Houda Golf Beach & Aquapark — Hotel in Maghreb

On arrival:||We arrived at the hotel around 11 pm on a Thursday. I can’t say I expected much, but in previous all-inclusive hotels we have at least been given a bread roll or fruit and a bottle of water. There was nothing available here. We checked in and were given no information on the Wi-Fi, the times of the buffet, breakfast etc nor entertainment. There was no information whatsoever, you would need to look around for posters yourself to receive this. ||We were told what room we needed to go to and it was only that I asked how I got there that the receptionist offered a man to take us there. There were no lifts at all at this hotel, so unless a member of staff helps you, you will need to carry your luggage up the stairs yourself. We were lucky that we were only up two flights of stairs. ||The room:||The room was small, just about big enough for two people and the bathroom was full of mould and towards the end of the holiday the toilet started leaking out with whatever we put in it which made me feel sick. I cannot speak for most rooms, but after speaking to other guests it seems that all showers are over a bath and are not a standalone cubicle. Our shower wouldn’t sit on the wall properly so we had to hold it. The hairdryer was the smallest I’ve seen, and I have been to many hotels with small hairdryers. It also stunk when turned on, therefore I would suggest taking your own. There is no fridge in the room. We were in room 804 and there was no Wi-Fi there either. There is no television and no remote for the air-conditioning. We actually asked to move rooms in the morning but there are no fridges anywhere available, I believe that you have to pay extra for a fridge. I would suggest buying an eSIM as the Wi-Fi is pretty non-existent. The rooms do get cleaned but not to an amazing standard, so don’t expect much. A number of guests did complain that belongings had been going missing, so I would keep all your money and valuables in a bum-bag with you at all times. ||There are no irons on site either. ||The entertainment:||What entertainment? There is no entertainment, well there definitely wasn’t the week we went. I have been to Egypt many times and thought the entertainment would be very similar but I was disappointed when I realised it wasn’t. They play some music for you and if you request a song, they will only play one.||Food:||Food was the most disappointing aspect of it all. I am in no way a complainer of food. If anything I hate it when people unnecessarily complain or ask for English food in a foreign country. However, this was absolutely diabolical. There was barely anything on offer for breakfast, they even refuse to do me a fried egg because they made omelettes in batches instead of fresh. For example, if you wanted an omelette without onions or something, it would be tough as it’s all already in a mixture. It took me about 4/5 days to finally get a fried egg. Personally, the lunch and dinner weren’t any better. Everything is quite mismatch and I found everything but the chocolate crêpes very cold. ||We ate out most nights because I couldn’t really stand having to eat what they provided and again, I am never one to complain, to be honest, I quite like traditional cuisine in which ever country I go to, but this was just on another level.||You have to pay for ice creams. ||Tip: bring your own mug, because the cups that they serve coffee in are tiny. ||Drinks: ||There are two bars. One by the pool and one near the entertainment. The one by the pool does not sell alcohol so you would need to get up and walk around to the one by the entertainment. They sell local alcohol which is very strong and quite gross in my opinion but if you’re looking to just get merry on holiday, I think it would do, however when you ask for a cocktail, they make it extremely weak, which is weird. I think it’s premade. They also only do one cocktail per day. For example, one day it might be piña colada and the next day it might be sex on the beach but the day that they are serving piña colada you can only have piña colada which is unfortunate for people that don’t like coconut or pineapple!||They do serve real Coke, which is nice but again, only in a small glasses therefore I would get yourself a flask. They also have a bar next to the on-site shop which do cocktails for about £5 each with imported alcohol. I did get one of these, however for an all-inclusive I didn’t expect to have to buy so much. ||Location:||You’re looking at about 20 minutes to Monastir or 20 minutes to Sousse for any type of food and drink. The Médina in Sousse is lovely but just be weary as in any type of bizaare place. ||Tip: take small amounts of cash out and if the cash machine doesn’t work, go back later (sometimes they lie so taxis take you to another for payment) ||A great steak house in Monastir: Smoke House 67||A great experience with a view in Sousse: Sky Lounge ||If you’re adamant to go to this hotel, just don’t expect a lot and take...

The beach at Hotel Houda is non-existent and doesn’t match the pictures. The food service is an absolute disaster and a complete catastrophe. Rooms are poorly maintained, the pool is heavily chlorinated, and the location is isolated with abandoned buildings nearby. We strongly advise international travelers to avoid this hotel. ||We are a British couple, and we stayed at Hotel Houda for two weeks. When we booked, we expected just three simple things: good food, time to sunbathe, and a chance to swim. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any of this here. This was, without a doubt, one of the worst hotel experiences we’ve ever had (and we have travelled to around 30 countries).||Beach||The photos on TripAdvisor show a beautiful beach — but in reality, there is no beach at all. Instead, there is a dug-out hole near the sea with dark soil and a little scattered sand.||There was only one line of sun loungers, placed at an angle in the hole, not even properly set up.||At around 5 p.m. every day, security blows whistles and forces everyone out of the water — even though it’s not dark yet and we are a couple without children. The reason for this was never explained.||In the abandoned hotel next to Houda there are stray dogs gather and walk around, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. Literally dogs are on the side of the beach, as there is no fence there.||Overall, the “beach” is misleading advertising.||||Food and Restaurant||The restaurant is honestly a disaster and catastrophe. We have never seen anything like this in all our travels.||To get in, you must wait in line for up to 1.5 hours. Inside, there are still lines for each type of food around 30 min for each type (15-20 people). Ques are despite a high number of staff walking round in boredom.||Twice, when I (being pregnant) tried to take a piece of fruit or a muffin, the chef actually hit my hand with tongs! When I complained to restaurant management, they laughed, made jokes about my nationality, and forced the chef to give me a sarcastic “sorry.”. They made smiles and laugh at me! and they did it twice, as when I asked him to apologise for hitting me at the first time, the staff member did not wanted to do that, so he just laughed! This was humiliating and completely unacceptable. This is harassment!||Tables are dirty, floors covered with fruit and food pieces, and staff are extremely slow to clean. Forget about tablecloths like in the photos.||For desserts, there was always a line of 20–25 people, which barely moved because only one chef was serving very slowly. To stand line it is at least 30 mins! |||The snacks are ridiculous: only bread and pizza, no fruit, nothing fresh.|||There is also an à la carte restaurant, but it is very badly organized. You need a ticket from reception (you can get 2at once, o more), then you need to book in a different place (not reception). This place is table in a restaurant, but it is available only for one hour in the morning! Oh dear.... ! The menu has just two options: chicken or beef.||Rooms||In two weeks, we were given new soap or shampoo once on arrival. When we asked, they said they only provide it once.||Our room had blood stains on a pillow, and despite asking, it was never changed.||There are no beach towels available.||Pool||The pool looks nice from the higher floors, but in reality it smells strongly of chlorine.||They clean it in the mornings until 9 a.m., so if you want to swim or exercise early, it’s impossible. It would be much more logical to clean it in the evening.||Location||The hotel is really in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing around, no shops, no cafés, nothing within walking distance.||Right next to the hotel there are a couple of abandoned, deserted hotels that look like unfinished construction sites. It seems like construction started but was then stopped, leaving behind empty shells of buildings.||This abandoned area next to Houda is where stray dogs gather and walk around, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. It feels unsafe and depressing.||Service and Atmosphere||Staff at reception were polite but completely unhelpful.||Restaurant managers laughed at us when we complained, asked about our nationality in a mocking way.||The hotel is almost entirely full of Arab guests with many children. We hardly saw any other international tourists, which might explain the lack of service standards.||Final Impression||Apart from the pool view from the upper floors, there is nothing positive we can say about this hotel. What is advertised on TripAdvisor does not match reality at all. Misleading photos, terrible food organization, lack of basic hygiene, no beach, an isolated location surrounded by abandoned buildings, and shockingly rude service made our stay extremely unpleasant.||We strongly advise other travelers, especially international guests, to avoid...

Review||After reading all the reviews I was very worried about attending this hotel for our family holiday. After attending I can see some are justified and some are not. Will split it into sections.||Staff:|Receptionist lovely, we booked a sea view pool room which we were led to believe had a balcony, it didn’t. We said as four of us sharing a room we wanted a balcony, the next morning (as we arrived late) they moved us free of charge to a better room, which was nice and we weren’t needed to pay extra money. Maids are lovely, our room was cleaned daily and fresh towels without fail. Animation team are fantastic and really try to get everyone involved. Waiting staff some are lovely and go above and beyond, some don’t. Some will do everything and anything for you and once tipped ignore you and don’t bother. You are hassled A LOT round the pool to buy things from trips to jewellery. One bloke in particular was selling bracelets and we said the kids were at the slides right now and we would talk to them when back if they wanted one. He asked me there names and was showing me what it looked like in Arabic. The next thing I know he has gone to the slides and asked my kids to get out the pool calling them by there names and trying to get them to choose bracelets and put it on there wrists! I was absolutely furious! Once you say to anyone selling things no, that’s it don’t even get a hello from them. It’s consistent and at one point the same person came to me 5 times in a day. ||Rooms:|Both rooms we had were standard but both were very clean. We could get wifi from our balcony. ||Pools:|Very clean and cleaned daily. Only gripe is when we got here they said waterpark was open 10-6. It’s not it’s open 10-12 and 3-5 which makes it extremely busy when open because everyone wants to go on it. Waterpark is good for kids though. ||Food:|It’s hit and miss, if you have a fussy child the food here isn’t the place to go. Fresh cooking stations and food always out. They offer two la carte options of Tunisian and Italian. They were both rank. My son had bugs crawling through his salad in the Tunisian one. We walked out on both. However they fail to tell you they do a third one which is a lunch time option of steak. This was very nice and tasty, we found this out from another family otherwise we wouldn’t have known. They try and keep it clean in there however a lot of customers can be animals and just don’t care. A lot of pushing in, again not hotels fault. ||Beach:|Yes it’s small, it’s clearly corroded however when I tell you, you are hassled down there you are. Same bloke approached me 15 times within half an hour even trying to get the kids out of the sea. They follow you up and down to asking you to buy things. ||Location:|We were told there was some restaurants and shops about. There really isn’t. Now not sure if it’s because it’s late in season but anywhere outside of hotel you need a taxi. It’s about 15 minutes drive into Monastir. We done it and us adults loved it, the kids hated the hassle from shop owners. ||Overall would we go again?|We would come back to Tunisia for sure, it’s a beautiful country and it’s very hot even this time of year. We probably wouldn’t come with the kids though, you teach them to not speak to strangers and I feel like some people have no boundaries when it comes to kids at hotel and in town. Would we come back to this hotel? Probably not, it’s done the kids but my daughter being a fussy eater just hasn’t had a full decent meal since being here and that’s not good, so we would try and look for somewhere that does a wider variation of food. Near the end a massive football team arrived and they favoured them with food. We were constantly told that they had no more of the wraps they do (half an hour into food service) but you would see them constantly getting them. I stayed in line and he said “lady I said to you, no wraps” I then pointed out well your cooking for them and others…. He then regrettably gave me one. Near the end of the holiday it got worse and staff become more rude and just couldn’t give a toss really. I get it’s three stars but respect and manners cost nothing. All they said was how Tunisia is struggling as a country and to be honest if it’s how they treat guests I...