Houda Yasmine Hammamet Hotel
Hammamet Yasmine, Tunisia

Miss E Davidson, Wantage

Love this hotel. Staff extremely helpful. Hotel in perfect location.

Miss S Jones, Worcester

The hotel itself was nice and clean, the hotel food wasn't so great, hardly any choice of food and the flavouring wasn't nice. There was no entertainment at all through the day, im not sure if it's the time of year but they should still do something like tennis or archery or dancing, there was nothing even when I asked and the snack bar only opened once only when we asked if we could have some food. And there were builders working on making something outside by the pool and was very noisy at times. The entertainers themselves kept coming to speak with me and my 2 friends while we were trying to sunbathe and relax which got a bit annoying at times as they were quite rude and asking personal questions. And also the music they played in the day had swearing in with children around.

Mr E Rowlands, Plymouth

It appears that the Hotel Houda Yamine was built in the 1980s as part of the development of Yasmine Hammamet as a tourist location. It may have been a 4 star hotel back then, but by now the decor is showing its age and no amount of cosmetic painting can hide the fact especially so in the bathrooms where grout has aged and discoloured and with rust in the corner of the bath. Also the toilet seat was cracked which necessitated the use of an elastoplast strip for the sake of comfort. The runners on all the sliding windows are also very worn and are consequently very noisy and stiff to open and close. Also the wardrobe door hinges had never been oiled and squeaked very loudly. The air conditioning was not working properly and we never got the room temperature under 23c.

We arrived at 11.00am and were ordered, after registering, to wait in reception with our luggage until 13.00 to 13.30 when our rooms would be ready. My advice in this situation is to simply ask for a porter to place the luggage in the secure luggage store and also ask for your colour bracelet. This was done for us straight away and at least we were now able to go for lunch after exploring the recreational areas of the hotel. My bone of contention here is that the luggage storing service and provision of colour bracelet should have been offered in a more welcoming manner to us by the reception staff, instead of putting the onus on me to ask for it. On reaching our room, one bulb had failed in the bathroom but that was replaced straight away. The room faced the land side, which is much quieter than the front side and overlooking the pool. The best rooms to ask for are 129, 131, 133, 229, 231, 233 and 329, 331 and 333 as they have a garden view and larger than average balconies that experience sun for most of the day. They are also not on the main corridor which was very noisy at times during the night. The hotel has two lifts but only one was in working order. Consequently it was often quicker to use the stairs.

The food throughout our two week was good but not very varied and with a strong bias towards local cuisine. Breakfast was from 06.00 -10.00, luncheon from 12.30-14.00 and dinner from 18.30-21.00. Tables were cleared straight away, tablecloths were clean but the waiters were often slow in bringing drinks to the table. It was actually quicker to fetch drinks ourselves from the bar. Being on full board, drinks were free at the bar, but only local spirits which were weak and of inferior quality. The same can also be said of both red and white wines. The local beer however was ok. There was the option available of buying recognised brands of whisky, gin and vodka as well as beers but at an extra price. Tea and coffee were also available at the bar. Bottled water was available from 10.00 onwards from the bar.

Clean towels were delivered every mid afternoon and the rooms were serviced, but not cleaned properly every morning. The floors were not given a thorough clean with dirt and hair in the bathroom corner behind the door. The top of the television (which was coming to the end of its life as far as picture quality was concerned) was covered by a thick layer of dust, which had remained untouched by human hand for weeks. General dusting was very spasmodic and the bed linen was not changed once during our stay. A bathroom stool was standing in the corner, or rather propped against the wall, as one of the four legs was missing.

The hotel is situated about 5 minutes away from the shopping centre and beach and around ten minutes from the marina. We did not use the inside pool nor the gym and sauna facilities but the main pool was large, with shallow areas for children. There was never a problem getting sun beds.
However, a prospective visitor to Tunisia should be fully aware that it has a predominant male smoking community with packs of cigarettes offered for sale on the streets and on the beach. The Houda Yasmine is a smokers%u2019 paradise, and I am led to believe that this is the case in other hotels as well. The only designated non smoking area is the reception foyer. So if you are non smokers be prepared for heavy passive smoking.

On the Thursday and Friday of our second week there was a political gathering held in the hotel. During the preceding two days there was frantic painting of certain rooms, paintings were hung in the various corridors, plate glass polished away practically to nothing, the pool cleaned, the whole outside area brushed and swept practically every hour. The spare sun beds that were stacked on the perimeter of the pool area were re arranged to be of equal height! But of course, all these delegates smoked taking no notice of the no smoking signs in the reception foyer. Cigarette smoke rose up the central well of the area and permeated along the corridors to the rooms. Cigarette ends were dropped regularly on the stairs and in the corridors. Many guests had to leave the building and go out for a walk for fresh air.

Having such an influx of guests resulted in long queues for luncheon and dinner. Another problem that manifested itself was the not before apparent lack of toilets. There were male and female toilets leading of the reception foyer, two cubicles, (one with no lock) and one urinal together with one hand dryer for the men and just two cubicles (one with no lock) and not one working hand driver for the women. Toilet rolls were supplied to dry hands in the men's toilet. The state of the place within a short time was terrible and clearly a health hazard. One could not help thinking that if the hotel was busy that this would be the norm.

The animation team were clearly on fire to get guests involved in various activities even against their wishes in an over familiar manner and the evening show, which started at 22.00 was of the usual type. Indeed we saw one of sketches presented one night when we stayed at Gonyuk in Turkey last year.

Since the Tunisian Dinar is a closed currency, exchange has to happen once you have arrived. There are facilities for this at the airport. Once you have cleared customs the local porters volunteer their services (and they are very good at this), so you can exchange and get some dinars straight away to tip them. Exchange facilities were also available at the hotel at market rate which was checked constantly. You can exchange sterling with no problem. But note also that currency should not be taken out of the country when you leave. You can only exchange at the airport but we were informed at a local bank in Yasmine Hammamet that we would only get 30% value from the amount we exchanged to dinars. In that case it is better to spend all you have before leaving.
Some local excursions could be booked from the hotel, but it was cheaper to book from the booths down in the town or in advance on the internet. We went on a two day excursion which took in most of the south of the country, as far as the Sahara, and staying overnight at the 3 star rated Golden Jasmine Hotel at Doussa. The hot outdoor mineral swimming pool there was wonderful after dinner. A one night stay is not enough to generate a review but there was no smell of cigarette smoke anywhere there and the room and bathroom was spotlessly clean.

So a memorable two weeks for many wrong reasons sums it up. With a complete refurbishment together with enforced designated non smoking areas the fortunes of the Houda Yasmine could be turned round. So for any prospective holiday makers thinking of Tunisia as a destination, make sure you ask the relevant questions and do your research before you go. I cannot agree that this hotel warrants four stars. It possibly deserved them in the past. Today one is tempted only to give 2 stars but I would give an extra half star for the food.