Golden Mare Resort

"I write this review in hope that it’s viewed as constructive feedback to the owner(s) but also to manage guests expectations prior to their visit to The Golden Mare. Firstly, this is not a 4 star hotel and some of the photos online are A.I produced images and make the hotel appear to be more luxurious than it is, which is very misleading. Please note: The hotel is on a VERY steep hill, so bear this in mind if you have mobility issues. I’ll start by saying that the staff at The Golden Mare work so hard! They appear to be understaffed and work long hours, so I have a lot of respect for these guys, however as they are overworked, they don’t appear to be that happy and so the customer service side of things suffers as a result. At first glance, the hotel is beautiful and boasts incredible views, making a great first impression. However, on closer inspection, the building feels tired and in need of maintenance. I was disappointed by the condition of the pool. The water was noticeably cloudy, and the filtration system didn’t appear to be working properly. Visibility was so poor that you couldn’t see the bottom of the pool—or even your own body once you were in the water, so we avoided it. The main toilet requires repair, the spa appears to be out of use, the sun loungers are dirty, and the glasses and cutlery in the restaurant are all noticeably water-stained. I’d also add that, although this isn’t directly the hotel’s fault, many guests reserve sun loungers with their towels and then disappear for most of the day. As loungers are limited, it would be beneficial for a member of staff to monitor their use and discourage this practice, ensuring fair access for all guests (as per the sign by the pool) . As this is a four-star hotel, having staff available to take drink orders around the pool would also enhance the overall guest experience. As this is an all-inclusive hotel, all meals are included, but unfortunately the food was one of the biggest disappointments of our stay. While there were the occasional dishes that were enjoyable, the overall quality was poor. We found ourselves eating out on most evenings to avoid the buffet, which was a real shame and defeated the purpose of booking an all-inclusive package. The drinks were slightly better, with a reasonable cocktail menu available. However, the cocktails were very sweet and served in plastic cups that had clearly been through the dishwasher many times and as a result, made the drinks taste salty which wasn’t particularly pleasant. Despite this, the drinks were still acceptable, although they certainly didn’t reflect the standard you would expect. Around the pool area they have a playlist on repeat everyday, which I know can be common in a resort, but the playlist was short and repeated throughout the day, which became incredibly annoying. In terms of our room, we were initially pleased. It was spacious, clean, and serviced daily throughout our stay, however the shower drain was heavily blocked (which we sorted ourselves) and the shower area wasn’t sealed correctly, so it flooded the bathroom during each use, creating a slip hazard. The bedding and towels (although smelt clean) had stains on them too. I must add that we did have a lovely sea view, and the beds were comfortable. The hotel also provides evening entertainment every night, which we thoroughly enjoyed. It was varied, well organised, and always finished at a sensible time, allowing guests to enjoy the atmosphere without it going on too late. In summary, we were disappointed with most areas of our experience at The Golden Mare, however you can see the potential it has to be amazing and so I really hope the owners listen to the feedback they’re receiving from the guests who were complaining at reception every day and from the reviews on trip adviser."

"Throughly enjoyed our stay at this wonderful hotel. George and the staff were attentive, friendly and helpful. The location was beautiful. Don’t understand the negative comments of some reviewers. Would highly recommend Golden Mere to anyone looking for a relaxing lovely break."

"Mine and my girlfriends stay at Golden Mare Barbati was extremely disappointing. The hotel looks attractive from a distance, but up close is a whole different story. We experienced a lot issues throughout our holiday, many of which were reported multiple times but were never properly resolved. Room & Maintenance Issues - No hot water for most of the holiday. -Night 3: No hot water at all and had to take a cold shower. Told it would be fixed within an hour, but it wasn’t, so has to wait ages until we committed to just getting in it cold. - Night 4: Still no hot water. - Night 5: Only lukewarm water. - Hot water finally worked properly on our last night. -Faulty room safe. - Safe didn’t work on arrival. - Took 2 days and 3 separate requests before it was replaced. - Received replacement safe with instructions in a different language, after getting it translated and sorted it then failed after setting my code, It then wouldn't re-open. - Reported the issue another three times and was repeatedly told an engineer would attend each time and never did. They said they have another 10 or so in the hotel not working. - No repair was ever carried out, meaning I had nowhere secure to store passports, bank cards or cash for the rest of the holiday. -Telephone didn’t work on arrival. -Eventually repaired later that evening, but it was another maintenance issue that should have been resolved before we checked in. Drinking Water Issues. - Ran out of bottled water and asked reception for another bottle. Was told housekeeping would deliver one.Returned to the room - no water. Called reception again and received the same promise. Waited around 1½ hours, still nothing. Called again and was given the same assurance. Nearly 4 hours later, still no water. Then I returned to reception, I was finally informed that: * Only the first bottle is complimentary. * Guests are expected to refill bottles at the water fountain or buy more from the hotel shop. Had this been explained from the beginning, it would have saved multiple trips and phone calls. Even after being told this, a staff member still promised a complimentary bottle within 10-15 minutes and even asked permission to enter the room while we were out. When we returned around 90 minutes to 2 hours later, there was still no water, so we ended up buying our own from the hotel shop as the water from the fountains isn’t right. It’s weirdly thick and sweet. The cost wasn’t the issue - it was the repeated misinformation that was frustrating. Food Quality: The food was one of the biggest disappointments. - Meals were consistently cold or only lukewarm. - Most meals were simply not enjoyable and most of the food does not look appetising. - Very limited variety throughout the stay. - Shortly after we had eat breakfast on the first morning while we was still sat in the buffet, I became unwell and had to rush back to the room to vomit. While I can’t say for certain what caused it, it certainly wasn’t a great start to the holiday. Some examples of what food was like: - Beans were watery so you could see through the sauce and could see that all the beans had sunk to the bottom. - Bolognese sauce was swimming in some sort of oil on most nights. - Had pittas out one night so expected a variety of meats to go with it. But no… only chicken wings. - Didn’t touch really any of the meat in the other days, all looked scabby and not right. - Bacon and Sausages at breakfast are processed hot dog meat. Cleanliness & General Condition: The hotel’s cleanliness was far below expectations and what any hotel should be like! Around the hotel… - Swimming pool contained excessive numbers of wasps, moths and other insects that were rarely cleared away. And i know bugs are to be expected in the poo but not to the extent that was in this pool. Everytime you moved there was a bug that you had to push away from you. - Big Ants were always present in several areas due to uncleaned dried sugary drink spillages. - Floors had dried drink stains/ sticky residue and dirt that not once in my 7 day stay did i see get cleaned. Room: - Stained towels. - Curtains weren’t properly attached. - Brown stains on the bed. - Mould in the bathroom. - Multiple hairs on the TV remote. - One day our room wasn’t cleaned at all. Pool Area - Sun loungers were heavily stained and visibly dirty. They were that bad that everybody i have shown my photos to have said they are distgusting. Public Toilets The toilets near reception and the only toilets available apart from your room toilets were in a poor state. - Cubicle doors didn’t lock. - Broken toilet seat. - Mirrors covered in water marks and other brown stains. - No paper hand towels so had to use hand dryer which was extremely hot and very slow. - Toilet roll dispenser in 1 cubicle was completely broken and the other cubicle only worked intermittently. Restaurant & Bars: - Drinking glasses in the buffet restaurant appeared dirty and covered in water marks. - Outdoor dining tables weren’t cleaned properly. We ate at a table with visible bird poo still on it. - The cutlery and napkins laid out in the tables were dirty sometimes. Staff Attitude While some staff were polite, others were not. One member of the bar staff threw her hands up in frustration while my girlfriend was deciding what to order, despite there being no queue behind us. It was unprofessional and made us feel unwelcome. Overall Some of these issues might have been minor to some. However, experiencing all of them during one holiday - combined with repeated failures to resolve problems despite reporting them multiple times - had quite the negative impact on our stay. We paid just short of £2000 for this holiday after i saved for a long time to take my girlfriend on holiday, and unfortunately it fell well below my expectations. I CANNOT recommend this hotel based on our experience and hope to god the management at this hotel address these issues so future guests do not have the same experience."