Turtle Beach Resort

We returned from our stay at Turtle Beach on 3rd September. The beach was lovely, sea fairly rough which made for some good body boarding but children cannot go in unaccompanied. There was some seaweed, no-ones fault obviously and when it gathered on the beach it was cleared up fairly well. The pool areas are generally good although beds were at a premium and although there is a request not to reserve beds everyone did so we had to as well or miss out. The surfaces around the pools are slippery and the entrance steps on the pool with the bridge were lethal, I slipped in jarring my arm and shoulder, could've been much worse and is an accident waiting to happen. There was a drinks service around the pool and on the beach with fresh fruit in the morning and ice lollies. Have to agree with others though in saying it was not cleared up often with lolly wrappers left and glasses left around the pool although that's probably more to do with people not bothering to clear up after themselves then any fault of the staff. Mostly all of the staff were really friendly and helpful with just a couple of exceptions. Reception staff were great and the gentleman who greeted us on arrival and dealt with our luggage was lovely. Our room was fine, if tired, with some broken tiles on the floor and being on the ground floor right at the end there was no view but we could hear the sea on the other side of the hedge and it was entertaining watching the crabs rushing about. It was well cleaned daily and water bottles provided both in the room and at every bar. The most disappointing thing for us was the food and the restaurants. Breakfast in Chelonia was by far the best meal of the day. The lunch and evening buffets are very samey and uninspiring, often overcooked. You can eat a la carte in Assiago's, the food was fine but the surroundings are not. You can also eat a la carte in the Waterfront restaurant which we did on the first night. Not great. The worst thing though was the Waterfront restaurant during the day! I'm sorry but it really was not up to scratch at all. Soggy pizza with flies all around it. Lukewarm burgers and hotdogs a few salads and the most awful smell which, when I mentioned it to a member of staff, I was told was sewage!!! I'm sorry, really? It was disgusting, mainly around the food area and the smell came up through the cabinet from which the salads were served so when you opened the door, whoof, you got such a smell it was impossible to eat. The whole restaurant felt grubby and unpleasant. The only saving grace was that the little cafe served a few toasties that could be eaten by the pool as well as some ice creams (The actual ice cream parlour was closed) pastries and hot/cold drinks. We were so disappointed with the food that we ate out of the hotel 4 nights out of 8 - an expensive experience. Barbados is a lovely Island and we will happily return but we would not come back to Turtle Beach Resort.

We had 10 days of family relaxation here. Overall my experience is positive. We were lucky to have a refurbished room which was nice but other guests mentioned that their rooms were a bit tired. What made this place though is the staff for whom nothing is too much trouble. The food is well prepared with decent varieties and choices, and the facilities are good, and my kids were well catered for for too. The water sports were great and the beach is clean. I just wish that hotels like this would stop using single use plastics like straws and stupid swords for cocktails!

I stayed here back in June and had an ocean front room which was lovely except the sea looked more like Blackpool sea and the beach was covered in Seaweed ( I know its not their fault as its a natural occurrence) but it was not cleaned up for a few days and did start to smell. Sandals next door were tackling the problem daily and their beach was clear. I have been advised that this is ok again for the time being as the seaweed has stopped. The room we had was large, cleaned daily to a high standard and the bed was very comfy so no complaints there. The area outside was very dull, badly lit at night, sometimes dirty and in real need of a facelift. The lift also didn't work for first 2 days and we were on the 3rd floor and I have a knee problem so this wasn't very good but I was promised it wasn't getting fixed and so didn't bother about asking to be moved rooms. The food in my opinion was much better at the buffet at lunch, lovely fresh salads, coleslaw and meats etc. The hot food was average and in our weeks stay we only ate in the restaurant in the evening twice as I was disappointed the first 2 nights and so we chose to eat at places at in the gap. The evening entertainment was boring, not much going on which is a shame. Again we chose to leave the hotel and go into the gap. I have stayed at a few of the Elegant properties in Barbados on the West Coast and I had always wanted to stay at Turtle, but I think it needs to be brought up to the same level as their other properties seeing they do charge huge amounts to stay here at some times of the year. The staff were all lovely