"Absolutely amazing family holiday. This is the first resort I would gladly return to in the future. First off, all the grounds and hotels are beautiful. (We stayed at the royal beside kids pool) however, they salem is the sister hotel which is only a short 5/10 minute walk from main building. So technically there are 2 royal salem buildings, but its the same hotel. I've read alot of reviews saying that decor is outdated, but I'd personally only say that about the rooms. The rest of the site looks beautiful. And very clean. We requested to change rooms upon arrival, because the air-conditioning wasn't working, it was a very small 'family room' and was right beside an entrance/exit door which would have involved alot of noise during the night. Also it was on the ground floor and there was alot of little make shift ramps where steps had been situated, so generally not very practical or easily navigated with a pram and 2 other young children. However after walking to the main building, at reception we spoke to a lovely member of staff who then took us to view 3/4 other rooms of different sizes on different floors. We finally decided on 245 which was more ideal. Had an actual balcony also, compared to the first room we were given. It didnt even have windows that would open... so definitely an improved. The staff member hinted that this particular room would be considered an upgrade but implied he would speak to his superior and everything should be fine. My husband gave him a generous tip and there was no more said about it. Moving on to housekeeping, we requested our room to be cleaned every 3 days, simply because tidying it everyday after 3 kids was a challenge lol and didnt want to waste our time, clearing space for it to be cleaned each morning. The lady's cleaning on each floor everyday were always so cheerful, and always gave our children balloons and sweets. They also arranged our towels in cute ways and hand picked fresh flowers to lay out. Which put a smile on our faces when we came back from breakfast to get ready for the day. The waiters were fabulous in the evenings. You have to have your dinner in the main hotel with you booked with, however you can eat anywhere else for breakfast and lunch. By the end of our stay we had secured a regular table with a lovely waiter. He always made such an effort to interact with our kids, and always had our baby girl clapping and smiling. We havw quite a few pictures and videos of this, unfortunately we didn't catch his name. But it was in the restaurant by the kids pool. There was one other waiter who also was lovely and and went out of his way to high and play with our soon when he bumped into us around the hotel. He actually saw us leaving on the bus on our last day and again came over to high 5 him and say goodbye 👋 which again really made everything feel more special. Seeing our kids light up around them. We learned before arriving about the tipping culture in Tunisia, something that we had never experienced before. We did feel a little pressure, but honestly we tipped to those who made us feel welcome and really made an effort. Even the bar staff at the entertainment pool, he remembered us the 3rd night after tipping on the 1st night. On our 1st day, our son aged 3 jumped into the pool with his life vest on (which made him tip) and the life guard had jumped in immediately, phone in his pocket and everything. We were very thankful, and immediately knew our children were going to be safe here. There was never a problem getting a sunbed. The pool staff always made sure you got one. The struggle some mornings were securing an umbrella or shade, but we managed. The entertainment guys are fantastic. Marco, koucki, riva .. to name a few. The water zumba was fun even to watch, they have so much energy. Doing the same dances everyday. My baby also loved watching and clapping along. And then again at nighttime for the entertainment. We've all come home with the songs stuck in our heads! We've only googled a few of them to learn the words properly haha. Just watch out for some loose pool tiles, my husband found a few. My only real issue or complaint that I would raise is the sheer amount of smoking being done in the evening around the small pool (which is where the kids entertainment is first at 8.30 and then later is for everyone) I understand everyone is entitled to enjoy their holiday how they see fit.. but at yhe expense of polluting the air around for everyone else? And I promise im not exaggerating. I met alot of people there who also agreed and found the smell and cloudy environment too much. I had even posted on their fb page and again was met with alot of guests also annoyed by it. So I really hope if we do return in future, that management possibly take this on board and come up with a way to section off the smokers from children and families. At least for a portion of the night. We had to leave early most nights as we were all coughing. Which is disappointing, paying so much money to then retire to our room early and the kids playing on their ipads. On some occasions also, the music was far too loud. Considering the stage area is always occupied, mainly by toddlers and older children... those were not safe decibels levels. I'd recommend bringing sound proof headphones if you have a young child or even an autistic child. Apart from that we really enjoyed ourselves. The entertainment is mostly the guys dancing, but the constant interaction throughout our stay made it all more memorable. All staff always very smiley and saying hello, making sure we were enjoying our staff etc..
We visited the beach once but found it overwhelming with the amount of people walking up and down, approaching us trying to sell things. Also was too much bother walking though the sand and all the sunbeds, just to get a drink from the beach bar and back. You'd have it drank before you reach your seat and sit down again. There was a waiter walking about handing people drinks but I think he was only doing certain people who tipped him. So again, we felt like we couldn't ask. My daughter had an incident in the salem restaurant at lunch one day, she spilled tomato on her hand and there was noone there to help us. I grabbed the ice bucket that we were luckily sat beside. And a short while later another guest had approached to say she was a nurse and I asked her to check my daughters hand. Thankfully she was fine. Just sore for a few hours. But I was concerned the hotel staff didnt come to check on her or offer any medical help. We were told to walk to reception at the main building and they would contact someone. Because we managed it on our own and our daughter was fine, we didnt make a big fuss about it and wouldnt let this put us off coming back. Although it would be more reassuring to know that emergency practices were in place if we needed them in future. Theres a kids club on site but just know its not always free, depending on what activity the kids are doing. One day we paid 25 dinar for our daughter to paint, the other day she was very bored and tired.. when I collected her she was the only child and a staff member had given her their phone to watch youtube, which i wasn't very happy about. I would rather they had brought ber back to me so she could play with her brother and sister in the pool. Anyway, she didn't go back again but the staff there were really lovely and continued to say hello to her the rest of our stay. The maintenance and garden staff early work very hard as the flowers and plants were always looking lovely. 👌 we even seen security walking about the resort at night. Something which I hadnt thought about until the end of our stay. Was really nice to know they were keeping us all safe. We reported a faulty game machine to either the guest relations staff or manager (she had curly hair) and she ensured us it would be dealt with and turned it off at the wall in front of us. However the next night it was switched back on again... and clearly still not fixed. So watch out, it was giving shocks.
My baby loved going for a nap on the rocky pavement, but I did go over on my ankle twice.. and at night its not very well lit up so we were always telling our kids to be careful. I know that sounds like alot of cons or complaints, but igs just what we happened to observe during our stay and im sure not everyone else would. Having said that, we do feel like there are more pros and for that reason we would absolutely return. The hotel staff clearly love what they do and genuinely love having tourists with them. We also had a photoshoot on our second last day. Brilliant experience and beautiful photos and memories to last us forever. So thank you very much. Hopefully we will see you all in the future."
