First Choice Holiday Villages - anyone been?

[bumpy_j]

OHs dad is taking us to the Holiday Village in Tunisia in July slightly nervous for LO as the temp can apparently creep up to 35-40 degrees...but otherwise, it looks awesome!

Has anyone been to one of these? I'm intrigued by the excursions they run and what the food is like.

We're going for 2 weeks

 

[Kayley]

Yes! Not to Tunisia but we went to Tenerife in 2011.
It was the best family holiday I have ever been on!
The food was awesome too.

They do kids clubs and a creche for babies which are really good! When we went there were some parents who put their babies into the creche every day! We really DID NOT want to do that as we wanted to enjoy the holiday WITH our children. BUT she did go in once when we went to the spa for a couple of hours (we got free spa tickets) and DD was really happy and didn't want to leave the creche.

All the staff were lovely, evening entertainment was great. The daytime food was good and you also get free drinks and ice cream (excluding things like common spirits) we used to have vodka slush puppies

The excursions in Tenerife were great too, went to a wildlife/marine park and to a waterpark which were both great. Prob have similar things in Tunisia.

I have a friend who went to the Tunisia one and they had a great time and their holiday snaps also look great.

I could go on and on - you'll have an amazing time!!! I'm jealous (being single now means I miss out on all of this kind of stuff

 

[Kayley]

ps. food is a buffet car, in the morning they do cereals, toast, fruit, fried breakfast like sausages and little cake things. You can have juices or tea/coffee or water

Lunch is like a bar/grill around the pool where they do hotdogs and chicken and chips, salad things like that - I think you can also have lunch in the restaurant but we never did so not sure about that

Dinner - there was a choice of 3 restaurants although you could only eat in 2 of the restaurants once per week (I think) due to high demand. The buffet restaurant served alsorts from spag bol/pizza to octopus
one of the restaurants was a italian (I think) and I think the other is a grill. (my memory does not serve me well with these other 2)

 

[bumpy_j]

Wow thanks for all the info, much appreciated! Yeah I was looking at the excursions last night and I think were going to visit a Roman colosseum and go to a Zulu night in the nearby wildlife park - possibly go on a market excursion but I'd be so rubbish at haggling ahh I cant wait! Buffet sounds great too because I'm one of those people who spend ages deciding at a restaurant. Slightly excited at the selection of water slides too... never been anywhere like this before, so the kid in me is coming out

 

[Kayley]

They do high ropes too!

 

[kwood]

Yes! Not to Tunisia but we went to Tenerife in 2011.
It was the best family holiday I have ever been on!
The food was awesome too.

They do kids clubs and a creche for babies which are really good! When we went there were some parents who put their babies into the creche every day! We really DID NOT want to do that as we wanted to enjoy the holiday WITH our children. BUT she did go in once when we went to the spa for a couple of hours (we got free spa tickets) and DD was really happy and didn't want to leave the creche.

All the staff were lovely, evening entertainment was great. The daytime food was good and you also get free drinks and ice cream (excluding things like common spirits) we used to have vodka slush puppies

The excursions in Tenerife were great too, went to a wildlife/marine park and to a waterpark which were both great. Prob have similar things in Tunisia.

I have a friend who went to the Tunisia one and they had a great time and their holiday snaps also look great.

I could go on and on - you'll have an amazing time!!! I'm jealous (being single now means I miss out on all of this kind of stuff

We just booked to go to the one in Tenerife in September. Glad to see a positive review from a real person. (Don't like to read trip advisor because I would never pick anywhere to go because people are always expecting the Ritz on an inexpensive package holiday)

 

[bumpy_j]

I saw a couple of negative reviews for the one I'm going to from couples who were complaining about all the kids! as lovely as the resort looks, I don't think I'd go for my honeymoon

 

[kwood]

It was like that at the place we went to last year..it was a first choice premier families resort - and there were loads of people complaining about all of the kids. It was very obvious that this was a resort aimed at children, guess people didn't choose to use common sense when making their choice.

 

[Kayley]

The rooms are lovely and very high standard too.

Ohhh I miss the good old days lol

 

[Abigailly]

Holiday Village Manar, I think it was called? We went in the first week of June and it wasn't overly busy, there were plenty of loungers etc.

If so, yes. Staff are lovely and very child orientated. Hotel is clean. Rooms are spacious.

Food is quite limited if they're fussy. Each night is a different but there is always spag bol, chips and nuggets on the kids buffet. Food is what you'd expect in a buffet restaurant. BBQ was lovely. Pool side food is nice (and delightfully shaded), just basic bits and some nice salads. I'd avoid the deserts though as it's hard for them to keep the insects off them.

If your child won't drink straight water I'd recommend packing a bottle of diluting as the only soft drinks they have are laced with sugar. Even I couldn't drink it.

We did the Pirate Excursion that was a complete waste of money. It was a few songs on a boat and my 3YO didn't enjoy it at all. It was too crowded and there was very little shade leaving her very hot and bothered and me burnt to a crisp even with factor 50. The Zulu experience was brilliant. But pack snacks if you have a fussy LO as some of the foods were slightly 'out there'.

The beach is great and well guarded so unless you are down at the water you don't get harassed by lookie men. It's so clean.

DO NOT GET ON A CAMEL AT THE BEACH!!!! They get you up for a few Dina and then won't let you get down until they give as much money as they can see off you.

Kids clubs are fantastic. Couldn't fault them although I heard if you go at peak you can spend a long time queuing as it's first come first served.

It's an internal currency so you can't get any until you get there. But it's very easy to exchange it in the hotel. Just take plenty of English (they don't accept Scottish notes).

I would avoid the local town, Nabeul. It's very dirty and not very touristy. Meaning our blonde haired, blue eyed 3 YO got a lot of unwanted attention. If you're leaving the gates I'd go the other direction into Hammamet.

Don't go to the local water park. It's about 5 minutes away (in another hotel, you can see it from most of the balconies), it has been deemed unsafe and kids got seriously hurt while we were there.

Make sure you go to the welcome meeting, it's usually the day after you arrive. You get a lot of helpful info from it.

It was great fun though. And there's plenty of swimming pools etc. I wasn't overly keen on Tunisia. It's a very up and coming place. Still quite dirty. Still a lot of interest and curiosity in white children. But I really enjoyed the hotel. It was great for 10 relaxig days. Any other questions please feel free to ask!

 

[bumpy_j]

Holiday Village Manar, I think it was called? We went in the first week of June and it wasn't overly busy, there were plenty of loungers etc.

If so, yes. Staff are lovely and very child orientated. Hotel is clean. Rooms are spacious.

Food is quite limited if they're fussy. Each night is a different but there is always spag bol, chips and nuggets on the kids buffet. Food is what you'd expect in a buffet restaurant. BBQ was lovely. Pool side food is nice (and delightfully shaded), just basic bits and some nice salads. I'd avoid the deserts though as it's hard for them to keep the insects off them.

If your child won't drink straight water I'd recommend packing a bottle of diluting as the only soft drinks they have are laced with sugar. Even I couldn't drink it.

We did the Pirate Excursion that was a complete waste of money. It was a few songs on a boat and my 3YO didn't enjoy it at all. It was too crowded and there was very little shade leaving her very hot and bothered and me burnt to a crisp even with factor 50. The Zulu experience was brilliant. But pack snacks if you have a fussy LO as some of the foods were slightly 'out there'.

The beach is great and well guarded so unless you are down at the water you don't get harassed by lookie men. It's so clean.

DO NOT GET ON A CAMEL AT THE BEACH!!!! They get you up for a few Dina and then won't let you get down until they give as much money as they can see off you.

Kids clubs are fantastic. Couldn't fault them although I heard if you go at peak you can spend a long time queuing as it's first come first served.

It's an internal currency so you can't get any until you get there. But it's very easy to exchange it in the hotel. Just take plenty of English (they don't accept Scottish notes).

I would avoid the local town, Nabeul. It's very dirty and not very touristy. Meaning our blonde haired, blue eyed 3 YO got a lot of unwanted attention. If you're leaving the gates I'd go the other direction into Hammamet.

Don't go to the local water park. It's about 5 minutes away (in another hotel, you can see it from most of the balconies), it has been deemed unsafe and kids got seriously hurt while we were there.

Make sure you go to the welcome meeting, it's usually the day after you arrive. You get a lot of helpful info from it.

It was great fun though. And there's plenty of swimming pools etc. I wasn't overly keen on Tunisia. It's a very up and coming place. Still quite dirty. Still a lot of interest and curiosity in white children. But I really enjoyed the hotel. It was great for 10 relaxig days. Any other questions please feel free to ask!

Wow - lots of information! Thank you! Ohh that's a shame about the camel rides; I was excited about those, are they not on the private beach? Do you mind if I ask what sort of room you had? We are getting the 'themed family room'.

If you're targeted by someone trying to sell you something, is it hard to shake them off? I'm really bad at saying no...although we'll be in a group so hopefully someone can step in for me. Really useful to know about the waterpark though, and definitely the currency exchange.

 

[Abigailly]

Holiday Village Manar, I think it was called? We went in the first week of June and it wasn't overly busy, there were plenty of loungers etc.

If so, yes. Staff are lovely and very child orientated. Hotel is clean. Rooms are spacious.

Food is quite limited if they're fussy. Each night is a different but there is always spag bol, chips and nuggets on the kids buffet. Food is what you'd expect in a buffet restaurant. BBQ was lovely. Pool side food is nice (and delightfully shaded), just basic bits and some nice salads. I'd avoid the deserts though as it's hard for them to keep the insects off them.

If your child won't drink straight water I'd recommend packing a bottle of diluting as the only soft drinks they have are laced with sugar. Even I couldn't drink it.

We did the Pirate Excursion that was a complete waste of money. It was a few songs on a boat and my 3YO didn't enjoy it at all. It was too crowded and there was very little shade leaving her very hot and bothered and me burnt to a crisp even with factor 50. The Zulu experience was brilliant. But pack snacks if you have a fussy LO as some of the foods were slightly 'out there'.

The beach is great and well guarded so unless you are down at the water you don't get harassed by lookie men. It's so clean.

DO NOT GET ON A CAMEL AT THE BEACH!!!! They get you up for a few Dina and then won't let you get down until they give as much money as they can see off you.

Kids clubs are fantastic. Couldn't fault them although I heard if you go at peak you can spend a long time queuing as it's first come first served.

It's an internal currency so you can't get any until you get there. But it's very easy to exchange it in the hotel. Just take plenty of English (they don't accept Scottish notes).

I would avoid the local town, Nabeul. It's very dirty and not very touristy. Meaning our blonde haired, blue eyed 3 YO got a lot of unwanted attention. If you're leaving the gates I'd go the other direction into Hammamet.

Don't go to the local water park. It's about 5 minutes away (in another hotel, you can see it from most of the balconies), it has been deemed unsafe and kids got seriously hurt while we were there.

Make sure you go to the welcome meeting, it's usually the day after you arrive. You get a lot of helpful info from it.

It was great fun though. And there's plenty of swimming pools etc. I wasn't overly keen on Tunisia. It's a very up and coming place. Still quite dirty. Still a lot of interest and curiosity in white children. But I really enjoyed the hotel. It was great for 10 relaxig days. Any other questions please feel free to ask!

Wow - lots of information! Thank you! Ohh that's a shame about the camel rides; I was excited about those, are they not on the private beach? Do you mind if I ask what sort of room you had? We are getting the 'themed family room'.

If you're targeted by someone trying to sell you something, is it hard to shake them off? I'm really bad at saying no...although we'll be in a group so hopefully someone can step in for me. Really useful to know about the waterpark though, and definitely the currency exchange.

Don't get me wrong, there are some camel rides that look brilliant. Just make sure you get a rep to organise it or get advice from them. It's the guy that stands at the edge of the beach with an old, sad looking camel that you need to watch out for. He's sometime on the beach too. But usually the guards keep a close eye on him. Although the beach is private, the water isn't, so as long as they stay down at the waters edge they're allowed on the beach.

We had just a regular room in the main part of the hotel. The themed rooms are INCREDIBLE. We stayed in one the first night but swapped as we didn't really need a second room as she was only 3 and I like to have a balcony. But they're well set up and really big.

Every few days there are is a little market set up in the hotel grounds who aren't hard too say no to, they're really respectful and won't try and rip you off as they have a good deal with the hotel. They're good practise for haggling on! And will give you lots of tips about going to the bigger markets.
The ones outside the hotel can be quite tough, but I found the best thing to do was avoid eye contact. You get used to it though and it can be quite fun!

How long are you going for?

 

[lola_90]

Just had a look at the holidays and they look fab! Think we will book one for next summer. We are going to a villa in spain courtesy of my parents and we are going to Nigeria later in the summer so LO can meet my fiance's family. Cannot wait to get away with the weather we are having!

 

[bumpy_j]

Just had a look at the holidays and they look fab! Think we will book one for next summer. We are going to a villa in spain courtesy of my parents and we are going to Nigeria later in the summer so LO can meet my fiance's family. Cannot wait to get away with the weather we are having!

Ahh I went to a Spanish villa last year and it was lovvvely. Where in Spain are you going? And that sounds awesome! Have you met your OHs family before?

 

[bumpy_j]

Holiday Village Manar, I think it was called? We went in the first week of June and it wasn't overly busy, there were plenty of loungers etc.

If so, yes. Staff are lovely and very child orientated. Hotel is clean. Rooms are spacious.

Food is quite limited if they're fussy. Each night is a different but there is always spag bol, chips and nuggets on the kids buffet. Food is what you'd expect in a buffet restaurant. BBQ was lovely. Pool side food is nice (and delightfully shaded), just basic bits and some nice salads. I'd avoid the deserts though as it's hard for them to keep the insects off them.

If your child won't drink straight water I'd recommend packing a bottle of diluting as the only soft drinks they have are laced with sugar. Even I couldn't drink it.

We did the Pirate Excursion that was a complete waste of money. It was a few songs on a boat and my 3YO didn't enjoy it at all. It was too crowded and there was very little shade leaving her very hot and bothered and me burnt to a crisp even with factor 50. The Zulu experience was brilliant. But pack snacks if you have a fussy LO as some of the foods were slightly 'out there'.

The beach is great and well guarded so unless you are down at the water you don't get harassed by lookie men. It's so clean.

DO NOT GET ON A CAMEL AT THE BEACH!!!! They get you up for a few Dina and then won't let you get down until they give as much money as they can see off you.

Kids clubs are fantastic. Couldn't fault them although I heard if you go at peak you can spend a long time queuing as it's first come first served.

It's an internal currency so you can't get any until you get there. But it's very easy to exchange it in the hotel. Just take plenty of English (they don't accept Scottish notes).

I would avoid the local town, Nabeul. It's very dirty and not very touristy. Meaning our blonde haired, blue eyed 3 YO got a lot of unwanted attention. If you're leaving the gates I'd go the other direction into Hammamet.

Don't go to the local water park. It's about 5 minutes away (in another hotel, you can see it from most of the balconies), it has been deemed unsafe and kids got seriously hurt while we were there.

Make sure you go to the welcome meeting, it's usually the day after you arrive. You get a lot of helpful info from it.

It was great fun though. And there's plenty of swimming pools etc. I wasn't overly keen on Tunisia. It's a very up and coming place. Still quite dirty. Still a lot of interest and curiosity in white children. But I really enjoyed the hotel. It was great for 10 relaxig days. Any other questions please feel free to ask!

Wow - lots of information! Thank you! Ohh that's a shame about the camel rides; I was excited about those, are they not on the private beach? Do you mind if I ask what sort of room you had? We are getting the 'themed family room'.

If you're targeted by someone trying to sell you something, is it hard to shake them off? I'm really bad at saying no...although we'll be in a group so hopefully someone can step in for me. Really useful to know about the waterpark though, and definitely the currency exchange.

Don't get me wrong, there are some camel rides that look brilliant. Just make sure you get a rep to organise it or get advice from them. It's the guy that stands at the edge of the beach with an old, sad looking camel that you need to watch out for. He's sometime on the beach too. But usually the guards keep a close eye on him. Although the beach is private, the water isn't, so as long as they stay down at the waters edge they're allowed on the beach.

We had just a regular room in the main part of the hotel. The themed rooms are INCREDIBLE. We stayed in one the first night but swapped as we didn't really need a second room as she was only 3 and I like to have a balcony. But they're well set up and really big.

Every few days there are is a little market set up in the hotel grounds who aren't hard too say no to, they're really respectful and won't try and rip you off as they have a good deal with the hotel. They're good practise for haggling on! And will give you lots of tips about going to the bigger markets.
The ones outside the hotel can be quite tough, but I found the best thing to do was avoid eye contact. You get used to it though and it can be quite fun!

How long are you going for?

I'm just wondering what sort of Playstation the themed rooms have it just says 'Playstation' in the description, so not sure whether to stock up on a couple of movies or not.

Thank you soooo much for all the advice! You've given me some really useful tips forgot to ask: can you book excursions there? Or do you have to do it in advance?

 

[lola_90]

Just had a look at the holidays and they look fab! Think we will book one for next summer. We are going to a villa in spain courtesy of my parents and we are going to Nigeria later in the summer so LO can meet my fiance's family. Cannot wait to get away with the weather we are having!

Ahh I went to a Spanish villa last year and it was lovvvely. Where in Spain are you going? And that sounds awesome! Have you met your OHs family before?

It's an hour away from Palma this is the villa website I'm sooo excited!

https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p81041

I've met some of them he has eight other brothers and sisters, some live in UK, some in America and the rest in Nigeria! Have met cousins and aunts that live here but not his parents! Really looking forward to it

 

[kimmyttcno3]

We've been to the holiday village in majorca which was amazing....food fab with loads to choose from, activities running all day for the children, excellent facilities. Have booked to go to turkey holiday village in August and cannot wait. ..you won't be disappointed! !! Have a look on Facebook, there are loads of first choice holiday village fan pages x

 

[bumpy_j]

Wow that villa looks incredible!!

 

[bumpy_j]

We've been to the holiday village in majorca which was amazing....food fab with loads to choose from, activities running all day for the children, excellent facilities. Have booked to go to turkey holiday village in August and cannot wait. ..you won't be disappointed! !! Have a look on Facebook, there are loads of first choice holiday village fan pages x

Ah we nearly went for the Turkey one too! It looks awesome x

 

[kimmyttcno3]

We've been to the holiday village in majorca which was amazing....food fab with loads to choose from, activities running all day for the children, excellent facilities. Have booked to go to turkey holiday village in August and cannot wait. ..you won't be disappointed! !! Have a look on Facebook, there are loads of first choice holiday village fan pages x

Ah we nearly went for the Turkey one too! It looks awesome x

It does indeed, its being refurbished so nice new rooms too xx