We were moved from Le Saphir and found the Hotel to be superb. Food was good, drink plentiful but no ice creams...
The supermarket round the corner is a quarter of the price of the Hotel Shop for sweets etc.
Animations staff were really friendly and Akram in the bar was hilarious. In the Restuarant find Khalif the waiter was fantastic, we never had to get our own drinks.
Tipping... 1 dinar is more than enough when the bar staff bring you a drink, we tipped at the end and gave 5 dinars to the maid, bell boy and Akram and 10 dinar to Khalif.
We would return....

we to were sent to the shalimar, the food is great and the hotel nice, but it is predominately french, meaning the french get better treatment, and some of the resteraunt managers don't seem to like the english, i had experience of this, and was embarassed on a couple of occasions buy a guy in a suit for taking my wine out of the resteraunt (which i had paid for at the bar), he shouted accross the resteraunt loudly in french at me, even though he spoke good english! but on the whole it's a nice hotel just a bit in the middle of no where, lucky the taxis are cheap as you'll need one to get anywhere. if you struggle with the ammount of english the reception staff speak wait till after 3pm the guy speaks about 7 languages

Hi, I am staying at the Shalimar in October - just wanted to hear from anyone who has been there in 2006 with Thomson and how they find it ... Also do they do icecream now ???

Thanks

didn't go with Thompson, when we were there they didn't have ice cream

going to this hotel in a months time. i have read some peoples reviews and they say very negative things but there is nothing i can do.Please could somebody tell me something positive please.

? I am a bit worried about my holiday as I am leaving first thing in the morning! I have been searching for comments for a few weeks now and today the comments I have found dont sound very positive! The only french I know is the basic school stuff! Thomson assured us it was a nice new resort though there was no previous feedback ratings as it the hotel is new. Are the holiday reps english? Im not fond of unfair treatment, french over the rest etc.

I will post my comments next week when I return.

*Edit to restore normal font Briar

I don't know the hotel, or indeed the area, but I've been to Tunisia many times and love the place, as do many of us on here.

It's too late to worry now so please just make your mind up to enjoy yourself and I'm sure you'll have a good holiday. People all have different expectations, but if you go with an open mind and don't expect it to be like Spain, I'm sure you will be OK. Most Tunisians speak several languages, including English and they do like the English, mainly because most of us are more polite than some of our continental cousins, and certainly better than some of the Eastern Europeans who are now everywhere in Tunisia. If you have time to look up a few Tunisian words on this site, if only 'shokran' (thank you) and 'min fahdlek' (please) you will gain extra brownie points.

Have a good holiday and we look forward to reading your impressions when you get back.

We came back from the hotel shalimar and we had a wonderful time.We loved the hotel and everything about it. The staff were great, so friendly.none of us wanted to come home.I have written a hotel review on this site if your interested with more details.

well, got back Sunday. We had a nice holiday. The staff were fantastic, meeting our every need and expectations. So friendly and helpful. You couldn't wish for better hotel staff, working for a hotel myself i was impressed with the consistency of good customer service. There was an entertainment team that are French; they put on something in the evenings which is fun. There was also belly dancing and men that walk on glass etc which was great. Oh, and the staff get out the 'hubbley bubbley' pipes out in the evening which is an experience.

Our expectations were not met however, on the hotel side. First off we had no idea it was a 'French' hotel, all signage and staff speaking French though the restaurant, bar and reception English speaking also. Our confusion in services may be due to other 4* all inclusive holidays we have taken in the past that have been out of this world. I would class the hotel as providing full board with free drinks, I know that sounds daft but in the past we have had access to food and drink from dawn till dusk! The cut off for drinks was 11pm and food was available only at meal times. the 'snacks' that were available from 4-5pm and at 11pm was a plate of tiny sandwiches - not enough for 12 people - never mind the rest of the hotel. We are not greedy but you felt you could only take small portions so other hungry guests could eat too! The restaurant food was good, but there wasn't much choice. The desserts were the same every lunch and dinner all week.

Besides the food and beverage side the hotel has its own beach which provides water sport equipment, this was really good fun and there's always a life guard on duty. beware of the guys trying to get you on to their horses though, a couple we met were ripped off on their first day as they demanded 45 demar for them just sitting on the horse!! if you walk for 25 mins down the beach (go right) you reach the marina and new medina, or take a taxi for a mere 3 demar (£1.20!).

Id recommend the Zulu evening, though the food is not a four course meal - id say a light tapas style, but the African entertainment is amazing. Visit the Nebul market Friday morning, again cheap taxi (about 11 demar/£5) will get you there. Really busy and lots to see and buy! The quad biking was good fun also, two hours around the hills ect, you see lots of the real Tunisia, locals, farms etc.

An enjoyable holiday - mainly due to the people we met and fun we had, just would have helped if we knew what to expect. This hotel is new to Thomson and so there is currently no rating for it.