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Now that I am in Tunisia full time I am going to review more hotels and also go more in depth than the usual review that is available in the hotel details in the hotels directory.



The Yasmine Marina Palace is situated in a secondary position behind the marina in the centre of Hammamet the hotel doesn’t have direct beach access however it is very centrally located and next to where the action is.













































This hotel is available through all of the major online travel agents in the UK and we paid 39 pounds per room per night for two rooms half board.





Agrandir le plan



If you are driving to the hotel it is simplicity itself to find as you head into Yasmine and then take the left before you get the marina and there you are.



Arrival





































The hotel itself is different from the monolithic hotels that are the norm in Yasmine and makes a nice change especially as I have a soft spot for small hotels. You enter the car park and you can park right outside the nice looking hotel building which is a nice pale terracotta colour and logically has a clean nice large entrance which welcomes you in.



As with most modern Tunisian hotels this hotel has a nice large airy lobby which along with the clean shiny finish gives the hotel a welcoming if not spectacular introduction this is not a large hotel but immediately you feel this is one where you are not going to get lost in either (or very tired walking around).



You turn to the right where you have the usual change and reception desks where the staff where informal but quick to assign us our keys and send us up to our rooms.

As we left the main entrance the hotel began to feel a little more dated than the main entry areas however nothing unclean most importantly. Again I liked the compact layout and ease of navigation within the hotel.



The Rooms



Our first stop was the outside facing room (sigh), which Hajer assigned to our guest, as she never takes the room without the view. The room was a good size with two queen size beds however the outside room was a little dark and the view was just of the side of the next hotel.



Feeling a little guilty myself and Hajer moved on fingers crossed our room would be the other side of the corridor and thankfully it was and enjoyed sun and pool views which instantly made it three times better than the other room. The room itself was a nice if not large size and had good storage and logical layout. The slightly dated feel extended to the furnishings of the room, which though clean looked a bit passed it along with the bathroom finish and broken shower.

The television had BBC world and one or two channels from Italy, Germany and France but not enough to make this a feature, reception was mixed on these channels. For those of you that need a mini-bar this was not present neither was tea/coffee facilities.



































The balcony was a good size for two people to sit and chat and enjoy the view which was quite nice as the gardens and the outside of the hotel are nice with a good size pool as I have stated before I like a nice well formed small hotel which can feel like home from home.



Outside



































Once moved in we went for an explore around the hotel, the pool areas looked well maintained aside from some build up of grass that could have been swept away but generally the pool was nice and we could not be too harsh as the weather was not so good before during or after our stay. The dining room of the hotel extends out of the back with the outside restaurant underneath however this was closed during out stay.



Service and Dining



Now as I mentioned before there is no way that anyone would prefer an outside room to a view room in this hotel so I was asked to call and try and change the room to one our side so that we both enjoyed the views/sun. I called reception and was told to call back in an hour as if I was lucky that maybe I might be able to change (thanks for doing me a favour!). Naturally I called back and this time the lady told me no immediately no sorry just no which I found strange as the hotel was as dead as a doornail save for a group of students. I was told that if I called back again that they would see what they could do again as if doing me a favour I replied that as this was a four star hotel I would leave the matter in their capable hands and enjoy my stay needless to say I heard nothing.



The staff in the hotel seemed to have a good command of English as well as Spanish and Italian and German, which was good as everyone in the hotel was from another country. We headed into the dining room a little early as we had driven from Bizerte, the room itself was clean and laid out in the usual hotel style and all of the food looked clean and well presented though not spectacularly so. We where seated where we liked which was nice and everyone made a fuss of Sara which was nice however this was slightly ruined by the fact that a couple of the waiters took great fun at us for the next hour or so which made for a unprofessional and uncomfortable experience which is a shame as the head waiter was a nice professional sort.



As for the food itself it was ok but standard rather than amazing and the selection really didn’t change for the two days we where there. Salads and bread where nice though so it wasn’t a total disaster. We had a couple of cokes, two bottles of water and one beer for our guest and this came to 10.800 which not cheap was not expensive.



Breakfast



For me the most important meal is breakfast and this was basic with nothing exceptional the usual fare with a crepe and omelette stand for those wanting something warm. I love savoury crepes so I asked for an egg and salami one thinking to myself that this would be easy, however the chef told me that only chocolate and jam was available. Shame as I was the only person there at the time and little things go a long way for me.



Bars and Disco



I am unable to review the disco as this was closed along with a number of the shops in the hotel. The bars of the hotel are standard clean and cosy however we did mistakenly think that we would be served sitting down which the two staff located at the bar disagreed with deciding to chat for 15 minutes rather than come serve/tell us we had to come to the bar which I think is wrong for the bar of a 4 star hotel with only us in the bar.



Indoor Pool



The indoor pool is adequate clean and used by the guests and is easy to get to from the rooms in the hotel.



Summary



I left this hotel feeling a little mixed as I liked the building, which felt compact with a nice pool and easy navigation to and from the different areas. Even the rooms though dated where a good size and comfortable if not wonderfully so. The location is also good as if you get bored you simply walk to another place and the beach is not far, some no doubt would prefer a place right on the beach itself.



What let the hotel down in my eyes was not the building or the décor but the service as for every member of staff who was nice (chambermaid, head waiter cocktail barman) there where ones who simply couldn’t be bothered. A one stage we sat in the bar and a senior manager/owner came into the hotel which at once got the staff moving and we joked to ourselves that we would love the same level of service.



At the price we paid this hotel is not competitive with others which offer more for the same if not a little more and others which are not 4 star but love their guests more so if you get a good price and nice weather you can really enjoy being at the Yasmine marina palace as the pool and location are good however do not pay over the odds or you may feel a little underwhelmed.



Hotel 2 out of 5: Nice building, tired rooms and halls and mixed service if the latter can be resolved then it would have been over 3



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