Turtle Beach Resort

We booked a junior suite for ourselves and our 9 and 7-year-old girls, which we received and was large for all of us. There seemed to be a shortage of electrical sockets to charge two tablets, two electric toothbrushes and two telephones simultaneously. The resort is airy and has no cramped feeling to it, despite the occasional queue at meal times. The food was good and varied and drinks delivery was quick. On one occasion we had cause to admonish a waitress for her surly and impolite manner. When we informed the Restaurant Manageress, she resolved the issue to our satisfaction. At other times the restaurant service we received was functionary. Our girls attended the Kids' Club frequently and they always had a good time there. The pool service was quick and frequent and there was ample opportunity to make your own way to the garden bar. The garden restaurant was fine and service delivery was fine too, made enjoyable by a stray young grey cat that appeared every day. Our daughters loved it but we felt that the clientele was not for us and that we had become used to a more sophisticated establishment. The rotting seaweed that made the sea brown and murky did not help as this made playing in the breakers practically impossible. We were reliably informed that seaweed has arrived every summer and departed in autumn for the last four years. Despite efforts to clean it from the beach, it did put a damper on our enjoyment of the hotel.

I loved this hotel - the staff are amazing BUT our holiday was ruined by us not knowing about the seaweed :-( I know the hotel cannot help the huge seaweed problem, I am very unhappy with BA not telling us when we booked.. Apparently its a problem which has been ongoing for years. However all of the photos on the BA website show clear blue water. This is not the case, the water is FULL of seaweed and the day we arrived it was actually black (not brown). Until you've experienced the dreaded seaweed you cannot comprehend just how bad it is. Sandals next door had a tractor on the beach trying to clear it away. I complained and the manager got us to Crystal Cove for the day (we had to pay 60 dollars in a taxi) and we also got sent to the Boatyard for the day - both were not far away and had clear sea and sand. We also paid to go to the Boatyard one day (100 dollars to get in and 50 dollars taxi). We loved the beach there but it just made us more sad when we returned to Turtle Beach and couldn't go in the sea. We had a couple of clearer days when my girls managed to Boogie Board - but their white swimsuits were ruined by the black seaweed which was still in the water. Service was brilliant at this hotel - never really had to queue for a drink. Ice cream shop and coffee bar excellent too. Buffet at lunchtime was better than in the evening - too little choice and too many people! Italian was a bit hit and miss with the food too. Overall we had a nice time - not sure it was worth 9k for 2 adults and 2 children White sand and clear sea would have helped. Unfortunately won't return due to seaweed :-(

We booked this hotel after reading some of the reviews and obviously, as you do, getting excited by the lovely resort photos. We like to go everywhere with an open mind and it’s always worth judging a place for yourself, bearing in mind that you’ll never please all the people all of the time. Reviews are only ever an opinion, but I like to offer mine and you can take from it what you will. So, our opinions based on some of the previous reviews and our own experiences, are these: There was some seaweed on the beach and in the sea. It can’t be helped and wasn’t there every day and cleared. From some reviews, we expected metre high piles of it along the beach but it was minimal and nothing you wouldn’t get at home. Also, it was often worse at the beach in front of the Sandals resort next door. People do reserve sun beds. You’re not meant to (when do they ever enforce this rule?!) but people do and they do it early. It says there are 2 pools but the ‘main’ one is the biggest (but really still quite small for a main pool), so grab your bed early to avoid disappointment! (early as in 6am or earlier, not UK early like 8am or something). The rooms do need refurbishment. Things are old and in some cases, falling apart. Our toilet blocked and overflowed while we were there which is not what you need to deal with on a holiday. That said, the hotel sorted it as soon as they could. There was only one accessible electricity socket. All the units in the room have backs to them so you can’t get to any of the others. Probably best to take an adapter plug and extension lead just in case. The staff. As anywhere, some were friendly, (the ice cream shop) some weren’t (the coffee shop) and made you feel like you were bothering them just asking (politely) for a coffee. The Waterfront provides food all day. Lunch is around 12:30(ish) and the hot food is good. The cold food counters smell quite bad though (a sort of sewage type smell) which doesn’t really tempt you that much. Again though, we put this down to old equipment that needs replacing. As the resort is small, it doesn’t take long until you’ve seen and done everything. If you can get out and about, it’s probably a good idea. Our holiday was ok, but nothing I can ‘gush’ about which is a shame as it was our first experience of the Caribbean. This hotel may be an ‘Elegance’ resort but we didn’t find any. It wasn’t camping in a rainy field, in the UK, in the middle of Winter, but it wasn’t luxury. It was ok.