Riu Palace Hotel, Madeira

Advantages: A fantastic holiday experience
Disadvantages: Location, in particular for those with mobility problems although the hotel is disability friendly.

...INTRODUCTION The Riu Palace in Madeira sits like a white-washed fairytale castle with terracotta turrets, corner towers and grand archways looking out over the sapphire-blue sea. The grounds house brightly coloured flowers and palm trees making you believe you are on a Caribbean island far away. The Riu Palace is located right on the seafront at Canico de Baixo, only 10 minutes drive from Funchal Airport and 20 minutes drive to the city of Funchal. On arrival at the airport everything ran smoothly and quickly apart from me not recognising my own suitcase!!! We were driven to the hotel in a small mini bus with 5 other people and half an hour later we were sunbathing by the pool. Now that's what I call service. CHECK IN From the moment you check in at the impressive, grand reception area with its polished marble flooring, elegant...

Helenofellon 01.04.2008 (02.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Riu Palace Madeira, Madeira

Hotel Riu Palace Tres Islas - A Touch of Class

Advantages: Fantastic food, excellent location, great pool, gem of a hotel
Disadvantages: Not recommended for young travellers wanting nightlife

...We visited Riu Palace Tres Islas in Fuerteventura last August for a weeks break. The previous year we also went to Fuerteventura but stayed at a hotel called Bahia Real Atlatis Palace further into Corralejo's town. The resort is located 3 km from Corralejo, 35 km from airport and is situated in the middle of 10 sq m of sand dunes, with the beach on your doorstep. On our previous holiday in Fuerteventura, each day we walked to the Blue Flag beach which is where Hotel Riu Palace Tres Islas sits on and we decided that year that the following year we would stay at that hotel. We booked flights and the hotel ourselves and got a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The cost will be between 30 - 40 Euros for the journey each way. We could have got a bus as the bus stop was nearby. The taxi ride to the hotel can best be described as...

cookeec1 22.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Riu Palace Tres Islas, Fuerteventura

A little piece of luxury winter sunshine

Advantages: beautifully kept hotel, friendly and helpful staff
Disadvantages: entertainment a bit poor, some facilities not working

...visiting her next year, and we decided to go for Tunisia over Morocco because we found the most GORGEOUS looking hotel ever in Tunisia! We immediately booked, and as some of you might know, we came back from said holiday last Wednesday! About the Hotel & Location ****************************************** The Riu Palace Oceana in Hammamet, Tunisia is part of a chain of hotels and resorts. The Oceana is a 5 * resort (as is most of their hotels I believe) providing absoloute luxury. It is situated in Hammamet which is about 1 ½ hours from the nearest airport, Monastir. Location wise - it is not in the centre of Hammamet, rather it is set within a cul de sac of other hotels set apart between the old Hammamet Town and Hammamet Yasmine (the newer part). Rather than being a hinderance, this for us was a bit of luck really, as...

burtybookworm 15.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Riu Palace Oceana, Hammamet

Partying at the Palace (ish)

Advantages: Comfortable, clean, good staff
Disadvantages: A few faults, doesnt live up to expectations

...This review is about my Christmas party experience at the Strand Palace Hotel. This year, I was in charge of organising our office Christmas party, and, being based in South East London, the department tends to head to Bromley or Greenwich for a meal. But this year we decided to go all out, and go 'up west', and so I came across the Strand Palace hotel on my googlequest and we decided to go posh as well. The booking process was slightly tiresome, seeing as the particular member of staff we made our booking through was somewhat challenged in the brains department. The initial booking process was easy. We booked ourselves in for the three-course carvery meal, and then Channy and I (the office babies) were sent scuttling around collecting everybody's cash (£33 per head). All was sent in when a couple of weeks later, the girl calls me...

fabulous_girl 19.12.2005 · Read review
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Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

A Palace of History

Advantages: Beautiful rooms; Historical'; loads to see
Disadvantages: Huge!!

...Hampton Court Palace is about one of the 60 palaces built for King Henry VIII in about 1513. In my opinion, it must be the grandest and mightiest of all the Palaces with over 1100 rooms, acres upon acres of garden, mazes, tennis and bowling courts. It is located next to the River Thames in London. It took me, my mum and step-dad just 1 1/2 to drive there from Portsmouth. The castle is relatively well signposted and it's mainly straight road and motor way with few confusing turn-off's but then again,this is only relavant from where I am travelling from. We passed through some lovely old villages on the way so the journey was pleasing. You can also catch the train of course - the station is basically right next to it! When you arrive, there is a car park of which, you pay for on departing. It costs £3.50 for 3 hours and an extra 50p...

LaceyR26 17.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hampton Court Palace, London

Loved the Riu Tropical Bay

Advantages: beach, food, people
Disadvantages: none

..., and the public are also welcome to, but from a little bit lower! You are asked for a tip from one of the men but he would only ask once and was grateful for whatever you gave, even if it was a little bit. The sunset was very pretty and apparently meant to be one of the best places to see it whilst in Jamaica. The people in general were very friendly, apart from a few people when we went into downtown Negril. As my boyfriend and I are young, we did actually get approached about drugs, but I have been to Jamaica two other times with my family and we've never been approached. The sister hotel Riu Negril is just down the beach. I stayed at this hotel when I came to Negril with my family, and to be honest there wasn't much difference between them, although I think that over the summer the Riu Tropical Bay has been upgraded to a palace, so perhaps...

HS202 20.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Riu Tropical Bay, Negril

A little oasis

Advantages: luxury on tap
Disadvantages: a remote location

...The Riu Palace Oceana is a 5 * oasis situated in the tourist area of Tunisia between Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine. The first consideration to take into account if you think you might book this hotel is that the journey from Monistir Airport takes approx. 1 1/2 hours in a taxi. This is perfectly okay if you are able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Tunisia but may be a bit daunting if you have children or have difficult flight times. As you walk into this hotel you enter a huge circular atrium which is the spectacular focal point of the hotel. From the Reception which is located here you will be taken to your room (or mini suite as it is termed) which will be located on the ground or three floors above. In this area there are two lifts, and plenty of ramps for less mobile vistors. There are staff who will take your belongings to...

millieanna 27.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Riu Palace Oceana, Hammamet

Acqua Palace

Advantages: Clean, modern, fun slides, great day out
Disadvantages: Not as large as I thought it would be

...Myself and my boyfriend visited Tunisia in May 2008 and while we were there we decided to take a walk into the main town, where we found Acqua Palace. About Acqua Palace Acqua Palace as you would imagine, is a water park and it's the only water park in Port El Kantaoui. It was closed for a while in 2007 while renovation works were carried out and it opened its doors again for the summer season of 2008, boasting bigger, better and faster slides. Location Acqua Palace is located about a 5 minute walk from the main town of Port l Kantaoui. It is not very well signposted but we still found it very easy to find. Prices Admission was 15 dinars for adults which works out at £7.50. Prices for children were 7.50 dinars which is about £3.00. I thought the prices were very reasonable and although the park is not massive, I still...

daylehall 31.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Aqua Palace, Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia

Palace aforethought

Advantages: Architecture, atmosphere, good food and service
Disadvantages: A few dodgy facilities; noises off at night

...The plan was to ease our way into India. We had found on previous visits to farflung parts of the world that the last thing one wants to do on arrival is to plunge straight into the hubbub of a big city, or be faced with an exhausting programme of sight-seeing on the first day. An initial pause to relax, acclimatise and shake off the jetlag seemed a much better idea. And, to judge from the map and the guidebooks, the Neemrana looked just the place for it. Or perhaps I should say, just the palace for it. Of Rajasthan's many converted palace hotels, it is the one nearest to Delhi, so that it can be reached in just two and a half hours from the international Airport. It is also one of the oldest, the original building dating from 1464, though since then it has been augmented, fortified, reduced and restored several times...

torr 21.02.2006 (23.02.2006) · Read review
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Review of Neemrana Fort Palace

Food Fit For A KIng At The Shimla Palace

Advantages: Brilliant food, good service
Disadvantages: Desserts not brilliant

...I decided to visit the Shimla Palace in Cowdenbeath after hearing a colleague rave about it and it has since become one of my favourite places for a relaxed place to eat out. It is an Indian buffet restaurant which offers meals for a fixed price ranging from £4.99 at lunchtime to £9.95 at the weekend. On arriving at the restaurant I was not impressed by the exterior. I parked in the small rectangular car park and, avoiding the huge potholes, made my way to the shabby looking whitewashed building which looked far from palatial. We made our way inside, and a smartly dressed waiter took us to a table and took our drinks orders. While waiting for our drinks to arrive. I took a look around and was impressed with the modern décor. There were around 20 tables downstairs set on lovely wooden floors with a further seating area upstairs...

wigglylittleworm 08.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Shimla Palace, Fife