Great if you like Camels, Rice and Oranges!! (Les Orangers Beach)

Member Name: magenta23

Product:	Les Orangers Beach
Date:	04/01/09 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful grounds, friendly staff, lots to do

Disadvantages: Food at lunch and dinner was overcooked

LOCATION
Les Orangers Beach Resort is a hotel and Beach bungalow complex in Tunisia. It's right on the beach, located halfway between old and new Hammamet. Each town is easy to get to from the resort, just a few minutes in a taxi or a 40 minutes stroll down the beach, but there are a handful of local shops just outside the gates of the resort.


THE GROUNDS & FACILITIES
The resort itself consists of one main building and further blocks of apartments and beach bungalows. The main building, at the entrance to the resort is where the reception is located. Here is also the bar, breakfast room and restaurant, disco and the main bulk of the hotel rooms. The resort also boasts a beach cafe and ice cream bar, tennis courts, gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, sauna, children's playground, football pitch, avaries, stables and of course it's own stretch of beautiful sandy beach. All of these facilities are set in the most gorgeous grounds, the gardens being something to in their own right. If you wanted to there's plenty to entertain here without leaving the resort.



COST AND WHAT'S INCLUDED
We were accomodated by Les Orangers through a package with Thomas Cook which cost around £300 per person, visiting in springtime. We visited late March. For this, you got return flights and transfers, 7 nights accomodation and all inclusive use of the resort, food and drink. I thought this was very good value.


SERVICE & ROOMS
The staff at the resort were the nicest people I've met. So genuine. There were a vast amount of staff working here and everyone took the time to look up from what they were doing to say hello to you whenever you walked past. Little details like this can really make a holiday, after all that place is your home for the week, atmosphere is everything. We stayed in one of the blocks of hotel rooms away from the main building. We were the next block from the indoor swimming pool and gym, and looked right over the beach. The place was lovely and peaceful. All you could hear was the waves and the birds as you fell asleep and woke in the morning. The rooms were, clean and tidy with very comfy beds and good size ensuite with bath and shower. Our bed were made and toiletries topped up every day when we were out and the maid left flowers on our bed and even folded our pjs!!


FOOD
I think the real let down for me with this place was the food. Everything was with rice, and it was served buffet style, under heat lamps so the food was often dried up if you weren't in there bang on 6 for dinner. There was always a selection of food for dinner, usually three or four types of fish which I would have loved had it not been so overcooked. There was also some sort of pasta dish, which you can imagine the state of under heat lamps, and usually a stew of some description. Lunch was pretty much the same deal. My advice is treat yourself to one or two meals out of the resort while you are there. A couple recommended a restaurant just outside the resort called Cascades so we went there for dinner on our last night. The food was to die for the ambience was unlike any restaurant I've been to before or since. That evening defiately made up for all the poor food we had! At the resort breakfast, however, was good, there was a good range of cereals and toast, sweetbreads and cooked foods. They also did the most delicious orange juice squeezed freshly in front of you. From the name you can imagine there were many orange trees in the grounds, and it was lovely to be able to get a taste of the produce. Oranges were in abundance at every breakfast, luch and dinner sitting. I ate so many, I'm surprised I didn't come back orange.


WEATHER
There wasn't much chance of coming back orange from the weather. In March Tunisia is pleasant but not hot. I'm not much of a sun worshipper so for me it was the perfect time to visit. A comfortable temperature for getting out and about with out being uncomfortably hot. I walked around in shorts or linen trousers and a t shirt and was comfortable. It's funny though, as the locals are in coats and they think it's cold!!


EXCURSIONS
Excursions are provided through the hotel reception or through the holiday rep that visits your hotel. These are extra but are well worth the money. We did 3 excursions. They have things ranging from zoos to visits to the ancient ruins at Carthage, shopping in Tunis to seeing the beautiful mosaics at the Bardo Museum. None of these are pushed, but the people are very happy to give you advice on which are the best to do. Prices really depend on what it is you are doing. Half day excursions can cost as little as £20 but full day ones whic take you to several different places may set you back more like £50. The buses pick you up from the reception and bring you back at the end of the excursion. Each trip usually runs two or three times a week. In and around the resort there's a lot to do and everywhere is pretty easy to access if you want to explore by yourself. The locals also hang around resorts offering their own services. Most are very trustworthy and just making a living. Haggle the prices for their services though. They will start off sky high! We took a horse and cart ride from a local guy to the new town of Hammemet one afternoon and another guy wanders along the beach offering camel rides which is also good fun. However there are the odd one or two shady characters that offer you other excursions and want the money up front. I was wary of these ones. You are best to double check with resort staff of just stick to the official excursions if you are in any doubt.

IN CONCLUSION...
All in all Les Orangers is a great place to stay and Tunisia is a magical country to visit. Off season is quiet but you don't get the heat. It really does has a lot to offer all year round. I only which we had longer there.

Summary: A good place to stay for all ages, all year round