Royal Azur Hotel Review

Overall Rating

Hammamet resort was like Baghdad after a series of bombings, nothing could have prepared us for the scenes from the high street - derelict buildings, people sleeping on the road, men shouting abuse at us and shouting in our faces, people tugging at us, the roads were unsafe to walk on, it was midday and I was more scared then I have ever been. After this I decided not to venture outside the Royal Azur hotel as the baby was distressed and obviously so was I.

. I used the hotel phone to book a flight with Sky deals - I was on the phone 3-4 minutes and it cost me £9. I have never heard of such ridiculous pricing.

. On Tuesday 6th December at 9am we woke up to no water. The toilets would not flush, their was no running water from the taps or the shower. We called reception who informed us there was a problem with our side of the building and they were looking into it.

. By 2pm the water was trickling through but it was YELLOW/BROWN. What did the hotel/rep advise us to do? Run until its clear, well we left the taps and shower on so we could clear the yellow/brown gunk that was coming from them. It took another 5 hour until the water was a paler shade of yellow and even them it was only trickling through.
As a six month pregnant women was I really expected to wash myself in other people's filth. This really was the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced and along with my sickness, the lack of facilities, the lack of service, the rude unhelpful staff, the rotten food selection, and the fact that there were thieves who had access to our room to steal our belongings made me realise that I was far too stressed and upset to continue my holiday.
. The hotel is not a five star, it does not deserve a five star rating at all, it was more like a 1 star hotel.

. The majority of facilities in the hotel had to be paid for including gym, indoor heated pool, internet, all restaurants (except buffet).

. The rooms were extremely basic, the beds were 30 years old, the floors dirty, the bathroom basic, the shower was broken, the taps old and hard to twist and the bed linen was from the sixties and dirty too. In the three nights I stayed the rooms were cleaned twice and the linen was NOT changed at all. Only two towels are provided per room, I have never heard of such a measly allowance.

. The porters on the hotel when we arrived would not leave the room until we had given them money - when we politely explained we did not bring any currency into the country as we were following the government rules he told us he wanted English money anyway

. First Choice did not at any stage inform us of all the extra charges in the hotel, for example we have to pay 15TD to use the gym for day, approx £7.50 for a half day, which was £15 per day, or £105 for a week - this is disgusting, even Chelsea Harbour Club monthly membership is £70 PER MONTH. With these prices we expected something amazing - but of course not, they had two exercise bikes, two treadmills and a few weights. How on earth can they charge these prices and why were we not informed.

. The food was absolutely disgusting, the breakfast selection was poor, the cereals were inedible, the toaster did not work - it only heated bread and did not turn it brown! There were flies all over the fruit, the plates were from a mix and match collection from the eighties and were at least twenty years old and covered in scratches gained from years of washing and scrubbing. The juice run out very quickly and was not replaced and the staff were lazy, unhelpful and could not speak good English. The buffet style dinner was the smallest selection I have ever seen, certainly not a five star selection. The dessert selection was the same every evening I stayed.

. The staff were ignorant, rude, invasive and unhelpful. An example of their behaviour is this - we complained one evening as we had paid 5TD to use the internet, but it did not work, when we asked the man for his money back he pretended he did not speak English, therefore could not understand. Yet the next evening when we refused to pay for a soup, which they served stone cold and half empty, he ran after us and demanded the money speaking to us IN ENGLISH !

. The hotel openly admits FEEDING STRAY WILD CATS- I spoke to the manager about this and he confirmed that they do this. This is DIGUSTING, these cats were everywhere, over 100 of them, and their excrement was all over the floors, the dinner tables, by the pools, on the stairs to the bedrooms. Absolutely everywhere was covered in their excrement. If we ate outside at least 25-35 cats would surround the table pawing at us for food.

. Once we had finished eating our food the cats would jump unto the table and eat the leftovers, the staff would just laugh and the staff were certainly in no hurry to clean the plates away or put in place any preventive methods to stop these wild cats. These cats are aggressive and wild and they run at you, pawing and scratching at us looking for food. I witnessed other guests (all 4 of them) take their food outside the restaurant just to the door and feed the cats, right in the view of members of staff. What five star hotel would endorse this?

Members' Comments ontrayk24's Review

• avenbleue on 24th Jul 2007

  I stayed there in October 2006, and I found it absolutely wonderful! I cannot agree with the staff being unfriendly, unhelpful or anything along these lines. Yes, they don´t speak very good English, but how good is your French or Arabic?
  They already speak a bit of many different languages (I am German, my husband is Italian, we live in London and speak German, Italian, English, Spanish, French and bits of other languages, and most of them knew something to say in all these, plus Arabic, of course. How many English waiters can even say please and thank you in all these languages??).
  I travel a lot on business, we both have been also working in the travel industry, i.e. we have have LOADS of hotels in our lifetime between us, and we both agreed that for the price you pay, you get excellent service, location, food and atmosphere. The cleanliness standard was quite high, even by European standards, and yes, some of the tabs and fittings might have seen better days, remember that you are in a 3rd world country!
  
  As far as extra services and telephone costs from hotel rooms go: everyone who is a little experienced in travelling knows better than to use the hotel phones, particularly if calling abroad, since prices are invariably exorbitantly high.
  
  The food was different every night, combining various local specialties like fresh fish grilled before you, with more "world cuisine" - a large choice, and always very tasty, very high standard for hotel buffet food, anyway. And we are relatively picky (within reason). Fresh pancakes made to your order every morning, every night BBQ with different sorts of fish, meat etc. plus huge selection of salads, vegetables etc..
  
  And the cats: yes, there are many cats - everywhere in the country, everywhere around the Mediterranean, I fed them and the attitude and mentality there is: live and let live. I fed them too, and my little daughter delighted in their company (they did NOT litter everything, though - I haven´t seen cat droppings anywhere in the complex, definitely never on the tables!). They are an integral part of being in another culture.
  
  Open your closed mind, remember that you are in a different part of the world - if you want everything to work and look like home, stay in Blackpool the next time!!!!