Reviews of Riu Green Park Hotel, Port El Kantaoui

Stayed for a week end July/beginning August with my 16 year old son and his friend. Although this is officially a 4*, I would rate it as 3.5.



As other reviews have mentioned, the hotel was very clean but some of the rooms are beginning to look a little dated and the bathrooms would also benefit from having a face lift.



Being away with teenagers we tended to stay around the rectangular poor which is used for activities throughout the day which meant that there was constant loud music etc. We didn't mind this but for those that do, there is another free form pool which is well away from the noise. Certainly around the noisy pool there was no problem getting sun beds up until lunch time.



The food was, on the whole, good with a wide selection at all meals and the fresh pancakes each afternoon were fantastic. I don't think the alcohol was watered down like I have found before when all inclusive, however the measures were 25ml singles as in the UK rather than the expected larger free hand measures we usually associate with being abroad.



A previous review mentioned bottled water being expensive but when we were there each room had a fridge which was stocked with 3 1.5 litre bottles of still and 3 of fizzy water - all free of charge and if you needed more you just had to mention it to reception and it would be provided.



The staff were all very friendly and very hard working, especially the Animacion Team - 7 young men who worked day and night to ensure that the people who wanted activities were provided with them. As with all Riu hotels I have stayed at, the evening entertainment was mainly provided by the Animacion Team . I must admit, however, the entertainment here was slightly better than at others.



The hotel is only a 10-15 minute walk via the beach or main road into the marina where there are a selection of shops and bars. The weather was very, very hot. We didn't see one cloud all week and the temperature ranged from 28 degrees first thing on a morning till over 40 degrees in the afternoon. We were lucky in that we found an area around the pool where there was a slight breeze which made the intense heat a little more bearable.



Overall, a good week away.

Port El Kantaoui is definatley one of the nicer resorts to stop at. The beaches are white sand the ocean is clear blue, the Port is clean and a lovely walk out, with dancing fountains. There is a tiny zoo, and a childrens pleasure park with rides for the little ones.



The Riu Green Park is an average hotel. It is clean and tidy in the public areas and although our room was small it was kept VERY clean by the maid daily, we had fresh towels daily.



There are some definate improvements which could be made. The showers were just dangerous - scalding hot to freezing cold in seconds at any time of the day or night. There were no toiletries in the bathroom - ie no shampoo, conditioner, shower caps, toothpaste etc - I would expect this of a 4 star. The room had its own fridge - we were staying all inc - but there weren't any soft drinks or bottled water and no tea or coffee facilities either. As I mentioned earlier our room was small - when we arrived int the early hours of the morning we were greeted with a blue lemon squash at reception, this was refreshing, & we were invited by the reception staff to help ourselves to cake in the restaurant, though a cup of tea would have been more welcome. The room had only 2 beds when we arrived and we needed 3, when the beds were set up 2 of them were positioned dangerously under a light, which if you got up quickly caught you in the temple.

Restaurant & bar immaculately clean and tidy always. Breakfast was very unpredictable, fresh juice was only available on certain days and it was squash otherwise, there was a wide range of things to have but fruit ie bannas, apples, grapes were none existant. Lunch & dinner were better and always a variety of dishes hot and cold. Sometimes the soft drinks machines worked, sometimes there was ice? Bar staff and restaurant staff inside and out were always exceptional and we didn't tip till the end so it wasn't because of our generosity.



Reception staff ranged from very helpful to not interested. The internet connection was abismol!!!!



Kids club - pretty awful and only for the VERY young. Although everywhere we went our child was treated like royalty!!



Entertainment - lots to do in the day, watersports on beach - very reasonably priced, table tennis, pool and activities arranged - boule, aerobics, volley ball ....

Nightime - well!!! could have been better I am not much for DRAG acts (that mime to the music ) both professional and unprofessional, I am sure that there could have been a BIG BIG improvment here.



The Thompson Rep was helpful although her presentation was quite long and boring, we wanted to book an excursion so we had to stay for the duration and then we were told to come back later where we had to wait all over again. The was also a price discerpancy - we had been unable to book the excursion before we came on holiday, either on line, or on the phone and only able to make a deposite. When we paid the trip was more expensive than stated due to a brochure increase. We were also told to pre book seats on the plane, this was unecessary and if we had done it it would have been a complete waste of money - as at the airport you informed the check in desk that you wanted to sit together and this was accomodated.



Sahara excursion - spectacular well worth the money but LOTS of travelling in a dated coach. Sam the guide was full of knowledge. The Hotel in Douz could have been better. Star Wars site very disappointing. Take a great camera, lots of change and it is VERY HOT!!!!



Our holiday was good on the whole and we enjoyed it, some minor things let it down, definately would return to Port El Kantaoui and explore but would propbably research into a better hotel.

Riu Green Park Tunisia well just arrived back and what we would say is this resort is classified as 4 star well i'd give it a 5 star in terms of location but i feel this hotel uses its location to paper over other serious shortcomings ie: all showers run suddenly hot then cold burning us on the head on several occasions, internet is very unreliable ( it depends on sousse server apparently) but annoying, breakfast is a poor selection but dinner is better. Sahara excursion is fab but be careful the thomson rep informed me the price had just gone up to that on their website due to a season change - not happy!

Also the marina a short walk down the road is stunning.

Staff at the hotel range from being ultra friendly to a cant be bothered attitude.

Would we return? - Port el Kantaoui deffinitely - but not to this hotel.

Lovely hotel, very friendly, helpful staff. Our bedroom could have done with a lick of paint to freshen it up but other than that the accommodation was nice, clean and comfortable. Maid service everyday, towels only changed if requested. Beach towels were available from reception - 15 tunisian dinar deposit per person (about £6.50) which you get back when you return the towels at the end of the week. As you can't take dinars outside of Tunisia, a little tip is to return the beach towels the day before you leave so you have a chance to spend your remaining dinars in resort or have some to purchase snacks at the airport. Our hotel was All Inclusive - we were lucky that the food and drinks were fantastic so we never felt the need to eat outside. Both my husband and I changed up £50 on the day we arrived and struggled to spend it as everything is so cheap and even things which may at first appear expensive you can haggle down in price. I think half our money we spent on tipping the waiters at each mealtime, which wasn't expected, but certainly ensured our drinks were waiting on our table when we came down for dinner and they never went dry! The hotel entertainment was good, a variety of activities throughout the day if you wanted to take part, and a show each evening (probably not for serious performing arts lovers, but certainly good for light hearted entertainment). A wander to the Port is a must, you do get a bit of hassle from the shop keepers but just ignore them or politely tell them NO. Apparently a new trick, which we encountered, was a man comes up to you stating he's the waiter at the Green Park (they spot the wrist bands) and they chat away and try to get you into their mates shop down the road, again a polite no will suffice. At the end of the day it's the way they do things in Tunisia and if you have a bit of jokey banter with them they'll be the same back. If you go into the Medina in Sousse make sure you have your valuables secure as the alleys are very narrow and there's a lot of kids who look sweet and innocent but will probably pick your pocket!! Oh and whichever shop you go in it's always "cheaper than Tescos"!! The only negative was there isn't a Thomson rep on site, didn't even get on the coach when we arrived, and as we didn't have our welcome meeting until the Monday afternoon (we arrived early Sunday morning) we were left to work things out for ourselves. We had a great holiday in Port el Kantaoui, unfortunately we were only there for a week, but we'll definitely be going back and hopefully we'll do the Sahara trip.