Welcome to the forum KINGUNCLE2005

Have you seen the reviews? http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/tunisia/hammamet/royal-azur-hotel/
If anybody can provide a recent reviews please help others and give a short / long review if possible.

Thanks
Graham

Hi,

I'll post a proper review as soon as possible, however in the meantime I'll put a few points here - hopefully it will be of some help. I stayed here from 17 to 24 Oct this year.

The first thing to take into account is that the star system in Tunisia does not always equate to the star system here. This is definitely true for the Royal Azur. I would rate this hotel a 4*. At one time it was certainly worthy of it's 5 stars but it's now looking very tired and a lot of standards seem to have slipped (I have stayed here twice before, in Oct last year and April the year before and have noticed the difference). One likely reason for this is that there are plans to refurbish all the Azur hotels. I've heard that Les Orangers, in the same group, has already been done, but don't know which of the Azurs will be first. All of them really need it.

Having said all this I do have a soft spot for the Azur hotels, and here are some of the plus points for the Royal:

- Friendly helpful staff and a friendly relaxed atmosphere in general.
- The Thalasso centre - much newer than the rest of the hotel and a definite selling point.
- The indoor pool - separate to the Thalasso centre which has it's own pool, and has an outdoor terrace. This is my favourite spot for a swim and some sun.
-Location: there's a mini market opposite the hotel where you can get water, cigarettes, souvenirs, postcards etc, plus a few cafes and restaurants along the road into town. It's possible to walk into Hammamet from here, or a very cheap taxi ride.
- Beachfront location

If you don't mind rather dated surroundings, and are happy with decent facilities and a friendly relaxed environment, then you'll be fine at the Royal. If you're looking for real luxury and something more like the European idea of a 5*, you might like to look at the 5*s in Yasmine Hammamet. The hotels here are all much newer and much more up to date in terms of 5* standards. However, very few of these are directly on the beach, if this is something important to you.

If the idea of a hotel in a purpose built resort doesn't appeal, you could check out Le Sindbad in Hammamet. This is one of the oldest 5*s, however has recently been totally refurbished. I haven't stayed here or visited though, so I can't comment on how good this hotel is. Perhaps someone else on the forum will be able to help if you are interested in this one.

Hope this is of some help. I'll let you know when I've managed to get a complete review posted. In the meantime, if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

A.

Thanks for the very helpful posts.