Was that a mirage? I pulled back the curtains and a pool glittered in front of my eyes, right next to my terrace at the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace on Djerba. I had a room with swim-up pool. Just plain awesome! I was in Djerba in mid-October to test out the future TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace, which will open after the winter break in March 2018. A 5-star, all-inclusive, adults-only hotel. Find out what you can expect in this blog article.
Rooms with swim-up pool
First, my colleague Dirk and I took a tour through the future TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace and looked at all the different room types. Aesthetically, all rooms are about the same and differ mainly by size and location. Some room types have a four-poster bed as a special romantic highlight, but all rooms are beautifully furnished with tasteful Maghrebi flair. From walls ornamented with lights – through which a warm and cosy indirect light penetrates, giving the room a romantic, homey atmosphere – to the quilted look of the country landscape, everything is harmonious and creates a luxurious experience reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. The couples in the hotel all looked relaxed and happy. No wonder with the rooms. In addition to the standard rooms with garden or ocean views, the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace will also feature garden bungalows, as well as suites and junior suites. The suites are a whopping 120 m² in size. But my favourite was and will stay the room with swim-up pool.
Sandy beach including flora and fauna
Here in Tunisia, however, the weather was still perfect for swimming – even in the middle of October. The beaches on Djerba are public, and the hotel has its own private section with sun beds and umbrellas for its guests. The white daybeds are especially nice, which you can book in the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace with or without snacks and drinks. Here you can listen to the waves all day, watch people, daydream, and just be lazy. You can also walk along the miles of bright, sandy beach. Sometimes a horse or camel passes by with its owner. If you think you might be bothered by traders all day, I can reassure you. Nobody is pushy, and you can also sometimes even pet the camels quite harmlessly. So soft! I ran into the warm Mediterranean and looked for the seaweed, which some tourists complained about in the reviews. In fact, seaweed can indeed be found in the water and on the beach, depending on the waves, which is of course a sign of an intact ecosystem. The hotels are not allowed to remove the seaweed. I strolled back to the hotel and washed the fine sand off my feet before testing the activity pool.
Pools and bars at TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace
The activity pool is huge and tapers gently down like a beach. That is really something else. Next door is the pool bar, which at the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace will offer snacks during the day and a barbeque in the evening. I can imagine that really well: Delicious grilled treats and fruity cocktails with the sea on one side, the activity pool on the other. Next to the pool bar, I discovered the entrance to the Moorish Café, which lives up to its name. Here you will find the typical sweet Tunisian mint tea, water pipes and local sweets, which you can enjoy sitting on the floor, nestled among cushions.
More than just couscous
In the buffet restaurant, which also has plenty of seating on the terrace, the huge selection of Tunisian, Mediterranean, and international specialties will delight you in the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace. The highlight is the in-house bakery, which bakes bread, rolls, and delicious French pastries fresh for you. Don’t miss the couscous and tagine, both of which make the Tunisian kitchen famous. My insider tip of the Tunisian treats is “Brik”, a stuffed and deep-fried crispy pastry. Unfortunately greasy, unfortunately great.
Romantic dinner à la carte
During your stay at the Hotel TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace, a visit to the à la carte restaurant is included. Of course, Dirk and I wanted to try this out. The TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace was especially pleased with us and sat us at a very romantically decorated table. My colleague Dirk and I just laughed. How many times have we eaten “romantic” meals together…? And then we agreed that the à la carte restaurant needed a refurbishment, which it will get during the winter break. In the future TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace, you can expect a truly romantic dinner at the à la carte restaurant (so do not go with your colleague). A multi-course meal – fish, meat or vegetarian – with Tunisian-international fusion cuisine. Sounds great, right?
BLUEf!t versus Fat
But what can you do with all the (all-inclusive) calories you’ve been eating? BLUEf!t is the magic word. During the winter break, the fitness room, which will be supplemented with additional equipment, will be equipped with an outdoor fitness platform (with sun screen). At the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace, courses such as yoga or fascia training will take place next to the sand dunes. Of course, there are also water sports on the beach. Water skiing, windsurfing, diving, and much more.
On the seventh day, God created the swim-up pool
During lunch, I hopped from my terrace into the swim-up pool. Colleague Dirk took pictures of me. “So everyone can see that you don’t work at all!” But I have to test everything! The swim-up pool was so awesome, I would definitely book a swim-up room in the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace. Not that the activity pool and serenity pool are so far away. But it is a special luxury to walk just three steps over the terrace and be in your own pool. Incidentally, there are four swim-up pools in addition to the two pools for all hotel guests of the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace. I could endure it in the fantastic swim-up pool until I’m completely shriveled up. “Unfortunately”, I had to go after a short dip in the water, as in the afternoon we took a buggy safari through Djerba. It was sandy, but phenomenal! Afterwards, we looked like we’d been breaded.
Djerba – safe and versatile
I also want to say a few words about the island of Djerba. After a few attacks in Tunisia that took place several years ago, the number of tourists abruptly dropped and deprived many local people of their livelihood. The safety of the tourists is very important to the Tunisian government, as can be seen from the controls at the airport, at the hotel gates, and at the entrance to the hotel zone. The tourists on Djerba and Tunisia in general feel safe and return as holidaymakers again. I had previously read about Djerba that the island doesn’t have much to offer. As we drove from the airport to the hotel, my enthusiasm for Djerba was really limited. The island was flat and bare. After doing an island tour, visiting the studio of artist Jilani, and riding the buggy across the country, I can say: it’s a barren beauty whose charms can only be recognized at second glance. The colourful murals of Djerbahood, the dunes of the Flamingo Island in the sunset light, the whitewashed lanes of the small villages that still maintain a leisurely lifestyle away from the coast, the traditional cottages in the midst of date palms … You will not be bored on Djerba. There are even a few filming locations for “Star Wars” on Djerba.
Relaxation in the BLUE Spa
Those for whom “holiday” means “pure relaxation” have found the perfect place with the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace. Not least because there is a spa with a large indoor pool, two whirlpools, Turkish bath, sauna, and professional massages and treatments. The BLUE Spa area will also be refurbished and modernised during the winter break. Even outside the spa, for example near the serenity pool, it can be very relaxing to lounge on the comfortable beach chairs. A few steps separate you from the bar and cool drinks.
Is it worth it?
My conclusion: The luxury hotel TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace is the perfect choice for a relaxed and romantic couples holiday. Here, the weather remains warm and pleasant when it is already cool elsewhere on the Mediterranean. A 5-star hotel with the best all-inclusive selection and a large spa. Starting in March 2018! For information and bookings take a look at the TUI BLUE Palm Beach Palace website.