. Also there was construction ongoing behind our villa but didn’t bother us much, the noise wasn’t bad. Overall, great villas, pools, breakfast buffet and amenities. We had really looked forward to among amazing time here and we do enjoy the place and the ambiance; but the service left us disappointed, since for the upscale price that one pays, it should have been almost flawless. The resort should be at the level of the Oberoi in Taj Mahal, the Belmont lodge at Iguazu falls, Kempinski in Istanbul or Singapore, Six senses, to name a few; the amenities may be, but the service is nowhere close.

We came to Anantara to exchange our wedding vows and ring exchange with our kids (after we had gotten legally married elsewhere). So a bit like an elopement, but way more relaxed. We envisioned photos of our vows at the Sunset by Design experience followed by a Berber Nights dinner. It all came together better than we could have imagined. The hotel itself is very clean, rooms are pristine. Insanely comfortable beds, love the automatic lighting when sneaking to the bathroom in the night, gorgeous outdoor space to sit. So elegant and peaceful. The day of our “wedding”, we were relaxed. Amel helped us make this plan and the rain was trying to ruin it. They came up with a back up, and set up dinner in the gorgeous location of their Royal Villa and we couldn’t have envisioned a more perfect outcome. All staff were incredible, helpful, kind. We feel very lucky to have spent 4 nights here. Sad to go! (Pools are cold, but all pools in Africa are cold!)

Amazing hotel. Beautiful hotel. Great service. Amazing staff. Very comfortable. And best cocktails from Jamal

My best friend and I embarked on a journey to see what we could find in the desert. After a questionable decision to take a 6 hour car ride from Tunis, we arrived at this desert oasis. To say the least, everything and everyone is a 10/10!! The property itself is spectacular, the rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable. Service in general is impeccable. The only feedback we’d give is to have less variety but higher quality food. Berber night should also be advertised better since multiple guests believed it was only by private reservation. However, it takes place every night and was one of the highlights. Definitely do the desert excursions with Zoheur and Shahid!! Definitely book a hammam!! Shout out to Rihab, Nizar, Nahed, Walid, Habib, Elyes, Taha, Belkis and of course Mouheb aka Billie Jean! And everyone in between! They are the soul of Anantara!!

I want to thank : mohamed room service, amir, amira , mouheb and montasar for this perfect experience. It was amazing. Thx