Arabs's

Written: 15 march 2010
Travel time: 25 september — 5 october 2009
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For recreation with friends, for young people
We were with my wife in Hammamet from September 25 to October 5.2009. A ticket for 10 days cost 48.000 rubles. For the same money it was possible to take 4ku, but the tour operator persuaded me to take 3 Bel Azur. She was probably right, as they were generally satisfied with the rest.
We were lucky with the weather - practically not a single day of a storm. Only in the evening it became cold and an unpleasant wind blew.
The room was settled quickly, but in a hole. Promptly slipped $ 25 at the reception, and were immediately moved to a room corresponding to a good three-ruble note. Do not take 2 beds. There was a tiny 2-bed in the "hole", so 2 single beds were moved in the new one (so much better) - pay attention when booking. There are no refrigerators. There is air conditioning.

The biggest plus of the hotel is that it is located in a luxurious park along with Sol Azur and Royal Azur. The second plus is that it is closest to the sea, and the lounge area is shared with the 5 * Royal Azur. Do not take a bungalow - they are closest to the sea, but are located on the promenade (hosh-no-hosh - look) and are actually a 2-storey corridor-type hotel without reception.
Take NV. Breakfasts, apart from sausages, are good. Tea, coffee, baked goods, var. eggs, yoghurts - pretty well for a healthy lifestyle.
Dinner is not so rosy. Only poultry was deliciously prepared from meat, although in the city for a penny ($ 7-10 for two for lunch) all sorts of beef shacks and other grilled food were made well. Once I got addicted to Stolovsky salads (then I noticed that there were really rotten vegetables in the vegetable slices - Arabs's). Baked is great. Especially cakes (every other day). Ice cream is chemical. There are no fish at all. And in the city it is, only in restaurants ($70-100 for two). So, in the crisis year 2009, there was a complete flight for seafood.
The most serious disadvantage of dinners is the lack of included drinks. Firstly: there is no tea in the evening menu at all. You have to order either wine or water (maybe I don’t remember having coffee), but you have to wait until the waiter serves you and pay him a tip, despite the fact that for everything else you serve yourself according to the rules of the buffet (in my opinion, nonsense and extremely inconvenient ). You can advise to take a large bottle of wine and water, and then ask to leave not drunk until tomorrow.
Buy water at the Fix Price store right in front of the hotel gate (no cheaper). You need to bring it to the hotel in closed bags and no one really digs. In the same manner, you can steal fruits and baked goods from the canteen (everyone steals and did not catch anyone). The set of fruits is the same as in Moscow shops (even poorer): apples, grapes, pears, watermelons. From the exotic, only cactus fruits - you can eat.
Drink alcohol in duty free. Local wine varies in quality from bottle to bottle, although its sale is controlled by the state. Branded drinks are very expensive there.

For nightlife go to Sol Azur or nearby nightclubs (ask taxi drivers). In general, Bel-Azur is for lovers of silence and total relaxation. The first 7 days - what you need, but then fed up and we began to go to the Memphis salt-azure pub.
For shopping, you can pay attention to locally produced shoes (not bad in quality and cheap - $ 15-20 for a pair of leather shoes). In general, local leather cases cost a penny if you like Arabic style. Women stocked bags (fake brands). The quality is crap, but... very cheap. By the way, bargain boldly. The first price that you will be called will not be far from Moscow. In the process of trading, it decreases from 2 to 8 times (as long as you have enough patience).
Do not go to Medina, there is a concentrated accumulation of criminal trading elements. We got off with swearing, but we talked about unpleasant incidents with women (such as “either buy or you won’t go anywhere” and they really hold you, they don’t let you in - there are such nooks and crannies).
The sea for 7 days was perfectly clean - white sand at the bottom is visible at 2-3 meters. A couple of times it brought algae and once rubbish (bags, newspapers, etc. - it was disgusting), then it takes it away and it was like nothing happened. Algae are cleaned by trained personnel.
Local thalasso at prices somewhere around $ 20 for the procedure, and something like $ 500 for a 7-day course. I thought and could not understand what the joke was (wholesale is not cheaper). Once we went to the aquatic (the whole day in a tubular pool with waterfalls - $ 20 per person) - nothing, it's cool.

We rode camels - Arab affairs! They promised some unforgettable show in the desert with the Berbers. As a result: they were taken to some local slums (we really shied away! ), ripped off 6 dinars for rags on our heads, drove around the outskirts of Hammamet (beautifully, but without training for camel riding, my legs became very numb). Then they brought us to the village, where there really were ethnic Berbers (they walked barefoot and had tattoos on their legs, as we were told from black tea). They offered tea from unwashed dishes, dressed in their rags - that's the whole show. But they brought them safe and sound to the place, let them off the camels free of charge, and baksheesh was shouted - generally without incident, but also a pleasure so-so, for a lover of ethnic affairs. But then they explained to us that nothing more should be expected from the Arab shows.
The general feeling of the rest: in general, a comfortable, quiet stay for very little money. They took with them 20.000 rubles. - and in 10 days they could not spend everything, which in our case is nonsense!
Translated automatically from Russian. View original