Royal Miramar Thalasso Hotel

Pool water very salty. Problem as my boyfriend has eczema, even I found it too salty to swim in. Annoyingly loud music in the middle of the day. Food a very poor standard. Fantastic wine at hotel. Large room, well air conditioned, very small bath. Maids charming and very helpful.
Towels tiny and was annoyed to be limited. Charged for plastic sunbeds still covered in sun cream and sweat from previous person! Much better value for money in Sharm-el-Sheikh. We were however on a £200 all-in so don't know what more to expect! Wish we had gone on a trip to Tunis.

We arrived at the hotel in time for dinner which was a buffet. It regularly contained salads, bread, meat, desert and a variety of Tunisian meals. Breakfast was also a buffet with cereals, boiled eggs, bread, fruit etc. A tip: the chef will cook an omelette or fried egg for you if you ask.
The room was spacious and clean with a hairdryer, BBC 24 the only English channel on the TV and air con. Extra covers and pillows were available - it was cold in December!
The staff within the hotel were friendly and helpful. There is entertainment provided at night although this wasn't regular due to low season.
We didn't use the pools but the looked clean. There is an a la carte restaurant and snack bar to provide lunch although this was pricey. There is a small shop on site and this was expensive as well.
Skanes is a resort containing hotels so if you're looking for something to do I would recommend Port El Kantaoui which costs 15 dinar each way in a taxi. It is a small marina outside Sousse with many restaurants, shops and boat trips. It's well worth a visit.
We went on a trip with a hotel guide into the medina in Sousse. It was free because he gets commission from the shop owners. Be warned - he will take you to a carpet shop and they will try their very best to sell!
We also went on the Sahara Explorer trip with Thomas Cook which costs about £70 although this includes overnight stay in a hotel and meals. It is well worth doing this trip as you see so much! The amphitheatre where Gladiator was filmed, Cave houses where Star wars was filmed. You also go on a camel to watch the sun set on the Sahara. Well worth every penny!

This was totally the best holiday I have ever had. The hotel was clean the staff were friendly and the entertainment was great the indoor night club was brilliant.
I would recommend this hotel for people who want a relaxing holiday with the added bit of night life souses was not really nice you get hassled alot there was a range of food chips!!! As well as pasta there is a pizza place just a cross the road owned by a English bloke.
I loved it and I have booked again for June 2006.

This hotel is no where near a four star hotel, at best I would say it’s a middle of the range 3 star hotel. There was no minibar or fridge in the room which became a real problem on the last 2 days of our trip as my friend had good food poisoning which we suspect came from the hotel restaurant after our evening meal as the hotel was the only place that we had eaten in all day.
With no fridge in the room it meant that my friend had to drink warm bottle water and the bar at night didn’t seem to have any chilled bottled water. I told the rep about the food poisoning but she wasn’t interested and refused to even consider the possibility that it could have been from the hotel, even though I told her about the flies that were buzzing round the buffet in the restaurant. There were two other people who we knew that had food poisoning as well during our week in the Miramar.
The staff generally seemed to be very friendly, the beach was quite clean and the rooms were nice although we were given another room on the second night as our room had damp in it which meant that the smell was awful in the room.
Watch out for Charlie though who is in the hotel every day trying to sell camel riding trips, the trips are rubbish.
There is one English speaking TV station which is BBC World but the rest are in French. We gave the maids a big tip on our last day there as they work peanuts and were very grateful of the trip.
Go to the wildlife park trip as it was great and only pay the taxi drivers 6 dinar to go into Sousse. The taxis are great fun as everyone seems to drive like a maniac.
Skanes was nice enough but very quiet and although I like Tunisia I would rather stay in Sousse next time and I would certainly never go back to the Miramar.

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the hotel.
It had a lovely grand entrance and the room we were given was very large and impressive.
At breakfast and dinner there was a large selection of different food, at a pretty good standard for buffet style.
You had a selection of 3 places you could have lunch, but each place served exactly the same small menu and unfortunately is wasn’t all that. The pool is a salt water pool which was fine for us but some people don’t them so always nice to know.
But for a four star we were surprised. This was our fourth year holidaying in Tunisia. Out of all the four stars we have stayed at this was the worst by far. Tunisia is a great location if you are happy just having a very pool/beach based holiday, as there is nothing else around.
Things that we were surprised at were:
The amount of flies all around the hotel. They were EVERYWHERE. This really grates on you and you end up getting really annoyed. Not what you want from a holiday.
The fact that you had to pay for the sunbeds around the pool. You don’t mind paying a little for towels or cushions but to just use the plastic sunbeds we thought is was a joke.
There was no fridge/mini bar in the rooms
There were no safety deposit boxes in the rooms, you paid for use of a small cubby hole with a lock on it, near the reception area.
We asked for use of a iron and ironing board and were told that they didn’t have any, but we were welcome to pay the laundry service to iron our clothes.
These points made us wonder why this was a four star hotel. We came to the conclusion that is was because there was a Spa on the hotel complex, and that was the only reason. They are basics that are expected from a four star hotel, especially in Tunisia where the standards are generally are much higher than European resorts.
My advise is that if you want to go Tunisia spend the extra and go to the four star hotel in Hammamet call Sol Azur, as we have stayed there twice and could not fault one thing about it.
Ok holiday overall. A bit disappointed but glad of the break.

The hotel was very impressive. The food was great at breakfast and dinner but lunchtime at the cafe was not that good. The service at the hotel was good and the hotel was in a great location on the beach but it takes a while to get to the nearest town. Watch out for the cab drivers who try to rip you off but if you inform the hotel security outside the hotel they deal with it well (with help of the hotel manager). You need to pay for the sunbeds by the outdoor pool, which is only a small amount. The drinks are very expensive so if you give the bar men a small tip you will generally get a larger amount the next time. Definitely go on the 2 day trip. Overall a great holiday.

Overall we had a good holiday - the spa looked good and the food in the evenings was fine - the heated indoor pool was great and meant the children stayed out of the sun ---
the food at lunchtime in the cafes around the hotel was awful -
you do have to pay a small charge for a sun bed - get over it ----useful information - the hotel does not provide beach towels and the ones in the hotel shop are very overpriced ---
We also found a new expensive top was missing from our room - if you play then bring your own tennis racquets and maybe a board game to play in the evening

Very poor hotel not happy at all first two days wanted to go home. food not good. rooms like staff rooms. Paid for sun beds 6 dinards for two made a complaint with rep not interested at all.