"We stayed at the Royal Azur Thalassa for two weeks on an all-inclusive basis in September 2026. I've waited until I've been home for a few days before writing this because I wanted to reflect on the experience properly rather than review it while still in holiday mode.
Overall, I actually really liked this hotel, but it has some significant shortcomings and I think people need to know what to expect.
⭐ What does "five-star" mean here?
The first thing I'd say is that this is not UK-standard five-star. I wouldn't expect Tunisia, Turkey or Egypt to necessarily have exactly the same standards as a UK five-star hotel, so I didn't arrive expecting that.
Our room was clean and spacious, which was a positive. However, the bathroom was very basic and our shower head was rusty. Personally, I wouldn't expect that in a hotel marketed as five-star.
The separate toilet and bathroom was useful in some respects, but also frustrating at times. If one person is showering while the other has used the toilet, for example, there is nowhere to wash your hands until the bathroom is free.
🧹 Housekeeping — disappointing
This was probably the biggest negative of our stay.
I'd read reviews and comments suggesting that tipping the cleaner would mean you'd be looked after, but that wasn't our experience.
During the first week, we received very little toilet roll, bottled water wasn't replenished and towels weren't consistently changed. The cleaner came in every day and made the beds, but that was largely it.
When I eventually saw her, I gave her 20 TND as a tip and asked if we could have more toilet roll and bottled water. We received one extra toilet roll and were told we'd get water later when supplies arrived.
We didn't.
What particularly frustrated me was seeing bottled water being left outside another room while ours still wasn't being replenished.
I don't expect to be treated like royalty because I've left a tip, but given the advice I'd read beforehand about tipping housekeeping, I was disappointed with the service.
💰 Tipping generally
This is worth explaining because I don't want this review to give the impression that we were tipping simply to get preferential treatment.
Initially, yes, I started tipping because I'd read that it was customary and that it could improve service. But my mum and I subsequently looked into what some of the staff earn and the hours they work, reportedly around 48 hours a week.
After that, tipping genuinely became something we wanted to do.
The staff work hard and are generally very friendly, and if giving someone 10 or 20 TND means I've potentially made their day a little easier or happier, I'm more than happy to do it.
In fact, Tunisia is so inexpensive compared with the UK that I probably spent around £200 in spending money over the two weeks, and a surprisingly large proportion of that went on tips!
And the difference between staff members was noticeable.
🍽️ Restaurant staff
Our morning and lunchtime waiter was fantastic.
Once we'd tipped him, he looked after us incredibly well throughout the stay. He remembered our drinks, had our table ready, brought us fresh fruit and, most importantly, saved us a large bottle of water every day to take to the beach.
Our evening waiter was equally attentive and would even decorate the table with flower petals.
So while I don't believe tipping should be necessary to receive good service, the restaurant staff were absolutely worth tipping and we genuinely enjoyed showing our appreciation.
The pool staff were similar. I'd read some negative comments about the older gentleman who worked around the pool, but I personally found him very friendly. Once we'd tipped him, he would remember us and look after us.
Bar service was more hit and miss. When it was quiet, staff were generally friendly and attentive, but when busy, you could find yourself waiting or simply going to the bar yourself.
🍴 Food
There is a wide selection of food, and I would say that you can always find something to eat. Some of it was genuinely very flavoursome and they definitely season their food.
However, there were two major problems.
Firstly, a lot of the food wasn't labelled.
I avoided quite a few dishes simply because I had no idea what they were and wasn't comfortable taking a chance.
Secondly, some of the hot food simply wasn't hot enough.
There was a beef dish with mashed potato that was so cold I couldn't eat it. We also had lamb carved from a large leg, but by the time I got back to the table it was absolutely stone cold.
Breakfast was fine, although we didn't use it particularly often. The omelettes cooked to order were good, but the scrambled eggs often looked watery. There was plenty of bread and cold meat.
Lunch and dinner were fairly similar and there was some repetition.
And one thing that became a running joke in our family:
The chips were always cold!
Overall, I wouldn't describe the food as bad. There's plenty of choice and you won't go hungry, but the labelling and temperature issues really let it down.
🍷 Eating out
We ate out once at The Admiral/L'Amiral in Yasmine Marina.
It was around £50 for three adults including a bottle of wine, which I thought was very reasonable.
Unfortunately, the food wasn't particularly good.
We ordered what was described as steak, but it was incredibly tough — quite literally tough as old boots — and wasn't edible.
The waiter came over because he was disappointed that we'd barely eaten anything. I explained the problem and he actually tried cutting the steak himself and agreed that it wasn't edible. To his credit, he offered to cook us completely new meals, but we'd lost our appetite by that point and declined.
Perhaps there are much better restaurants in Yasmine — I'm only commenting on our experience — but we actually felt that we might as well have stayed at the hotel.
🪰 Flies
There is a significant fly problem around the hotel.
Inside the restaurant, it wasn't unusual to have several flies landing on you while you were trying to eat. You're constantly batting them away.
There were also lots of flies around the pool.
I've seen ants around the pool and restaurant areas, but thankfully never in our room.
I don't know how much of the fly problem is realistically within the hotel's control, but it's definitely something potential guests should be aware of.
📶 Wi-Fi — genuinely excellent
One thing I can't fault is the Wi-Fi.
It was the best hotel Wi-Fi I've ever experienced.
I bought 11GB of mobile data before travelling and barely used 2GB because the hotel Wi-Fi worked brilliantly in our room, around the pool and throughout the hotel.
♿ Accessibility
This is something I think is particularly important for future guests with mobility issues.
There are a lot of stairs without handrails or banisters.
My mum was recovering from a hip replacement and also suffers from vertigo, so she found some of the stairs very difficult.
There were occasions when she had nothing to hold onto and had to use people's elbows and shoulders for support. On one occasion she was even holding onto a large plant pot!
There are some ramps, but they aren't always on the most obvious or convenient routes.
For that reason, I would not consider this hotel particularly wheelchair-friendly or suitable for someone who is unsteady on stairs.
🚕 Getting around
I would strongly recommend downloading InDrive.
We used it for most of our journeys and generally found it cheaper than the taxis waiting outside the hotel.
The yellow taxis outside the hotel also seemed to have a bit of a rivalry with the drivers picking up InDrive customers.
One important tip: confirm the price before you get into the taxi.
We had drivers quote one price and then try to increase it once we arrived.
For example, if we'd agreed 15 TND, we'd stick to that — although we'd usually tip on top.
The taxis are generally very cheap. The old Medina cost around 10–15 TND, while Yasmine was around 20 TND during the day.
We were also told that taxi fares increase after 9pm. One evening we paid around 30 TND each way to Yasmine.
🛍️ Yasmine and the Medinas
I'd definitely recommend visiting Yasmine. There are lots of shops, the Medina and the Marina, and we enjoyed going there.
There's also a large supermarket selling tourist souvenirs where everything is priced.
If you don't enjoy haggling, this is a brilliant option because you can simply buy what you want without the pressure.
The Medina shopping experience itself can be quite intense.
The shopkeepers are extremely persistent. You can walk past one shop and be approached, then another person approaches you almost immediately at the next shop, and so on.
Personally, I found it very overwhelming and at one point became quite angry with the constant hassle.
If you enjoy bartering, you may love it. If you don't, stick to the shops that display prices.
🏍️ Excursions
I booked a quad-biking trip through GetYourGuide and found the whole process very straightforward.
The price was reasonable, booking was easy and, importantly, it removed the need to negotiate with excursion sellers.
There are lots of different trips available through the app, so I'd recommend having a look before arriving.
👀 An unusual thing we experienced
Throughout our two weeks, my daughter and I experienced quite a lot of persistent staring from other tourists at the hotel.
Some people would stare at us for surprisingly long periods, sometimes repeatedly, even after we'd made eye contact.
I genuinely have no idea why. I don't want to speculate about people's motives, but it did make us uncomfortable at times.
🌴 The atmosphere
This is where the hotel really worked for us.
It is quiet and relaxing rather than lively.
There are people around and the hotel is clearly busy, but it never felt rushed. We didn't queue for food and rarely queued for drinks. There are lots of places to sit, have a drink, read a book or simply do nothing.
The hotel next door, Bel Azur, is reportedly livelier and has more entertainment. We visited its disco one Friday night at around midnight and, on the night we went, it was virtually empty.
The Royal Azur's own evening entertainment is very limited and generally finishes around 9.30pm.
If you're looking for nightlife, lots of entertainment, bars and restaurants on your doorstep, this isn't the hotel for you.
If you want to switch off and completely wind down, I think it's a very good choice.
And I wouldn't limit that recommendation to solo travellers. Couples, friends or anyone wanting a peaceful break could enjoy it.
⭐ Would I return?
Yes, I would.
That might sound strange after reading all of the negatives above, but I think it's important to be honest about both sides.
This is not a UK-standard five-star hotel. It has problems with housekeeping, food temperatures, food labelling, flies and accessibility. The bathroom in our room was basic and the lack of handrails would concern me for anyone with mobility difficulties.
But it also has a lovely relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff, excellent Wi-Fi, plenty of space to sit and unwind, no queues for food, reasonably priced taxis and easy access to places such as Yasmine.
Most importantly, after two weeks there, I realised that I actually really liked the place.
It isn't luxury.
It isn't glamorous.
It isn't a party resort.
But if what you want is somewhere to sit in the sun, read your book, have a drink, enjoy a relatively peaceful atmosphere and just switch your brain off for two weeks, then I think the Royal Azur does that very well.
Just go knowing what it is — rather than expecting a British five-star experience — and you'll have a much better idea of whether it's the right hotel for you."
