Stella Gardens Resort & Spa

"Great holiday would visit again! We've just got back from here and had a great family holiday, but there is a few tweaks needed to make it even better! We arrived at around 10.30 pm and were warmly welcomed by reception staff, a bit of confusion about our room that we never really got sorted out but we didn't let it affect our holiday! There was some late night food in the main restaurant which was a nice surprise! The air con is fantastic in all areas of the hotel. We hardly saw any mosquitoes! Staff were constantly cleaning all areas of the hotel! There's a few cute kittens about as well 🐱 Rooms Our room was nice and clean although small for a family of four but we made it work. The cleaner for our room 3461 was brilliant! He did the most amazing towel animals for my daughter and cleaned the rooms beautifully each day! 10/10 thank you! Air con was great in here! Hotel areas The layout of the hotel is a lot bigger than I was expecting and we welcomed a free little golf cart buggy which whizzed you around from one end to the other end of the complex! It was great on hot days when you really couldn't be bothered to walk to the other pools, the dining hall or reception areas. There is also a free bus to visit the sister hotel where the beach is located if you didn't want to walk. There's soooo many pools here, each block of rooms has its own pool and luckily ours was right near the snack bar! The two main pools both had swim up bars which were fantastic! All the staff at these bars were so friendly and the guy in the heated pool bar made the best iced coffees!! The slide pool is great and the lifeguard there is the best! So much fun laughing and joking! There's also a cute little wave pool plus many more scattered around. Wasn't keen on the sand around the pools which all the sunbeds were on, and a lot of sand ended up in the pools because of this. Food and drink This is where it could improve.... The juice that's in most of the restaurants wasn't always the nicest and sometimes tasted of water and also very warm. The glasses in the restaurant are not big enough for adults. I thought it was a great idea that staff in the main restaurant were walking around with cutlery trays handing out cutlery to anyone that needed it, also tables cleared quickly and staff in the restaurant were all friendly and polite! I personally loved the food in the main restaurants! A fresh salad chopping station where you can choose your own salad was great! Also a pasta station that was a huge hit with our children, you can choose pasta, sauce different toppings etc a brill idea! Someone cooking fresh Egyptian bread! Outside bbq meats some gorgeous roasted beef as well! My partner on the other had struggled with food as nothing took his fancy and he lived off chips and pizza! Breakfast was great as well live omelette cooking stations and pancakes and waffle stations, the only negative were the queues for these esp the pancakes and waffles as only one person cooking them you queued for so long that sometimes we left hungry! There's also a late breakfast in the snack bar that has a few pastries and freshly cooked omlettes from 11am which we used some days when we couldn't be bothered to trek to the main restaurant. Snack bar was hit and miss always chips but were mostly cold! Fresh pizzas and one chef used to cook a pizza with no cheese for my daughter which was perfect! You also got ice cream here from 3-5 which was yummy and a few different flavours on rotation! The staff in the snack bar are great! We just wished we could get a cold fizzy drink in here at lunchtimes! We didn't manage to book any à la carte restaurants as they weren't available on the app which was a shame as we often walked past and they seemed empty inside, we visited reception a few times to try to book but were just given a code to scan instead of them trying to book for us. Cocktails were really good we enjoyed them a lot, they were sometimes served in big plastic cups, Sometimes in small plastic cups or small glasses in the lobby bar in the evening. I don't mind getting drinks during the day in plastic cups where as other ppl really didn't like them. One negative is that sometimes the drinks were warm or flat and poured from opened bottles, I've never seen that before they've always come from drink dispensers so that was a disappointment when you want a cold Fizzy drink! Plenty of bars around during the day but in the evenings there was only two bars open and both at the same end of the complex which was a shame as our room was located the furthest away so had to walk to the other end of the complex for drinks which was tedious after a while especially when you've been walking around the massive complex all day. It would be great if they could keep the bar at the wave pool open until later for people in the furthest away blocks. Entertainment I hate to say this but I thought the entertainment was very basic, no one knew what was going on and when or where it was happening. There's an app but it wasn't correct! The evening entertainment was hit and miss you'd have one brilliant night then followed by a night of shocking live singing that was too loud and went on far too long! It was as if the entertainment team just couldn't be bothered on them nights. The Michael Jackson show was amazing also enjoyed the comedy shows like mr hotel and the music quiz. Belly dancing was boring the same woman and man each time solo they could have easily made more effort and added more people and variety to their routines maybe? Had to watch this twice as on a weekly plan so not much variation if staying longer than a week! Kids loved mini disco and the just dance was fun! We were offered tickets for a beach party but at €14 per adult and €7 per child we declined this should have been included as standard in our opinion. Didn't see much daytime entertainment but we were always either in the pool or waterpark areas but did see people dressed up a few times but we weren't sure what for. Waterpark Amazing place! Kids loved it, plenty of slides to keep everyone happy, and bonus it's open until 11pm Tuesday and Friday nights! Food and drink in the Waterpark weren't the best tho, drinks were often warm and poured out of bottles which I still don't understand why when the waterpark has literally only been open a few months, they should have plenty of drinks dispensers available serving cold fizzy drinks! The food was just ok in here usual snack type things pizza chips etc and plenty of ice cream which was great! The evening entertainment is held in here which is a great area but again let down by lack of alcoholic drinks! A lot of guests felt the same about this as many people enjoy a drink in the evening. I get that they don't want people drunk while using the waterpark but at times when the waterpark is closed during the evenings there should be alcoholic drinks available! Each time u want a cocktail or vodka you have to walk all the way back into the main hotel lobby bar for alcohol which is served in a small glass - this is when it does become annoying as the drinks aren't big enough to last long as you need 2/3 glasses to feel like you've had 1. Beach We walked to the beach a few times as it wasn't far from where our room was situated although there is a bus if you wanted to use it. The beach area is lovely we can get drinks here and food at the snack bar but wasn't allowed to use the pools. The snack bar was great you can get ice cream here 3-5 and the guy cooking the pasta is brilliant he made us gorgeous cheesy chips with garlic oils 😋 also great pasta dishes for the kids! There's a beach bar for drinks as well included! The pier is a lovely walk out to crystal clear blue waters and some lovely fish to see! Beach sand was just average. The pharmacy is here as well but be careful as they completely ripped us off with medicine prices which we wasn't aware of at the time. 👎🏼 There's not much in the area so getting taxis is a must, we used a great company from Facebook called cruise tours for trips and taxis they were friendly and reliable! I'd deffo recommend a boat trip and quad biking with them! We visited the marina which is lovely in the evenings and shopping mall where the McDonald's is located 🤣 A lot of reps walking around selling things and they really didn't take no for an answer which did become annoying. We tried the tickle fish onsite and would recommend it. Overall we had a great family holiday! The kids have loved it and made memories and that's the main thing in my eyes! No one was poorly and no mosquito bites! I'd deffo recommend this place just a few tweaks needed and it would be a 10/10"

"Lovely looking resort, but unfortunately my experience was completely ruined by severe illness that began around day three of our stay and is still ongoing now that I am home. I developed severe sickness and persistent diarrhoea, which became so bad that I spent four days confined to my room and had to attend the resort clinic three times to receive treatment and be put on a drip. The clinic staff were very kind and did their best to help, but unfortunately they were unable to stop the ongoing diarrhoea, which I am still suffering from at home. I strongly suspect the food at the resort was responsible for making me so unwell. The quality of the food was extremely disappointing and, in my opinion, completely unacceptable. The pools also appeared dirty and were not maintained to the standard I would expect from a resort of this kind. What was particularly disappointing was the lack of care and concern from the reception staff. Despite being extremely unwell, nobody from reception checked on me or appeared to show any concern about my condition. I was left feeling completely unsupported during what should have been a relaxing family holiday. I am now having medical tests carried out by my doctor back home to determine exactly what I have contracted and whether it was linked to something I consumed during my stay. The resort itself is lovely, and the water park is enjoyable, but unfortunately the food, cleanliness and lack of customer care completely overshadowed any positives. I would strongly recommend staying elsewhere and simply visiting the water park instead. I would never return to this hotel. It completely ruined what was supposed to be a special family holiday, and the fact that I am still unwell after returning home has made the experience even more upsetting."

"The hotels it’s self is beautiful , big , clean and so many pools , rooms old but very clean We stayed at Stella garden for 14 nights , unfortunately the food the food the food the fooooooooooooood 😴😴the managers really need to think about the main restaurant it’s horrible such a big mess , lots of people a specially rude people they push they don’t respect others lots of children away walking without shoes , the quality of food is just disgusting 🤢 ending up with upset stomach the last few days , cups dirty they serve drink in plastic cups!!! The lunch was awful everyday the same with very very very poor quality, we payed for all inclusive but for me was more full bored rather then all inclusive as there not such a big variety I’ve been before in many all inclusive hotels where they serve cake and coffees at 16h00 À la carte was ok better than the mean restaurant The beach is fantastic , the aqua park as well So yes you need to renew all the food menu and pay more the quality of your food because what a shame such a beautiful hotels serve such a bad food"