Zodiac — Hotel in Maghreb

I feel compelled to provide a detailed review of our stay at this hotel to highlight serious issues that affected our experience. Unfortunately, despite some positives, the overall stay was extremely disappointing and, in some cases, unsafe.||||Arrival and Room Conditions||We arrived late at night, around 11 pm, due to a delayed flight. A gardener was assigned to show us to our room. Upon entering, the room was immediately unpleasant: it had a strong, unpleasant smell, everything appeared old and worn, and the bathroom and toilet were not clean at all. The toilet emitted an unusual gas smell that seemed to come daily from the pipes. The toilet itself was tiny, discolored, and looked decades old. The hose was rigid and dirty, making it very difficult to use. The shower had no proper hanger, the mirror was broken and dirty, and the entire bathroom was outdated and unhygienic.||Our pillows were nearly unusable—flat and uncomfortable. When we requested better pillows, it took the staff half an hour just to bring one. We were promised a room change the next morning, but the hotel staff later claimed we already had the “best room” and refused to move us. The TV in the room also did not work initially, and it took repeatedly requesting service over five days before it was finally fixed.||||Restaurant and Food||The restaurant was by far the worst and most concerning part of our stay. It was extremely smelly, unbearably warm, and dirty—completely unlike what one would expect from a four-star hotel. The tables and chairs were sticky and clearly not cleaned properly. There was a severe shortage of staff, which created massive queues for both food and drinks. Staff were stationed in front of food stations, preventing guests from serving themselves efficiently. Even then, drinks were served in tiny quantities, requiring multiple trips and long waits in line.||The hygiene of dishes, glasses, and cutlery was shocking. They appeared to simply rinse them in water without proper washing, as leftover food and stains were visible every time we ate. Most of the time, forks or spoons were missing entirely, leaving guests waiting for basic utensils.||The food itself was extremely poor. Most dishes were local, but they were bland, tasteless, and poorly prepared. It was clear the kitchen had little skill in cooking the food, and much of it was wasted. On the very first night, my son became ill with stomach pain, likely due to the food. By the fourth day, I experienced severe vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps, which persisted for three days after leaving the hotel. On the last day, my daughter also fell ill with the same symptoms, suffering massive diarrhea during our flight home. My wife was only able to eat minimally, and I could not eat at all for several days.||The most alarming aspect was the complete lack of hygiene in the restaurant. Flies were everywhere—millions of them—landing on the food, dishes, forks, and even drinks. It was impossible to avoid them, and their presence made eating extremely unsafe. To make matters worse, a toilet was located directly in front of the restaurant, and flies from it could easily reach the food. The combination of poor cleaning practices, open exposure of food, and insects created a severe health hazard.||The illness we experienced is undoubtedly linked to the extremely unhygienic conditions in the restaurant and the unsafe food and this is the main reason that I am complaining. Despite repeatedly notifying the staff about these issues, they did nothing to address them, often laughing or pretending not to understand the severity of the situation.||||Pool, Drinks, and Water Park||The pool and water park were a positive aspect of the hotel. However, drinks were served from only one station, resulting in massive queues. Drinks were mostly sugary, brightly colored syrups mixed with soft drinks, often bitter and unpleasant. On one occasion, a drink advertised as coconut and pineapple was extremely bitter, and despite asking, staff claimed it was non-alcoholic. A little fruits that they provided in the snack station around the pool was very very low quality, I think the cheapest in the Tunis market... The worst apple I have ever seen in my life, very hard peaches and sometimes a little grapes that I prevented my children to eat because I wasnt sure if they were washed. ||||Around the water park, some staff were smoking near children, and they walked from dirty areas directly into the pool without cleaning their feet, which was very concerning. Night entertainment was generally okay, though repetitive at the beginning and end of shows.||||Tunis City Trip||We wanted to visit Tunis City, and the hotel recommended booking a private car. We paid £100 for a driver who was confirmed to be English-speaking. Unfortunately, the driver spoke only a few words in English and switched to Arabic and French for most of the trip, making communication impossible. Every time we raised this issue with the hotel, they laughed or ignored us.||||Overall Experience||- Room, bathroom, and toilet: 1 star (toilet 0 stars)||- Food and restaurant: 1 star (restaurant 0 stars)||- Pool and water park: acceptable, though drinks and surrounding hygiene were poor||- Service and communication: poor, staff often ignored requests or provided misleading information||||In summary, while the property has a visually appealing pool and water park, everything else—from room conditions and hygiene to restaurant safety—was deeply disappointing. Health risks due to food and cleanliness, as well as misleading promises, made this a very stressful stay. I strongly advise future travellers to consider these serious issues...

I feel compelled to provide a detailed review of our stay at this hotel to highlight serious issues that affected our experience. Unfortunately, despite some positives, the overall stay was extremely disappointing and, in some cases, unsafe.

The restaurant was by far the worst and most concerning part of our stay. It was extremely smelly, unbearably warm, and dirty—completely unlike what one would expect from a four-star hotel. The tables and chairs were sticky and clearly not cleaned properly. There was a severe shortage of staff, which created massive queues for both food and drinks. Staff were stationed in front of food stations, preventing guests from serving themselves efficiently. Even then, drinks were served in tiny quantities, requiring multiple trips and long waits in line. The hygiene of dishes, glasses, and cutlery was shocking. They appeared to simply rinse them in water without proper washing, as leftover food and stains were visible every time we ate. Most of the time, forks or spoons were missing entirely, leaving guests waiting for basic utensils. The food itself was extremely poor. Most dishes were local, but they were bland, tasteless, and poorly prepared. It was clear the kitchen had little skill in cooking the food, and much of it was wasted. On the very first night, my son became ill with stomach pain, likely due to the food. By the fourth day, I experienced severe vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps, which persisted for three days after leaving the hotel. On the last day, my daughter also fell ill with the same symptoms, suffering massive diarrhea during our flight home. My wife was only able to eat minimally, and I could not eat at all for several days. The most alarming aspect was the complete lack of hygiene in the restaurant. Flies were everywhere—millions of them—landing on the food, dishes, forks, and even drinks. It was impossible to avoid them, and their presence made eating extremely unsafe. To make matters worse, a toilet was located directly in front of the restaurant, and flies from it could easily reach the food. The combination of poor cleaning practices, open exposure of food, and insects created a severe health hazard. The illness we experienced is undoubtedly linked to the extremely unhygienic conditions in the restaurant and the unsafe food and this is the main reason that I am complaining. Despite repeatedly notifying the staff about these issues, they did nothing to address them, often laughing or pretending not to understand the severity of the situation. The pool and water park were a positive aspect of the hotel. However, drinks were served from only one station, resulting in massive queues. Drinks were mostly sugary, brightly colored syrups mixed with soft drinks, often bitter and unpleasant. On one occasion, a drink advertised as coconut and pineapple was extremely bitter, and despite asking, staff claimed it was non-alcoholic. A little fruits that they provided in the snack station around the pool was very very low quality, I think the cheapest in the Tunis market... The worst apple I have ever seen in my life, very hard peaches and sometimes a little grapes that I prevented my children to eat because I wasnt sure if they were washed. Around the water park, some staff were smoking near children, and they walked from dirty areas directly into the pool without cleaning their feet, which was very concerning. Night entertainment was generally okay, though repetitive at the beginning and end of shows.

We wanted to visit Tunis City, and the hotel recommended booking a private car. We paid £100 for a driver who was confirmed to be English-speaking. Unfortunately, the driver spoke only a few words in English and switched to Arabic and French for most of the trip, making communication impossible. Every time we raised this issue with the hotel, they laughed...

Let's start at the top shall we. One, if you have booked this hotel, I'm so sorry. Especially if you can't change your booking. Our first night someone tried to enter our room with a key after they did not hear us say that we were in the room. This was the same time that Samir who organises the excursions called us... Next day Samir told us just how unsafe the area was and how if we were to leave we would be scammed and robbed. Straight away making us feel trapped inside the hotel. I am completely fine with people not being able to speak English, but if that's the case, please don't ignore us. Yes, I'm speaking to you waiting staff in the restaurant ☺️ Please check your food before you put it out. Last night you gave me foos poisoning from SALAD. It's the only thing I could eat in your "restaurant" and on the one day I didn't pay special attention to it I managed to pick up brown rotting salad by accident & spent the rest of the night with a hideous stomach ache. The food was ALWAYS cold. When my partner raised this to one of the servers and asked if it was normal/meant to be, he told the chef who came over to our table and said "you English people always have an issue" and then proceeded to tell us to use the microwave. The next day they had created steam under the trays (I assume with boiling water) and said it was hot - I can safely say not even a baby could claim their food was even warm. Same food every day, I'm pretty sure some of it was given to us from days prior. They had a "juice" machine for breakfast which I'm not sure has ever been cleaned, it was absolutely foul. Table cloths stained, cats running about tryna eat your food (they were cute but they even went behind the counters by the kitchen doors. The rooms were basic, no kettle - fine they had a bar downstairs (only open to all inclusive until 11pm) no fridge in the room, little sachets of soap, no conditioner, so make sure you bring your own. And we had ants. Lots of ants from day one. There's a sign outside saying no food or drink from outside of the hotel but by the end of our stay we had given up. I'm pregnant, the little shop we were told was open until 5:30pm was always closed before 4pm and had limited snacks. The only good thing I can say is that the lady behind the desk was nice, one of the bartenders was nice & one of the servers tried to be nice (once the chef had come to us a few days in the staff all acted different with us and made us feel super awkward) I would advice that it is explained to your poor unknowing guests how the "restaurant" works because there was a "fresh" grilling section but we didn't know if we were allowed to go there to get food or not? The "private beach" is a 15 minute walk away and not at all private. Their spa is not quite on site, they do SOME...