Houda Golf & Beach Club Hotel

I, along with my wife and 5 year old son, read a lot of reviews about this hotel after we had booked it, we were a little concerned to say the least. Stories of cats and flies everywhere, endless queues for food and drinks, unclean rooms and no toilet rolls!
Well we arrived on a busy Sunday around lunchtime, our room was already for us, the rooms are basic (no fridge, but then it doesn’t say you will get a fridge in the brochure!)
The room itself was very clean and the air conditioning was blasting out cool air. The towels were changed every day and the room was cleaned to a high standard. My only real problem with the room were the bunk beds, which looked like they had been welded together by a 10 year old.
The main pool area is nice, there are plenty of sunbeds, but as you are sharing the resort with other Europeans, an early wakeup call is required to get your towels out! Some people I spoke to were moaning about this, I reminded them that this practise has gone on for years and years.
We didn't spend much time on the beach, not because you get hassle but my son got stung by a jelly fish. At this point I would like to add that the onsite doctor...yes on site doctor, was great and knew exactly what to do. The Slide pool is great fun for kids and adults alike. The lifeguards on duty take their job seriously and dealt with any small accidents themselves.
The food... The canteen is busy, but then there are about 1000 people there. I heard people moan about choices of food, but there appeared to be a large choice to me. I saw three cats hanging around the grounds the whole time we were there, and yes there are flies but you are in Africa in a hot country, so a few flies are to be expected.
The Tunisian restaurant and Italian were nice, it’s nice to have a waiter and bottled beer!
We didn't really go in for the Animation but the guys and girls in the team were always around the pool wanting you to get involved, my wife and I played water polo which was great fun.
The drinks are watered down, but I found that I didn’t want to drink that much as it was so hot. The staff are friendly and always polite.
I enjoyed our holiday, remember that you are only paying for 3 Stars not 5, it was good value. I admit I wouldn't go back, but this is mainly because there were too many people for me.
We went on a few trips, the Bedouin feast was a letdown for me but my son loved the camel ride, we also went on the pirate ships which was great value.

1 reader found this review helpful

If you really want to loose weight this is the place for you. You come here a size 24 and you leave a size 0. The food by far was the worst I have ever seen. I always go all inclusive and I have never been so unimpressed and starved in all my years of going abroad.
If your German or French however you will love it. I hope you all like fish with the heads still remaining because that is the only thing on offer. Every night.
The queue is ridiculous; by the time you line up to get your food you’re not hungry anymore. I would really suggest taking a suitcase full of food because by the end of your holiday you will be so sick of eating brown scabby chips.
The beach is also nothing to brag about, the sea is black you can’t see anything. I don’t know how the fish live in it because it looks very uninhabitable. Very polluted. The jellyfish are huge so be careful when you’re in the sea because they come very close to shore.
The rooms are clean but the maids have a tendency to turn off your air con while cleaning the room so when you go back into your room you feel like you have just entered an oven.
The entertainment is very basic and there is nothing near by. And please take my advice and don't be tempted to go into Monastir on the little blue train. As fun as it looks it was big mistake. They drive like lunatics. And monastir has nothing. It’s really not worth it.
The entertainment team are amazing they make your holiday. We became very close to them. With out the Houda would be a night mare. They are excellent at English and at times can be very full on. But they are lovely people!!
Don’t expect to get drunk either. The sizes of the glasses are tiny. It will take 15 martinis to get you only slightly drunk. The beer is vile and there are no alcohol shops near by.
It does sound terrible but over all it is quite a good holiday. You make your own holiday anyway! I loved it. If there was English food and more variety of food and drink I would have rated it a 10!!!
Hope you enjoy

Fantastic, lovely hotel, clean, spacious and food selections amazing.
The staff are all very helpful. The waiters especially are very helpful. Our favourite was Salim. We had flowers on our table regularly. The animation entertainment guys are amazing, they work so hard and long hours. All day they are doing their utmost best to keep all and everyone happy.
The only fault I found was the Italian Restaurant. We were seated at 20.30 p.m. and after 15 mins had to call the attention of a waiter, we got a drink but no menu for another 15 mins and decided that the menu was no good and went without dinner that night.
The food in the main restaurant was good a large range for all to at least find something to fill their bellies. The pools were good, the slides kept the kids amused all day.
The sea was to die for so warm like having a bath. Would have loved to stay longer. Would return again.

This is a fantastic hotel rooms are basic but clean and comfortable. This is our 4th visit staff are very friendly, food always a good selection, two a la carte restaurants, disco until 2am.
All-inclusive on the beach location sauna beauty parlour Jacuzzi pools well kept and best of all no need for your purse. We like this hotel so much we have booked a further 2 visits in 2007 have done the hotel winter (January) and height of season if you’ve got kids they will love it.

It was really good holiday but very spaced out! Pools were great, and rooms were basic, good for getting dressed and sleeping in!
Although we had a wash bag go missing! We did report it and they tried to sort it out but we had to go home as our 2 week were over!
Kid loved it! If you’re going with younger kids I would take basic food too keep them happy!

1 reader found this review helpful

My family have just returned from Tunisia, my children’s ages are 14, 9, and 1 Year old,
I was quite shocked when we arrived in the airport, as we all had to fill in details on a piece of card (nobody was quite sure what bit to fill in) and by the end of filling 5 cards in for my family, I wasn’t very happy, (we also had to fill these in again at the hotel too!).
When we arrived at the hotel, I thought it looked like lovely; we got our room straight away. The room was basic, no fridge or kettle, which didn’t help as my son is diabetic and we had a young baby with us, they did however let us use the fridge in the reception staff room.
The rooms were cleaned daily...but I’m sure some ciggys went missing,
The food was ok for the first week, but going on to the second week it was awful, a few family members did spend a lot of time on the toilet! The French are terrible and don’t do queues!
Our waiter was wonderful, and regularly kept my one year old entertained at the table. They like to kiss children on the cheek and touch their heads...I was ok with this they are very good with the children.
The pools are great and clean, we spent a lot of time at the slides, the kids loved it, and there was also a good baby pool there.
the beach is also lovely with the warm water and plenty of activities to do.
The entertainment team were always smiling...god knows why! they seemed to work all the time! The mini disco kept the kids happy and the shows after this where good to.
We did venture out to Monastir, trying to look for baby food (Take your own cause I couldn't find any!).
And the people trying to sell you stuff is quite intimidating, don’t get on the little train that takes you there either...my god we were in it for about 1 hour (the guy said it would take 1/2 hour at the most) and the heat was unbelievable. We ended up getting 2 taxis back to the hotel because we would have had to wait on the train.
This hotel is not really catered for the British, and I would not go again, mainly due to the food!

We stayed at the Houda Golf and Beech Club hotel form the 1st - 15th July 2007.
In brief Fantastic place go with an open mind – and remember that it is only a 3 star hotel.
I felt that by the end of the holiday the English guests appeared to be split in to two camps- loved it – hated it.
And as you have probably guessed we are in the loved it and would defiantly return again.
Neither of us suffered any illness in the two weeks that we were there – but we were served with pink chicken one night – but it is a buffet so just change plates and go back and get something else – as the other reviews states – loads of food.
In the main restaurant you are given a table time (early or late) but basically for dinner and tea you have 1 hour for your meal – apparently it is possible to change your time in advance.
You are given a table and a waiter – having a table means if there are just two of you – you can both go other for food and you are guaranteed a seat when you get back with your food.
The staff all tried really hard in the restaurant – they have a try and speaking English – it is not wonderful, but they are helpful and friendly and try!
Sunbeds – if you don’t mind where you sit/lie you can get one at any time- if you want poolside and an umbrella – yes I am afraid it is an early start. – remember there are 3 places to go – the main pool – the busiest and very cramped for a pool side view but on the grass there is plenty of space.
The slide pool – we did not spend a lot of time here but we always got a sun bed and there is a lot more space to move – it appeared that the drinks were now free up here but we did not have any.
The beach – always a bed and umbrella – there are people working around trying to flog you stuff but once you say no they do move on and leave you alone. The sea was sea weedy which I don’t like – but the pedelo’s and canoes are included on your all inclusive so you can have 20 mins on each per day – motorized water sports are charged for – there are other free water things with the canoes but didn’t have a go on anything else.
There are loads of activities that you can do on your own -crazy golf, bowels, tennis, and table tennis etc – you do need to pay a deposit to hire the stuff to play with.
Alternatively you can do these activities plus many more with the animation team – these people work more the 12 hour days every day – are brilliant and really good at everything – the evening entertainment is fantastic – a Greece Show, African dance and performance show, welcome cabaret etc.
The kids disco was on till about 9.30 – this seemed ok – same songs –every night – same order – and if someone wants tech them the full dance to YMCA – please do –don’t think they know what they are really doing with the letter things – the sexy mumba – song of Houda is ok, and you will be out of your seat a dancing by the end of the holiday.
The only thing that lets the entertainment down at night is that it is at the slide pool and the bar here only serves beer and wine as well as soft drinks – all of the animation team can speak about 10differnt languages (which goes on a bit when introducing things but at least everyone understands what is going on.
Yes the drinks glasses are small but I can see why – your beer never goes warm – people try and carry more than two around the pool – kids are allowed to collect soft drinks – and the queues really are not that bad.
The staff are great – our air con broke at 10.30pm on a Sunday night and the engineer was out by 11pm and he came back and fixed it the next morning’s they tried really hard.
At the welcome meeting – the customer relations manger offers a walk around the hotel – take it – she goes through some things that are included and shows you around.
The Hamman (Tunisia sauna/steam room) is free to use – and worth doing really relaxing – you can pay for treatments or just go and sit in relax and enjoy for nothing.
Remember that it is a 3 star hotel and watch what you eat – but most of all enjoy!

Arrived back on 29th July after a week at the Houda. Fantastic weather, fantastic hotel,
Sam's team were excellent, always something happening for kids and adults. Their night time shows were amazing. Our 4 year old loved the mini discos each night. Other two boys loved football and water polo.
Food was really good, catered for all tastes. Queues were not bad considering size of hotel. Restaurant was constantly being tidied and was really clean.
Bar staff were friendly and beer was good. Waiters always out collecting tumblers and plates from around pool areas, so really clean to.
Rooms were small and basic but only used to sleep in as weather too brilliant to miss. Cleaners in room’s everyday so kept very clean and tidy.
Brilliant holiday.

We've just come back from 2 weeks at The Houda Beach Club and we have had an absolutely fantastic holiday. The Hotel was great. It's only a 3 star hotel so you do need to bare that in mind.
It has all the basics, new bathrooms in the rooms, shower, bath etc. The rooms were fully air-conditioned (Thank Goodness because it was very hot...42oC!) Although the A/C was a bit noisy, but that didn't really matter too much.
The main hotel was nice, clean and welcoming but basic. The main Restaurant was okay in the first week of our holiday then for the second week which was the start of the UK summer holidays it was heaving!
The food I believe was pretty good when you consider the scale of people they were catering for. We mainly chose the Tunisian option each night which varied but generally was a chicken dish, rice or potatoes or CousCous. There was fish but this always tended to be a bit on the cremated side!
The English food was okay too. Usually Chicken & Vegetable pie, Turkey etc with lovely roast potatoes and a selection of veggies. There was always a good choice of salad in the salad bar with a selection of cheeses, ham, olives, and sauces etc. If you could be bothered to queue they would cook you omelette's of your choice at each meal time too which were very nice. The desserts were to die for!
Huge choice of cakes and Gateaux...lovely! There wasn't a huge availability of fruit though. Melon in the main restaurant and Peaches in the poolside snack bar at lunch (If you're quick!).
Drinks wise, obviously it was only local spirits and wine but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised, both were very nice. In fact we bought a few bottles of the Tunisian wine! You do have to queue for drinks and they do give you piddly cups.
We did take our own larger plastic beakers as we'd read here before going about the "cup situation" but soon found we couldn't be bothered taking them with us everywhere.
The Animations (Entertainment) Team were fantastic. We have 2 Kids, a boy of 6 and a girl of 4. They were amazing, very welcoming, and caring. The Kids Club was brilliant; they ran from 10-12 and 3-5. They'd even take the kids for lunch if you wanted and you could pick them up at 12.30.
They did loads of activities in the afternoon session; going to the local Zoo, banana boating, going to the water slides although I'd say this was great for my older boy, my little girl didn't tend to do the afternoon activities as she was a bit on the young side. The evening entertainment was good but we found you soon had enough of it, but saying that it was entertaining and the kids were in their element!
We all loved the La Bomba song (If you're on your way to the Houda you'll soon find out what I'm talking about!)
The pools were great, clean, and cool. They tend to get a bit "milky" by the afternoon with all that sun cream but they were thoroughly cleaned each night and were once again very clean each morning (I don't suppose there's much they can do about that one!).
If you do have young kids make sure you take them around the edge of the pool all the way round from the inside of the pool to see if they can touch the bottom because what looked shallow from the edge was frequently out of their depth.
The excursions were very good, I was a bit apprehensive about the camel trip with my little girl but she loved it. They do a great Bedouin village display at a stop off point which was very funny and a welcomed break from the sun.
The Medinas were good fun. I was very apprehensive about taking the children there as they are both blonde, blue eyes, my little girl has very long, blonde, curly hair. Given recent events I was very worried about the Medinas, but in all fairness they were great. They liked to touch the children’s heads and kiss my little girl on the cheek, but it was all okay.
We obviously kept the children VERY close and were aware where they were at all times as we had heard a few stories of missing people while we were there. We didn't actually make it to the Medina in Sousse as it was shut due to Republic day when we wanted to go. If you're feeling a bit wary about kids in the Medina I'd suggest you go to Monastir Medina first. It's a lot smaller than some of the other Medinas but you still get the gist of it.
Just be polite and have a bit of a joke with them, it's all good fun! We went to Egypt a few years ago and it is no way as full on and intimidating in the markets as it is in Egypt.
Overall, Tunisia was very impressive. It's a lot more developed than I thought it would be and it is one of the more relaxed Muslim countries, the locals do have a drink and the women have a choice about whether to cover up etc. The Tunisian people were so nice.
I was absolutely amazed at their language skills, every person I spoke to in my rather poor French were really helpful teaching me how to say things properly (In a nice and friendly way) But everyone spoke at least 5-7 languages; English, French, German, Russian, Czech and loads of other languages too.
Overall a great holiday, would love to go back next year. If you're going soon, you'll have a great holiday!

1 reader found this review helpful

Just returned from the Houda hotel this morning 23rd July after being there for 2 weeks. There were five of us (family of 4 and daughters' friend), the kids ages being 2 x 16 year old and 1 x 14 year old.
Like everybody else I also read the reviews and was very apprehensive, especially as I am a Travel Agent. Upon arrival (after a 7 hour delay) we were shown to our rooms which were not together as requested, and overlooking a building site.
Went straight down to reception who with very little fuss gave us 2 rooms together on the ground floor with a pool view.
Firstly, yes the rooms are basic, but clean. However the noise in the morning in the corridors is unbelievable. It starts at about 6am, doors opening and slamming, the cleaners talking loudly to each other not caring if they wake you, and as the walls and doors are paper thin, it is impossible to sleep after then, so yes I was one of those who were up at 6 to get a sunbed.
There are plenty of sunbeds but if you want to be poolside, you do need to be up early; otherwise you’re relegated to the grass area. If you are lucky enough to get a poolside sunbed, be prepared for any amount of French kids stepping over you to get to the water.
They just have no manners what so ever, step over you, even leaning on you to get past - I have never come across so many ill mannered, rude, and badly behaved children at all. I think because of the strong French influence there, they behave with certain arrogance.
Food is good with plenty of choice for everyone. At lunch, if you don't fancy the restaurant, the snack bar offers Panini’s, pizza, chips, burgers, salad bars, and chicken kebabs. In the restaurant you are allocated a table for your stay, with either an early or late sitting, which was good.
Spirit drinks are most definitely watered down, but the beer and wine were ok. There is a 2 drink rule per person, so if you’re like me, I took plenty of plastic pint glasses, which amused the bar staff, as I was still adhering to the 2 drinks rule without having to go to the bar constantly.
If you are booked for this hotel, go with an open mind, because yes it is a 3* hotel not 4*, and it is packed to full capacity at the moment, giving the impression of a cattle market, but the pools are good, the slides excellent fun, and a holiday is what you make of it. Plenty of beach activities to do - parasailing, banana boats, jet skis, kayaking, pedelo boats.
Finally, any problems go and see Jan the English lady who works as public relations for the hotel.