Shems Holiday Village & Aquapark

This should not just be a 3☆, as the hotel, staff and whole experience was amazing. From the moment I arrived until the day I sadly had to leave, it was 5☆ in my eyes. The hotel is very well maintained and kept pristine clean constantly. The food/buffet, is possibly one of the largest I've ever seen, always something for everyone to choose from, whether a fussy eater or not, and the restaurant staff are always smiling and polite. The animation team ( Aladin, Alpha, Luffy, Willy, Simba, Tokyo, and Adem! Ash was a good friend to me, helping from the moment i arrived) they are fantastic, from toddlers to oldies (like myself) they keep everyone entertained. The salesmen are not pushy, like other resorts and are also very friendly. I went on a few excursions and being disabled I was a tad apprehensive, however I was put at ease when I was told I would be helped, and I really was, I thoroughly enjoyed each activity, the horseriding being my favourite. I could write for hours praising this whole complex in detail, but just go yourself, you won't be disappointed. I will finish my review with, IF you have any queries, good or bad, at reception Mr. Ade P the manager, Faiza the holiday rep (and my very favourite boy)Jawher are always on hand to help, with a huge smile and sort immediately. Love, love LOVED my stay, Thank you, Dee P.s can't wait to return🥰

ROOMS - the hotel is very outdated, there is ants in nearly every room - unfortunately for me when I arrived I got given a room with a big ant infestation, bed bugs and AC that was poor quality after going to reception regarding all of this they said they would deep clean my room and change my sheets I refused and said that will not get rid of the bed bugs as they live in mattress’ and there was no way in hell I was making my 4yr old son sleep on a bug bed infested mattress, after some speaks with the manager and them telling me there was no rooms available they did eventually move me rooms this room was better only a few ants to which I told them about it and was sorted the next day didn’t have an ant issue after that, the maids come every day they don’t change sheets unless you ask they just make the beds up received clean towels twice during our week stay. Beds are like sleeping on the concrete floor, the most uncomfortable bed I have ever stayed in and spent the whole week with lack of sleep and an aching body. AC is cold when you let it kick in tip for that is ask for another key card at reception because they only give you one and the AC doesn’t work while the card is not in the slot so your room will be unbearable if you don’t do this, electric went off 3/4 times while we stayed only was off for around 45mins to an an hour but this was always around 5/6pm when people were coming into get ready for the evening. FOOD - the food is in no way catered for English, I am aware you are visiting a foreign country so I was in no way expecting bangers and mash etc and English classics, but I was expecting some edible food for children as it’s a family hotel, unfortunately my son lived off chips at dinner (that was the only time we saw chips) and plain pasta on an evening, majority of the food they serve is Veal, Liver and Fish. The restraunt is open until 9pm but when we went between 7:45/8 there was hardly anything available and they started packing away at 8:15/8:30 which I found strange. On the 2nd to last night there was a BBQ outside to which we ended up getting 3 plates (for the children) the breaded chicken every single one of these portions were raw and pink inside one of the children ate some of this and we had to force her to be sick so she didn’t get food poisoning, the food hygiene is terrible we all a party of 6 had dodgy stomachs while we were there, the pizzeria even tho it is of the better of the food the burgers were pink and the man giving you the food had ripped gloves on while handing you the food with his hands and not tongs personally the food quality/hygeine is 0* not 3* (please see photo for raw chicken) this was addressed to the managers and 1 of them was very rude to us stating that “it is live cooking and people eat chicken pink” to which we responded absolutely not red meat yes you can cook it however but white meat needs to be cooked throughout and no pink left behind, this was the manager with the bald head who stated this and was very rude to us when we were complaining that they needed to make other people aware in the hotel they were at risk if they had eaten it, the other manager was apologetic and stated it was inedible as did the reception staff offered to cook us something else to which we politely declined due to being completely put off by the food they serve within that place the next night we went to the aqua park resteraunt which is payable and privately owned this is not part of the hotel, but is worth paying for to not get food poisoning kids all enjoyed there meals as did the adults we payed 250DT for 6 meals which converts to around £65 English. POOLS - pools are in need of some TLC missing tiles etc but did not affect our stay, pools were all warm bar the aqua park which was cooler and a lot more fresh with it being so hot, unsure whether the other pools are heated or whether it is just because it was so hot during our stay as to why it felt like climbing into a bath 🤣 but didn’t affect our stay and we enjoyed the pools and aqua park. sun loungers plenty of them we managed to get 4 every day and we would go to the aqua park in the morning and then the main pools in the afternoon and vice versa we never struggled they help move loungers around, a lot of people were telling us to leave our towels down but we didn’t feel the need for that as we never struggled, aqua park fab it is open to public tho so this is not only hotel guests that visit the aqua park, sometimes was slightly rowdy especially on the weekend with locals but we just kept our eyes on the children in the big pion area as sometimes they were all messing about and playing roughly in the pool where the slides enter the water so you had a risk of you kid getting hit (unintentionally) but just keep your eyes on your children and belongings as this one boy was trying to take all our sinkers and when we were saying no to him parents were no where to be seen and he kept trying to take these toys even from adults so was very aggravating when you are just trying to enjoy playing with your child and you feel like you can’t let them play due to risk of toys getting snatched from them. ENTERTAINMENT - can not complain about the entertainment and the staff running this, they are so friendly and playful with the children - the shows were amazing that we saw while we were there we experienced fire breathing, fire dancing, synchronised swimming, there own special shows with belly dancers etc always something to see and do during the day and evening with entertainment. STAFF - reception staff never had an issue with any of them, they were accommodating when I had my room issue after a few tears was shed on my end they managed to find a new room for me even when the managers said no, reception explained the hotel is old and over run and in my eyes they are probably just as fed up as the majority of the tourists regarding the issues as they get the brunt of it while the managers hide in the back offices, bar staff were friendly there was only 1 or 2 that seemed to have faces like thunder (managers yet again) when asking for bottles of water for the room they would only allow 1 per person at the bar which I can understand but also no need to gate keep water that is needed as there water is undrinkable, I had to send my 4 year old up depended on the staff on the bar to ask for a bottle as they wouldn’t give me 2 this was not all the time it was only when 1 specific manager was on the bar so I just avoided asking when he was there as I knew the answer would be no to 2 bottles of water. Cleaning staff were lovely when asked for clean towels and fresh bedding I received there was only 1 day during my stay that my room was not cleaned and turned around. BAR - as most AI you could only get 2 drinks per person some bar staff were more lenient with that when seeing you had children who could really carry there own drinks. The drinks were all more or less warm as they are all from bottles and not from a machine, the soft drinks are branded and I’m guessing they’re just not having enough time to be refrigerated, some days you got ice some days you didn’t I think my whole stay i had 3 drinks that were cold, the rest were so warm and in the heat found it uncomfortable to drink them so I just ended up drinking water through the day in a thermos flask that I had kept on the fridge all evening, I personally didn’t get my moneys worth of AI drinks as I am not a big beer drinker which seemed to be the only semi cold thing you could have on a draft 😅 All in all we would never return, personally I do not believe the hotel is fit for tourist purposes I believe it to be a hotel for locals or the stars need knocking down because I don’t believe this is a 3* hotel and it wasn’t a “cheap” holiday which people insinuate I paid £1.6k for 1 adult and 1 child we didn’t feel like we got value for money at all the hotel needs some serious improvement before allowing tourists to book and stay there. Unfortunately it has put me off returning to Tunisia which is a shame. What I would say to people especially if you are English is try and re-book elsewhere, we read all the trip advisor reports before coming here and yes there was some bad but majority was good and we were shocked at what we experienced during our week stay never been so happy to be home and in the comfort of my own bed and to get some decent food in my stomache, normally at an AI you gain weight I ended up loosing 3lbs in a week due to the lack of food consumed and the dodgy stomach from what I did eat 😅