Houda Yasmine Marina & SPA

Ok so we.love Tunisia and visit at least once or twice a year but we decided to try a different hotel and I wanted to pay to go home after 3 days.
Good points, most staff are friendly, smiling and helpful. But that's about it, food lack of variety, lack of space , long queues, then entertainment at night mostly accomadating other languages but not English. Rooms some are in disrepair, some look pretty modern, it's pot luck. Indoor pool small and closed in summer, personally I feel it should be open, for people with kids or who.are.avoiding the sun. I love swimming but once got burnt had to stay out the.pool. I.wont be.returning here , got to suffer another 5 days till go.home and if I could afford to I'd be on way home now.

Don't let photos deceive you, lobby area is stunning, pool.is busy but fight for beds, all the time have been here only 1 lift running.
Also air conditioning is.very weak,loud and barely touches room temperature. Heat here this week has been 30 - 37 degrees, it's super hot, no ice cream unless.bought at shops, water not always refrigerated. Sent emails complaining about indoor pool being closed.but no reply. Unhappy and can't wait to go.home.

We are staying at the hotel now. The rooms are not clean. The cleaners don't knock. One was like a ninja she crept in and took towels out of the bathroom before 9am. We asked several times for towels and 2 days later we were still having to use our pool towels. Rooms really need updating and a good clean.
Many other guests had the same problems getting towels.
The food is disgusting and repetitive. We have eaten out every day after husband had 2 dead flies floating in the sauce on the chicken. Dining room was full of flies. The waiters in the bar were friendly.
Every day people were getting up early and putting towel on the loungers by the pool. Not enough sunbeds to go around.
The beach bar only serves soft drinks and it's quite a walk from the hotel. The hotel is not on the main promenade. So lone females might feel a bit unsafe walking into the main restaurant/shopping area of hammamet on an evening.

This holiday was booked as an EasyJet package, and overall I had a very good holiday at Huda Yasmine, but there were some significant issues.

The most serious problem was that my girlfriend was severely electrocuted by the hairdryer in the bathroom. It was a very frightening experience and something that should be addressed immediately for guest safety.

The bathroom itself had ongoing problems throughout our stay. The drain was broken, which meant the bathroom floor was constantly flooded and often left covered in water.

Some of the staff were friendly and helpful, but unfortunately many seemed rude and uninterested. At times, we felt unwelcome. Female guests should also be aware that there was a lot of unwanted attention from men, including some staff members and many locals. We experienced frequent staring, catcalling, honking from passing vehicles, and harassment whenever we were outside the hotel, which made us feel uncomfortable.

The food was generally tasty, although the menu became repetitive after a few days. The cocktails were mixed in quality—some were excellent, but most were practically undrinkable. Despite being advertised as an all-inclusive hotel, only around six alcoholic drinks were included, which felt quite limited.

One thing that was disappointing was that, despite being a spa hotel, the spa facilities were not free to use and required an additional charge.

The air conditioning was mediocre, and our room remained hot most of the time. The room itself was nice, but it did not look as good as it did in the promotional photos.

On a positive note, the pool party was amazing and was definitely one of the highlights of the holiday. Despite the issues, I still had a very good time overall and enjoyed my stay.

Overall, I would say this hotel has potential and offers some enjoyable experiences, but there are several areas that need significant improvement, particularly regarding maintenance, safety, service, and guest comfort.

I stayed here with my partner and mother early in June. I wasn't sure at first but as the week went on it got better and better. The staff were excellent, everyone was so friendly. Special mention to Asma on reception who has endless patience and would humour me in my attempts at speaking French. Even though she spoke perfect English. In the restaurant Maher really looked after us every day. Some days he would have 3 glasses of red wine on the table before we'd sat down.
We stayed on the third floor, the room was bright and cleaned every day. We always found sunbeds and an umbrella to shelter under. Every meal we found something to eat and my mother and partner loved the desserts. Some people found the music around the pool too loud but it never stopped any of us from falling asleep!
The entertainment team encouraged everyone to join in their games and what I liked the most was mixing with all the different nationalities. WiFi worked well in reception and around the pool but was on off in the room. All in all we had a lovely holiday and would gladly return to this hotel.

Amazingw and clean hotel. The incredible views. The very clean rooms, the cleaning girls simply phenomenal, we would like to give a special greeting to Najet, he was always in the mind that our stay was more comfortable. The hotel team in general are great and very helpful, we will definitely return. Great food and very good quality.

We'll be back next year.. 10/10

Wouldn’t say was a 4* but what we paid for the holiday reflected that.
Food wasn’t too great all bland apart from the snack bar. Some nights even I struggled finding something to eat and I’m not fussy. Only had chips once in a week. Pizza and pasta everyday and a meat rice dish. Vegetables everyday too. Puddings were very nice.
Drinks were local products and mostly warm.
Room was very clean and cleaned everyday. The pool area was also kept very clean never had an issue getting a bed as we went early but if you was looking for a bed around 11 that may have been an issue.
At weekends they have local students stay and omg you know about it. The hotel struggle to cope when really busy.
We didn’t have an issue but others did say the students ran around the hotel banging and trying to get into your room.
Keep valuables in a safe as again we didn’t have an issue but another couple there left a purse out and had all the money in there taken.
Entertainment are great keep you involved with activities if you want and will always come around to have a chat with you.
Bar staff were great too most of them very friendly.

Would not recommend. The reception area is very lively nice and clean however it ends here. The bedrooms were poorly kept. Had to pay for the safe. The bathroom wasn’t that good and had like mold in the crevices and stains on the floors. The animation team are all perverts (besides Ali who was lovely). The food AWFUL not much variety and didn’t taste good whatever they did have available and then the flies to top it off were even worse. Man at the reception with glasses has a horrible attitude jsut because he doesn’t understand English very well. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone not worth the money at all.

Major issues encountered:

Deplorable Hygiene: Giant cockroaches in the room, extensive mold in the bathroom, and a severe shortage of plates in the restaurant.

Water Issues: Tap water smells strongly of sewage. While you can adjust the faucet, the water alternates between running scalding hot and freezing cold rather than mixing into a comfortable, warm temperature.

Terrible Food & Unsanitary Buffet: Meals were either raw or burnt, with swarms of flies covering the buffet. Birds eat directly from uncleared tables while the staff does nothing. Long, frustrating queues at breakfast just to get a slice of cheese because the staff rations it.

Deafening Noise: Extremely old and loud air conditioning units and mini-fridges that force you to turn them off at night just to sleep. Blaring music plays at the pool and throughout the hotel until 11:00 PM, alongside drunk guests shouting in the corridors.

Intrusive Staff & Atmosphere: Pool entertainment staff constantly harass guests to buy bingo tickets or join activities, ignoring personal boundaries. Aggressive street vendors are also allowed on site.

Outdated Facilities: Old furniture with a foul, musty smell so strong that you cannot store your clothes inside. Terribly slow Wi-Fi (3.4 Mbps) and only one functioning elevator out of two.

Suffocating Heat: The air conditioning in the lobby was turned off, making the reception area unbearably hot.

Disappointing "All-Inclusive" Service: Only 5 low-quality, syrup-heavy cocktails available. Decent coffee is only served at the bar after 10:00 AM unless you tip the bartender cash, at which point the bar magically opens early. Restaurant coffee machines are unhygienic and broken.

Language Barrier: 90% of the evening entertainment shows are exclusively in French.

The attraction overall was amazing... I recommend to all family come and visit.

Animation team amazing especially Eva. Made my holiday special. Joe Freddie eamon all amazing

Great atmosphere with very fun attractions. Really nice service everyone is very kind

Firstly, I read reviews before I went and there were some shockers! If you want a 5star luxury hotel, don't go. Look at the price and be realistic about expectations! The rooms are a little dated and aren't luxurious. They are adequate, clean and comfortable. No tea/coffee making facilities so bring travel kettle if it's that important to you.No pool towels provided so bring your own. All public areas are kept immaculately clean, staff were friendly and waiters/bar staff were great. Animation team were enthusiastic but also friendly to us even though we weren't interested in activities. Sun loungers and shades fantastic, pool clean and chilly but early season. Around 300 guests when we were there so fairly quiet and plenty of space. High season can be 700 and that may be crowded.
Freddie head animator was a lovely man and always took time to interact and chat,Ava and Joe also friendly. Jamal was our restaurant waiter and he looked after us very well, keeping our wine coming! Food was reasonable, lots of choice, and always something to eat, it's a buffet so look round and find something! Cakes, breads and pastries fresh and delicious and strawberries galore! Flies are a bit of a nuisance but you learn to ignore them!
We had a very good 10 days, weather was good for 9 of them and got progressively warmer. Nice tan!

Amazing hotel food good quality animation brilliant could not fault the place

We have just come back from a week in Tunisia and we had a wonderful time. The staff were super friendly and really made us feel welcome. The room and the whole hotel was spotless and really beautiful decor. The food was nice but got a bit samey, although this is somewhat to be expected in all inclusive hotels. I would 100% recommend getting a massage as it was glorious!!

The only thing I didn’t like was the persistent selling from the people who ran the excursions. We felt a bit harassed by them the moment we stepped into the reception area and they only left us alone once we booked and payed for an excursion. However the pirate ship trip we booked through them was amazing and well worth the money!

The local area is a bit run down and the beaches are a bit dirty.

This is a perfect hotel if you want to just relax whilst on holiday and not do much in the surrounding area! I couldn’t fault the staff, they were all very welcoming and kind, especially with our young son. The lady (I believe was called Ava/ Eva was especially lovely). There was lots on throughout the day and entertainment in the evenings which was good fun.

If I was going back to Tunisia I would definitely book this hotel again!!

Entertainment was fab and the entertainers were very nice and welcoming

where do I start....sorry this may be a little long...

For starters, this hotel is absolutely not a 4 star hotel; more of a 3-star.

Upon arriving, we had to wait 2 hours for a room to be prepared (although we did arrive early) and the porter was friendly (and was tipped £5) after we entered the card-activated room which did match the pictures on the website, but upon closer inspection is dated, our bath plug was missing, the shower head was too close to the wall (for taller people this is a problem) on the sloping bath and the shower head would not sit correctly due to the loose shower fitting which was never fixed; the bath contained paint flakes and the bath itself was non-white to be polite. As others have pointed out, there are no drawers or storage space whatsoever in the rooms. Clothes hangers are in short supply and only 3 shelves were available in the very dated wardrobes. Power failed whilst in the room; air conditioning was noisy and worked minimally. The mini fridge was noisy and had to be turned off at night; there was no hair-drying (and no kettle so bring one with you); the curtains are thin so the Sun breaks through at 5am and thick dust was seen on the wood paneling in the green and grey room facing the pool we were staying in which was satisfactorily clean.

Checking in went smoothly and when the room was available, the staff did inform us whilst we were beside the good-sized pool which isn't very warm even when the Sun was blazing hot.

Now, the bad sides..

That first night, the 'Animation' members were awfully inquisitive as to where we keep our money and were far too touchy-feely with ourselves and our possessions. They were very insistent for us to participate (usually at some cost) and then we were ignored when we don't include ourselves in what could be seen as childish or puerile activities like bingo.

The poolside music is loud when the 'Animation' team perform their many programs through the day and the team awkwardly sit down next to you uninvited. We were told by other guests that there was no activities for children and was badly advertised. In fact, most of the details about this hotel are inaccurate and in need of updating, including the stock images which sell the hotel, such as the non-private beach that doesn't lead from the hotel! It is actually a 10-minute walk where you may encounter the hotel 'Chef' (more on this later).

The bar cocktails are sparse, the 'Celtia' beer is not the best tasting and that's your only choice apart from Heineken and maybe Becks. The drinks menu was very basic such as vodka, rum, whiskey, ect and the staff are initially pleasant at the beginning (more on this later). The entertainment is not quite as advertised ('live music' is actually just a vocalist with backing tracks) or audience participation with karaoke. And 99% in French which means we had no clue how to interact with the other 'activities' for the primary-French audience. if you don't speak french, you may have a problem enjoying the night time entertainment.

The Restaurant: Breakfasts were great and had a wide selection to choose from, such as omelettes, fruit, toast, cereals, pancakes and traditional Tunisian breakfasts. Sadly though, this becomes rather noisy as other posters have mentioned, the gluttony of certain gusts from certain regions produces lots of food waste and the loud chatter.

HINT: If you like a large cup of coffee/tea in the morning, buy a large souvenir cup as the restaurant cups are 'continental' and on the small side, when the machines are actually working or in need of replenishment as a few times the machine dried up or only one was working and the fruit juice machine was like this more than once. Staff are cordial and always ask if you require anything. There is lack of cutlery, napkins and labeling on the food placards on offer or language (generally in French). And then there's the lack of netting for the flies over the food. This is a big problem.

Food was interesting and tasy, but the chicken and fish contained many bones and there was not a huge selection of fish dishes considering the Sea close by. As many other reviewers have noted, dinner choices becomes repetitive after about 3 days and food dishes are cycled except on weekends when the hotel has an influx of 'locals' (but that food is not for the rest of the hotel guests). There is a strange clique within the hotel we noticed. The waiters are attentive and there is a good choice of salads, side dishes, sweets, deserts and fresh pizza made outside on the terrace to enjoy. .

Pros and cons : Lessons learned

* Beware the 'Chef' that greets you on the street to lure you to a friend's shop to fleece you of some of your dinars before you even start your holiday (Hint: Turn your hotel wristband over so they cannot see what hotel you're staying in)
* Beware the man with the Falcon by the Marina - he may plonk a bird on your arm and demand dinars for it.
* The staff rely heavily on tips and will attempt to take as much as they can by serving you as a waiter. Do not feel guilty if you do not tip every time. If you do, they will expect it every time. They are ungrateful and expect too much from the guests they serve. They demand paper tips, not lower denomination coins as one waiter. Salah, informed me, a dinar or two " is worthless to me, it's like 50p". Save tips for the end of your stay and see how you are treated beforehand.
*Be prepared to be ignored if you do not tip or tip enough or participate in the 'entertainment'
*There was no snack bar between lunch and dinner and no ice-cream for the children (or adults")
*There is a definite communication problem in Tunisia overall and getting to and from places is a nightmare and quite unnerving at times as we traveled to Tunis and Carthage and signage is not multi-lingual for the tourists they attract and mostly in arabic or french.

FInal thoughts:

Some of our experiences have left a bad taste in the mouth, especially when leaving the country and exchanging Dinars back to your own currency. Warning: Do keep the A4 paper receipt when changing money as without it, you will lose those dinars at the airport as you need that paper receipt. We were never told that.

We would not recommend this hotel as it's clearly not a 4-star hotel as mentioned earlier, but if you can ignore all of the above, it's a pleasant break from the norm, relatively cheap, hot weather when not overcast, the masseuse was good and hotel services were reasonable.

Really lovely hotel to stay in I highly recommend. Staff was really friendly and food was amazing. Entertainment was really enjoyable as it was my mothers birthday they really went above and beyond for her.

This hotel is great, the entertainment team were fabulous, Aymen was fantastic, Freddie was full of energy and gave my mum a great birthday show. The hotel food is great, service was great, no complaints at all.

Lovely hotel, nice local food. Staff seem nice.

I did have some problems though, the harrassment from staff and other guests was unacceptable. It took another guest to check on me and invite me to join him for me not to be pestered. There's a man who acted like the owner, not in uniform but very involved, he wanted to take me out for food and drinks. I was alone, I said no politely. He then decided to drink my drinks which I had, the other British guest saw this and then took me under his wing for the remainder of my stay.

Another day, an Algerian guest followed me to my room and wanted me to let him in, knowing my door didn't actually lock nor did my balcony I was very frightened during my stay. The bar staff were lovely generally, they noticed I spoke French which they appreciated but some who knew I was English, prompted creepy behaviour.

There was apparently a private area on the beach, but after my first day, they came and collected all the sun beds, it wasn't clear where the hotel's section was on the beach either.

It is not somewhere I would return.

Nice clean hotel, bar staff great and our room was lovely food was ok, very tunisian but always something to eat, restaurantvery disorganised never any cutelry, reception staff incredibly rude and arrogant