"The hotel was lovely and spotless, with staff who were incredibly helpful and friendly. The location was perfect—about a 40-minute walk to the Marina, which we did once. Unfortunately, it was Ramadan, so many cafes and restaurants were closed, including the Hard Rock Cafe, which we spotted on our way. The room was comfy and quite spacious, and the lovely, friendly cleaners made sure it was spotless every day. I always left a couple of TDs as a thank you. We booked with TUI to get a pool view with a view of the sea in the distance.
The food at the restaurant was amazing. There was always a great choice and plenty of it. I especially loved the pancake station, which was my guilty pleasure each morning. My husband enjoyed the cakes and desserts during lunch and dinner. I have to give a big shout-out to Mohammed, who looked after us in the restaurant. He was so helpful, friendly and always had a smile and a big welcome for us.
We had one meal at the alicarte restaurant, which you book for. I think you can only visit once. I cannot express how fabulous our meal was. It was so nice to be waited on. I had the fish, which was bone-free, and my husband had the stuffed chicken.
Our room had tea and coffee facilities, and if we needed a refill, we just asked at the lobby bar. They gave us a carton of milk that lasted the week, which we put in the fridge in the room.
The lobby bar served drinks that were fine. The cocktails were a bit sweet for my taste, but they were okay. I enjoyed the white wine and G&T, which were also fine, and my husband drank the beer without any complaints. He even got it in a proper beer glass. A waiter would come around the pool and take drink orders, which was very convenient. I assume this was because the pool bar and beach bars were closed since it was early in the season.
The animation team were fantastic! We weren’t pressured to join in, but we did, which was a bit different for us, and we even got a few certificates for the games we played. My husband especially loved the bean bag game. The animation team were so friendly and got to know our names. They did most of the evening entertainment, putting their hearts into it. We also saw two professional acts: a guitarist and a drag show (changing girls), and they were both amazing. We really enjoyed them.
When I arrived, I changed money at the hotel reception. Just a heads-up: be careful when changing money, as I changed too much and Sarah from TUI advised that you can’t change it back at the airport if you bought it from the hotel. You can exchange it at an ATM if you have receipts, but TD is a closed currency, so you can’t take it in or out of the country and they check at the airport. There is an ATM in the hotel.
Our TUI rep, Sarah, was wonderful and knew the area really well. I think she has been there for 19 years. She suggested TUI excursions, but we didn’t do any because we just wanted a relaxing holiday. There is an indoor pool, and we used it once because it rained for four of the seven days we were there. It was so relaxing, but we would have used it again, but it was closed for maintenance, which I found amazing since the weather wasn’t great. I think the maintenance should have been done in the summer when guests can get outside. The outdoor pool was too cold to use, but we still managed to sit around it for two days and got sun loungers, even though guests still reserved them with their towels. The pool towels are a 20TD deposit each, which you get back when you return them.
There is also a spa, which other guests used and told us the treatments and massages were very good value for the money.
Overall, we had a really nice break. We came to this hotel in 2006, but I couldn’t remember much about it.
We would definitely recommend this hotel and maybe we will return one day."
