Royal Beach Hotel

Me and my boyfriend stayed in Hotel Royal Beach the first week of sept, and found it pleasant enough! On arrival, the receptionist seemed pretty grumpy and barely said a word to us, but it WAS 5 in the morning so maybe that could be overlooked, during the remainder of our stay the reception staff were friendly. The friendliest staff were the waiters in the dining room though! We had a nice fella serving us every morning and evening, i don't know his name! Our room was adequate, really small, but sure what else do you need apart from a bed and a shower,it's the one place you spend the least amount of time! The outdoor pool was fine, biteen small, but ah well! The beach was FANTASTIC!! We spent an hour or 2 most days being in the water and lounging. The food in the hotel....well the selection wasn't great, it's a good thing I like croissants cos that's all i wanted from the selection @ breakfast! Oh my god, and if u wanna make a phone call home, do not, i repeat, do NOT use the phone in the hotel!! I made the mistake of doing that and ended up being charged 13dinars for a 4 minute call! Ker-azzzzy! Instead, use the "taxi phones" which you'll find at various loations around Sousse, there's some close to the hotel. It was TOOOO hot!! It was 42 degrees @ one point! To most people(including my boyfriend who thought i was REALLY strange for thinking like this!) ,this is probably a dream come true,and it IS when all you're doing is lying on the beach,but when you wanna take a walk around town,it's just TOO uncomfortably hot! Oh and also,if you're thinking of going just to sample nightlife....DON'T!! The facilities are there (clubs) but people don't seem to go to them! On our second night,we went to Samara,which is just up the road from the hotel, and I'd say about 20-30 people was its biggest crowd! If you had to go anywhere,I highly recommend Bora-Bora which is an open air disco, we went there on our last night, and while again the crowd wasn't massive, we still had a good night!

We are just back from the Royal Beach Hotel, Sousse. Although the hotel is slightly dated we had no complaints about any facility. The room we were given was very small but the next day we asked for a larger room and our rep arranged this for us without any problems. Our room was cleaned and given fresh towels every day. As for the staff they were excellent even the reception staff, a previous reviewer must have been having a bad day as we never had any problems with anyone. On leaving the hotel there were kisses and hugs from restaurant staff, bar staff and massage manager and hand shakes from reception and porters. The old saying is you get what you pay for and a holiday is what you make it, we even came home with some money and we didn`t scrimp on any spending.

we stayed at the Royal Beach for one week at the start of September. We were on the third floor, room 326 with side/sea view. Found the room just grand. All the staff were very friendly and our Panorama rep Nabil most helpful. The food was fine and the local beer was very good. The beach is right on the back doorstep. Only two dinar for the sunbeds, and the beach staff were very friendly and helpful. We also had a great week weather wise. When doing your shopping I would advise you shop at the 'Fixed price' shops to avoid all the haggleing. Also only book your day trips through your rep, this is very important. I think it is well to remember that this is a Muslim country, with very hard working, lovely people who work for what we would consider a very low wage. Different country different people different culture.Just lighten up and enjoy yourself . We would most surely return to the Royal Beach. ENJOY.

I stayed in the royal Beach in January 2005. It was a terrible dissapointment, the hotel was tired and dated and shabby and full of ciggarette smoke. The room was very poor decoratove order, had two beds, a broken wardrobe, smashed mirror, broken tiles, patio door above the bar which did not lock. The indoor pool was at the bottom of the fire escape and the smell of sulpher from the pool was horrid. Sorry but the food was in my view was very poor. The rep said that the brochure said it was simple and basic. No argument there. I have been astonished that some people have given this good reviews. On a positive note it is beachfront but not the 3* I was led to believe. We only stayed two nights, and booked into another hotel.

What a waste of time and money staying at Royal Beach. This ‘hotel’ is far more like a two star boarding house than a three star hotel. When we arrived my wife and I were ushered through a smoky noisy lobby to a room which was just big enough to put down your cases in and lay down on the bed – no standing room! The room could only be described as filthy with dirty floors, filthy grey bath and a basin where the water would not drain away and a shower that did not work. When we complained to the Thomas Cook Rep the next day, he simply said, “This is Three Star Africa, not like Three Star Europe!” What a pity that Thomas Cook don’t put that in their brochure! All surrounding hotels looked infinitely better than this dive. In fairness, we were moved the following day to a nicer room, but this was only after requesting to be put on the next plain back to UK! The state of Royal Beach looks worn out, and this is borne out by the man who constantly walked around with a paint pot, slapping emulsion on areas that were particularly bad! Top Ten Things we don’t miss: 1. Furniture in reception was filthy and must be 30 years old 2. Never any soap in reception toilets 3. Dining area was always full of flies (due to poor aircon the windows had to be left open) 4. Towels removed from rooms between 9.00 and 3.00pm each day. 5. Smell of drains on upper floor was masked each day by strong but cheap disinfectant 6. Filthy Corridor Floors 7. Only one cleaner per floor (who worked like crazy but could not cope) 8. Bland food (keenly eaten by the flies!) 9. Unhelpful reception staff who sent me to the wrong Police Station when my wallet was taken and to a closed pharmacy when I needed a night chemist for my wife who suffered food poisoning. Hostpitality was a concept apparently not understood by these people. 10. Warning notice on gate to beach specified the wrong colour flag for safe swimming. Top One Thing we do miss: 1. Despite the regime of the hotel management, some individual staff were very friendly and polite. To summarise - take our advise – don’t go there!

the pool could be a bit bigger to accommodate the amount of guests in the hotel, i think nino does his best as an entertainer to make you all welcome and relaxed, it would be good if smokers could be separated from the non smokers during bingo etc, as i went to bed each night smelly with a headache, apart from that my husband myself and our three children all got lovely tans, put on a few pounds and none of us had upset tummies, so we were happy, we stayed at marhaba club ten years ago and would recommend this hotel

We're just back from a really good week at the Royal Beach in Sousse. It was our first time in Tunisia and we found it a really interesting place to visit. Brilliant sunny weather but most days there was a good breeze at the beach which meant the heat wasn't uncomfortable. Hotel was relatively small and dated but we found it relaxed and friendly if a little haphazard sometmes - we felt this gave it a bit of character. Seemed okay as a 3-star to me but then I haven't stayed in any other 3- star hotels in Tunisia! The rooms were simply furnished and nicely decorated. Bathroom fine and pretty good shower. Air conditioning was pretty good but as we had a corner room with two sets of french windows you got a great breeze through the room in the morning (if there was a breeze outside that is!). This more than made up for the lack of balcony. No tv or fridge in the room but we didn't miss this. Chambermaid was great and very efficient and polite. Hotel facilities fine but quite limited. Indoor and outdoor pool which were very nice but quite small and largely used by children (no children in our party). Reception area was bright and airy and had good air conditioning and a pool table/tv but not much else. We didn't sample too much of the evening entertainment in the hotel except for a belly dancing evening and instead tended to have a relaxing drink in the bar and then sit out on the terrace at the back to chat, play cards and stuff. I would agree that when there were entertainment events in reception this could be very loud due to courtyard set out of the hotel so you'd be in trouble if you wanted an early night. There is a bar just off reception with really excellent staff in the evening. Meals were buffet style for breakfast and dinner. Although the restaurant was fairly small we always found a table and found there was generally plenty of food to choose from - lot's of fruit, salad and bread at each meal, eggs cooked to your demands in the morning and a range of hot dishes in the evening with a local flavour. Again we found the waiting staff excellent - particularly in the evening. A cafe/bar at the back of the hotel was open during the day for snacks, pizza and there was also a place to order icecream/crepes etc. These could also be ordered from the beach without even having to get off your sun lounger! The beach, which you walked directly onto from the back gate of the hotel, was the main highlight of the hotel. Really helpful staff - special mention to Abdul (Bird Man) who sorted out your sunbeds (2 dinar each) and food/drink orders. Really nice man. Also the security staff and events rep who all seemed to get on brilliantly with the kids who were staying. Also a mention for Safe who was sales rep for the massage centre on the top floor of the hotel - this too was a bit basic but two of us had really relaxing massages! The beach is next to an area used as a car park and access to a 'public' part of the beach but this didn't bother us and meant that you didn't feel isolated from Tunisian, Algerian and Libyan tourists using the resort. Other highlights of the holiday were a trip to El Jem (great colisseum and mosaics museum), an arabian night of local food and traditional entertainment in a cultural centre about 45 minutes from Sousse and the Ribat in Sousse. The Medina was also interesting though not really my scene as I'm not into bartering though I had to be pretty firm with one of the vendors! We went early (about 9) so it was not too crowded. We did not sample the local night life so can't comment on that but did do some of the water sports - parasailing and jetskis and also three of us had henna tattoos organised by Ali G who ran the little shop in the hotel. Would definitely go back to Tunisia as did not have enough time this trip for the 2 day Sahara trip which was highly recommended by other guests. We had a great week and really enjoyed ourselves! Margaret

What a wasted holiday!!! Although the beach was good and the staff on the beach were lovely and didn't hassle you, we had a terrible time. We had the worst room in the hotel even though we had booked 12 months before we went. Room 118 was directly above the euro pop entertainment in the hotel and the euro pub (which didnt shut till 4am) So the room was noisy all night. I got food poisioning on the third day (from the what can only be described as inedible food) in the hotel. I had to call the doctor out at 6am. OUr rep (sunset holidays) was terrible. When we complained to her she talked about her boyfriend for half an hour. And..on arrival she left us with a trainee rep who had gotten there on the same plane as us and knew as much about tunisia as we did. Not a great start to our greatly anticipated hoilday! I feel like we would have had a better time if we had stayed at home. We were counting down the days. On the last day we could only keep the room for late check out till 3pm even through our flight wasn't till 1am. It seems that the hotel were raking is as much money as they could by given its holiday makers less than basic stuff (including the food). From start to finish the holiday was a total let down, especially since all the tour operators reccomended this hotel to us. If you are considering this hotel, go somewhere else. Al the other hotels in Sousse looked brilliant!

Me and my boyfriend went to Tunesia. We stayed at the Royal Beach Hotel for two weeks. When we arrived, the guests in the hotel welcomed us with a big applause, a good start of a holiday I'd say! The room was small and clean, but the airconditioning wasn't working. We had to be a little angry to get it fixed within an hour (it nearly took half a minute to change the control panel). During our stay, the airconditioning didn't work on full speed for three times -setting aside of the 'low speed hours' (12-1 pm) every day. Breakfast wasn't a delightful start of the first day. The fruit and the bread were acceptable for your stomach, but the vegetables at the buffet showed lack of colour and vitamins. The eggs were cooked out, sort of green/ blue on the inside. I would have loved sausages or crispy bacon! At least they could serve slices of cheese, as porc meat is a taboo in an islamic country. At night the meals were all right, but really dried out. Especially the chicken breasts and carrots. What are they doing in the kitchen? Couscous and fig cakes were nice though. The holiday itself went pretty well. Lots of visits to Port El Kantaoui, the medina, and pools in the more comfortable hotels around (we didn't fancy swimming in our hotel, cause it was the size of a stamp). The activities in the hotel were quite boring, really dull mass entertaining I think: during the nights the kids were running around everywhere while their weight watcher parents were lying on the sofas with beers and mars cigarettes. The staff kept smiling, including the always dressed black bingo pimp. The cleaning service was allright, clean sheets and towels every day. We usually put 2 dinars on the pillow to stimulute the maids good work... ;) The last day of our stay, we weren't told that we had to leave our room at 12 'o clock. But it was no problem to fresh up and take a shower at the end of the afternoon, there was a room available for that. When I asked for two towels, the reception staff told me that he couldn't give me those. I should be glad to have a clean up room after checking out! I don't see myself as spoiled, but it appears to me that Tunesia isn't ready for westeuropean tourists, who expect friendly basic service from a three star rated hotel.

We just came back from 2 weeks at the Royal Beach Hotel. Firstly id say that Tunisia is a country perhaps not quite ready for full scale tourism, and this is evident in the infrastructure of the country and the amount of poor people that you will find in the inner cities. The hotel was basic, but clean, had good air conditioning, a good view and a good bathroom which was all we wanted really! (you can change the level of air conditioning there is a easy to use control panel on the wall.) It is is definately a good 3 star hotel, just dont expect any of the perks of a 4 star hotel. The rooms dont have TV's unless you want to pay extra, the food is average but sufficient so that you arent forced to eat out. As with most of the hotels the menus dont vary much so you will have to eat out occasionally. That said there is food to suit everyone, theres always chips etc and always more local foods. The hotel has a good bar with sky sports etc, and there is also a snack bar overlooking the beach which is good for lunch. The main strength of the hotel is that it is right on the beach and we didnt have to pay for sun loungers with our tour operator. Right next to local water sports. The beach and sea are excellent, you will get hassled from time to time about trips run by certified companies linked to the hotel (which can be a good thing!) but you wont be bothered by the locals. Women should beware, young tunisian men do have problems keeping themselves under control around western women! the key is to just remain calm and give a polite no thank you. As for the area there are plenty of places to eat, with places in the nearby port el kantonoui being the best. it only costs 2 pounds for a five minute taxi ride there from the hotel. The best trip we went on was the sahara explorer, everyone should do it. The only negatives: There is a lack of nightlife and a lot of the evening entertainment centres around the hotels, unless VERY cheesy RnB clubs are your thing. Secondly the pool at the hotel is very small and isnt big enough for a hotel of its size. The indoor pool is ok but again very small and not ideally placed. There were too many kids (chavs) that were annoying as hell and not kept under proper supervision in the hotel, which wasnt much of a problem because we didnt spend much time in the reception area apart from the last day while waiting for our plane. The weather was excellent, it was good in the first week (30-40 degrees) but in the 2nd week it became too hot (Pushing 50 degrees). everyday was blue skies and sunny, unlike the english summer at the moment. Overall the Royal Beach is definately good value for money and a good 3 star hotel. We had absoloutely no problems while we stayed there and the staff are very friendly, especially those on the beach. The people of tunisia were on the whole very friendly and id go back there again, although perhaps not for 2 whole weeks because we ran out of things to do. JA JA! Grauben