We've just returned from a weeks stay at Turtle Beach and had a great time. After reading some of the reviews i was expecting a bit of a dive, but the whole hotel was very well presented and the staff very professional. We were given a lovely welcome - our room was ready on arrival and we had a welcome drink whilst checking in. We stayed all inclusive and the food was great. There was a good variety each night, lots of meat, fish and good selection for Vegetarians. The hygiene standards were high.
The majority of staff were very helpful and friendly - a couple of them seemed a bit rude but mainly great. The staff work hard all day, groundskeepers, room maids and restaurant staff.
Our room was one of the furthest from the main hotel but it was much better than I was expecting after reading some of the reviews. It was VERY clean and spacious, welcomed with fresh flowers on the bed and in the bathroom, a fresh fruit platter and a stocked fridge with a variety of drinks. The room had a huge queen sized bed (very comfy!), bedside tables , lamps, dressing table and stool, with mirror, armchairs, full length mirror, balcony with amazing views, especially at sunset! The bathroom was lovely, clean and had a great powerful shower. The room was cleaned and bed changed daily, clean towels etc. The air-conditioning unit was a godsend, and was very effective.
The pool was really great, and all of the hotel areas were clean and tidy at all times. The cocktails were lovely. There were security guards all over the place who were also very friendly, however they could do a better job of seeing off some of the sellers on the beach (see below) But I couln't tell where the private land of the hotel and the public area on the beach begun and ended so maybe that was why they had little control of that.
On the downside - it's a non-smoking hotel which was a pain for my partner as the only place you were allowed to smoke was on the beach or at the far side of the pool (at the wall by the beach) Which would of been fine except for the only other thing that bothered us - the beach traders. As soon as we went over to have a cigarette we were hasled for one by one of them ( i know, shouldn't smoke anyway!
. I'm not talking about the guys and girls with stalls, they were great - especially Henry who make leather goods, sandals made to measure etc, such a lovely guy!!! (you have to go and talk to him he's great!) But the ones who won't leave you alone. I had read about these guys before i went and was all prepared to say a polite but firm 'no thanks' However I found it so hard! They don't just ask if you want to buy a coconut shell or whatever they are selling, they start chatting, (even singing to us!) Then when you've chatted for a bit you find it hard to say no, lol, well I did! Then for the rest of the week we had to hide from them, a few were quite demanding, "give me a cigarette then" - and we felt a bit intimidated by a few of them. It would have been lovely to relax on the beach loungers to watch the sunset but they would come and sit with us! Maybe I had the look of an easy target! They followed us if we walked along the beach. We observed them approaching many other people too, from the safety of our balcony - some seemed to manage to get rid of them easily, others were roped into buying something. We were also fooled into paying way over the odds for a day trip, we were targetted on our first morning while jet-lagged and as the guy selling the tour was right outside our room and the security staff were allowing this, then it should be ok. We didn't realise until afterwards that we'd paid way over the top for a fishing trip that was a bit rubbish and VERY expensive. My advice would be to 'be prepared' for these guys and tell them you've already booked all your trips. I must stress that this was only a handful of people, not gangs or anything, but I felt they ruined it for the genuinly nice, friendly traders who were trying to make an honest living. Other than that, we did enjoy our holiday so so much and would definately stay at turtle beach again.