Palmea Hotel

I booked Palmea as a last minute getaway, however was very sceptical about staying here due to the mixed reviews.

I found the food repetitive and limited at times but still tasty most days. Enjoyed the grilled selection of food (at lunch and dinner) and the male chef there was always smiley and welcoming. The ladies on the reception desk were also really helpful in assisting with my enquiries.

Rooms are decent, however found the bed extremely hard and uncomfortable. Cleaning of the rooms was also very basic/ minimal and could do with improvement. There’s a little fridge in the rooms, to which I was provided with 2 bottles of water on my arrival but noticed this wasn’t refilled during my stay.

The WiFi doesn’t work in the rooms, which was a bit of a let down. However, I was able to access WiFi in the reception, restaurant and by the pool. There are two pools (one with a slide for kids), a shop and spa facilities.

Key standouts:

I had a lovely massage at the hotel, definitely recommend the spa here.

Location is quite central, just under a 15 minute walk to the beach and shops etc.

The small cocktail bar by the pool is nice for something light to do in the evenings. Some live entertainment would’ve been a good addition as there is none.

Overall, for a 4* all inclusive hotel I found Palmea fairly basic but experienced a pleasant stay here.

Great location, friendly staff. The first room we were put in was well below standard so asked to be changed, second room much better but needed deep cleaning. Food was OK if you like chicken. Not much choice so we ate out the majority of our stay. Pools were freezing and the outside loungers and tables were dirty, some broke but we did visit at the end of the season. I wouldn't stay here again.

Good location. Rooms appear clean. Very small and weak showers water splashes allover the bathroom.
We had 3 people in the room but constantly were receiving only 2 towels.
Food was...ok if you're not picky. Small choice of meat sometimes lacking spice/flavour. A lot of fresh and pickled vegetables to make salads. A lot of nice cakes.
Hotel looks lovely from the outside. Pools are small but nice. Not much space for loungers and not enough of them for the number of guests so unless you wake up at 8:00 to put your towel on one it's unlikely you'll sunbathe by the pool that day.
Drinks are as you would expect in a hotel like this with all inclusive. Weak. No cocktail menu. They are using actual Pepsi and sprite however cheap alcohol.
We stayed for 4 nights and did not complain too much however have heard other complain when staying for a fool week.
WiFi was fine near reception or the bar but hardly ever worked in the room. Just remember that turkey is outside the EU so you are paying a lot for roaming with small amount of data and you need to rely on WiFi.

Firstly, I was extremely nervous on arrival to Palmea due to the bad reviews I had read, but honestly it wasn’t that bad, let me tell you why…

We arrived at 4.30am and were checked in quickly and a nice man helped us with our bags and showed us to our room. Our room was in the second block on the 4th floor, great view of the main pool. The room basic but done the job, air con worked fine, good sized balcony. We did not pay a lot for this holiday so I was never expecting luxury. Only slight issue with the room was the shower flooding the floor every time we used it.

We went for the all inclusive option, I am not a fussy eater but sometimes the food was questionable. Breakfast was good, lovely fresh pancakes and fried eggs. Lunch was also okay, fresh chips and pasta etc. I wasn’t too keen on the dinner so we only had it once and ate out every other night, but that was just my preference, there was always enough choice for everyone. Drinks were good, lovely white wine, cocktails and a selection of spirits and soft drinks. The all inclusive ends at 10.30pm.

The main issue for me during my stay were the guests. The type of people that Palmea hotel attracts are not pleasant. Very rowdy, loud and quite frankly full of chavs. The guests were not nice to the staff at all, always giving them abuse. I had read that the staff were ‘absolutely awful’ and ‘rude’ but I didn’t experience this once, I believe it works both ways, if you are unkind to them, they will treat you the same way.

Our room was tidied everyday, not cleaned. Our beds were made and the towels were folded up, however we ran out of toilet paper on day 5 out of 7 and they did not give us anymore for the duration, which was odd.

The hotel is in a good location, 5 minute walk to the beach. We avoiding sitting around the pool as it was chaos, young children with appalling bad language, and people blind drunk from 11am. There is not enough sunbeds either.

So overall, you get what you pay for. Minus the other guests. I enjoyed my stay at Palmea but I think there are better hotels in Marmaris.