If this is for next year the Marhaba Palace hotel,whilst being the nearest to the Port will have building work next door as the Rui Green Park is being demolished and I am sure there will be a lot of noise as the whole hotel overlooks the Green Park.
The Royal Kenz and Rui Belleview are about 50minutes walk to the Port.
Of these 2 the Rui Belleview is much better than the Kenz.
The Rui are a Spanish chain and their hotels are of a very high standard.The food is lovely as are the staff.
The Kenz and Marhaba Palace are not Rui hotels.
It is perfectly safe to walk around the Port and we enjoyed wandering around the Medina in Sousse.
The weather in July will be very hot.
We have been in March for the last couple of years and have been lucky enough to enjoy lovely weather.

thanks so much for you information jaytrip

Im sorry i got confused and meant to put riu imperial marhaba hotel, ive looked at so many hotels my head is pickled!!! is the location of the imperial favourable and food quality?

thanks again for taking the time to reply

I think the Imperial is up beside the Belleview and Kenz about 50 minutes walk from the Port.
Its a shame the Green Park is being demolished as its a great hotel in an ideal location.
When it opens as the new Rui Palace it will probably be too expensive for us.

I stayed at the Royal kenz 3 years ago,enjoyed it so much that we are going back in 3 weeks time.The hotel is adults only,they say this is changing in May 2012 and accepting children from then .Walking to the marina from here took us 35 minutes,that was along the beach and the road.The only downside is that dining is 2 sittings,and you have to stick to 1st or 2nd,still lovely hotel and nice food.Over the road are a couple of cafes,restaurants and shops.Ive only visited friends at the Maharba Imperial,and that too is a lovely hotel,but a bit more out of my price range.Taxi costs from these hotels to the marina are approx 5 dinars (£2).The other hotel you mentioned is next to the Imperial.Im sure you will enjoy staying at any of the 3 hotels you have shortlisted,they are all nice.I have stayed twice at the Mahaba Palace,dont be tempted to stay there because of the close location to the marina,it also is a nice hotel but rooms are very dated and very little if none entertainment in the evening.

Crispy has got longer legs than you Jay Trip.

thanks all for your very helpful replies. its the dining sittings that is puttin us off visiting the kenz, can you request a prefered sitting time or do you have to have what they offer? (we would prefer the later sitting) we are really excited at the prospect of visiting tunisia so before we book we are researching and asking questions on here. im sure i will be asking many more questions that hopefully you will all be kind enough to answer.

thanks again.

Ask away and I'm sure you will get answers. There are plenty of PEK devotees on here so I'll leave them to deal with the specifics as Sousse is more my area.

There is no problem changing you sitting times for the restaurant.You will be given a card at reception when you check in,it will say if your first or second sitting,when you go into the dining room for your first meal,go at the sitting time you want and tell the head waiter and he will allocate a table for you there and then.

aslemma and crispy

thanks for replying. we are going to have another look at the kenz if meal sitting times can be changed, i was going to ask travel agent to note on the special requests section of the booking invoice to allocate late dining sitting, i know that these requests arnt always guarenteed but thought it was worth a try!! if that isnt successful then i will do what crispy suggested and ask when we get there.

thanks again for the help

Well,I have long legs as I am tall and it took us 20 minutes from the Abou Sofiane to walk to the port and 20 minutes to walk in the other direction to the Kenz.
I had always wanted to go to the Kenz but was put off by the 2 sittings at breakfast.
6.30am was the first sitting No thanks I dont get up at the crack of dawn at home and certainly not doing it on holiday.
The price of drinks in the hotel are astronomical compared to other hotels and outside bars and restaurants.
We did have a look around and I found it was very quiet(a morgue comes to mind)

I know many people absolutely love the Kenz but I doubt it would suit me, as I like a more fluid arrangement regarding meals and often don't know from one day to the next what I'll be doing. Also, I know and much admire your long legs, having walked round the medina with you, but I've got little short ones, together now with an arthritic knee, so I dread to think how long it would take me to walk to the marina. Anyway, I'll be back in Sousse 8 weeks from now, and when I want to go to PEK I'll haggle with the taxi drivers as usual.

thanks for your replies I didnt realise the kenz did 2 sittings for breakfast as well thats made us change our minds again

imperial marharba is favourite so far-i will let you know where we decide to go.

im sure i will be back asking for your help again

Haha no I couldnt do 6.30am for breakfast either ,1st sitting is 6.30 to 8am,we was allocated 1st sitting for meals,but didnt go for breakfast till about 8.15 and it wasnt a problem.I have heard that they have put the prices of drinks up in the Kenz ! we are planning this time to go over the road some evenings to a new restaurant and bar that people have said is cheaper for drinks and have live bands on in the evenings called La Mandra.I have little legs and in my 60s and believe me the walk to the port was 35 minutes.