Grand Hotel Faros

We had booked to stay at the Grand Faros Hotel but we checked out after the first night, the room was so small and basic it was nothing like a four star hotel in fact it was not even good enough to be rated a three star in our opinion.

The mini fridge was broken, the plug sockets were hanging off the wall. The toilet did not flush. The shower had mould all round the bottom. The beds were small and hard and the third bed (a put you up bed) which had been added to the room only had a sheet on it.

We were very disappointed particularly as the hotel is reasonably well decorated in the lobby and passageways.

We would definitely not ever want to stay there again!

However - we then checked into the Sunrise Hotel located along the beach front and this was lovely. The room was spacious and well decorated. The bed was a large double and was very comfortable, the view from the room was spectacular - it over looked the beach and the sea, we had three very good nights there and would highly recommend this hotel.

Hotel Grand Faros was excellent value, much better than we had anticipated. The service, food and accommodation were first class, the air-conditioning was free and worked beautifully (essential when the temperatures were in the mid 40s!).

The public room’s pool and outside areas were immaculate. Food and drinks bought at the hotel and from the mini bar were reasonably priced and lunch by the pool was delicious. Really, a great holiday hotel.

However, anyone travelling with Jewel in the Crown should be prepared to be ripped-off by this particular tour operator. I would advise anyone travelling with them to purchase nothing from the representative; the only excursion worth going on is the cruise and that can be purchased at the harbour for half the price.

The final excursion, the Dalyan Transfer ruined our holiday for us and we returned to the UK stressed out and angry.

My advice to you is Go to Turkey, go to Gran Faros but go with a different tour operator.

Well what can I say. I have been going to turkey for 13 years. This year, on more than once. This has to be one of the best hotels all round. The food was excellent I've put weight on instead of losing it lol. T

he rooms were clean, staff extra friendly...love to u guys... and overall atmosphere was amazing... went as just 2 girls and came back adopted by all....if anyone is thinking of staying at this hotel do it... value for money and excellent service means we will be going back again.

Just returned from a last minute holiday booked via lastminute.com with the tour company Jewel in the Crown.

The positives: We had a lovely holiday, the hotel is VERY clean, every time you turned a corner someone would be cleaning and polishing! Indeed, our room was cleaned and tidied every day.

The evening meal was fantastic (served 8pm - 10pm) - a buffet style with a huge choice - the only slight down side were the flies - the food was left uncovered and especially in the morning they were all over everything - but on the positive we didn't come down with any stomach upsets! The morning breakfast (served 8am to 10am) was ok - you couldn't get a 'full English', that has to be paid for and is only served at 12.30pm. You can have fresh orange juice but this also has to be paid for separately, which we thought was a little unfair.

The staff are lovely and friendly and will do anything to help you and the hotel bar is no more expensive (for food and drink) than the bars and restaurants in Marmaris.

The free air-con was a god-send and much needed as the mosquitos are hungry for blood in this area and it wasn't advisable to leave your balcony window open! If you left one bit of flesh uncovered with insect repellent they found it!

The negatives: This is in no way like a 4* English hotel - the rooms are very small and basic (obviously the pictures on the net are the 'junior suites'). You also have to pay 10GBP per week for the room safe which is advertised as included! The views from the room are pretty grim - there is a Carlsberg factory if you have a room at the back of the hotel - or if you have a pool-facing room the view is of a building site/waste land - the pool area is also pretty noisy as they pump out nasty Eurotrash music day and night!

The 'entertainment' is usually the waiters dancing or having ball-games in the pool. Also, there isn't anywhere near enough sun-loungers - so do the German thing and take your towels down at breakfast and claim one!

The hotel is, I felt in the middle of no-where and you have to get a taxi (cost 13 Turkish Lira) or a dolmus (cost 1 Turk Lira) to any bars/restaurants. It is too far out of the way to walk anywhere. However, the dolmus arrives at the front of the hotel about every 15 minutes and runs until 12.45am.

Our main grumble about the holiday came on the last day - we flew from Manchester, on a night flight and only arrived at the hotel at 8am on the Tuesday - it is apparently 'normal' for tour operators to book the hotel on the day you fly ie the Monday - so technically we paid for the Monday's room and food when we were still in England!

This meant that we had to vacate our room on the Monday at noon and pay an extra £20 each for another room (until 7pm) and evening meal and our transfer coach only picked us up at 2am on the Tuesday morning! There is nowhere secure to leave your suitcases - they have to be left in the hotel foyer and we were advised we could use the showers in the gym area - which we found out had shut in the early evening - so we couldn't freshen up before the long journey home!

On our arrival home we had received a letter telling us we would have to vacate our room on the Monday! This is not advertised on the internet and technically you are paying for 7 nights but only get 6 - so beware!!

Just returned from 2 weeks at this hotel. Had three teenage children in tow. The two girls, 16 and 15 have said it was "our best holiday ever". All the comments in the other reviews are accurate.

The rooms had air conditioning, a mini bar and satellite TV. My only criticism is that the bathrooms could do with a bit of sprucing up. Having said that, they were clean and perfectly adequate. The restaurant and bar staff were great. All honest, friendly guys who couldn't do enough to help. The hotel is set a short bus ride from the centre of town in a not particularly attractive area. Travel to the centre was very easy on the blue bus that stopped directly outside the hotel and cost 1 lira (35p) for a journey.

There are plenty of activities book able from the holiday rep, or cheaper from the many companies touting for business in the harbour area. We went on the boat trip and had a fantastic day with lunch for a couple of pounds. Thoroughly recommended.

Was an excellent holiday in the perfect resort. The nightlife is amazing and there is always plenty to do day or night. Bar street you have to visit one evening but it is more for the younger adults.

Hotel was ok but staff were over friendly and when you told them you did not want to meet up with them when they finish work they became very unfriendly from then onwards. Vision tour operators were not so helpful either we didn’t have a welcome meeting or a chance to discuss with anyone about local excursions. Marmaris is the best holiday I have ever had and have been there 3 times and plan to go again and again.

The only downside is the Turkish men they are rather pushy and you are constantly leered at if you do not have male company, and the shop assistants are too overfriendly and pushy. But once you get used to that you will see it is truly one of the best holidays you could ever have.

My very first visit to Marmaris Turkey and already I'm planning another trip. We stayed at the Grand Faros Hotel and it was absolutely perfect (apart from the breakfast). The staff there were friendly, polite and very professional. The hotel itself was nice. My advice for anyone going out there is go with an empty suitcase because the markets and stores are filled with a shoppers dream and bargains. The beaches were alright although I did miss not having a sandy beach between my toes. Go there if you have not already.

My daughter also was six years old out there and all the staff after baking a large cake came and sang happy birthday to her followed by the Turkish version, she was so overwhelmed with happiness. Travel on the local buses is also a very very cheap and pleasant way to get around.

The hotel was 1st class. The food was very varied and plenty of choice. The staff were very helpful and polite they took the time to talk to you and make you feel very welcome.

The rooms were adequate had everything that was needed including mini bar (not too much overpriced) the air conditioning was a must and they were very clean.

There was courtesy buses laid on to take you into the town and to Icmeler and the local regular bus service was right outside the hotel so there wasn't a feeling of being isolated. The only downfall I found myself was there weren’t many English people but all in all I would go back.

We satyed at this hotel and were advised that this was a 4 Star. I cant tell you how dissapointed we got there. There is no way this is a 4 star hotel, more like 2 star. The rooms were small and tacky and the corridors were dark and dingy. If you fancy flys on your food for breakfast then you will enjoy this hotel. There were not enough sun loungers or even deck chairs, we had to fight off the Germans to find somewnere to sit near the pool. The pool was too small, the views were poor from our bedroom. The customer service was non existant and the waiters had a face on if we bout drinks such as water from outside of the hotel complex. The staff comaplined about how little they were paid and how long there hours of work were. The person in charge of customer care was arrogant and could do with some customer care training. I would not reccommend you go to this hotel. The only words I can use to describe it was N.A.S.T.Y!!

Would not even reccomend it to my worst enemy!!

Mr Khan

We had booked this hotel through a third party website (because the hotel wouldn't reply to our emails when we tried to book direct). The location of this hotel is quite good as there is a bus stop on the doorstep where buses go to marmaris (very very vheap) - this takes 5 minutes.

On arriving at the hotel the manager was almost surprised to see us (as if he wasnt expecting us) they didnt have a room for us and arranged for us to sleep at another hotel for 1 night. This hotel was shoddy and we didnt even have a double bed !! We were too tired to argue at this point.

The next day when we were at our hotel we were given a room on the top floor however the view was of a construction site - nice big yellow cranes - LOVELY!! The ceilings were quite low as it was like an attic room - banged my head a few times. Other than that it was a nice basic room.

As a complimentary gift due to the problems we encountered we got a bowl of fresh fruit which was nice.

The restaurant's plus point was that the food was good and the setting was good to, although at times we struggled to find a seat as it was quite busy. The receptionist had very poor english and it was like talking to a brick wall at times - im sorry (didnt mean to insult the wall).

Wouldn't really class it as a four star. More a 3 star. The bus stop and the restaurant were definately plus points. the view was POOR and the service overall could have been a lot better.