When our visas were finally given to us, it was after midnight in Tunisian time, so Monday was our first official day in the country. We woke at around 8:30 after an exhausted sleep and began to take in the surroundings. The Golf Beach Hotel has three stars. Its rooms are reminiscent of hotel rooms in the French Pacific islands: clean, spacious and functional but with slightly dodgy bathroom arrangements - in this case a shower (over a bath) whose water does not want to be contained by the slightly-too-small shower curtain and tiles. Only the picture of a carpet-seller in the bedroom and the pattern of the tiles in the bathroom hint at a North African rather than a South Pacific setting. From the bedroom window, the vegetation doesn’t look too different either; date palms replace coconut palms but otherwise the grass struggles to grow in just the same way and bougainvilleas abound.
Our first call in the morning was to the main reception area to complete the registration formalities, which they had kindly spared us the night before. We’d been through it the night before but in the near-dark and in our exhausted state, we hadn’t noticed a great deal. Now it was blatantly obvious that we were somewhere quite different. The architecture and the décor - both sumptuous - shouted of their North African location. Registration was easy; we had a form to complete and we were then “labelled” with a hospital-type bracelet, which we wear all week and which identifies us as being entitled to eat, drink, play and stay in the resort within the (generous) limitations provided by the package deal. There are, of course, always extras available at a cost!
Suitably “tagged“, we launched into our day with a buffet breakfast that had everything you’d hope for except decent coffee, followed by an orientation wander around the complex. It is probably fair to say that the resort as a whole would be at the upper end of the three-star range - the pools and surrounds are magnificent, as are the communal areas of the hotel. In addition to the main pool outside, there is a smaller, heated, indoor-outdoor pool linked to the health and fitness centre. The weight training room is available free of charge; the massage and spa treatments come at a cost. The resort is situated right on the beach and offers loungers, and a variety of free water-sports, including kayaks, catamarans and pedal boats. For a fee, you can hire a jet-ski or go for a ride on dromedary. I think we’ll stick with the free activities…
In beautiful, sunny weather with temperatures ranging from around 20-26 degrees, the day went more or less as follows:
Change into swimming togs and go down to the beach
Swim in the sea
Lie in the sun
Swim in the sea
Lie in the sun
Move to poolside
Swim in pool
Pre-lunch G&T from the poolside bar
Buffet lunch (wine included)
Siesta
Back down to the beach
Kayak, swim, lie in sun to dry off
Back to room to shower and change
Pre-dinner cocktail for new guests
Buffet dinner
Reading and game of cards
Bed
As you can imagine, with this kind of day following the previous one, we slept like logs having decided that maybe we would be happy to stay in the country for the whole week after all.
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