Royal Garden Palace (Families and Couples)

We’ve come back for the third time, and the staff are a big reason why it feels like home here. The waiter who served dinner at table 72 deserves special mention. He’s so polite, kind, and professional. We always choose the table next to him, and he deserves a raise! The hotel was spotless, and you can see the care that goes into keeping it clean. Our room was spacious, bright, and comfortable. The food was incredible too, with every meal full of flavor and beautifully presented. We can’t wait to return.

The all-inclusive setup means you can find food and drinks at any time, with a buffet open even through the night. Rooms are kept tidy with good daily housekeeping, and the huge pool gets very warm in summer. It’s only a three-minute walk from the room to the beach. The water is beautiful, and the sand stays clean even with camels around. If I come back to Djerba, I’d choose this hotel again. Some people had a bad impression of the island, but I can see how much depends on the hotel. The cocktails are varied, though the drinks aren’t well-known brands and the quality could be better. Celtia, the Tunisian beer, is excellent. The beach bar is supposed to serve cocktails, but doesn’t. Some staff seemed inexperienced, which I realized was likely because there weren’t enough workers, especially in peak season. The hotel feels very luxurious, though it’s showing its age and could use some renovation. This is one of the best hotels in Djerba, and its 5-star rating feels well deserved.

I’d recommend this place to anyone after a quiet, rejuvenating break. The grounds are gorgeous, with a lush garden around the hotel, and the beach is clean, well looked after, and easy to reach. Rooms are spacious and clean, recently renovated, and kept to a high standard with daily housekeeping. The pool is large and maintained well, with room to swim or just relax. Activities and entertainment are well organized, and the animators are enthusiastic and skilled. Service was attentive and professional throughout, and there was a wide choice of fresh, tasty food all day. Photos and videos attached for reference.

The rooms are large, soundproofed, cleaned perfectly every day, and have good beds. Wi-Fi worked well, and the minibars were supplied with enough bottled drinking water each day. The gardens and pool area also have lovely palms, flowers, and greenery, though some parts were still being replanted or regrown. The beach is 400m away. In May there was a lot of seaweed on the shore and in the water, but the hotel gardens staff cleared it from the hotel beach daily. At first glance, the hotel looks good, but after a closer look it was disappointing and didn’t feel like a 5-star place. It’s in poor condition, and service was often unfriendly. The rooms are spacious and clean, while the pools are old but okay. There’s one average buffet restaurant. Getting into the Tunisian restaurant by request was difficult. We had to go back several times at the exact booking time to speak with a rude manager. It has a nice, romantic atmosphere, and the food was basically okay, but not a culinary experience. Dinner at the buffet also had to be booked for a set time each day, so you had to choose between early and late. All-inclusive service only ran from 7am to 9pm, with no food or snacks between breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After 3pm, the outside pool bar only had sweet cakes and ice cream. The bathrooms need renovation. The hotel advertises various 5-star services that didn’t work when we needed them. Laundry took four days to return my dress, and it came back dirty twice. That can happen, and a helpful, professional female reception manager sorted it out. She may have been the only staff member like that. We couldn’t extend the room or book another one if we needed to stay past the normal checkout time. Our flight was in the evening, but we still had to leave by noon, even though it wasn’t high season and half the hotel was empty. I asked repeatedly and well in advance, and was willing to pay extra, but it wasn’t possible. The only option was to leave our luggage in an open, unattended storage area near the entrance. There was no safe or any other place to keep valuables or the equipment I use for journalism.