Hotel Grand Ideal

My friend and I stayed at The Grand Ideal for a week in June and for what we paid were pleasantly surprised. The staff were always ready to help, especially the night staff .
The room was excellent, plenty of room, very clean and modern. The shower was spacious, our towels were changed daily and beds made daily. We couldn't fault the maids they were very polite and helpful.
The pool was fantastic, very big, plenty of sun beds. The pool bar staff were happy to help and would often serve you from your sun bed!
The location of the hotel was perfect, restaurants and bars right outside the hotel and a very short walking distance to the beach front where you can find entertainment to suit everyone!
There is a taxi rank right outside the hotel which was reasonably priced and lots of buses that would go to Icmeler and the centre of Marmaris every 5 minutes!
Overall this is the best holiday my friend and I have been on, and have already booked to return in august! We would recommend this hotel to anyone.

This was the third time in two years that we have stayed in the Grand Ideal, once with no children and twice with. This is one of the best, friendliest hotels I have ever stayed in and we are quite well traveled. The Grand Ideal is spotlessly clean, the staff are very helpful and friendly, they can’t do enough for you.
The apartments are spacious with a twin room and two sofa beds in the living area, (never had any complaints from our kids?). Apartments also have two large balconies. (Hotel rooms one). The maid service especially in the hotel rooms is excellent; we have never had any problems with noise in this hotel. The hotel is safe not only for children, but also belongings. There is a safe in every room (which we have never used).
The pool entertainment is excellent, you only have to say no if you are a bit miserable, but the kids loved it. If you are looking to enjoy your holiday, and not go just to pick at everything you can, then this hotel is for you. We will defiantly be using this hotel again.

This was by far the worst holiday I have ever been on. Where can I start?
OK, this is NOT listed as a lively hotel, and it should be. Loud music starts at 8am and goes straight through til 2am the next morning! The bar supposedly closes at 12, so why the loud music after?
One of the first night we were there, we went to the bar. At midnight, we were refused drinks and told that the bar was closed. If that was the case, why were people coming in after us and still getting served? Moreover, the drinks at the bar were very expensive. The cost of half a litre of water is equivalent to an 8 litre bottle from the supermarket up the street (Migros).
As well as this, drinks prices rise in the evening! And you can't take your own drinks down! In the day, the pool area is patrolled by waiters with a drink trolley. If they spot you with your own drink, you are told to put it away, and if spotted again, you are fined. This is especially unhelpful when it is 56 degrees C in the day like it was when we went.
On top of that, you get hassled during the day to do water polo, water aerobics and more, when all you want to do is sunbathe and read a book! These activities also mean that you cannot use the pool for a while. The trolley waiters will kick your bed if it is in the way of their trolley.
The people in the hotel (except the maid - she was excellent!) are rude and brusque. They are too business-like! In fact, everyone in Marmaris is rude and arrogant. They have never heard of queues. They think that they can just push in. We waited ages for an ice-cream (which by the way is fabulous!).
Thankfully, we found one group of people who brightened our holiday! The Sail Cafe is about 3 mins walk past Migros and is amazing. The menu is not as big as some places, but there is a good variety of food, and it is cheap and good quality. The staff are funny, polite and completely awesome! We went there every night. We went to their Turkish Night and it was very good! Awesome entertainment, great food and well worth the money!
In the hotel cafe, my father asked if he could see the football scores. This seemed a fair request, as normally they showed football on their TV. The cafe was not busy, and the staff weren't watching the TV. Yet they very rudely refused him. It would have been polite of them to quickly show him the football scores, as they weren't watching the TV (it was on, by the way!).
Right, next is our room. We stayed in an apartment (there were four of us). One of the problems was that the sofa-beds were stone hard and so were the pillows. My best night’s sleep of the whole holiday was at a hotel near Birmingham airport. The air conditioning (if you can call it that - it was a fan on the wall) made the room it was in freezing (so much so that my parents had to turn it off during the night) and the other room was boiling. There was no climate control.
The door joining the rooms was wide open, yet the difference in temperature was astonishing! The bathroom was small. The shower was a square shaped lip in the floor with a plug hole (no plug), a shower on the wall, and a shower curtain. There was also a basin. The warm water was red with rust, and it stained clothes when we tried to wash them!
Another bad point is that we were in Marmaris at the time when the bombs went off! Although, you can't blame the Turkish for that (actually, they took it quite lightly).
We wanted to go home after a few days there (that has never happened before). If you must go to Marmaris (and I highly recommend that you don't), make sure you visit the Sail Cafe. All I can say is, people that rave about Turkey have never been to Greece or Cyprus.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Grand Ideal.
We had a room that was supposed to sleep 4 and there were only 2 of us, so we had plenty of space. I would not like to sleep in the sitting room area without the air con though.
Our room was facing the pool and the sea and had 2 balconies. The beds were firm and comfortable.
I got our passports in the safe without bending them but there was only room for cards, papers etc. I didn't mind paying a deposit for the key, but thought an additional charge for its use was too much.
The room was clean as were the comon areas, and kept clean by the chambermaid - she was really nice. All the staff were very pleasant, helpful and seemed to care that we were OK. Thanks to Mustafa for teaching us how to stop the Dolmos!
The pool bar was good, that whole area was well designed. We didn't go in the pub, but it looked OK. I had a breakfast there which was nice.
This hotel made our stay in Marmaris very enjoyable and if (hopefully when) we return, I'd be happy to stay here - it's not every day I get to wash the breakfast things in a marble sink!
It sits next door to a newer, much posher Grand Azur, but the Grand Ideal has an easy friendly Turkish feel to it - just what we want on holiday.
A message to Mrs Bond - you can now get bacon in your full English in Marmaris.

The Grand Ideal is a nice hotel and the self catering rooms are "OK" but facilities very basic. Only 2 hot rings, no toaster, so try making toast! There was a kettle and a fridge which both worked. There was also a frying pan but no spatula to remove you eggs, bacon etc. so no luck there. There were cereal bowls but these were only big enough to hold 3 cornflakes and no milk, so we had to buy a bowls from the supermarket! We actually found the self catering facilities hard work, but OK if you want bread and jam every morning.
Didn’t have to use the expensive air conditioning in October and agree with other reviews that the safe would only hold very small items. The water was absolutely disgusting, very salty and very yellow, must have come out of a rusty storage tank.
Maid service in self catering was very good, every other day. The brochure said twice a week, so maybe this was because it was end of season and they weren’t particularly busy.
We didn’t have to fight for sunbeds as in October the hotel was only half full. Food at the cafe around the pool was very acceptable and reasonably priced. They ran out of ice creams in the pool area and actually took the freezer away, said it was the end of season as they were finished. "So forget about the paying guests needs then."
They also ran out of certain items in the bar as again they were "finished" end of season etc. Bar food was OK though.
The staff around the pool, bar and reception were a very mixed bunch, some were very nice and others not.
Marmaris is a big place, the Grand Ideal is at the quieter end, opposite end to the Marina and Bazaar, which is 10 minutes on the Dolmus for 1 Lira each. You can walk all the way which takes about 45 mins on the beach path or on the main road path.
You are hassled at every restaurant and every shop, why will the Turks never learn that this puts people off. We went to Rhodes for the day on the Catamaran, it was heaven. No hassle, we went in loads of shops with no bother at all.
The beaches at Marmaris and Icmeler are absolutely awful, very dark mucky gravel. Unless of course at the beginning of the season they top them up with real sand, but at the end of the season anyway they were absolutely awful.
All in all would not go back to Marmaris but would go back to Olu Deniz/Fethiye where we went last year. Lovely beaches and much nicer area.

The hotel itself is lovely, nice and clean, close to the beach.
HOWEVER the food was AWFUL. It seemed to cater more for German and Dutch taste rather than Turkish or British. Breakfast had quite a wide choice so most people could find something to eat but there was NEVER any bacon and only HARD BOILED eggs. The main courses of the evening meals were lacking in choice every night and quite disgusting.
The other disappointment was the fact that we arrived late in the evening, (having lunched on the plane) to find there was no meal/snack for us. The “helpful” Thomson rep said we could go and buy something at the supermarket!! After travelling for 12 hours, the last thing we wanted to do was to go out at 11.30pm in a strange place!

Nice size apartments and pool area but need to get to the pool approx 8am to get a sunbed. Staff at reception very rude and unhelpful, they can speak English but then pretend they can't understand you if you have a problem.
Very expensive for air conditioning but free if you stay in the hotel.
If you want to keep your room on at the end of the holiday you must see reception very early in the morning in order to keep the room your in. I went down at 9am and was told it was too late to keep my room and would be given a hotel room instead of another apartment.
Safety deposit boxes are very small and are built into the wall. Couldn’t keep my camcorder in it unless I wanted it to be scratched. Passports could fit only if they were bent.
Approx 1 hour walk to the centre of Marmaris where the bizarre is but there is the Dolmus which is a minibus that will take you there in approx 10mins and costs 30p
Will definitely go back to Marmaris but not to this hotel.

4* rating is a little high, lift and rooms could be upgraded.
Reception staff polite and friendly.
Rooms are basic, AC was additional 10YTL/day (£4.25/day).
Pool side waiters/bar staff couldn’t help you more, friendly, always cleaning pool side tables/ashtrays.
Card system is useful, avoid carrying too much around whilst at the bar (no service charge on our bill).
Food fairly good, light snacks during day.
Temperature average 32/36ºC even this late in the year.
Evening meal, on the beach front, turn left after walking down the side of the hotel, called Maymi. Staff were exceedingly friendly and courteous, went out of their way to help, also advice on which dishes they didn’t recommend.
Faroes bar a little further along offers decent entertainment each night.
Bar street, worth a trip, drinks about 7-8YTL here but wide selection from The Rock Bar, to JOY, Beverly Hills, Backstreet & B52 for good music and good crowds.
Would go again.

I went to the grand ideal hotel with my dad his partner and my little sister, I myself am 18 I thought the place was great I spent most of my time down at the bar with the great service of the bar staff I made friends and went out to the town or Marmaris.
The apartment was clean but I agree that the air-conditioning was a little expensive... I loved the hotel that much that I have booked my holiday to the hotel by myself in the yr 2006 and hope to see most of the same bar staff.
The fantasia club crew were amazing for the kids and put on fabulous shows for the adults cant wait to see them all again
Xxxxxx

Speaking for all the family, ( I have two teenage sons, 15 & 13) the hotel and our apartment were fantastic, the maid service was very good they kept it very clean. We ate at the poolside snack bar a few times and the food was great and not expensive, the entertainment was good, cant really find fault with anything except i agree with some of the other comments that the safe and air conditioning were a bit expensive.
Just to say again we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the grand ideal, oops I forgot to mention about the odd bit of dirty water from the taps which was quickly sorted out, it also said gymnasium ( what gymnasium) there was nothing in it, but apart from that it was excellent and we cant wait to go back.