This was our second visit to a 'Magic Life' complex (we previously stayed at 'Magic Life Manar' in Hammamet) and this time round, it was just as good as before.

In all honesty, Djerba is not the prettiest place on this earth, in fact, en route to the hotel I was wondering what sort of place we were going to end up as the landscape was rather depressing! However, upon arrival at 'Penelope Beach Imperial' any fears were allayed.

The hotel reception was most welcoming, with a complimentary drink, and the check in process was quick and easy with our bags being delivered to our room within about 45 minutes.

We had a room at the back of the complex, in fact as far away from the beach as you could possibly get, but this was not a problem for us. Our room was on the ground floor and had everything we needed. It was clean, nicely decorated and throughout our stay our maid tended to our needs in a courteous and friendly manner. My only teeny weeny concern about the room was the air con - having travelled extensively in America and the Caribbean, it's nowhere near like you get there. Here it's centrally controlled depending on the outside air temperature and although the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT the air con was not particularly COLD, COLD, COLD! However, we soon aclimiatised and got used to it, although it would have been preferable for it to be much cooler.

The whole complex is immaculate and the staff are always out cleaning, cutting the grass, tending to plants, polishing, sweeping, vacuuming etc. They work really hard and were always happy to say 'Hello'. I've read reviews where some people have commented that they didnt find the bar staff/waiters particularly friendly or keen to serve but we didn't have any problems in this respect. Again, all the staff seemed very happy to help - I'm sure the couple of dinars we were tipping every night probably encouraged them but nevertheless, its a small price to pay for excellent customer service.

I'm a fussy eater but didn't have any problems making meal choices that met my requirements. The main restaurant has numerous selections available and it's cooked in front of you 'theatre style'. We ate at all of the speciality restaurants - the Thai was a bit strange (Thai food tunisian style!) and was our least favourite dining experience but the Tunisian restaurant located upstairs above reception was superb and we thoroughly enjoyed that. We also dined at the Mediterranean restaurant by the aqua park on two occasions and also enjoyed that very much.

On site there are so many activities to participate in but theres no pressure to join in and the entertainment staff soon get to know who is likely to get involved so they don't hassle you. We didn't experience any problems getting a sunbed around the activity pool and liked to spend our days there. However, I can appreciate it might not be to everyones taste as 'magic radio' is situated there and the music is played quite loud! We also spent time at the aqua park and at the relax pool but as there aren't that many sun beds in there, I guess it can be pot luck as to whether you get one. We were obviously lucky as when we did go, we always found beds to lie on. Our other favourite place for an 'afternoon dip' was the indoor pool where we could do 'proper swimming'!

The Thomson rep 'Wes' was FAB! A really welcoming and helpful chap so top marks to him for excellent service. We booked a couple of trips through him and although we had an ok'ish time, they weren't totally brilliant - some aspects were good, others less so. However, I guess a lot of revenue is generated from trips so Thomson have got to look for opportunities to make money by sending their guests to different places.

Our first trip was to 'Flamingo Island' but the less said about that the better - WHAT A DUMP!!! We travelled there on a replica pirate ship, where the crew were dressed up as pirates and sang and danced for our entertainment. This was actually very enjoyable but when we arrived at the island, I was so disappointed. I suppose I was imagining it was going to be like an island in the Caribbean with beautiful sand and sparkling cystal clear seas , but it wasn't - this was just a wasteland in the sea with a few huts erected for people to eat their meals in! The island was filthy with rubbish, bottles and even a dirty nappy in the sand. There were also men offering the usual rides on camels or very thin horses who wouldnt leave us alone, even though we told them in no uncertain terms that we weren't interested We had a couple of hours to 'relax' and 'swim' but there was a sand storm whilst we were on the island and therefore, it's impossible to relax whilst you're being blown about and pelted with the sand that the wind was whipping up and there was nowhere to shelter on the far side of the island!!!!

We then went into one of the huts for a meal, which was ok, and then the pirates did some more singing and dancing, with audience participation, before we headed back to the hotel. We didn't bother complaining as we did enjoy the boat trip but as for the island, it needs to be cleaned up and totally developed with proper facilities for guests in my opinion.

We also did a trip to the 'Lalla Hadhria' museum and 'Djerba Explore' which is the biggest Mediterranean Crocodile Farm. This trip didn't cost a lot of money (I think it was about £12 each) and we had an excellent English-speaking guide to show us around. The museum offered an insight into the rich panorama of the Tunisian and Arabo-islamic world art. It housed a collection of more than 1000 pieces, telling 13 centuries of Art and History and we did enjoy this part of the trip. After the museum, we went into the crocodile farm and I don't really know what to say about this other than that there were LOTS of crocodiles, hundreds of them in fact. I felt this part of the trip was quite rushed and perhaps it would have been better to extend the duration of the whole trip so people could ramble around the farm, perhaps see the crocodiles being fed and then do some shopping in the on site centre with gift shops, clothes, spices and restaurants/cafes. We didn't have much time here at all and had to get back on the coach to be taken back to the hotel, which was a bit of a shame as it would have been nice to have a leisurely meander about!

To conclude, as a family we really enjoyed our trip to 'Penelope Beach Imperial' and had a thoroughly lovely holiday in an excellent hotel.

Knew what to expect as having read reviews,and being an all inclusive but only go for some late summer sun and not having to travel too far.Magic life is ideal if you are a family with children.food is plentiful and lots of choice, all staff very friendly.Stayed on beach everyday as music is played at the larger pools,looked at the relax pool,but found that a bit uninteresting and not many sunbeds.
However had a nice relaxing week.

As many people do my husband and I checked trip advisor's reviews before booking this hotel. If you plan to book this hotel for 2012 (we were the last week of the season) please read this review as I hope it will give you a more realistic view compared to the "Perfect" and 5 star comments others have written.
I travel a lot for work and for holidays and have stayed all over the world in hotels & b&b's ranging from 1 to 5 stars so I have a lot of hotels to compare this one to.
The hotel is listed by Thompson as 4star+ and is part of their platinum range; it is fairer to say this should be listed as 3star for accommodation. The rooms are basic and clean but a lot of things don't work as well as they should. The air conditioning is not as cooling as you'd expect (we complained a number of times but it was never improved) and the bathroom has seen better days with the shower leaking, cracked tiles and possible leaking toilets. I think the stall in the bathroom is for decoration purposes and would not advise anyone to actually sit on it!! The towels are no longer white but a pale grey shade and the paint work needs to be removed and re-done as it is flakey and below standard.
There are plenty of activities, possibly too many, to do and I think would best suit a family with young children or teenagers.
There are 5 pools; 2 for activities, 1 at the water park, 1 indoor pool and 1 "relax" pool. You have to be up very early to get sunbeds in a decent place around any of the pools other than the indoor or relax. I'm not one for staying around a pool all holiday but the beach is a massive let down so we spent much of the day time around the Relax pool, which as the name suggests is quiet (and there are no children there). Plus it's a great sun trap all day.
As I've just mentioned the beach was the biggest disappointment. Looking at Thompson's photo's in the brochure I was expecting clean white sand and sea I could swim in. The sand is white though not very clean and the way the sunbeds and parasols are lined up you will feel like you are in the Costa del Sol. The smell from the camels and horses being paraded up and down is quite strong. There are so many water sports going on it is very difficult to actually swim in the sea, there is a small buoyed section for swimmers but you can't relax for fear you are going to be hit by a boat. We tried walking along the stretch of beach to find a better spot but unfortunately you will find it the same all the way along.
The food was delicious, but as many have advised on here much the same every day and of course they have to recycle a lot of it so not to waste it. I had some salad every day and did not get sick, which I know can be a concern when travelling but the kitchens are spot less and there are bacteria washes at the restaurant entrance to keep bugs at bay.
The staff were all friendly and the hotel is generally very clean.
We took one trip (through Thompson) to see the sights of the surrounding area which was a waste of time and money as there really isn't much to see and the journey means you are in a van for a long time. However I can recommend the camel riding in the Sahara Desert. Even if van driver nearly fell asleep during the long drive back, this was a big concern!!! We had also been told we would go over the Roman causeway on the route back but because the of an earlier bus mix up we were dumped at the ferry crossing for 2 hours. If you intend to do a trip I'd recommend the highlights of Djerba.
To conclude, this is value for money for an all-inclusive hotel but should be re-classed as 3star and would suit families who are looking for activities to entertain the kids and people who like to stay around the pool and not venture out and about.

We came back from this holiday and talked about nothing else for the next week or more . There were 4 of us me & the wife & my brother & his wife. We arrived at this resort on the 22nd of septenber for 2 weeks not being to sure about Tunisia as we went to sousse about 8 years ago and had a bad time there but this was a holiday to remember ,oh! and by the way to all the people that have given this hotel negative write ups where the hell did you stay ?. The hotel was always kept clean and very tidy .
All the staff were very polite and friendly right down to the gardeners and cleaners.
On arrival we were greeted by a glass of punch and they had music playing as you went into the hotel,within 10 minutes we were in our room and the cases came 5 mins after .
Entertainment was realy good there was always things to do if you wanted and you were never hassled if you did'nt ..The pools were spotless plenty of sunbeds always available at any time of day .
Down on the beach was to die for ,we went for a 2 mile walk every day before breakfast and it was great to see the sunrise and all the hotels along the beach ,horses being exercised and sometimes looky looky boys trying to sell things to you , but just say no thank you and they won't bother you . during the day on the beach for a small cost you can ride a camel or horse and these animals are well looked after and very clean ,look out for the one with the sunhat on it made us laugh.
Entertainment here was awsome shows most night and for the 2 weeks we stayed we did'nt see the same show and hter was always staff to greet you when you went in and after you were given cocktails and inivted to late night music for dancing or just to chill out . The only guest participation nights was kareoke and that was a laugh as most were not to bad anyway was does it matter your on holiday.
There was one thing that has remaind in my mind at the start of this holiday both the thompson rep (Wes) and the entertainment manager said and that was " WE ARE HERE FOR YOU AND YOU ARE NOT HERE FOR US " we are here to make sure you have a great holiday and to make sure you go home knowing that fact anything you want or any problems no matter how small we want to know so we can make your stay a happy one.

Our rep Wes was always there if you wanted anything he has a swap box for magazines and if you had forgotten things like shower gel, sun lotion ect, he may have some in his box aswell good on ya Wes

Now we come to the restaurant,food always cooked in front of you and if it was not as hot as you like it there was a microwave to heat it to your liking, we always ate in the main one as we found this was the best ,always food and plenty of choice morning noon and night and if you wanted coffee and cakes by the pool at 4 in the afternoon and also midnight snacks aswell so plenty of food day or night .the bar staff were always polite and had a joke with you most of them speak 3or 4 languages and are very good at there jobs.

Overall this holiday ,the hotel ,the people, staff and everyone that i have not mentioned we take our hat off to you for a great holiday looking to come back next year .

One more thing and this choked us when we left , it was not a matter of checking out and getting on the coach and that was that the hotel staff ,managment, entertainment staff and managment and front desk staff stood on the steps as the coach pulled away they were all waving their napkins as a farewell ,what a end to one of the best holiday we have had and we have been to many destinations . THANK YOU xxx