Iberostar Selection Diar El Andalous

BRITISH REVIEW Single parent (female) travelling with young teenager (male) Hotel rooms Beds are comfy, curtains are blackout but room is outdated and basic. Decor in need of serious modernisation and small things fixed e.g., Patio door handle hanging on by a thread, bathroom tiles grout is mouldy, marks and chips on tiles, hole in the room door where you would scan keycard to entrance the room. Marks on the room walls, hair on the floors, curtains stained, mini fridge with nothing in it. The phone and air con initially didn’t work on our arrival - but they did fix this, however air con still lacking any real coldness despite being on lowest setting it is still warm. I asked for robes and slippers which were provided but not in the room on arrival. Dust was on the water bottle in the room and there was only one cup even though two people staying in the room. No instructions on how to use the safe but they did send someone to show me after I asked. Bath towels aren’t great very thin, rough and on smaller side. Couple were stained as well you don’t expect the cleaner to have been replace dirty towels with clean but they are stained. Shower was powerful enough and they do provide shower gel, shampoo and conditioner but on arrival two were actually empty so hadn’t been refilled. Room smelt bad on arrival like sewage they said it was due to air con not working sprayed some air freshener and left. We had a room looking onto the gardens on the second floor was quiet enough as away from main area but could hear people in the hallway and the people in room/floor above moving around. Grounds Main areas are looked after but still don’t look that great to be honest, but the other parts of the hotel grounds are not well maintained, it’s very hot so plants / shrubs need watered. I went out running in the hotel grounds, round by the tennis courts / mini golf has rubble and is unsightly. Rooms do look out onto this so I was surprised the grounds were allowed to be so messy. The main entrance and main areas are ok not what you’d expect for a 5 star just average except for the grass it is very long around pool where the sunbeds are and is dirty with cigarette ends, some rubbish that remained there throughout our stay so obviously has never been tidied up by staff and a massive amount of ants. I think the hotel building in general could be doing with a spruce up i.e., painted, carpets in halls replaced, seats replaced. It’s feels like the hotel has seen better days and is beginning to look a bit tired. From the outside and the inside. Pools & sunbeds Was always able to get a sunbed (around 10.30am we would go down) however would say the sunbeds and protective covers that you lie on could be doing with being replaced soon. Broken sunbeds were in a pile at the side - didn’t look the best. Pools are busy / full especially in the morning and were hot like a bath by midday (we visited July). Showers around the poolside don’t work, showers near the beach do. Entertainment team Enjoyed the pool & beach volleyball. Wouldn’t say what’s on is advertised very well you have to know times and work out where to meet for yourself. There is a screen near the entrance of the buffet which is a guide though. It would be helpful if the entertainment team encouraged rules of volleyball e.g., moving position after each point scored as some players didn’t get opportunity to hit ball due to certain guests dominating play. Some of the entertainment team were great (mainly the men), they were really fun and made things enjoyable! Gym Used couple of times. Functioning and working as would be expected. Restaurants Can’t comment on the à la carte restaurants. Not completely satisfied with the food. The selection repeated itself daily and there were some flies on the food. Buffet felt generally small for a hotel of this size, very little real variety, often dishes would run out and not be replaced so if you ate later there was less available. Or you would approach a serving station to be told another 15 minutes while they made more. Staff would start removing the dishes five minutes before lunch or dinner was due to end to start clearing up. They didn’t clearly label what the dishes / food were or the ingredients so if you had allergies I would not recommend this hotel. Annoyingly they don’t have any soft drinks at lunch/dinner at the buffet only fizzy (coke/sprite/fanta), alcoholic or water. And the fizzy drinks are out of bottles so aren’t cold. We saw a waiter cough covering his mouth then proceed to get ice from his bucket with his hand put it in someone’s glass fill up with coke and serve it. We found that tables were never set so you had to ask the waiters for cutlery and you’d be sitting a while waiting, then once you finished they would clear your plate (eventually) taking away your cutlery but not replacing it so you’re left waiting again to get cutlery for desert or second plate. Plates were sometimes dirty as well. The length of time you have to wait on them getting you a drink is very long, multiple times we were nearly finished our meal before they brought it over. I found one of waiters quite rude we’d been sitting for just over 10 minutes with our dinner plates in front of us but no drinks or cutlery I had asked twice already so attempted to go up and get them myself to be told it’s coming and shrugged at - this happened a couple of times and I noticed other guests had the same issue with lack of drinks and cutlery. But I will say the other floor walkers, chefs and waiters were all friendly and nice. The hotel should replace its cutlery as I experienced many squint forks. Snack bar repeats what was on at breakfast and lunch at the buffet. No new food here except they do offer pancakes every evening maybe for the last hour which were nice. Beach Small section for hotel guests. The sea had waves which was fun, quite a bit of seaweed on the days I visited but generally near the swallow water once you are further out it is ok. They don’t rake the sand at the end of each day though so it felt quite dirty. Staff Very friendly and helpful. Happy to chat and remember you. General * Don’t leave coins or money out in your room unless it’s a tip as the cleaners will think it is for them and take it * There is nothing around the hotel can walk (15 mins) or taxi into Port El Kantaoui but this area had many empty restaurants/shops and felt a bit run down and sad. The was an amusement park here. * I wouldn’t feel safe walking around at night outside the hotel * Air con was not cold. The spa / gym building was the only area I found air con to actually work * It is not waiter service, they come round collecting the empty glasses at poolside and in the evening and you can order drinks then but they don’t always reappear with them * Hotel is very busy at weekends with locals, almost too busy the hotel can’t cope with the amount of guests * In the evening the bar provides popcorn and nuts if you know about this and ask for them * Taxi to waterpark and Port El Kantaoui 10 dinar. Taxi to Sousse 20 dinar * There is a bank machine in the hotel Excursions * Went Quad biking with Aqua - was good fun but after we had finished we had to wait 1h 25 mins to be collected again. This was not the hotels fault it was organised separately with a third party. But be aware if booking with them to maybe arrange your own transport back or confirm he will be picking you back up at an exact time when it finishes. I just assumed he would be there for it finishing * Medina sousse - took a taxi hotel reception helped with cost and where to get dropped off. Didn’t blow me away was ok nothing special, same things in every couple of shops. Sousse in general felt quite rough, dirty and deprived. Easy enough to locate a taxi to get back. Be aware of men at the medina saying they work at the hotel * The camel and horses do not look well cared for in comparison to other countries so we avoided these excursions * Acqua palace - a very small waterpark we went for opening at 9.30 there were no queues and we spent 1h 15 mins here. We had a good time but nothing spectacular, we’d done all the slides within 30 minutes, did some a couple of times and then left * Toilets by the pool and in the lobby are shocking feel dirty, mirrors chipped, general standard is poor e.g., taps squint, often dirty. These are my views of a traveller who is comparing our holiday to other 5 star hotels in Egypt, Turkey, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Greece, France and Spain. I personally wouldn’t return to this hotel. Be aware that the Facebook group for this hotel decline and remove any negative posts.

My husband and I visited Tunisia for the first time in July and stayed at this hotel for our 10 year wedding anniversary. We only booked a 4 night stay and ended up having such a lovely time that we extended our stay for another 3 nights! The staff cannot do enough for you, we were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived and really appreciated our free upgrade to Prestige. All of the staff that we encountered treated us very well, the hotel is big and beautiful with great pools and private beach area. We enjoyed the adult only prestige areas too. The food was great, something for everyone. I ate so much and made sure to try new things! We dined in the Tunisian a la carte restaurant one evening and that was good too. The drinks are great, my husband liked the beer and I had lots of lovely cocktails! Some waiters would bring new drinks when they saw our current ones were nearly finished. The lifeguards are good fun and help you get sunbeds, we had a good laugh with them (special mention to Dali and Amil!). The cleaners were great, so polite and left us a cute heart/swan one day on the bed made from a sheet with petals on it. If I had to list a few niggles it would be that the hotel's shop was very expensive for things like hairspray and sun-cream so make sure you take enough with you. The satellite TV signal was not the best and sometimes we couldn't watch TV when getting ready to go out. The air con could also be a bit stronger. But that's about it really. There is a cheap shop down the road for souvenirs called Ali Baba and a brilliant place called the Hard Rock cafe if you fancy a night out with live music/DJ sets. Use the InDrive app to get taxi's - that way you don't have to haggle as prices are fixed (and cheaper). We had such a good time, and were so impressed with everything, that we are looking at returning next year with our adult children and granddaughter! We had the BEST holiday! Thank you to everyone at Iberostar Diar El Andalous!!!

Just come back from our 5 night holiday (room 341). I’ll do the ONE negative first so people don’t skip it. DON’T buy from the Jewellery shop at the hotel. We needed to spend the dinars before departing and were sold a “genuine” silver bracelet for 200 dinars (£50) but it’s fake. I guess we felt safe to buy it as it was within the hotel but lesson learnt, don't take anyone’s word unless it’s hallmarked. I’m surprised and disappointed the hotel allows this to happen to their guests as it was a let down to an otherwise lovely break. The hotel and staff are great, they all work very hard and the place is very clean. Shout out to the chamber maid, “ Samira “ who always made sure I had black tea bags. The food was plentiful, with a wide verity and beautifully displayed and don’t get me started on the desserts (WOW). For those picky eaters, just stay home. If you’re going to travel don’t expect burgers or egg and chips! The pool and beach are just next to each other. It was lovely to swim in the Mediterranean, walk 2 mins to have an outdoor shower and then drop into the pool (blissful). We took a taxi to Port El Kantaoui (10 DR), get a price BEFORE getting into the yellow cab and we bought a few nicnacs plus two silver necklaces which are silver with hallmarks. We tipped 2 DR to waiters and bar staff and maid service regularly. Same for porters and a bit more reception. We changed £200 into dinars at the hotel but they couldn’t change it back. I couldn’t see any banks/bureaus at the airport to change money back and wouldn’t have had time anyway. So handed over 30DR to air port security.

This hotel largely deserves its rating but there are a number of elements that disappoint and should be addressed. The spa is good. Check costs carefully as the list is a little vague. Gym and pool there look good. Service is generally great.Tipping goes a long way for the staff . Bring cash. They deserve it. The garden bedroom is good. Our aircon is ok but others have a poor experience. The wardrobe storage is poorly laid out with inaccessible top shelves. Little space for two people. No chest of drawers. Filter water in corridors is okay but annoying in the middle of the night. There’s aqua and not a lot else. Have yet to see an animation board. They need to look at tomato’s who set the gold standard for classes. Meals are pretty good. Nice variety and a lovely, old waiter who gets our drinks. The quiet pool is full of children and there are no beds in the pool as advertised. It is a misrepresentation of what is actually there. That’s a disappointment. Other adults agree. The other pool has feral teenagers who think it hilarious to hit you with a football in the back of the head. What’s worse is the staff member who then smacked me with the football on the other side of my face. He thought it was hilarious. No apology . I’d had a lovely day on the beach until that point. It’s unacceptable. I’d be happy for Iberostar to speak to their staff. An apology would be good

All the animation team are amazing we enjoy our holiday days activity and nights shows are amazing specially fares who made our holiday