We’ve just got back from a week in the Marhaba Salem Hotel in Sousse, Tunisia. It was absolutely great to feel the warm sun on my bones and the warm wind blowing through what’s left of my hair. I thought the place we stayed at was fine, but the litter around the whole country was terrible, as was the amount of either half finished or half falling down houses. This is the review I left on Trip Advisor:
We stayed for one week at the Marhaba Salem and found it very good. There were five of us, two adults (late fortys) and three children (ages 16, 15 and 12). We paid £1,800 for the week of 25 March to 1 April 2015 for all inlcusive directly with Thomson in our local town. You can see a full early morning walk around the hotel and the other two on the complex on my you tube channel below:
We were given adjoining rooms overlooking the pool, which were very well equipped and cleaned and tidied daily. It is worth pointing out that the hotel shares facilities with the Royal Salem and the Marhaba Royal Salem Hotels, which are all on the same complex. We found this really good because the only restriction was you have to eat in your own hotel, otherwise you can use the others facilties and pools and entertainment. There was no shortage of outside and indoor pools some with slides and the beach was easily accessed through the hotel grounds. There was also no shortage of staff cleaning and working in the hotel and we never found anything lacking. The food on offer was quite varied and at each meal there was a broad selection on offer including local dishes. At least half the food was being constantly prepared fresh by a team of chefs working at a servery in the middle of the dining room. There were attendants working on the pool sides and the beach ensuring each guest had a sunlounger and cushions. Towels were available in reception for a small refundable deposit. The bars were open each day and there was plenty of beverages on offer.
We went on several of the trips including, the market experience, the 3 cities tour, the zoo and zulu evening and we went quad biking twice. In addition we walked to Sousse and Al Kantoui and used local taxis, the noddy train and also had a horse and cart for one trip. All were really good and the kids enjoyed them. Be prepared for the usual hard sell from all the street vendors especially at the market. We weren’t bothered by them but some people didn’t like the constant pestering. We didn’t find any genuine products on sale at all they were all ‘genuine copies’ and pretty good too. Here’s a video montage of some of the trips we took:
The only thing that took the edge off the visits was the amount of litter. The resort itself and the tourist attractions were always clean and tidy, but you didn’t have to go far before the amount of half finished, or half falling down buildings increased innordinately and the littler was a real shocker for us. I asked the tour guide about it and he said it was due to cuts in municipal workers in 2010/11; however, I didn’t really believe him. It looked like a cultural thing to me. I saw plenty of people throwing their litter from car windows and one woman I saw from the bus stepped out of her back door and emptied her bin in the street. The beaches away from the resorts were also completely litter strewn and there were one or two unsavoury looking water courses flowing in to the sea.
On the whole I believe the hotel deserves to be recommended as does any of the tourist attractions, but away from the resorts the country needs a damn good tidy up and a huge litter pick.