Elite World Marmaris

"Our first trip together to Turkey as a couple, and my first visiting the country. I wasn’t sure what to expect! We ended up at the Elite World Marmaris Hotel, and spent 10 nights all Inclusive there. Transfer: We booked a package holiday with onthebeach, and was told around 1.5 hours transfer from Dalaman to Icemeler.. couldn’t be more wrong, expect at least 2.5-3 hours if you haven’t got a private transfer. They do regular stops inbetween for 15-20 mins at a time for smoking breaks. Hotel: Once arrived, check in was simple. Room was adequate enough for us, a little small we felt and we didn’t pay an additional charge for a pool/sea view. In my opinion paying for a view isn’t worth it, you are somewhat close to the sea - but be advised this isn’t a beachfront hotel by any means! The hotel is CLEAN. They do a great job, and overall the service is actually exceptional (apart from reception). We were a little underwhelmed as the hotel is very small (90 rooms) which isn’t an issue but just be warned there’s not much to this hotel outside of the pool, 1 restaurant, 1 snack bar and 1 bar. The à la carte restaurant can be used, but this is not included as part of any package (which we were told was included when we booked) it’s £40pp for a 3 course dinner and this restaurant was not used by a single guest the entire time we were there. The lights weren’t even on… There was also another bar advertised online as “the one bar”. This also is not in use and they use it currently as a “storage room.” The service was great, with very nice staff in the bars and restaurant who were always accommodating. However we found it quite challenging communicating any issues with reception, and we had to use a translator on a few occasions. But shoutout Barkin, Yusef, and Baron who we got to know quite well at the hotel. The hotel got busier during our stay which meant that getting a sunbed became an issue, with some guests waking up at 5am to secure their spot. There are no where near enough sunbeds for the amount of people in the hotel - be prepared! The only real gripe with this hotel was the noise from the “shake out bar” opposite, operating until 4am on some days especially weekends. If you are going out till 4am everyday then no problem you will love it here! Try to avoid rooms 1 - 8 on any floor. We got told you can reserve certain rooms when booking - definitely look into this. The final issue we had was with the room keys, by the end of the trip we had a total of 12 room keys allocated for our room. They set expiry dates on the key cards and they then can’t be used. We had to continue to go to reception every couple of days to issue new key cards for our room which became a little tiresome towards the end. I can’t recall ever having to do that at a hotel before.. Food & Drink Now I had high expectations, as previous reviews really did big up the food and drink at this hotel which was one of our main reasons for booking, although the location was super easy to get around the town. We were a little worried with only the 1 buffet restaurant, however the food overall was very good. At times it was a bit hit and miss, and it does cater for the clientele which are mostly English holidayers with some local Turkish residents. Breakfast was arguably the worst, but at an all inclusive it always is. Same food everyday, however they have a good egg station where you can get some fresh omelettes whipped up. Lunch was varied, with some days being great and others just okay. No themed lunches as expected, but the snack bar gave an alternative option if you wanted hot fresh cooked food. There are only 4 options at the snack bar, we tried them all, and felt the chicken wrap was by FAR the best option, with the rest very under par in contrast. Dinner was solid. Good options and themed nights made it varied throughout the week. Again it was a bit hit and miss and in the 10 nights we stayed we ate out 4 times with 3 of those nights due to the food not appealing to us. Lots of choices of deserts which was a huge plus! And the salad and fruit section was exceptional - fresh every day - and a real highlight. The Coffee Bar is very good with 24/7 coffee and cakes although they can be very hit and miss, but it does give you the option to have something post-midnight if you wish. Free ice creams also run out FAST so don’t wait until 5/6pm to grab one, as they don’t restock throughout the day. Water is as expected very accessible with multiple fridges around the hotel as well as being available at the bar. Drinks at this hotel, plain and simple are absolute rubbish. They really do skimp on the quality of the drinks at this hotel. Firstly, daytime drinks round the pool are served in paper coffee cups, which isn’t an issue but if they do get even the slightest bit wet.. they are done for. And for those who want to drink in the pool - forget it. The menu and lack of option was poor. In total there are only 10 drinks available, this includes the house wines and beer. Cocktails are poor, with the only decent one that is drinkable being the malibu sunset. They don’t use imported spirits, so quality does go a little bit, which is fine but the lack of option and menu is sad. Spirits offered were only vodka and whiskey to have with mixers which aren’t proper mixers (Coke, Fanta, sprite) are again not imported so bare this in mind - the drinks in general aren’t what you could expect. With only the 1 main bar, the other bar (beach bar) doesn’t serve alcohol. It really was a let down and we felt the drinks were going to be better. We also felt the times and allocated hours available to get food was not long enough. It never affected us, as it did actually work for when we wanted to eat but just for reference; Breakfast - 07.30 - 10:30am (3 hours) Lunch - 12:30 - 2pm (1.5 hours) Dinner - 19:00 - 21:00 (2 hours) We felt lunch and dinner needed to be longer available slots as everyone was going for food at the time same which was a problem some days as food gets taken pretty quick! Entertainment There’s basically 0 entertainment each evening at this hotel, on a few days we had a guitarist play some music for around an hour and also had a belly dancer on the Turkish themed night. It was nice while you were eating, but nothing after that so definitely head out in the evenings if you want more of an entertaining evening. Summary Overall, not a bad holiday. For us - it did the job of being somewhere we could chill and relax in, with great weather in September and the ability to go out in evenings and do a bit of shopping. The food generally was decent, and with additional hours to eat it could have been better. We visited Marmaris a few times and also did a day in Rhodes - which I highly recommend. We wouldn’t return to the hotel or the area as we felt it’s a place you probably do once and do it all. If you’re someone who wants variety and things to do - this hotel and area definitely isn’t for you. If you’re someone who just wants to relax and soak in the sun and enjoy some food and drink then maybe it’s for"

"Location - good, close to beach. Location bad - Very noisy bar next to hotel until 12.30 PM every night! Atmosphere- Bad, nothing good to say, no entertainment, pool vibe was sterile. Staff, Yusuf was good everyone else we struggled to engage with. Rooms - All bad feedback afraid. Cracked tiles in bedroom area, cracked sink in bathroom. Poor dated silicon around the sink and shower, very dirty and grubby, what you may expect from a mens football changing room! TV one channel in english being BBC News. Only three hangers in wardrobe, limited space for clothes only two draws, kept most of ours stuff in our suitcases. Had four cold showers in the evening as water was never hot. Shampoo bottles etc in shower and near sink, however none of them worked. Honestly I could keep going but above is enough to give you an 💡 of the general cleanliness. Cleaners change the towels three times in a week! Food, all bad I am afraid, 🥚 were no existent, scrambled egg two days then nothing. Chef when he was there was not very friendly, fried eggs very poor. No pastries which is a first for me, there is always pastries, nope not here. Really struggled to eat morning or at dinner time, food was clearly budgeted for by hotel. I am not a fussy eater but I really struggled. Pros, The snack bar, only go to food option, Pizzas were lovely. Pool is very nice. Cons, Spent evenings in bars as no entertainment in hotel. All inclusive not worth the money. Not value for money. Hotel rooms need refurbishment. General cleanliness poor in outside areas of hotel. Would go back to Icemeler again but sadly not to this hotel. Pool"

"Just spent 7 nights all inclusive at this hotel..We arrived 1am to check in our rooms were in the wrong name on hotels paperwork so rooms had to be changed..As husband refused to sign for room in wrong name..resolved quite quickly and given our rooms.Room was OK not alot of hanging or storage space..so we lived out of our cases which was fine.Bathroom was very old grubby and dirty. Black mould all along shower door.Sink was falling apart with silicone squirted in edges. Big crack in sink..Filthy in corners of bathroom..We were in room 1012 big crack on floor tiles in room. Pool area was busy but never had trouble getting a sunbed. Around pool area was sticky and grubby . Snack bar was good pizzas, burgers, onion rings chips etc.. Breakfast was very basic no crossiants pastries mainly hams cheeses fruit etc. Went out several nights to eat as food selection was not great.. Hotel had no entertainment which was fine as many local bars nearby. Housekeeping was not great 2 days running clean towels dropped off and that was it.. Such a shame with this hotel as reading the reviews we had high expectations so disappointed. We really enjoyed our time in icemelar would definitely return but to a different hotel."