Houda Golf & Beach Club Hotel

This was my second time at Houda, the first was just 3months ago, I travelled with my daughter and sister’s.
Must say that it was a bit different going in season as to the beginning of the season, it was so very full, which meant queuing for everything.
It was an early morning rise to ensure you got a sunbed near the pool, or infact anywhere. Was down there at 6am in the mornings (no I’m not German!) and already at that time lots of beds were marked (that must have been them), but in scorching hot weather when you want to laze all day it’s nice to get a nice spot near the pool for cooling off.
The problem I keep hearing about the flies, well have to admit it was terrible, more so inside the hotel when sitting in the lobby, they literally swarmed around you and your glasses of drinks.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Houda and the staff, but most mornings I even gave up on breakfast, as by the time you queued at every different station your food was cold!
Unlike the drinks throughout the day which were always warm (not good when it was so so hot). Please Houda get more fridges and do something about the water coolers, they were even warm.
The plus side of our hol was meeting up with our friends the animation team who we met in March, these are the loveliest guys, and they work so hard. Sam the team leader puts such a lot into organising the entertainment, jeo dedo, ronadinio, Ahmed and my lovely soul inspiring Alex who was not actually working at that time but we got to see him often, also the newest member Willy a real little cutie. Lots of respect to you all guys’.
Have to say as being three women in Tunisia, we never felt intimidated or worried about our safety, infact we are now used to popping into Sousse or Monastir shopping its second nature. If you get hassled by anyone just tell them firmly to go away, no need to insult them though.
All in all the Houda is a nice place and we are returning soon, I would recommend to young and old alike. See you all soon at Houda. Sonia x.

1 reader found this review helpful

Well where do I start Well If you love butlins holidays in the Sun then go for it (Sorry butlins but I’m talking in the 70's).
I went to Houda on 1st to 15th July 2007 and the weather was fantastic but that is where it stops.
First of all you arrive at the hotel after having to fill in questionnaire to get into the country you fill out the same one at the arrival at the hotel. Then we were given the all inclusive band.
Well if you like watered down drinks then this is the holiday for you you are guaranteed never to get drunk and to lose a lot of weight.
Yes the Chicken Pie is very nice but you get a little fed up with it after 14 days and that’s for lunch and dinner. If you’re a meat lover don’t bother as the guy giving out the meat was told off for giving two pieces to the guy in front of me and so I was only given 1 slice the size of a 50p piece.
Breakfast consisted of croissants, Bread, Boiled eggs, or watery scrambled eggs, tomatoes with cheese on or sliced potatoes with egg, or rice pudding which is undercooked and very very watery you can get an onion, cheese, and tomatoes omelette if after 8am.
You can get either orange squash or lemon squash which is powdery or coffee if the machine is working and as there is only 2 machines remember there are over 1000 rooms so waiting is very likely.
For lunch and dinner you have to book in so you get an hour sitting so after waiting in the queues you will get around half hour to eat lunch and dinner are mostly the same for the whole 2 weeks Turkey or Chicken Pie or Beef Stew or spaghetti also there is a lot of French People and they don’t do queues so be prepared for lots of arguments if not by you then by others.
Ok enough about the food if you decided to go out to town Sousse is good medina is first scary but just a polite no thank you and keep walking works well try and get the bus it is only 1 dinar per person and takes you straight there you get it outside the hotel and drops you off outside but they stop at 9pm so you will have to either get a taxi or tuk tuk we had great fun on the tuk tuks but we only paid 20 dinar for 5 of us from Sousse to Houda.
If you decided to eat out I recommend the Steak house in Sousse ask the taxi to take you to the casino in Sousse and it is right next door to it. It isn’t cheap but they do do a great steak and also ask for extra chips, as they believe 10 thin chips are enough for the men.
DO NOT when you go outside to get bus get onto the horse and carriage the guy will promise you a lovely trip and promise to take you to lots of shops and along the beach but he will take you to his friends two shops and he gets commission on what you buy if you buy that is he will try and get you to go to a carpet or leather factory just say no and wait at the bus stop he charges you 40 dinars for 2 shops he promised 2hr trip and we were back in 25mins.
Every day the weather was fantastic but please gets up at 6am to get a sunbed you will see people already round the pool sleeping on their sunbeds. If you are going to Houda then I wish you well take a lot of Imodium with you as for the 2 weeks we were on the toilet at least 5 times a day.
If you’re thinking of booking please don’t you can find other holidays just as cheap but I am sure you won’t find one as bad every year we go all inclusive and I have never had the experience I had there and would never want it again.
Maybe I was hoping for a little bit too much from a 3rd world country abut after paying over £4000, for 5 of us I expected more.
The animation team I must add are brilliant and work really hard to keep you busy all day with water sports or football so thanks to them for keeping my son happy :o)

We just returned last night and we had a brilliant holiday. Me, my husband and my 2 children.
The kids loved it. The hotel was lovely, do remember it is only a 3 star, they are so clean, the rooms are immaculate and our view was lovely. Infact we were well pleased with our room. The air condition is fantastic. As the weather was red hot clear blue skies every day.
The beach areas are brilliant the sea is lovely and warm, the sea does get seaweedy, but it is only when there’s wind when its calm it’s beautiful and clear.
The canteen is the only nightmare queuing for food and the Germans do push in, but there is plenty of food and the desserts are gorgeous.
You can see that they are trying to improve all the time as they have made a new kids section food counter, and they just started a teenage club before we returned so they are trying to improve.
The kids disco is really good. But we were not that bothered about the entertainment for adults but it wasn’t a problem as we just went back to sit in bar and chill.
The staff can’t do enough for you and they are brill with kids.
We did 2 trips camel ride and the zoo trip the camels were really good the zoo we felt was rushed as we only got an hour there, and then we watched a show the show was really good but we did book it for the zoo.
The paragliding is brill and it is really cheap.
All in all we had a fantastic time and I would definitely go back again.

Just returned home from the best holiday ever. Hotel Houda was great, the staff were very helpful and very friendly, food was good all you could ask for.
The pool was a bit cold but soon got used to it. I don't know why people have to gripe about things like the drinks being watered down and the food being cold, we never had a problem with the food or getting drunk.
The rooms were basic but hey you are only sleeping in them.
As for the animation team top marks, they were always on the go and did a brill job, thanks (Geo) and co, we had a great time and have booked for next year already.

1 reader found this review helpful

If you want Butlins in the sun come here!
I have just returned from 1 week holiday with my husband and 3 year old son, would never return and would not recommend it to my worst enemy.
The food is awful, same every day with flies crawling on everything, reminded me of school canteen!
All drinks and bottled water warm in small plastic glasses, separate queue’s for drinks at night i.e. my husband had to queue once for beer for himself then again for glass of wine for me(if you could call it that).
The entertainment at night very poor, only mini disco for kids. The show put on by staff unwatchable.
The place in general was far too busy. Had to get up before 6am to put towels down to get sunbed near pool for my little boy.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone. This is a fantastic place to go.
It was my partners first time and he did not want to come home. Everyone is brilliant and really want to help you.
I never had any problem with anything on the hotel and will definitely be going back to the Houda soon.

1 reader found this review helpful

Well let’s start with the arrival. The hotel's within a matter of minutes away from the airport which was great. However when arriving at the hotel at 12 we had wait until 3 o'clock to get keys for our room, and with the weather being extremely hot, sitting around for 3 hours was rather uncomfortable.
The room was basic and what you'd expect for a three star, it was clean and to be honest the only downfall was the view from the balcony but with the building work going on in the area it can be expected; also the balcony was only used for drying clothes and towels so it wasn't seen as a problem.
The food in the main restaurant has been complained about in previous review but in my opinion it was of a satisfactory quality, plentiful and a wide variety. We always found something to eat and the waiters were pleasant. The snack bar beside the main pool was great for little nibbles during the day or last thing at night. It served chips, pizza, and Panini’s.
The bars were of a satisfactory standard. The soft drinks are poured out of the bottle in front of you the only bad thing about this is that the drinks tend to be warm so ice is a must. The alcohol seemed watered down so taking a bottle of your own with you may help if you wish to get drunk. Some of the bar staff are excellent and friendly and others were extremely pervy.
The disco, well let’s just say it is more of a loud noise than an organised disco. There was a mixed variety of music but it could easily go from R&B to German rave and if that’s your thing then you will probably enjoy it. It however seemed to be full of a lot of underage teenagers looking for a good time.
The pools and beach were great but if you’re not one for getting up early it can be difficult to find sunbeds beside the main pool. However there was always room on the beach.
The entertainment wasn't what I’d spend my evenings watching, however we found alternative things to do such as going to the arcade which had pool tables and air hockey tables ect or just sitting in the bar having a drink.
If you’re looking for a holiday with things to do outside the hotel then I wouldn’t recommend it as there was not much around the local area, there was a small food store, souvenir shop, a cafe, restaurant, and a bar which all seem to be owned by the same people.
When leaving the hotel complex even to walk the short distance to the shop you will get pestered off taxi drivers and a man with a horse and cart but with a firm no thank you they are no bother.
Most of the animation team are very friendly and are up for a laugh however some are not.
The hotel in general is what one would expect for 3 star the food is satisfactory, plenty of choice of drinks, clean and most staff are quite friendly but the location did let it down with not much going on outside the hotel! However a taxi ride to go out is not expensive.
A day or night spent at Port Al Kantoui is a must it’s a great day and it’s only around 15 dinar each way in a taxi which is equivalent to around £6.
One thing I do recommend is for you to get out a safe for your period of stay for we did find money went missing from our room. When going to complain about it to the First Choice Travel Rep she didn't seem at all surprised and said there was nothing she could do.
Some of you may be thinking it is a bad review, however I still I had a great time. I found that all the kids had something to do there was a kids club and a disco. There are also many trips you can take with first choice and also many activities to take part in within the day.

After reading some of the reviews I think some people go away on holiday expecting the Ritz. This is Tunisia in North Africa, different culture with friendly people trying to do their best.
I have rated the hotel 9/10 but with a few simple changes could easy be 10/10.
The main gripe being the drink side of things, only being allowed two small glasses a time and with a party of 14, ment seven of us at a time had to queue for drinks.
Often they would run out of different drinks, but on the bright side any problems we had were soon fixed by the manager Ali, who could not do enough for us and we are planning to meet him in London in January, I would certainly go back to the Houda beach.
The hotel is kept very clean and most of the staff are very helpful. The golf course is brilliant and very cheap. All in all very enjoyable holiday.

I and my 2 children, aged 10 and 13, returned from our holiday at the Houda on 27th June and we had a great week - I wish we had stayed for 10 days!
On the whole, the room was clean but very basic - but who cares when you're only getting dressed and sleeping there? The view from the balcony was terrible - there is building work going on over the road and it was our view - but I have to be honest, it didn't bother us as we never sat on the balcony, we had too many other things to do!
The people are lovely but as I was a woman on my own, I got hassled by a couple of guys, so did my 13 year old daughter. They are relatively easy to brush off but it can make you feel quite uncomfortable.
A lot of the time, they weren't being pervy or anything, I think that they are just a little bit 'in your face' and over friendly but mean no harm. There are of course the ones that DO mean it and overstep the line.
Our waiter was lovely - and absolutely bonkers! His name was Abdul and he was great. He made us laugh every day and was so helpful and hard working. He was always quick to remove our dinner plates when we were up getting dessert and everything was clean and tidy
The food was ok in the Calypso. A bit samey but there was always something, even if it was chips! I enjoyed trying the different pasta dishes, especially the Tunisian style pasta!
The desserts were lovely and I and my daughter made ourselves look like pigs trying one of each thing most days - much to my 10 year old son's embarrassment!
The Coco Loco snack bar by the main pool was great, we had lunch there every day as it is open most of the day and the food was lovely there.
The lifeguards at the slide pool are fantastic guys! They are friendly and helpful and you could have a great laugh with them. My daughter cut her foot quite badly and they rallied round 'fixing' her and didn't let her back in the pool until she was ok.
Yes, the pool is cold but if you get into it via a slide, it doesn't feel too bad at all and it cools you down wonderfully from being in the sun. It was between 45 and 50 degrees the whole time we were there so the pool was a god send!
Fritz, the guy you book the camel ride with, is an absolute darling!! He will tell you he is Tunisia's best cockney and every time he saw us we'd hear him call 'Alright mate' to us in a cockney accent!
The camel ride was great fun and reasonably priced too at £10 per adult and £5 for under 12s. The ride all in all was about 3 hours so I felt it filled a morning with something different! I'd highly recommend it!
As you can see, there were a few downsides but on the whole it was a wonderful week and we were sad to leave. We've said we'd definitely go back again but next time I would not go on my own, I'd drag my partner along next time (he stayed home looking after the pets as he hates hot weather!). That for me was the only real drawback, I felt like a bit of a target appearing to be a single woman.
The main drawback as far as my 10 year old son was concerned was that it was 'too hot'! The other thing is that there are 10 million flies everywhere - a bit of a pest but you get used to it and learn where they are fewer - it is Africa after all, you have to expect things like that, I was just thankful there were no cockroaches or anything!
I've tried to give an honest review and give my true opinion, I hope this was helpful, and if you go to the Houda, have a great time!

My wife & I got back from the Houda 1st week of June, have already booked to go back at the same time next year. We loved it.
Yes the food was a bit repetitive but what can you expect from a 3* hotel, you get what you pay for.
The people there were lovely, especially the entertainment staff, and the bar staff. The entertainment staff work endlessly to try to get you to have a good time.
My wife & I were on our honeymoon, and the staff went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our holiday.
We didn't meet anyone in the hotel who was not having fun; your holiday is what you make it!
As I said we have booked to go next year, so all of you who we met this year see you same time same place for some more archery.