Riu Park El Kebir Hotel, Manzil Tamim

I spent two weeks at this hotel during March 2004, and had a wonderful time. The hotel exceeded my expectations. The staff were very welcoming and friendly and always seemed to wear a smile (they especially seemed to appreciate my sad attempts to speak Tunisian Arabic with them). We were assured on arrival that they wanted to help make our holiday the best possible, and went out of their way to show that nothing was too much trouble to them.

The hotel was clean, relaxed and comfortable. The huge outside pool was a little on the cold side, (well it was March) but that didn�t stop me swimming in it most days. The hotel is right on the beach which is clean and sandy. The sea was blue and we enjoyed being able to hear it from our room at night.

The dining room was buffet style and again the staff were great. It was fun having some of the food prepared especially for us while we watched (such as pasta dishes). The manager was often to be found serving the soup and one night cooked my pasta for me!

The hotel has a small selection of shops for necessities and some souvenirs; bottled water can be bought very cheaply just over the road. The only drawback for us was that the hotel is situated a little out of Hammamet. It took approx 30 minutes to walk to the town centre and Medina; a taxi ride only costs about �2 though.

The UK tour operator that we travelled with organised a number of excellent excursions, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

There was also good evening entertainment, and daytime activities organised by an enthusiastic team of people.

If you want an active night life outside of the hotel in a bustling resort centre this is not the place to be. HOWEVER if you are looking to enjoy a relaxing holiday in a wonderful hotel, spending your days on the beach or around a swimming pool and maybe taking in an odd day trip or two, this is definitely the hotel for you.