We wanted to find the sun, a nice empty beach and a good swimming pool and this is what we got. On the other hand, what we hadn't expected was to be staying in a room that smelt like a sewer (so overwhelming that we had to open the doors and let the heat inside in order to ventilate the room as the smell came from a vent under the bathtub - but sometimes to no avail as it appeared that a main sewer manhole was actually right by the balcony). We were not expecting to welcome the loud buzz of the air conditioning unit of our room to actually muffle the noise of the music coming from the nightclub (on the beach) and various other nightclubs located around the hotel - until 2 or 3 am every single night. We hadn't expected the waiting staff to crack on to my wife and actually propose to her to be their date at the local disco (I am of course moderating my language for the sake of the review). We hadn't expected the Italian restaurant on the beach to be hopeless at cooking a simple pasta dish either (on the other hand, the all-inclusive buffet was very nice, although the lack of variety got to us after 4 days). We finally didn't expect to have the local animation staff to be very much in love with the sound of their own voice, and to feel the urge of shouting / singing (or attempting to) in their microphones a little too often to our tastes. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the 6.25 am outbound flight was 4 hrs late. All we got from First Choice was a letter of apology that the airport staff handed us while we were waiting at the gate. Nothing else. Finally, First Choice ask their customers to tick the "Excellent" box in the exit questionnaire that is handed to travelers in the plane, if the satisfaction level is 66% or above. 66% satisfaction does not warrant Excellence in my world (the satisfaction survey is actually a marketing tool aimed at sending people offers, by the way, don't get fooled). Overall, we welcomed the calm of the nearby empty beach and the quality of the food of the buffet, but have realized that "low-rent" First Choice holidays are just not for us. Club Med it is. I hope so anyway.

Sorry this is a long one!! We returned from the Thalassa Village on Sunday after a 1 week stay. I have to say this was more than enough. if I had been there for 2 weeks I would have asked to be moved or flown home. However not all was bad! We flew with First Choice which started with a 3 hour delay. 5 mins to the hotel, check in was easy and quick and the room was ready. No welcome from the animation team or a welcome drink. Rooms - We had to swap rooms as the first one stank of cigarettes. The second one was better and it had a no smoking sign on the mirror. it was clean and had everything we needed. During the week the towels are changed every day if you want them changed and the bed linen is changed every day. However the room was never dusted and only swept once during our stay and the bathroom, i.e. toilet and bath were not cleaned. On our departure day the maid appeared in the room twice to see when we were leaving! Air Con etc - Each room has an air conditioning unit but it is not included in the price. As soon as you have checked in and have your room number you need to go to the right side of reception and get everything you need before the queueing starts. You can get: - Dinars - set exchange rate. Air con and TV remote - they don't tell you these are 10 dinars each and just give you both on one ticket for a 20 dinar deposit. (TV only has 2 english channels, CNN and a movie channel) Safety Deposit Box - A must!!! This will cost you 17 dinars for a week and you will have to pay a deposit of 10 to 20 dinars (can't remember which). Fridge - Ask for a mini bar and you will get a fridge delivered to your room. it costs 5 dinars per day. This is well worth it to keep your water cold. (they don't tell you about the fridges!) Pool Towels - You will need to pay a deposit for these. you will get a a green and white ticket. take the green ticket to the anilmation shed by the pool and they will give you the towels. When you check out take your towels and the white ticket to the animation shed they will stamp the ticket which you will then need to take to reception to get your deposit back. Restaurants - There is a buffet restaurant and 4 ala carte for the evenings. The buffet has 2 sittings. When you check in you will get an envelope which has a yellow ID card in it and on the back it will state the times of your sittings for lunch and dinner. Sometimes you can get away with going anytime but sometimes the managers recognise you and won't let you in!! The buffet food is awful! It's luke warm at best and has flies all over it as the food is not covered. The grills, pasta and pizza stations are outside but the ingredients are not covered. The tables in the buffet never seem to be reset and you just have to make do with getting your own cutlery and sitting at a table with a dirty table cloth and the chairs are also filthy and never seem to be cleaned off during service. All the ala cartes are set menus, you get no choice but the food is slightly better. The Jasmin (tunisian) does not have it's own kitchen so they transport the food uncovered from another kitchen. There are flies everywhere. The Italian (beach bar in the day) never seems to have what's on the set menu! It changes and is not always good. At lunchtime if you go early the food is made in advance and sits around. If you go later the food is usually fresher, but not always warm! i spent and evening and day in bed ill after eating at the Italian and there were others who were also ill agfter eating there and at the buffet. Staff -The majority of waiters and bar staff are excellent and don't always expect tips. The bar staff particularly appreciate courtesy, e.g please and thank you. Some are lovely and if you take the time to chat they will make sure you receive good service. Drinks - I found the local spirits to be VERY strong and they give you good measures! Diet coke is bottled but it is not kept in the fridge and ice is not always available. Cocktails are a bit hit and miss. Pool - Very clean. I got up at 7.30 one day to make sure I got a parasol and there were only 3 left! Beds were gone by 8. Beach beds are gone earlier than this. Beware that if you get a parasol the pool boys will take them to the Italians and French. We saw this happening and managed to stop them a couple of time. To avoid this tie some clothes to the bars that hold the parasol up. they never touch these. Certain tiles on the floor around the pool are very slippy so beware. The pool is also quite deep and there are not many depth signs. Waiters are walking round all the time and will serve you, as before be friendly and chatty and, for ex, if you want water instead of a glass they will bring you a litre bottle and a coupel of glasses filled with ice. Talking of water, in your check in envelope you get tickets for water. Basically 1 bottle per day. But the more friends you make (bar staff) the more water you can get and as it's in the 40s you will need every drop!! Entertainment - The French, Italian and Germans have there own entertainment. The hotel team are friendly but seem to have been taken of the streets, they are not the best and as our Rep told us 'there is not entertainment for the English so join in with who ever'!!!!! These are the exact words of our rep! The First Choice Rep - Our rep was a Tunisian called Muldi. he was appalling and everyone complained about him. The welcome meeting was a complete waste of time and he slagged off anyone who had not turned up!! If you showed any interest in booking trips or did not book trips at all he hassled you constantly. In the first 1 and a half days we received 2 telephone calls, 2 notes under the door, and he sought us out at the pool and bar!. In the end we left him a note to say no trips! 2/3 days before departure he announces over the tannoy that there is a departure meeting! We didn't go but he basically tells you the time you are being picked up and then tries to flog you seats together for thje return journey and last minute trips!! Don't get sucked in by tghe promise of a fast check in at a priority desk for booking seats together in resort. We didn't and our check in line had 4 couples/families while the 'priority' check in had the rest of the coah lined up! Airport - many suitcases on our flight home had things stolen, mainly aftershave and perfume ( bottlers but not the boxes!) but some other things as well. Make sure it is well locked but my partner's case was locked and it had been removed! Just beware of this! Airport noise - You do hear some noise but it is more like background noise and doesn't affect the holiday. Lastly Ladies beware the waiters and bar staff like the british ladies. It doesn't matter whether you are single or there with someone they will try and chat you up. Most have numerous girlfriends in England and still try ,and are quite successfull at trying it on with the female guests. One waiter told me he was getting married in September to an English girl and carried on chatting up every British female in the place!! I would not return to this hotel because of the food and hygiene.

Me and my mum just got back from a week at the Thalassa Village. Please read for hints and tips. On arrival in tunisia we had to queue for about 20-30mins at passport control to hand in our visas etc (which we received on the plane) but when we came out the process was quick as bags were there and its only about 2-5 mins transfer time (so if theres a couple of you might be cheaper n even quicker organising a taxi). On arrival at Thalassa we were met by some of the animation team - given our wristbands and a check in sheet to fill in. We were told our room would be about an hour but as we arrived at lunchtime they told us to return after we'd had some food. Room wasnt available as still being cleaned so they just gave us a different room. We had one of the bungalows. Room itself was basic-by no means 5* lol but clean enough and cool. There is air con but no remotes and a tv but no remotes - this is where you find out that most stuff in tunisia is 10 dinar. The remotes are 10 dinar a week refundable deposit safety boxes are 20 dinar deposit and 17 dinar a week charge. (dont listen to the 1st choice rep as shes full of crap and couldnt give us the right info) We didnt bother with remotes as its no hardship to change a tv channel (i mean who goes on holiday for tv anyway) and the aircon we manage to turn on my lifting the front flap and switching the button - switch the button twice to turn off (the 1st time to turn off we pressed once and it started leaking everywhere) Pool area and beach are nice but VERY difficult to get a bed and nearly impossible to get a parasol round pool. Please be careful many people nearly fell rouund pool as can get v slippy when wet. Bars - they're fine. Cocktails are unusual and never the same. Restaurants - food was pretty bad a few times. you can book into the speciality restaturants but only 1 visit per stay. We tried the italian (bruschetta / salmon and pasta / turkey / tiramisu) and the international (soup / salad nicoise / filet mignon / dessert)-the international was the nicest. I would recommend - esoecially if you have kids - go to the beach bar for lunch. Not many people realise you can go there its open 12.30-4 (get there around 12 for a seat) and serves burgers hot dogs pizza spag bol sandwiches etc.... Not that i go on hol for english food but sometimes the food in the main restaturants is a bit dire and you know you're at least getting 1 decent meal. Also the main restaurant serves pizza up until about midnight in case you get the munchies. Staff and tipping - now we didnt tip much only about ?2-3 the whole holiday. We were friendly with the staff and they remembered us the service didnt seem to change whether we gave them money or not. However, they dont earn much so keep that in mind. A word of warning though. Im 29 and single with blonde hair and blue eyes - if i wasnt made of strong stuff i would be telling you that I was quite hassled when i was on holiday. The amount of times my mum got asked if I was married and i was invited "for a walk" started to annoy me towards the end. But just be polite and they get the message. Day trips - we didnt do any of the organised tours but if you want to you will find that Jamel (rhymes with camel) who sits by the pool does them a couple of quid cheape than 1st choice and people seemed to enjoy themselves. However, we did do the parascending on the beach (35 dinar for 2 people around ?15) and was well worth it (mams terrified of heights) wasnt scary at all - just awesome. We also went to Sousse medina in the taxi (the market) if you go haggle haggle haggle then say your not interested and haggle some more - you'll get things cheaper and its worth looking there before you spend all your cash at the hotel shop (haggle there too). So think have covered most stuff - all in all an enjoyable holiday. We got it cheap and it was worth the money we paid.

just came back from two week stay at Thalassa Village Skanes . bit worried after reading other comments, but holiday was great. group of 6 with two bungalows which were good accomadation. if your not a fussy eater then no problems loads. plenty of sun, pools clean aswell as beach. rep a waste of time and complex very french orientated but its what you make of a holiday. french do take over but remove towells as they hog everything. locals seem to be on the catch at all times (money/tips) but if you look after waiters and bar staff they will look after you. all in all met some loverly english people and had a great time ( The Bannons from Glasgow and many others) would go again as good value for the family and relaxing