Melia El Mouradi, Hammamet

On my recent trip to Tunisia we stayed at two different hotels - one of them was this one, the El Mouradi Hammamet. The hotel is actually located in Yasmine Hammamet and is located just across the road from the beach and is only around the corner from the local amusement park, Carthage Land. The hotel is a 5 star hotel and is sold on a either a bed and breakfast, half board or full board basis.

When we arrived at the hotel it was already ...
...flight and it was going on for about 11pm when we actually got to the hotel. The front entrance is all marble and quite wide - it was lit up with a lower light than normal and this gave the hotel a very nice look to it as it wasn't too bright!

Reception:
The reception area is quite large with the check in desk to the right hand side as you enter and a selection of seating areas spread out around the lobby. Just around from reception ... more

On my recent trip to Tunisia we stayed at two different hotels - one of them was this one, the El Mouradi Hammamet. The hotel is actually located in Yasmine Hammamet and is located just across the road from the beach and is only around the corner from the local amusement park, Carthage Land. The hotel is a 5 star hotel and is sold on a either a bed and breakfast, half board or full board basis.

When we arrived at the hotel it was already dark as we had travelled in on the late Tunisair flight and it was going on for about 11pm when we actually got to the hotel. The front entrance is all marble and quite wide - it was lit up with a lower light than normal and this gave the hotel a very nice look to it as it wasn't too bright!

Reception:
The reception area is quite large with the check in desk to the right hand side as you enter and a selection of seating areas spread out around the lobby. Just around from reception is the currency exchange and also a cash machine. The lifts to the other floors of the hotel are located on the same side as reception. The reception area had one man on the desk and also a porter.

Check in:
When we arrived we actually went straight to get something to eat as the hotel had been informed of our late arrival before hand and so we actually checked into our rooms after we had eaten. The man who checked us in asked us to fill in a small form with name and address details on which I found a bit of a pain but it's not the first time I've been asked to fill forms like this in when checking in at hotels so it was done and handed back to him. Now the group of us that were checking in consisted of 18 of us, so as you can imagine, it took a little while longer than normal - especially as it was for 18 separate rooms! As each of us filled in our forms and handed them back he would cross the person off his list and give them their room key. Once we had these away we went. We were only here for one night so as it was pretty late at this point most of us were straight off to bed! The porter was on hand for anybody who needed him but I was happy to make my own way to my room without his assistance. For those who did use him it was normal to tip him. A couple of Tunisian Dinars is sufficient.

Rooms:
The hotel has rooms that are made for 2 people all the way up to family rooms for up to 5 people( including infants) and the rooms that are normally used for 2 people are the ones used as single rooms. The room I had was made up of 2 single beds and the first thing you notice when you walk in the room is the size of it. The room was a lot larger than most beach hotels I've ever been to which is a big bonus as if I was sharing this room with somebody else it would still have felt large. As you walk in the rooms have a bathroom to one side which is made up of a decent sized marble room with sink and large tub along with an over tub shower. There is then a cubicle area where the toilet is although this doesn't have a separate door to it. The other side as you walk into the room has the wardrobes and also a hidden fridge in one of the cupboards. From walking in to getting to the bedroom door the corridor was about 10-11ft long - so not overly huge but for a standard bedroom not bad at all. The bedroom itself was then large as well and this led onto a balcony. This is where I was let down on space as my balcony was pretty small with me being on a corner where as my friend who was also on the trip, had a front facing room and a large balcony. Not that I minded as after all I didn't get to use it anyway! All rooms have a tv with satellite, wi-fi connection, a safe, a hair dryer, a telephone and air conditioning.

The facilities:
The hotel has a range of facilities so I will describe the ones we saw as best I can.
The main thing is obviously the swimming pool as this is what everybody staying here will probably use at some point or even just sit around. The pool is pretty large with plenty of sun loungers and umbrellas. It is set out nicely with a deeper end and shallow section for children. The pool looked nice and clean which is always the main concern for me when there is a lot of people using it daily. There is also a indoor pool section which has a jacuzzi area.
Next to the pool is a stage area where in the high season there is entertainment on for the children in the day and in the evenings there is something always going on to entertain guests. In the day there are various activities going on including archery, darts, mini golf etc and there is also a mini club for children aged 5-12 years old.

The hotel have a large function room which has facilities for big meetings and also can cater for parties and weddings etc. The room looked nice and would suit people who might go abroad for a corporate meeting and need up to date facilities.

The hotel has a wellness centre which offers a variety of treatments including massage, manicures, pedicures and facial treatments.

Restaurants:
The hotel has a grand total of 4 restaurants - quite a lot and during our stay we only used 1 of them - obviously not much chance to use much more considering it was just a one night stay but in the high season I can certainly see how all these would come in useful to accommodate the amount of guests they would have! However, the one we did eat in, the Nesrine buffet restaurant was very nice. The restaurant is huge and there is a wide range of hot and cold food to choose from as well as salads and lots of deserts! There was a good selection of breads laid out too which I thought was nice as it was good to be able to choose which type of bread rather than just standard rolls! To give an idea of food on offer, the evening we arrived we had a selection of meats and fish and then the day after for lunch we had 3 different meats to chooses from on the grill and again a fish along with a pasta too. There was again salad available and there was during both meals a good selection of drinks including beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. The staff serving were friendly and helpful and always smiling. The other restaurants are a al a carte, a beach restaurant and a pizzeria so a good variety to choose from.

Bars:
The hotel has 3 bars and these are open at various points during the day - unfortunately I did not get time to even sample them at all so can't really comment on them but if the restaurant was anything to go by I would have thought they would be nice. One of the old bars was currently waiting to be refurbished and this looked quite nice just off from the main lobby with a stage for entertainment which would be ideal if the weather wasn't so great outside.

Location:
The hotel's location means it is great for a relaxing on the beach as it is just over the road from it and the beach looked lovely with a decent amount of loungers. When we came to the hotel there didn't seem to be much going on around the surrounding areas but this could have been due to the fact it was out of season. However the hotel do have their own entertainment so if you literally wanted a hotel to stay in with everything on hand it would be perfect. In the day there are a few shops around and just down the road is the 'Blue Ice' which is a skating rink so there is stuff to do just not loads.

Overall opinion:
I thought the hotel was nice and that all the staff I came into contact with were very good - I actually thought the hotel was possibly a 4 star before realising it was rated 5 star. Not that I don't think it deserves that rating as the range of facilities are great and prices are excellent with prices starting at just 144TND per night for 2 adults to stay on a full board basis. The current exchange rate is 2.28TND to £1 so as you can see you're looking at less than £65 for a hotel and 3 main meals for two! Not bad at all and this was what put the hotel in a much higher opinion for me than anything else! The only reason I didn't think t was 5 star was because when we arrived at the hotel I thought 'mmm, nice' not 'oh wow!' but, this is probably just me as I've stayed in some really nice hotels with my job where there is no doubt straight away that the standard is that of the highest! However for cost and the nice beach location along with the range of facilities, this hotel gets a thumbs up from me! 

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