Reviews of Royal Marin Resort, Gumbet

You have read the other reviews. I am not the complaining type and will make do with most things but this outfit takes the biscuit and by outfit I mean the Hotel and Goldtrail the tour operaters alike. Advertised as a 5 star, what a joke- what in fact it is ,is a zero star masquerading as a 5* - can put it no plainer than that. Take note of all the other critical reviews, all true. Now here is a bit that takes some believing, we booked this holiday as two couples to a five star all inclusive hotel, we arrived there at about five in the morning togehter with about 20 other guests to be met by one porter and an uninterested guy at reception. When we were eventually shown to our room one couple went in (grim to say the least, dungeon, smelly, dirty, stained bed clothes, etc - all as described in other reviews). The room had a double bed and two single beds as I stood there aghast at the conditions I remember thinking to myself, no it couldn't be, but then to my shock and dismay our travelling companions were ushered into the room. We were all being put in one room! Can you believe it!

Every guest who arrived on the coach with us ended up back in reception angry and complaining bitterly. Also every guest without exception refused to stay in their room and sat the remainder of the night in reception awaiting the arrival of our holiday rep to sort out the debacle as we got no joy from the two hotel staff. There was no duty manager/supervisor. It has to be said that the tour operaters i.e. Goldtrail were not much addition either. Despite several phone calls from ourselves and other guests to their immediate response helpline it took them over four hours to send a rep. In fact the person at the end of the helpline phone didn't even know the name of the rep allocated to us. I could go on but the upshot was we left the Hotel and went and booked another hotel independantly, a mere 4 star but boy what a difference - lovely, certainly lived up to its grading. Makes you wonder who allocates the star gradings to hotels in Turkey and what system they use.

Just take the advice of others - give this place a miss with a capital M!

My partner and I (both 26) booked a last minute holiday to Gumbet staying at the Royal Marin for £330 each, we read the reviews on this site before we went and were really expecting the worst. However we had a FANTASTIC holiday.

The hotel is not 5 star, it is around 2 star, however our rooms were clean, perfectly well equipped and cleaned every day. The food was wonderful -fresh salads, meat stews, fresh fish and Turkish puddings. The main complaint from other hotel residents seemed to be the food wasn't English enough, i.e. no burgers etc. If you want to eat the same thing you eat every day don't go abroad! If you really can't stomach trying something new (and fresh and healthy) there are plenty of restaurants serving 'English' food at reasonable prices in the town.

The staff were friendly and helpful, their English wasn't great but quite frankly we were in their country and I very much doubt they would turn up in England and expect us to speak Turkish! The hotel had a nice pool, and bar area serving inclusive drinks. The main downsides to the hotel was the lifts weren't working and this obviously wasn't great for people who have mobility problems.

The area of Gumbet/Bodrum is wonderful - there are plenty of quiet beaches close to the hotel, the town is small but vibrant and great for shopping and bar hopping. The hotel is a little way from the main town but there is a local bus which takes you into town for about £1. There are some fantasic trips to do; we swam with dolphins for £38, went on an all day boat trip for £8 and you have to go to the Turkish baths!

For the price we paid we couldn't have wanted a better holiday; ok the hotel isn't 5 star but for the price how can anyone complain?! Plus you only sleep and eat in your hotel - there's so much to see and do in the local area!

Don't ever stop at the Royal Marin Hotel!!! Me and my Fiance have just come back from this hotel and will certainly never visit again. Out of everbody that we spoke to not one person was happy with the place. These pictures are just a small example of how disguisting it was. In our room which was on the floor nicknamed by the hotel staff as the dungeon there was: brown stains all over the walls aswell as on the headboard, a green and white shower head that was covered in limescale, no pressure so you could hardly rinse your hair after washing it, there was a smell of rotten eggs to the water that was barely lukewarm, the shower rail was black with mould, the fridge never worked and stained brown on the bottom and inside,the corridoors were dark and the stairways were poorly lit, there were cats on our floor leaving their mess all over. The laugh of the matter is we aren't fussy people and our room after talking to many people was proberly one of the better ones. This is certainly not a 5 star hotel, in Turkey it is a 5 sun hotel and next season it's getting put down to 3 star. They're lucky that they are getting that!!

Don't ever stop at the Royal Marin Hotel!!! Me and my Fiance have just come back from this hotel and will certainly never visit again. Out of everbody that we spoke to not one person was happy with the place. These pictures are just a small example of how disguisting it was. In our room which was on the floor nicknamed by the hotel staff as the dungeon there was: brown stains all over the walls aswell as on the headboard, a green and white shower head that was covered in limescale, no pressure so you could hardly rinse your hair after washing it, there was a smell of rotten eggs to the water that was barely lukewarm, the shower rail was black with mould, the fridge never worked and stained brown on the bottom and inside,the corridoors were dark and the stairways were poorly lit, there were cats on our floor leaving their mess all over. The laugh of the matter is we aren't fussy people and our room after talking to many people was proberly one of the better ones. This is certainly not a 5 star hotel, in Turkey it is a 5 sun hotel and next season it's getting put down to 3 star. They're lucky that they are getting that!!

When we arrived, the staff seemed friendly and checked us in very quickly, however when taking us to the room we walked for what seemed like an eternity, we were taken to the lowest part of the hotel, which had a window which looked out onto a concrete wall with bits of rusty metal rod sticking out of it. the bathroom was mouldy and stank and it was all in all very dirty.Infact on the way down a group of scottish girls said "you wont like it down there"!. Apparently they try this on with everyone. Its known as the dungeon.

I promptly complained and within the hour we were moved to a bigger room which looked out into the hotel corridor. This room was much cleaner and larger but still had a funny smell. The shower didnt work properly which made washing a bit of a task and a lamp almost blew up when I tried to turn it on.

The food was surprisingly good and there was a wide variety each day that me and my girlfriend both enjoyed. Staff were all ok apart from the one eyed woman, but we won't go into that.

Me and my girlfriend both made the most of our holiday and had a really enjoyable time.

I you are going here looking to stay at a 5* hotel DON'T! you'll be dissappointed. However if you going thinking its going to be a 2*/3* then there shouln't be any nasty surprises.

Arrived at the hotel at 5pm went to reception to book in,as we booked in 2 holiday makers went passed and said you will be sorry and we were it was suppose to be 5 star the bathroom had black mould around the bath there was no plug for the bath the shower and bath were both leaking, the capet in the bedroom was black with dirt, there were no pillow cases on the the pillows we had a single sheet on a double bed, the electric wiring on the lamps were unsafe. It was all inclusive but the selection of drinks were limited and it stopped at 11pm and then they charged they were expensive. The food was very poor we ate out most of the time. We did have a balcony which was very small but lot of the other guests only had a door to the corridor it was of very poor standard i was very dissappointed and would definetely not book with this company again.

WE ARRIVED TO THIS HOTEL AND WERE TAKEN THROUGH DIRTY SHEETS.BLOOD STAINS TO GET TO OUR ROOM WE WERE LUCKY TO GET A ROOM.SOME GUESTS NEVER GOT A ROOM HONESTLY ITS A CRAPHOLE I CAN SAY WORSE THE BARSTAFF ARE IGNORANT NO INTREST OF HOLIDAY MAKERS.JUST THERE MONEY.SERIOUSLY NEVER MIND PEOPLE WHO SAY DONT READ REVIEWS TAKE MY ADDVICE DO NOT GO I SWEAR DONT GO WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!

We stayed in this hotel from 15th Sept to 22nd Sept. 2008.

Compared to any Spanish / Western European Hotels this hotel is never a 5*, more like a

2 to 3* depending on which floor and room you have been allocated.

When we arrived at the airport was told this hotel overbooked and had to stay 3 nights in the Gumbet Beach, which is next door and part of the same hotel group, this hotel is even worse,

so when we moved into the Royal Marin it was like a palace to us.

The food in the Royal Marin was not bad, there was always rice, pasta, salad and the fresh fruit was always Water Melon or Melon and occasionally Grapes. However at times you did have to avoid the odd small bird that was flying around the dining room.

Our room, number 215, did have mould round the bath and shower area, but it was cleaned everyday, and we had clean towels and sheets each day as well. Although the towels were more grey than white.

Some rooms are underneath the hotel, 'the dungeons or batcave' and have no windows or balconies, also even rooms on the higher floors are 'corridor' rooms therefore they also have no external windows. just a window over looking the inside of the hotel.

This is the only hotel where we have stayed, where the nightly entertainment is sitting in reception, watching people 'check in' go to the rooms, and immediately return to reception demanding a change of room. In the week we stayed in this hotel some people had changed rooms at least 3 times.

After the experience of this holiday we will never go to Turkey again.

I have been in touch with our travel agent 'Qwerty Travel' and told them about the Hotel, and that maybe it would be in their interest not to send people here for their holiday.

If you have already booked your holiday, go expecting the worse and you won't be disappointed, if you Haven't booked 'PLEASE DON'T'.

i spent one week at this hotel food was disgusting i just felt the whole place needed a re vamp nothing works in this place rooms terrible ,food was rubbish looked like dogs dinner cant served at bar unless you gave waiter staff a tip,location was to far from town centre very hilly,other wise if you like faulty towers you will love it,staff very ignorant only happy when u tip them i wouldnt wish for anyone to stay at this hotel and experience what i went through

Just come back, did not have a good time. On arrival the holtel was double booked had to spend first night somewhere else. We took our 7 year old daughter with us there was no entertainment at all in this hotel for either children or adults. The food was awful we had to eat out most nights so that our daughter didnt starve. There were no other children which leads to a bored child. Now our room was fine with a good sea view but most of the complaints from other guests were regarding rooms. Mainly those placed in the dungeons as they were called,people had to move 3-4 times due to leaking baths, crumbling ceilings, bare wires showing and general hygene of the rooms. needless to say were couldnt wait to get home. So i recommend that this hotel and others in the Litera group are given an extremley wide berth.

Stayed at hotel 14th sept to 21 sept.



Hotel reception was really nice and had good views over the pool and out to the sea. Were told to wait in reception so we sat down on the chairs for 20 mins before another guy came along and took our bags. We stayed in room 425 when we first got to the room the inside door handle was broken but this was fixed within 10 mins. the room itself was quite big two single beds pushed together to make a double and one single bed there was a large mirror on the wall with a dressing table and a little chair. there was plenty of storage space if you decide to unpack but we just kept everything in our suitcase. the bathroom was a bit pants. The shower was hanging off the wall and there was barely any pressure there was lots of mould on the shower screen as well and wen we did have a shower the bath leaked all over the floor so we had to put all the towels on the floor to soak it all up. the tv was in turkish... but who goes on holiday to watch tv? but we did find 2 channels that were in english but subtitled in turkish.

I read from previous reviews that u had to pay a room deposit .. we werent asked for this. We did pay for a safety deposit box thou which was 33 lira ( we didnt get this back wn we checked out ) We had fresh towels and bedding every day The carpet was a little gruppy but it was clean enough.

on our second day the lift was fixed which was a relief from walkin up and down those stairs!! We were told our rep meetin was in our hotel.. we waited in reception for 20 mins.. no show then told by the receptionist that it was in the hotel next door so by the time we figured out where it was we had missed most of it. we also had a turkish bath at the hotel which was really good cost us £7 each through goldtrail.. i recommend it .. but the marble room needed a good clean. i would have gone back for another one but not there.

We booked the chill out boat cruise for £20 each thru goldtrail. this was all day and included lunch and all ur drinks. We were picked up outside the hotel and take down to the harbour. It was amazing i would definetly go on this again totally worth £20. Stopped at several places were u could swim in the sea some places were crystal clear also stopped at camel beach for an hour were u could ride a camel but we never did.

We didnt see much of our rep in our hotel both of thm we in the one next door.



the food was nearly the same every night but it was really good. They had a hot selction and 3 chefs cooking outside. the salad stuff is basically the same every night but was really nice some of the desserts were different they had fresh fruit as well cant comment on the breakfast as was never up for it!



we never had any problems with people being rude to us all the staff were friendly except the girl at reception she was very snappy with everyone. But if you are polite and not shouting and screaming at them like some people were! they are nice to you back. treat people how you wud like to be treated!

this did annoy me wen i saw ppl having a go at the staff thy dont run the hotel.



the transport in turkey is gd as well. a dolomus passed by the hotel every five mins cost 2 lira each to bodrum.



also some nights there was a really bad smell and i found out there was sewage works nearby just hope the wind is blowing in the rite direction.



Bodrum airport wasnt to bad but all the toliets upstairs were backed up and only one downstairs worked!! duty free was pretty good but not big selection. Unless u need to dont buy any food or drink there. its cost £10 for a slice of pizza small chips nd a small coke and that was one of there "deals"



overall both of us really enjoyed this hotel and would definetly go back to gumbet/bodrum but would want to try somewere different.

Advice though dont go there expectin a 5 star hotel i know it advertised as a 5 "SUNS" hotel but this is supposedly the equivelent of a 2-3 star over here which is wat i would rate it as anyway. also please and thank you never hurt anyone to say it and all the staff are really polite and friendly to you if u are nice to them.

moved into marin after 3 nights in another hotel after marin was overbooked.

our room was in basement lookin at wall.

skirting was coming away from wall with the electrics.

shower screen was mouldy.

water pressure rubbish and luke warm.

food was bland and repetive.

bar staff arogant and upto something dodgy.

music too loud and dance music during the day.

bar staff only served one side of a square bar and most times only one serving at night evan if it was busy.



plus sides:

good views, weather fab,other people worse off than us.



we found the la luna in gumbet (3*) better and thats the one goldtrail stuck us in first. we are in our early 30s and dont normally complain,but there are letters going out to everyone about goldtrail and the marin. we spoke to lots of people and none had a good word to say.



most people only complain if they been taken for a ride and ripped off.make your own minds up,but dont fly with goldtrail. this company and hotel need a overhaul or shutting down.

Moan, moan, moan. I'm tired of reading other people whinging about this place.



I just got back with my boyfriend, and we had a great time. The food was good, Gumbet is lovely, so the rooms weren't 5 star, but to be fair, we didn't go there to spend time in our room.



All we heard all holiday was people moaning, rather than just getting on with it and making the best of their time there. Let me make it easy&to the point:



POSITIVES

Very good value for money

Lovely sea

Beach Nearby

Gumbet is lovely

We really enjoyed the food

Lovely views from the hotel

Beautiful Weather

Very good transport system from resort to Gumbet

Getting to and from the airport was no trouble

Great Nightlife



NEGATIVES

Irritating, moaning people

Music during the day by the pool was a little too hardcore to be relaxing!

People trying to sell you things whilst you are relaxing is a little offputting, but you just deal with it

Our reps left a lot to be desired, but they were probably just fed up of listening to people nag and moan at them all the time



In short, this is perfect for a young couple, for example. People who want to whinge should either stay at home, or just save up to go on a more expensive holiday. It's 4* for Turkey, NOT Britain.

Very dissapointed! Our room wasnt as bad as everyone elses sounded! Although mould in the bath room and very dark room! Lifts didnt work staff were rude, food was boring and reheated from the previouse night! Lying by the pool all you could hear were people complaining about their rooms and the hotel! £25 for air conditioning that didnt seem to do much! The hotel itself was like a dungeon, couldnt see where you were going no signs anywhere to direct you to pool, reception etc! Could be a fantastic hotel but is just run down and un cared for! Even the pool was dissapointing, murkey and dirty! Not worth the money!

Just returned from a weeks stay at the Royal Marin. WHAT A JOKE! Like many others we werent sure what to expect, as there were such mixed reviews about it. But let me assure you every bad comment made about it is entirely justified. Here are just a few of the things that we found at this rundown so called five star hotel:



NEGATIVES

Broken lifts

Damp on practically every wall

Bathrooms covered in mould

Water leeking from light fittings

No air-con in foyer or restaurant (Available in bedrooms as long as you pay £25)

Fridge not working properly

Rudeness / sleaziness of staff

Lack of entertainment

Food repetative and of poor standard

Small man made beach accessable via bus unless your a mountain goat

Sewage works near by so hope wind is blowing in right direction



POSITIVES

Nice pool

Lovely view of Gumbet from main balcony



I know allot of people who write bad reviews are only doing it to winge. But the only reason im doing this is to prevent anybody else from wasting their money on this very misleading and depressing hotel.