Iberostar Selection Diar El Andalous — Hotel in Maghreb

Iberostar review||This review is written based on value for money. This 8 day holiday was same price as A Turkish holiday but least 30% cheaper than a Crete holiday. Scores out of 10|Food 8, why not 10? Hotter food or at least a microwave. Food tends to be only warm not hot. Many people like food at a higher temperature.|Good selection and good taste overall. Although labelling could be better, not sure what things are sometimes.|Spoilt a bit by lack of coffee at lunch and dinner. Coffee machines off limits, then you have to go to the bars at lunch time for a coffee or in evening no machines available at all. Really odd!!!|Drinks. 5. No diet drinks, ie diet Coke. Wine was very poor. Beer has no taste. Local spirits are not great. You have to for Western brands, 50% off they say but still £5 a shot. Left there drinking less than I do on a normal week.|Main buffet area. 6. It is like a cafeteria, very noisy and just a place to consume food not to enjoy a meal. Needs partitioning and soft wall coverings to deaden the nose. Very busy with 500 visitors, no idea what it would be like full at 800.|Eating outside 10 . Very pleasant, BUT we had to eat very early or late for each meal time to get a place. Strangely there was space for at least 10 or more extra tables . Why they don't do that is a mystery.|Service 9 . Most staff are very attentive and busy. Some less so. |Rooms 9. Always clean. Beds reasonably good. Towels are very thin but changed every day. Sometimes there was a bad smell in bathroom, only when everyone in the hotel is showering for dinner, so issue with drainage.|Entertainment .. no comment... we didn't really participate |Activities 7 . Mostly ok, but it depends on which member of staff was organising it. Some made great organisers and were very enthusiastic. Fifi and Kitty were great. Others showed zero interest and just were there at start and then wondered off.|Beach - 9 excellent, kept clean, lots of loungers and good quality ones. Loses a point as umbrellas are the standard small ones. Prefer bigger ones for better shade. |Grounds 10 - very well maintained in most areas.|Seating area in centre inside. 10 . Great seating, comfortable seats. A bit noisy when full as it was on a wet day but its to be expected. |Gym 6 - should be open from 6 to 22:00 at least. Many people like to go to it before breakfast some reasonable machines, loose weights not so good, many missing. |Pools. 9 not so warm but clean and adequate size. |Spa 10 we both had a massage. Good session that was value for money. |Speciality restaurants. 2. We only managed to book in one, not sure why, it was the one furthest from reception. Food was good but atmosphere 0. 4 of us in there at 7:30pm. The other one by the main buffet seemed better, but we weren't able to get in when booking a few days in advance despite the fact that when we walked past it in the evening at the c time we would have booked there were places. But in the end we ate on the terrace 95% of the time. |WiFi. 9 even on beach. Goes a bit slow for streaming in the evening as i guess everyone is watching films etc. . But make sure you buy a SIM card. I bought an eSIM before I came. It didn't work. Buy one on arrival. £13 for 27gb.|TV in room. 0 for us. BBC was only English channel and that didn't work. |Loungers around pool 8 (70% full hotel). Majority covered in towels by 8am. There were spare loungers in a pile but you wouldn't get them near pool. Very busy with c. 70% full hotel. God knows what it would be like with a full hotel. |Location 10, close to El Kantoui where you can walk to in 30 minutes. 30 minutes to Sousse in taxi, nice Medina in okd streets, Rabat, and you must visit the archaeological museum, only really mosaics and some pottery in there but the MOSAICS are simply amazing. Never seen anything like that in my life. Monastir is 45 minutes away. Medina is not that great unless you want to buy something. Bigger Ribat than Sousse. Marina area ok.|Do not bother to go to Hergla, nothing there to see apart from some abandoned Roman warehouse remains, and Roman villa remains that you can't walk around. Dirty and smell of raw sewage in port was overwhelming. Didn't go to el Jem where there is a superb amphitheatre. Taxi drivers wanted too much for the round trip.|Driving in Tunisia. 9.. we didn't hire a car but road manners on the...

IF YOU HAVE STANDARDS STAY AWAY :) 2* at most. First of all we was told there’s something wrong with our room so we was ‘upgraded’ to the prestige room for 1 night (which meant we couldn’t unpack which was frustrating) we got to the prestige room and was shocked people pay more for this, not prestige at all, was dark and dingy, toilet wasn’t working, shower went from hot to freezing and the lights kept turning off. Reminded me on a premier in hotel room, worse than that to be honest. We was concerned what the normal room was like! (Turned out to be a bit better than prestige room) however the aircon was dripping the whole time, shower randomly goes freezing, lights flickered. I feel so sorry for the people who payed for an ‘upgrade’ room. Hotel smelt of sewage everywhere. Food was not great, not fresh food, no fresh fruit was just warm and old melon and oranges. Breakfast was beyond poor with cold waffles and left over food from the night before, from the photos I expected to see fresh fruit (mangos, strawberry’s, pineapple, none of that was there). The meat is so dry and lacks any flavour or would be just served bone with fat on it. There is no way what so ever the dining team use the best local quality fresh ingredients, as stated in other responses to guests in their reviews,in addition to this DO NOT eat the omelette unless you like raw eggs with random vegetables. The cakes may look pretty but don’t be fooled it’s all an illusion they taste dreadful. also forget about the bread unless you like going to the dentist, the bread would be more useful as a brick . In two separate occasions we saw cockroaches by the pizza which I believe says enough about the cleanliness and hygiene of the food they’re serving The hotel is over crowded, good luck getting somewhere to sunbath unless you want to get up at 5 in the morning along with everyone else! No peace and quiet, sunbathing with people breathing on your neck. Kids running wild. The pool is so busy. The ‘quiet pool’ is as loud as the entertainment pool, which the entertainment is dreadful. We went back to the room at 9pm every night because the entertainment is so so bad. The drinks are so bad, flat coke and lemonade and what I can only describe as paint thinner for the alcohol. On one of the nights we “dined out” at their Italian and Tunisian themed restaurants and wow. i didn’t expect to be served the same food from the buffet just in a different bowl, and given the food we was avoiding the whole time, and coincidentally we both had an upset stomach after. Forget about the menu, you get asked ‘chicken or fish’ and that’s it…. So good luck if you’re vegan, vegetarian, got allergies, etc. (cross contamination is bad here too) Upon requesting drinks I was served the flat coke and my partner was served his beer only for him to see it being poured out of a coke bottle! What on earth is a beer doing in a coke bottle. it was nice to relax momentarily before getting interrupted if we wanted to “vroom vroom” on a quad bike, I understand that some people may want to do this but take no for an answer and consider the time and place when asking multiple times everyday. The hotel manager offered us a free massage for the inconvenience for the room change on the first night which was a really nice gesture and went along way until we actually had the massage, which involved the two ladies talking over us the entire time. When they covered our eyes I was still able to see one of them waving to the other to grab her attention to point something out and chuckle at one of us which was incredibly unprofessional. This opinion about the hotel and its facilities was shared with other guests and that express the same disappointment. I’ve never been catfished this much by a hotel before. The photos must be AI generated cause there is a night and day difference from the photos and reality. Only reason it’s listed as a five star is due to amenities that’s it and even then...

As we sit in reception, being pestered by bluebottles while awaiting the executive coach back to the airport, we’ve had time to reflect on our week at the hotel.|Our quiet moment was interrupted by the arrival of a group of Eastern European guests, who were greeted with welcome drinks – a yellow concoction that seemed to hit the spot. It did, however, leave us wondering where our own welcome drink had been when we arrived.|We were shown to Room 478 on the third floor – a "Star Prestige" room that sadly didn’t live up to 5-star expectations. No welcome snacks, no milk for the three coffee pods, and only a tired-looking fruit basket that remained untouched all week. There was no sewing kit, shower cap, notepad or pen – the small touches that often make a difference. The furniture looked a little worn, and the bathroom floor still had remnants of silicone sealant – seemingly applied after cleaning.|Setting up the safe proved tricky due to the lack of English instructions. Thankfully, translation apps helped with the Spanish and Portuguese text, though the required red button wasn’t visible. A technician was eventually called and fixed the issue. A printed information sheet was provided – in French – and once translated, it offered some useful tips. It would have been far more helpful in English at check-in. A resort map would also have been appreciated, but instead we received a QR code linking to the company website, which unfortunately didn’t offer the information we were after.|Our first visit to the buffet restaurant was lively, with most tables occupied. This was our first introduction to the staff – the true stars of the hotel, who brought warmth and personality to the experience. The food itself was standard buffet fare, though lacking some of the luxury touches we’ve experienced at other 5-star resorts (no smoked salmon, bubbles, or beef bacon at breakfast, for example).|We chose the quiet pool, where we were immediately looked after by one of the standout members of staff (more on that shortly). Unfortunately, the quiet pool is located directly next to the loud pool, which rather defeated the point. The pool was generally clean, though several tiles were missing on the floor.|That said, poolside service was a genuine highlight.|As someone with a strong dairy intolerance, meal options were a challenge. There was no allergen information on the food labels, and although the chef kindly offered to prepare something specially if requested, that system broke down due to language barriers. Most of the vegetables were prepared with butter, which limited my choices. However, the handmade pizzas – especially the vegan, cheese-free options – were unexpectedly excellent.|One evening we were asked to complete a customer survey via iPad. While happy to provide feedback, we found the pressure to give glowing reviews uncomfortable – even the chef gently encouraged us to be generous. Several staff asked us directly to name them in our feedback. We couldn’t help but wonder whether there's an incentive scheme based on mentions.|Ordering drinks at the bar involved scanning yet another QR code, i dont like being burdened with my phone, so we asked for a traditional menu. This was followed by an unfortunately long wait for service. We eventually ordered two cocktails – but both were overly sweet and largely undrinkable. Air-conditioning in the public areas seemed ineffective. ||In summary: if you’re looking for luxurious 5-star facilities and gourmet food and drink, this may not be the right resort for you. But if genuine hospitality and warm, caring service are what matter most, there’s a great deal to appreciate.|Hamdi in the restaurant, Muhammad in the Star Prestige lounge, Nagoua from housekeeping, and the absolutely wonderful Dali by the pool – you made an otherwise shabby week...