After a wonderful week at Tui Blue Manar it is time for our review, but did it match up to our previous Tui Blue experiences?
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Check In
Check in was chaotic, considering we did a private transfer and were the only people checking in.
I went to reception to check in and was handed some forms to complete (one per room) and went back to reception. He pointed to another desk the other side of the lobby and said I needed to go to the man there. (There was no man at any table) he eventually appeared and gave us one key (we had 2 rooms) and said come back after lunch to get the 2nd room key.
He then sent me back to the main reception to pay the tourist tax (Which was about £80)
Tunisia has a tourist tax, officially called a “hotel tax”, that is applied to visitors staying in hotels. The tax is based on the hotel’s star rating and is collected per person per night. The tax applies for a maximum of 10 nights, even for longer stays.
Here’s the breakdown of the tax rates as of 21/6/25:
2-star hotels: 4 Tunisian dinars per person per night.
3-star hotels: 8 Tunisian dinars per person per night.
4- and 5-star hotels: 12 Tunisian dinars per person per night.
The tax is paid directly to the hotel upon arrival or during the stay, and it is not reclaimable if the stay is shortened. Children under 12 are exempt from the tax.
Hotel Grounds
The hotel grounds were immaculate, there is always someone cleaning, litter picking or gardening. We loved the Makers of Happy Garden where an employee is picked each month to have a tree/plant planted for them.
Cats
You’ll find quite a few stray cats at Tui Blue Manar. They even have their own cat car station down by the beach. It must be kitten season as there were quite a few litters in different areas.
A single ginger kitten and it’s mum were usually by the snack bar and this bigger litter of kitten and mum were down behind the sports courts. This little one was super friemdly and came straight out to Oscar!
Rooms
I have done a separate post on the rooms so as not to make this post super long.
We had a Swim up double with terrace (Sleeps up to 3) and a Double with kids den room (Sleeps up to 4)
Food
Main Restaurant
The main buffet restaurant is open for Breakfast (7-10am, with a late riser cold breakfast on the terrace 10-11am), Lunch (12.30-2:30pm) and Dinner (6.30pm – 9pm) They have themed evenings also in the main restaurant, check the Tui Blue app for the nights of these – we had mexican, asian and tunisian nights.
Here are just a few of the food options we had on our visit, honestly there was so much food I don’t think anyone could complain they couldn’t find something to eat! They even had Vegan options which I know is a struggle to find at some hotels.
The live cooking stations were great and offered some additional choices to the meals. The fresh pancakes were lush at breakfast! Holly also loved the giant strawberries which were so sweet you could eat them without sugar.
Thea’s Coffee Shop
Thea’s is Tui Blues brand of coffee shops and this one is open 11am-4pm daily, it doesn however stay open later when sport is on the TV just serving drinks (as it is attached to the lobby bar) so we were able to catch the football in here on an evening.
The coffee wasn’t too bad and the kids liked the sandwiches but we didn’t spend too much time in here other than watching the football as it did get quite busy at times.
Snack Bar
The Snack Bar is open 12.30-4pm daily. It served a range of the main restaurant lunch items plus freshly made pizzas and toasted sandwiches. They also did ice cream but only between 3-4pm
Baia – à la carte
Again this deserved its own post so you can find out more about Baia over here.
Sandwich Corner
Unfortunately this wasn’t open during our stay but I can see on the Tui Blue app it is now open 11am – 6pm and it is located opposite the snack bar / next to the water slides.
Activities
Blue Fit schedule
The Blue Fit schedule includes everything from Pilates to HIIT workouts and everything in between. It is something I do love about Tui Blue hotels. When we stayed at Atlantica Dreams I did quite a few of the classes with Beth, I didn’t gel with any of the instructors here quite as much so just did. a pilates class forgetting I am not infact flexible at all!
The classes I saw happening were inside the hut but they also have the outdoor platform which I guess is used when its warmer (not that I wasn’t boiling anyway but it is still their winter)
Archery
Weirdly archery is listed as an 18+ activity here but only 12+ at Atlantica Dreams, so we booked on anyway and they were quite happy for Chloe to do it (she’s 14) and there were younger ones doing it too with their parents.
Nordic Walking
Chloe and I thought it would be nice to go on the Nordic Walk, little did we realise just how hot it would be out in the open walking along the beach!
It was also advertised as being a 60 minute activity but we were out for 1hr 20 mins and walked around 5km! Walking on soft sand is hard work, let alone in the heat, we stupidly didn’t take any water or sun cream with us but managed to not burn as we did throw some on our shoulders before we left.
It was really interesting seeing all the hotels that have been abandoned, although sad to see some of the beautiful resorts just rotting away. Our guide was very knowledgable as not only was he local but he had worked at several of the hotels before they closed.
Pool side games (darts etc)
Throughout the day were various poolside games including darts and party dancing.
Padel/Tennis/Football Courts
You could access the Padel, football and tennis courts as long as no pre arranged activities were going on. We didn’t use them other than when Holly played football so can’t comment on how good they are but they were always busy.
Highropes
Min age : 6 years
Min height : 1.2m
Opening Times
Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun
10am – 1pm & 3pm – 6pm
Prices
Level 1 : 30 TND (Approx £7.50)
Level 2 : 40 TND (Approx £10)
Chloe, Lottie, Holly and I had a go on the highropes. I only did Level 1 mainly to make sure Holly was ok as she was quite nervous, she then decided she wanted to do Level 2 without me so off she went. I did tell the guy who was running it she will probably need, and she did, when it came to the sideways climbing wall she wasn’t confident enough to reach her foot out to the next foot hold so he quickly raced round to help her and stayed with her the rest of the way.
Pools
Relax Pool
The Relax pool (quiet pool area) is located over by the football pitches and as the name suggests it was very quiet. No music or activities over here, just lots of people snoozing. I was very jealous they didn’t have several small children to chase around and instead could just sleep in the sun.
Activity Pool
As the name suggests this is where all the action happens! From aqua fit to foam parties, it really is a lively pool.
During the foam party they had popcorn and ice lollies for the kids, I think Oscar had about 20!
Water park
The water park consists of 6 waterslides, 2 that require you to use a donut float. Holly loved that she was tall enough to go on then all on her own. Oscar didn’t want to brave any of them not even with Gaz.
Behind the slides is a large very deep pool with 2 small pools either side with slides for the younger ones.
Spa & Indoor Pool
We used the Spa, I had a hot stone massage (those stones are VERY hot) and my husband had the Lomi-Lomi (like a sports massage) and they were wonderful!
They did offer us the packages pictured below which were about 1hr 45mins long but we didn’t fancy spending that much time in there.
They also offered 6 massages for the price of 5 so keep that in mind if you want to barter for multiple treatments 
Indoor Pool
This is heated and it is HOT in there, it was always super busy but it was nice not to get in an ice cold pool. There is also a sauna and steam room but they were unavailable on our visit.
Beach
The beach area is just beyond the water park area and is immaculate. There are a team who walk round almost constantly cleaning and putting the loungers back in the right places. There is a bar (included in your all inclusive) and a volley ball area.
The water is crystal clear although still quite cold when we visited. We didn’t struggle to get a bed and they all have the padded cushions on so are super comfy.
You can hire day beds on the beach and around the pool but we didn’t see a need.
Horse & Camel Rides and Michael Jackson….
If you head down to the beach in the morning (ie before 10am) you will see a guy selling horse and camel rides. We were told by the Tui guide not to do them as they weren’t safe and we should book the ‘official’ and of course more expensive trips. We didn’t end up doing either in the end but it’s worth keeping in mind.
There are also various guys selling everything from tobacco to bracelets for the kids. This one selling jewellery also has a turtle called Michael Jackson and is happy for you to hold him and take photos. He did try and get us to buy jewellery for the girls but we didn’t have any euros on us and he only wanted cash.
Beach toilets
Thankfully they have a toilet block on the beach behind the bar. It also has a shower, disabled toilet and low sink and baby changing area. They were always super clean (well the resort as a whole way to be honest)
Watersports
There are various water sports available from the beach, one person told us they take card and another said cash only. I am guessing they would rather you paid cash.
Jet Ski 140DT for 15 mins (per jet ski not per person)
Parachute (para sailing?) is 140DT per person
Banana Boat and other inflatables are 35DT per person
Excursions
Tui offer a wide range of excursions – we did the Pirate Ship Trip (click it to have a read of our experience) I wouldn’t massively recommend it. However Get Your Guide offer a wider range of tours and I feel like they would be of a better quality!
Gym
The Gym is well equipped with all the basic gym equipment you could need. Treadmills, free weights, various resistence machines and bikes.
It was surprisingly busy most of the time, and although air con units were in there it was just like a sauna. All the windows do slide open but the breeze never seemed to be in the right direction!
I ended up going for a run around the resort, you can find my route on Strava . It did give me a chance to have a good look around the resort while everyone else was still in bed too!
Kids Club
Tui Blue kids clubs have the youngest starting age we have found. They take children from their 3rd birthday, most won’t take them until they are 4.
They also take them up to 12 years old, they do have a seperate club for teens but ours weren’t interested in going to it.
They also have quite a good sized play area next to the kids club which is open for anyone to use and is under cover.
Babysitting
For €20 you can put your baby 0-36 months into the creche. This runs at the same time as normal kids club (10-12pm & 2-4pm) or you can go along to some of the parent and baby sessions for free.
A few other bits…
Every night this guy came and played the piano from around 6ish for a hour or so. He was also for people to have a go if they wanted.
There is a pool table and air hockey table which you’ll need coins for.
There is also a little local market downstairs in the lobby area, with various crafts and stuff for guests to buy. Most of them had card machines but they do prefer cash.
Behind the sofa there is also a book swap, I didn’t end up reading all my books but there were plenty I could have swapped with if needed.
Price Breakdown
As always I am completely transparent in how much we paid! So here is a full breakdown…
Adult Package Price £2,940.00
Child Package Price £978.00
Room Supplement (See Room Description) £132.00
Room Supplement (See Room Description) £42.00
Taxi Upgrade £302.00
Select Your Seat £153.00
On-Line Discount -£205.20
Discount -£672.00
Holiday Extra Airport Parking £144.50
Total Price £3,814.30
Topcashback -£366.98
Total Cost £3,447.32 / Approx £574.50 per person
We upgraded to a Taxi transfer costing us an extra £302 which is absolutely crazy and I would recommend booking through Holiday Extras who quoted us £70! So it is worth checking before booking.
Holiday Extra Airport Parking £144.50
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Happy Holidaying!
ChrissyJ xxx
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