Diar Le Medina Reviews

As the Diar Le Medina is classed as a residance and not a hotel there is no entertainment in the hotel itself but do not let that put you off. Leave the hotel by the side entrance behind the recption desk and you are in the souk with bars cafe's and a selection of entertainment or just sit at a cafe and people watch. we took our grand children ( 17 & 14) and they were not BORED as this was their first time in north africa.The food was the second best we have encounted at an all inclusave and we have been to quite a few, There is somthing cooked fresh in frount of you at all meals and the buffet is excellent. The staff are helpful polite and friendly even more so if you give a small tip. Overall this is an excellent place to stay and the appartment(rooms) were almost as big as our house.

We were astonished at the size of our apartment and its standard of equipment. It was actually bigger than the flat we live in, and had TWO fully-equipped bathrooms, with king-sized bed and separate lounge, all kept spotlessly clean and serviced daily. The kitchen area was very well equipped with 2-ring cooker, microwave, toaster and all necessary implements, (but see the problem area below). It must be said that we had been unexpectedly upgraded from the standard double room we'd booked, at no extra cost, simply because it was available, so their attitude was "why not?".

Being self-catering, we only used the restaurant on the first evening, but the buffet-style meal was of a very high standard. The lounge and bar areas were again immaculate, and all staff very friendly and helpful. One surprise was that air-conditioning was fully included in the price, and the safe-deposit box in the room cost £6 for the week, a welcome contrast to the usual rip-off for these "extras".

The only problem, which wouldn't affect everyone, was that when "self catering", we enjoy both exploring local restaurants and doing a couple of night's cooking at home. The problem was that despite the excellent cooking facilities, there was absolutely nowhere to buy the basic ingredients to do so. There is a "supermarket" in the hotel complex, but apart from crisps, soft drinks, a few bags of pasta, and a variety of out-of-date dairy products, there is nothing; not even tinned tomatoes, and certainly nothing fresh, (except eggs, which were nice).

The "big" supermarket (i.e. the only one), is called "Bravo". This is a 20 minute walk from the hotel (turning left towards Hammamet - look for the "Blue Ice" ice ring on the right and it's underneath there), but is again merely a sad few boxes of scarred, yellowing vegetables, cheeses and chickens kept in barely-chilled cabinets and keenly attended by flies, and numerous boxes of unidentifiable sweets, pastries and crisps. Still no tinned tomatoes. Incidentally, this is the ONLY place in the resort where you can buy alcoholic drink to take back to your room. Even then you have to peer over a 5-foot high counter and ask specifically for what you want; there's strictly no browsing around the shelves, and on Friday it's not sold at all.

Of course, this isn't a criticism of the hotel itself, and will not bother many people, but it's worth knowing. I gather the problem is that the Diar is about the only hotel which offers a self-catering option, so it's unlikely that Tesco are going to open a branch to cater for it. If, like most people, you go "all inclusive", it'll be fine.

The hotel has its own patch on the (perfect) beach, called Plage Medina, where the sunbeds are free and alcoholic drinks are available from the beach bar; (contrary to some reports, these CAN be taken onto the beach). This also serves very tasty lunches, although limited in range.

However, the fact remains that the hotel itself is superb. We would happily go back, but definitely "all inclusive" next time.

we went to this hotel 1st april 2009 . the hotel was lovely and very clean. and the staff was realy friendly. food was excellent. would go back just to stay in hotel. would recommend to people. rooms got cleaned every day to a high standard .

We travelled with 3 daughters age 8, 5 and 1. We were given a 2 bedroom 2 storey house with 2 bathrooms and a toilet. The room was cleaned daily and the outside walkways also cleaned. the restaurant was fantastic with freshly cooked omelettes and pancakes for breakfast and an excellent selection for evening meal which was excellent value. The waiters are very attentive and friendly. The beautiful indoor pool was a godsend in february but i'm sure the outside pools will be lovely now its warmer. It was an easy walk to the beach, and a longer walk to the marina and supermarket which sells alcohol under blue ice. Carthage land tickets were included and we had a lovely time there especially the ball zone, younger kids will be disappointed with the strict height restrictions for the rides though. don't be put off by the market stall hawkers, banter back and smile. They are not as bad as they are painted and gave our girls presents. I would definitely recommend this place and hope to go back when the weather is better!!!

We all had a brilliant two week holiday,

The hotel and pools were beautiful and the service was excellent. Self catering was an excellent choice as the resturants especially around the port catered for a variety of tastes and pockets. The hotel's full breakfast cost 20 dinars(£8) for the four of us, a great start to the day. The medina was buzzing with colour, sound and a variety of performers. Found a good bar restaurant near hotel - The Viking -good music, super food, wine 15 dinar a bottle and rum/coke (cuba libre)8 dinar. Kids enjoyed the pools and the activities on the beach 10 dinar to be pulled on a variety of inflatables. Tunisian people are extremely friendly especially with the children and we felt perfectly comfortable walking around the towns in daylight and at night(although you do have to be politely firm to the shopkeepers who try vigorously to get you into their shop!). Travel by ";Louage"; 50 mins to Tunis 3.5 dinar each.We explored the bustling old souk, had coffee at one of the 'salon de the' on the 'champs elysee' and then took the train to the beautiful village of Sidi Bou Said. Another day we took a taxi to Nabeul for the market which was fantastic - felt like we were on the film set for Indiana Jones!

We had a great two week holiday and were disappointed by the few British tourists who expected Britain abroad and complained about the lack of English beer, newspapers and karaoke bars! We were in Morrocco as students years ago and felt Tunisia was a much gentler, and a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to North Africa for the children.