Marhaba Royal Salem Hotel — Hotel in Sousse

Ok! So just to clarify a little bit why 3 stars - because definitely according to what we used to expect from a 4 star hotel in Europe can't be found here! If we speak for Africa and Tunisia in particular then maybe it is even above 4 stars.

Let's go deeper in details: Great location! In the morning it is very easy to go for a run (or walk) by the sea. The hotel has access to a private beach, and from there it is easy to walk for kilometers on a nice sandy coast. In the evening just exit the hotel, turn left and you are on one of the nice Sousse streets for an evening walk. Half kilometer you will find an unbelievably good gelato house! There is a really nice forest in the middle of the resort. So when you walk to pools or the beach from the main building it is a really nice and cool experience. Guys and girls from the hotel give a lot of effort to keep this forest and alleys nice and clean. There is a kind of aquapark with three water slides, so it is a cool place for kids. Animation team is superb! I was really amazed at what these guys do every day from early morning to late evening!

o Rooms - I put it like neutral, because the view from sea view rooms is really magnificent. And space inside is more than enough. Main bed is huge and mattress is comfortable. AC in our room was more than adequate for early September. However all the furniture is tooooo old. And there is just one plug near the bed and in the whole room. If you want another one you can unplug the TV :)

o Room cleaning&prep. - I put this in neutral, because I see that maids were trying. In Africa standards it is superb, however for Europeans it is not exactly. Let me explain a little bit more - a few times they forget to refill towels (maybe some checklists will be a good idea). The first time we ended up with absolutely no towel in the room, and my wife discovered this when the kid was ready with the shower. So I run to reception, tell them there is No single towel in the room. A few minutes later the maid showed on the door with ONE towel. In the bathroom there is no siphoning on the floor, and you should take a shower in the bathtub. Definitely you should use the bathtub curtain to restrict water on the floor. Unfortunately this curtain looks yellowish instead of white. Bathtub and toilets just like furniture in the rooms are tooooo old and amortized.

Main restaurant - as already mentioned in other reviews there is no AC in the main restaurant and it is overcrowded. Service there is no better! Furniture again is tooooo old, and most of the chairs are just too dirty. In rare cases you will sit on a clean table with napkins, forks and knives and salt&pepper on them. More usually you will "source" them from neighbouring tables. If you are lucky to draw the attention of a writer responsible for your table it is possible to order some drinks. Unfortunately white wine is on "room" temperature (remember there is no AC in restaurant 😔).

Food - I should admit that variety is not bad, neither is it excellent. It is possible to find food to your taste, however it is a hit&miss game. The description of the dishes is missing or not enough. They don't mark hot dishes in any way, and most of the dishes are quite hot for European taste - especially for the kids. It was usual for us to give to my little princess something that she can't eat, and we as parents don't want to give her only french fries, spaghetti & pizza all day long for a week. So if your kids don't like hot food - try it before serving it to them.

The smell of bleach and chlorine everywhere in corridors, toilets, pools etc. is just out of any scales. Ok I know that with so many people they put tremendous efforts to keep them healthy on vacation stay, but this smell is really too much. Especially for my wife with a very sensitive nose.

Beach towels. Just like the furniture - they look like those towels are there from the beginning of this resort. Of course you will find some strange stains on them 😜. Be aware - towels change desk have different working...

This was my first trip to Tunisia. I didn’t know what to expect, but both the destination and the hotel came highly recommended.

In general, I was dissatisfied with my stay.

Location: Sousse is a popular tourist destination located very close to Monastir and the airport. It’s a good place to go visit Tunis, Kairuan and El Jem. Along the route to port Kantaoui there are many hotels and resorts but in the city itself there is an old bazaar, a mosque and a ribat (fortification). What’s good about Tunisia is that there are shops with normal, fixed prices as well as shops where you have to haggle. I recommend buying Tunisian low acidity olive oil as well as leather products and carpets. As for the general impression, I really liked presence of cats everywhere. There is plenty of olive trees as well as palm trees. The weather was quite nice during my stay. I’d love to say that the area is nice, but the amount of trash everywhere is just horrible. Too bad - so much lost potential.

Resort: The resort itself is not too big. It has its own sandy beach (relatively clean compared to the rest of the coastline), 4 outdoor swimming pools (one with water slides, one for kids, one with fresh water), 1 indoor pool. The pools are quite small and the claim that there is an aqua park is simply ridiculous. The hotel itself could use some renovation as everything is run down. I did not enjoy sticky floors, walls, handrails, chairs, dirty plates, glasses and cutlery.

Food: On the positive note, food here wasn’t usually bland. It was a nice surprise to find out that in an all-inclusive resort you can try spicy food :) Unfortunately the general variety of choices was very poor. I expected a slightly better selection of fruits and vegetables. I honestly got bored with the food after just few days and the quality of service didn’t help (see below).

Service: There were people that made me feel welcome and taken care of. Few people. I was pleased with reception staff (both day and night shifts), room cleaning was decent, few lifeguards and waiters were very helpful and friendly. Most of the hotel staff however didn’t seem to care about their jobs or the guests. Restaurant service was terrible (with 3 exceptions) - lack of free tables, general lack of cleanliness, lack of cutlery (I tried to serve myself but that is not allowed), forgetting to serve drinks (you can’t get them by yourself, they need to be served). I wouldn’t mind if it was all self-service - I’d just serve myself and that would be ok. Here, the resort policy was that guests are to be served… but it seemed that at the same time they didn’t want to do it. That’s very puzzling. It wasn’t much better at bars. Only 2 guys were helpful and knew what they were doing.

I’d like to emphasize that I’m very grateful for all the people that were friendly and helpful and helped me to enjoy my stay. To you I say thank you.

Here is some advice for people considering staying at Marhaba Royal Salem.

Pro tip: water in Tunisia is safe, which is great! But the taste of tap water is horrible, so tea and coffee that were served were horrible. I really enjoyed my first cup of tea after coming back home.

Pro tip: bring your own beach towels because you will often hear “no fresh towels” when you try to change them.

Pro tip: when you want something to drink during dinner service, remember to get some glasses before you get to the bar. In theory you should be served by a waiter and guests are not really supposed to serve themselves but reality here is sometimes different from theory.

Pro tip: don’t inspect plates too closely. They are dirty, sometimes a bit greasy. Just ignore it or you will starve.

Pro tip: pretend the 7cm cockroaches don’t exist. It’s just in your head.

Pro tip: Take eat plugs with you. Tunisians tend to use max volume settings when playing music. It may be difficult for some people to be around speakers in closed spaces.

Pro tip: Don’t go on pirate ship cruises. They promise a lot but you end up on a ship sailing around the...

POSITIVES -

We paid £305 pp All inclusive as we used a £100 off EasyJet voucher code, so we were lucky! (Stayed 3-10 March)

Enfidha Airport was clean and well organised (WiFi very bad).

⭐HOTEL - Lovely entrance and spectacular foyer/ main bar. On arrival we were greeted, check in staff were amazing and made us immediately feel welcomed. Luggage was taken to our room by Lamjed and he explained how everything works i.e Air Con etc . Yes there are areas what are a little rough around the edges but it's clean and the service is better than weve had in 5 starr hotels around the world!

⭐ROOM 428 - sea view Large comfortable bed, sheets and pillows. Lots of wardrobe storage. Cleaned everyday. Peaceful night's sleep The hotel room doors didn't have 'soft close' so if you rested In your room afternoons you constantly hear the doors slamming shut. AC in summer

⭐ALL INCLUSIVE FOOD & DRINKS - The chefs here certainly know how to cook tasty food! All meats marinated and seasoned perfectly. All PIPING HOT! Adel our waiter was the best. He remembered what drinks we like and had them waiting on our table for us every day. Every day something new to try and beautiful salad/fruit mini tasty desserts. Breakfast juice isn't fresh pressed but I didn't mind for the price we paid for the holiday. Coffee was ok. Ezzine ❤️

⭐ENTERTAINMENT - 5 star and you have the choice of 2 hotels with 2 different shows and every eve (March starting 9pm and 9:30 at sister hotel). Daytime activities such as Yoga, Zumba, Boules, darts etc

⭐POOLS- 1 small 1 large with slides 1 average sized in centre of resort. (All saltwater outdoor pools ICE COLD in march when we were there so we used the indoor pool when we wanted a swim).

⭐HOTEL BEACH- Beautiful clean sand, staff bring mattress pads for your beach bed and drinks waiter will bring your drinks. We've never had this unless we've stayed at a 5 star expensive resort. Definitely a special service that's appreciated ❤️ (Sea ice cold in March)

⭐RESORT SHOPS - The one under Royal Marhaba Salem (this hotel) is good and has PRICE TAGS 1 by Main pool /Marhaba Salem (sister hotel) - NO PRICE TAGS. I wasted 15 minutes trying to get a price for a necklace I liked and he wouldn't give me one. Just keep say depending on what you buy and how much-bring husband. Shame, as I probably would have bought if the pricing was clear!

⚠️NEGATIVES - Room 428 - Very poor room air con ⚠️1 plug socket in the bedroom - we both needed to charge our phones at night time ! I couldn't connect to the WiFi much in the Dining room, around the pool or beach hut- though it was great in our room.

⚠️Steps to dining room/ main pool/ down to indoor pool areas that are difficult for myself as I have Fibromyalgia and I saw older people struggling with them.

Staff to mention due to their extra special service - ❤️Slim -Explaining everything, fixing any little issues and always smiling even with his eyes. ❤️❤️❤️Saleh - Most attentive bartender I've ever had! Even put us a bottle of wine in our room on our first day and asked everyday if we wanted more. He always had time to talk to us and ask how we are. (My secret 💓) ❤️Lamjed - taking our luggage and explained about the room features. ❤️❤️❤️Adel - Most attentive waiter I've ever had. Better than 5 star hotels I've been to! ❤️Momo (animation) - Greet and always explaining where everything is and what activities are on where. ❤️❤️❤️Ezzine - Very attentive waiter! ❤️Madil - Friendly Lifeguard

👀SOUSSE TIPS - If you need any toiletries/ clothing items /food court /fast food /Carrefour Supermarket Sousse Mall a £4.40 return BOLT ride away (download the APP)

Locals will always offer you "best price". Shop around first and don't agree until you been given a clear...