Samira Club

"Shocking hotel!! Don’t waste your money! It’s more like a hostel and not what it looks like in the photos. Only positive is the flight home."

"To start off the holiday, we were dropped off in what only can be described as a back alley. There was no one from the hotel there to greet us or show us where Reception was. The kitchen was closed and we were unable to get any food upon arrival. We were taken to our rooms and to our shock they were not as described online and did not look anything like the photos we’d seen on the TUI website. There were 3 single beds, bathroom and that’s it. No kettle, no fridge & no hair dryer. On day 3 I returned to the room only to find a mattress had been removed from my room, and when I explained this to reception he didn’t believe me. I had constant issues with the air con in my room as it kept blowing hot air and showing error codes. The beds are like sleeping on concrete and resemble a hostel environment. The pillows are lumpy and upon asking for new ones, they just returned with either the same one or a one that was non different to the last. The towels that were changed on a daily basis were hit and miss as to whether they’d be clean or not and one day I received a towel with a dried blood stain on it. The restaurant is absolute chaos and there are not enough tables or cutlery for the amount of guests this hotel holds. So, if you’re coming here bring your own cutlery. The lady on reception at the restaurant was not very helpful when we were struggling to find seats inside and refused my family leaving the restaurant to eat outside where there was tables (even though there’s a snack bar that allows you to eat outside) she laughed in our faces when we asked her where are we meant to sit and eat our food. The swimming pool isn’t big enough for the amount of guests and the sunbeds is a constant issue, if you’re not having to get up at 4am to ensure you get a sunbed, there’s arguments and the lifeguards will remove your belongings and give your beds for someone else if you leave your bed unattended. You are limited to 2 drinks per person which is absolutely no good when you have a family of 4. The food signs are not great, they don’t really indicate what the food is and no one has any manners in that place. If you are a vegetarian theres no food that would be catered to you unfortunately. There’s no order and people will join a queue at the front instead of having some manners or respect and queue behind people who do know how to wait their turn. The lifeguards are not the most helpful, I explained that a family member had found some poo in the pool and his response was “that’s not my job” he did nothing to rectify this therefore, none of my family returned to the pool following this. There’s also one of the lifeguards that has been seen on multiple occasions spitting in the pool which I think is absolutely disgraceful. The TUI Rep was absolutely useless, filled us with false promises of a room change or hotel change then was never seen again or answered any messages to try and help resolve our issue with the rooms. I would have got more sense talking to a brick wall! The animation team and the bar staff are amazing, they really did make the holiday a hell if a lot better. They’re friendly, they work hard and will go out of their way to entertain you and make you smile. They do a daily dance around the pool and it’s just great touch I think. They interact with everyone during the day and on an evening. The sea was okay, again, not enough sunbeds for everyone and you’re constantly hounding off a little guy trying to sell you towels & cigarettes followed by a guy with a camel who will offer you to have a sit on and have your photo taken then demand money off you for this. The sea stings when you’re in it and you have to watch out for jelly fish that are about the size of a watermelon. Which I know this isn’t the hotels issues as I am aware these are seasonal however, this is just to pre warn you to be on guard while in the sea. I’m we went on a Pirate Shjp trip and that was badly organized as well. No order and ended up separating a long queue and allowing the people from the back to go through first. The ship was a good day however, after the staff had completed their little show, they walked around begging for tips and even patted one of my family members down when he told them he had no money on him. We found this intimidating and extremely rude. I am massively disappointed that me and my family spent nearly 10,000 to come to this hotel and we’ve been totally let down from the moment we arrived. I cannot believe that this hotel has been listed on TUI’s books, this is not the holiday we were sold and the pictures do not match up with what is online. Save your money and don’t bother, go to Blackpool instead! Would not recommend this hotel to anyone and will definitely not be returning."

"We’ve just come back from a fantastic week at Samira Club Hotel in Tunisia, and we had an amazing time! We’d definitely return. From the moment we arrived, all the staff were friendly, welcoming and always smiling. Our room was cleaned every day with fresh towels provided daily, and housekeeping did a great job. The food was really good, with plenty of choice at every meal. There were several live cooking stations offering different options, and the fresh pizza station at both lunch and dinner was a favourite. Yes, there were queues at times, and occasionally something ran out, but it was always replenished quickly. In our experience, this was often because some guests were taking more than they needed rather than a lack of food. If you fancied something different, there were also a restaurant on site where you could pay for an alternative meal. You also had an extras snack bar that sold a bit of fast food. The snack bar had a great selection available throughout the day and into the evening, and there was a wide variety of drinks included. You could also pay a little extra for premium cocktails if you wanted. One thing we really appreciated was being able to get as much bottled water as we needed, which was essential in the heat! There were sellers linked with the hotel around the pool and beach offering fresh fruit and a variety of nuts, which was a nice touch. There is a shop onsite which took cash only and there was also a shop just outside the resort for even more variety and they were both really friendly! Like many hotels, there were the inevitable “sunbed wars” around the pool! If you were up after about 6:30 am, the main pool sunbeds were mostly taken, but we always managed to get chairs from the bar area and put in the shaded areas, and there were usually plenty of sunbeds available on the beach. The pool was lovely though and you also had the aqua park area at certain times of day which added to the fun! The absolute highlight of our holiday was the animation team. They were phenomenal! They were friendly, approachable and made such an effort to include everyone, regardless of age. I travelled with my children aged 15, 19, 20 and 21, and every one of them was made to feel welcome and encouraged to join in. Their energy never seemed to run out, no matter what time of day it was! We had so many laughs with Kiko, Sassou, Diego, Mosquito, Alex, Fly, Didou, Matteo and Pablo (and a couple of others whose names I can’t remember!). The activities ranged from aquafit, dance lesson, water polo, football, learning Arabic phrases, darts, archery and much more! A special shout-out has to go to Diego, Mosquito and Sassou. They were absolutely brilliant, full of energy from morning until night, and always up for a laugh—even when my 15-year-old was getting them with a water gun! The only downside for us was the excursion and activity sellers around the hotel. They could be quite persistent and sometimes expected you to stop and listen. My 19-year-old is autistic and found this quite overwhelming, as they didn’t always recognise that some people struggle with social cues or unexpected interactions. Overall, though, we had a fantastic holiday with beautiful weather, good food, wonderful staff and an incredible entertainment team. Thank you to everyone at Samira Club Hotel for making our week so enjoyable—we’ll definitely be back!"