Riu Palace Oceana Reviews

This is the sixth Riu hotel that we have stayed in and it was every bit as good as the others. Once again the staff could not do enough for you and were attentive without being overbearing. The hotel is in a fantastic location right on the beach. The pool was never crowded and there are plenty of sunbeds. The rooms are very spacious and are kept exceptionally clean. The centre of Yasmine Hammamet is about one mile away. You could quite easily walk there down the beach but it is very hot and we found it better to get a taxi, which is very cheap.

This was our first time in Tunisia and we were very impressed: beautiful weather; charming, friendly people; gorgeous, clean, fine-sand beaches; generally not high-rise hotels; good road and transport system.

We wanted a nice, relaxing hotel in a comfortable hotel with good views and good food. We got this and more at the Oceana Palace.

Rooms are excellent (they're called junior suites) and it was great having the wardrobes in a room outside the bedroom/suite - made things much tidier! And having a walk-in shower in the bathroom rather than in the bath made all the difference.

The room was extremely spacious and beds very comfortable. The room - and hallways - being carpeted meant that noise levels were low allowing for a peaceful night's sleep.

The staff were truly friendly, very nice indeed and the service was great!

Food was excellent - mostly varied. Only downside was that they operate two sittings: one at 7pm (too early) and the other at 9pm (a bit late). However, it didn't spoil things too much.

Make sure you take advantage of the complimentary a la carte restaurant dining offer once a week - I don't think everyone's aware of this.

The hotel has a nice bar but not much atmosphere and not much in the way of decent booze, however you don't go to Tunisia for the drink so again, it didn't put us off.

Poolside was first class - again great service from the attendants who'll find a bed for you and arrange fresh towels each day. Poolside restaurant good too.

No shops or bars at the hotel but it costs only a few dinars to get a taxi.

All in all, one of the best beach holidays we've been on. If you're after a restful hotel in good surroundings, you won't go wrong here. Deserves its Thomson Gold rating!

Hotel itself was excellent (good enough for the Tunisian national football team to stay before an important game!), staff very attentive without being overbearing, food excellent, all rooms are spacious suites and look out for the swan left on your bed once it has been cleaned!

Hotel has it's own private beach with bar, which was never crowded and great to relax on. Clientelle was mainly 45+ German/French couples and the hotel was not really geared up for families. The advertised children's club was non-existent and although tolerated, we felt that our exuberant 4yr old was a bit too much for staff and other residents at times. There were not many other young children there during our stay, which, in retrospect could have made a difference enjoyment of the holiday.

In summary, lovely luxury hotel, but I would not recommend it for a young family.

We have only just returned from 10 day vacation. The weather was between 25C and 29C each day and there was only 1 cloudy day. This was our third trip to Tunisia but our first at this hotel.

The Riu Palace Oceana is a beautiful hotel in a quiet area with a very grande marble foyer. The rooms are air conditioned and spacious as it's an all-suite hotel. We didn't pay the extra to have a sea/garden view but we were glad that we didn't in the end as we got to watch the beautiful sunsets in the evening.

The rooms, restaurants and pools were all immaculately clean. Clean beach towels are provided every day and there are bath robes in the room, which saves a bit on the packing.

The food was very good (buffet style layout) you almost had too much choice (it worked out at roughly £13.50 per head for as much as you can eat). I am a vegetarian and my ONLY criticism would be that some of the food was not labelled up too well ie: vegetable stuffed peppers was actually vegetable and minced meat stuffed peppers! and my vegetarian club sandwich came stuffed full of salmon! The only drink that we found to be quite expensive was diet coke (or Coca Light as it's called) which was over £1 for a can. But do try the local wine and beer as it's very good and reasonably priced.

The staff were fantastic, extremely friendly and helpful. There was a slight language barrier, it helps a great deal if you can speak some French or German as well as English.

In my book tipping is a MUST. I'm sure that the staff would be just as polite and friendly if you didn't, but at the moment the exchange rate is so excellent (roughly 2.34 Tunisian Dinar to the £1.00 gbp)that you can afford to give generously.

The exchange rate also means that you should take advantage of the beauty treatments, I had an hours full body massage and it came to a total of £24 INCLUDING a 20 percent tip.

Also, look out for the cute little family of cats and kittens that live in the foliage at the front and the back of the hotel (usually being fed smuggled ham from the buffet by soppy tourists!!). They are vaccinated and checked monthly by the Tunisian equivalent of the RSPCA so they are in gorgeous condition, no fleabags here, just 5 star cats!

If you are a young couple looking for lots of nightlife i would not suggest this hotel for you as there is NONE!! if you want a quiet relaxed holiday with great service and great weather i would say that this is your place.