Elite World Marmaris Hotel

We are just coming to the end of a 7-night stay at Elite World Marmaris, staying in room 1001. I’ve been coming to Turkey twice a year for around 20 years and have stayed in Icmeler at least 10 times, although this was our first stay at this hotel.

Firstly, the staff deserve a lot of credit. The waiters at breakfast and dinner are lovely – always polite, friendly and welcoming. Sebastian in Guest Relations was lovely too, as were the reception staff, and everyone we dealt with at reception was friendly and helpful.

The food has a good selection and there was always plenty to choose from. Our room, although quite small, has generally been clean.

The spa was also a real highlight. We had a Turkish bath and three massages during our week and they were excellent. Definitely one of the best parts of the hotel for us.

The pool, however, is EXTREMELY small for a hotel of this size, and the sunbed situation is exactly what you might expect with such a small pool – beds seem to be reserved from around 6am! Thankfully, we much prefer the beach anyway, and Icmeler beach is absolutely stunning.

Elite World has its own free section of beach with grey sunbeds. There is a fridge with water, but if you want any other drinks on your all-inclusive package, you have to walk back to the hotel. It isn't miles away, but equally it isn't exactly next door when you're doing it backwards and forwards throughout the day particularly to return with your drink in a paper cup.

We actually chose to use the blue sunbeds next door, which are looked after by Mustafa, and his service is FANTASTIC. Obviously, you pay for your drinks there, but for us it was absolutely worth it. The two of us would have a couple of daiquiris and beers each during the day and our bill was generally around £40 a day with a tip separately.

We can afford to do that and were happy to pay for the convenience and great service. If you've paid for all-inclusive and don't want to spend extra, though, stay on the Elite World grey beds and be prepared to walk backwards and forwards to the hotel for your free drinks.

One disappointment that really stood out was my boyfriend's birthday. I mentioned to staff THREE separate times that it was his birthday, yet absolutely nothing was acknowledged.

Having travelled to Turkey regularly for 20 years, I'm very used to hotels making some sort of tiny gesture for a birthday – even just a fruit plate in the room or something similar. We certainly weren't expecting balloons, champagne and a marching band 😂, but after mentioning it three times I was genuinely surprised and disappointed that there wasn't even a small acknowledgement.

Housekeeping has generally been fine, but we did have one particularly poor day. Old towels were left on the floor, the bed was weirdly and badly made, and the fresh towels seemed to have simply been flung haphazardly into the bathroom. It was noticeably below the standard of the rest of the week.

Now, a VERY important warning if you're allocated room 1001.

I genuinely suspect this may be one of the worst-positioned rooms in the hotel! It directly overlooks the bar opposite and it is SO LOUD, continuing until at least 2am.

We didn't complain or ask to be moved – we just put up with it – so I'm not going to criticise the hotel for failing to resolve something we didn't raise with them. However, if you're a light sleeper, like an early night or are simply someone who needs quiet to sleep, I would absolutely ask for a different room. You've been warned!

Something else we noticed during our stay was a significant change in atmosphere when a large influx of Russian-speaking guests arrived. The hotel became noticeably busier, but more strangely, the staff seemed much more subdued. The same staff who had previously been very chatty and friendly with us suddenly seemed far less able to interact in the same relaxed way. We obviously don't know the reason for this and don't want to speculate, but the change was noticeable enough that we both commented on it......

There was a predominantly Russian-speaking clientele during our stay, and we personally found some of the behaviour from other guests – particularly around manners and courtesy towards staff and other guests – quite abrupt compared with what we're accustomed to. That's our experience of the particular guests staying during our week rather than a judgement on anyone's nationality, but it did affect the atmosphere of the hotel for us.

There is no entertainment at the hotel. To be completely fair, it isn't advertised as having entertainment and we didn't book expecting it, so this isn't really a criticism– just something worth knowing if evening entertainment is important to you.

We actually ate out on five of our seven nights. That's not necessarily a reflection on the hotel food, which had a good selection – we simply love Icmeler, its restaurants and going out in the evenings, and the meals we had out were amazing.

Overall, Elite World Marmaris is a bit of a mixed bag for us.

There are some genuinely lovely people working here. The restaurant staff, Sebastian in Guest Relations and the reception team deserve particular praise. The spa treatments were excellent, the hotel is generally clean, there's a good choice of food and, of course, you're in beautiful Icmeler with that stunning beach on your doorstep.

Mustafa next door also deserves a special mention – he isn't part of Elite World, but his fantastic service on the beach became part of our daily routine and really added to our holiday.

On the other hand, the ridiculously small pool and 6am sunbed reserving, having to walk back from the hotel's beach section for all-inclusive drinks, the poor housekeeping on one occasion, the complete lack of acknowledgement of my boyfriend's birthday despite mentioning it three times, and particularly the late-night noise in room 1001 have all taken the shine off the hotel itself.

We've had a lovely week – because we absolutely love Turkey and we love Icmeler – but after staying here for seven nights, I'm not convinced Elite World Marmaris would be our first choice of hotel when we return.

Would we return to Icmeler? In a heartbeat.

Would we automatically return to Elite World Marmaris? Yes - but I'd request a different room and not expect any acknowledgement of any special occasions.

Our first trip together to Turkey as a couple, and my first visiting the country. I wasn’t sure what to expect! We ended up at the Elite World Marmaris Hotel, and spent 10 nights all Inclusive there.

Transfer: We booked a package holiday with onthebeach, and was told around 1.5 hours transfer from Dalaman to Icemeler.. couldn’t be more wrong, expect at least 2.5-3 hours if you haven’t got a private transfer. They do regular stops inbetween for 15-20 mins at a time for smoking breaks.

Hotel: Once arrived, check in was simple. Room was adequate enough for us, a little small we felt and we didn’t pay an additional charge for a pool/sea view. In my opinion paying for a view isn’t worth it, you are somewhat close to the sea - but be advised this isn’t a beachfront hotel by any means!

The hotel is CLEAN. They do a great job, and overall the service is actually exceptional (apart from reception). We were a little underwhelmed as the hotel is very small (90 rooms) which isn’t an issue but just be warned there’s not much to this hotel outside of the pool, 1 restaurant, 1 snack bar and 1 bar.

The à la carte restaurant can be used, but this is not included as part of any package (which we were told was included when we booked) it’s £40pp for a 3 course dinner and this restaurant was not used by a single guest the entire time we were there. The lights weren’t even on…

There was also another bar advertised online as “the one bar”. This also is not in use and they use it currently as a “storage room.”

The service was great, with very nice staff in the bars and restaurant who were always accommodating. However we found it quite challenging communicating any issues with reception, and we had to use a translator on a few occasions. But shoutout Barkin, Yusef, and Baron who we got to know quite well at the hotel.

The hotel got busier during our stay which meant that getting a sunbed became an issue, with some guests waking up at 5am to secure their spot. There are no where near enough sunbeds for the amount of people in the hotel - be prepared!

The only real gripe with this hotel was the noise from the “shake out bar” opposite, operating until 4am on some days especially weekends. If you are going out till 4am everyday then no problem you will love it here! Try to avoid rooms 1 - 8 on any floor. We got told you can reserve certain rooms when booking - definitely look into this.

The final issue we had was with the room keys, by the end of the trip we had a total of 12 room keys allocated for our room. They set expiry dates on the key cards and they then can’t be used. We had to continue to go to reception every couple of days to issue new key cards for our room which became a little tiresome towards the end. I can’t recall ever having to do that at a hotel before..

Food & Drink Now I had high expectations, as previous reviews really did big up the food and drink at this hotel which was one of our main reasons for booking, although the location was super easy to get around the town.

We were a little worried with only the 1 buffet restaurant, however the food overall was very good. At times it was a bit hit and miss, and it does cater for the clientele which are mostly English holidayers with some local Turkish residents. Breakfast was arguably the worst, but at an all inclusive it always is. Same food everyday, however they have a good egg station where you can get some fresh omelettes whipped up.

Lunch was varied, with some days being great and others just okay. No themed lunches as expected, but the snack bar gave an alternative option if you wanted hot fresh cooked food. There are only 4 options at the snack bar, we tried them all, and felt the chicken wrap was by FAR the best option, with the rest very under par in contrast.

Dinner was solid. Good options and themed nights made it varied throughout the week. Again it was a bit hit and miss and in the 10 nights we stayed we ate out 4 times with 3 of those nights due to the food not appealing to us.

Lots of choices of deserts which was a huge plus! And the salad and fruit section was exceptional - fresh every day - and a real highlight.

The Coffee Bar is very good with 24/7 coffee and cakes although they can be very hit and miss, but it does give you the option to have something post-midnight if you wish.

Free ice creams also run out FAST so don’t wait until 5/6pm to grab one, as they don’t restock throughout the day. Water is as expected very accessible with multiple fridges around the hotel as well as being available at the bar.

Drinks at this hotel, plain and simple are absolute rubbish. They really do skimp on the quality of the drinks at this hotel. Firstly, daytime drinks round the pool are served in paper coffee cups, which isn’t an issue but if they do get even the slightest bit wet.. they are done for. And for those who want to drink in the pool - forget it.

The menu and lack of option was poor. In total there are only 10 drinks available, this includes the house wines and beer. Cocktails are poor, with the only decent one that is drinkable being the malibu sunset. They don’t use imported spirits, so quality does go a little bit, which is fine but the lack of option and menu is sad.

Spirits offered were only vodka and whiskey to have with mixers which aren’t proper mixers (Coke, Fanta, sprite) are again not imported so bare this in mind - the drinks in general aren’t what you could expect. With only the 1 main bar, the other bar (beach bar) doesn’t serve alcohol. It really was a let down and we felt the drinks were going to be better.

We also felt the times and allocated hours available to get food was not long enough. It never affected us, as it did actually work for when we wanted to eat but just for reference;

Breakfast - 07.30 - 10:30am (3 hours) Lunch - 12:30 - 2pm (1.5 hours) Dinner - 19:00 - 21:00 (2 hours)

We felt lunch and dinner needed to be longer available slots as everyone was going for food at the time same which was a problem some days as food gets taken pretty quick!

Entertainment There’s basically 0 entertainment each evening at this hotel, on a few days we had a guitarist play some music for around an hour and also had a belly dancer on the Turkish themed night. It was nice while you were eating, but nothing after that so definitely head out in the evenings if you want more of an entertaining evening.

Summary Overall, not a bad holiday. For us - it did the job of being somewhere we could chill and relax in, with great weather in September and the ability to go out in evenings and do a bit of shopping.

The food generally was decent, and with additional hours to eat it could have been better. We visited Marmaris a few times and also did a day in Rhodes - which I highly recommend.

We wouldn’t return to the hotel or the area as we felt it’s a place you probably do once and do it all. If you’re someone who wants variety and things to do - this hotel and area definitely isn’t for you. If you’re someone who just wants to relax and soak in the sun and enjoy some food and drink then maybe it’s for

Location - good, close to beach. Location bad - Very noisy bar next to hotel until 12.30 PM every night!

Atmosphere- Bad, nothing good to say, no entertainment, pool vibe was sterile. Staff, Yusuf was good everyone else we struggled to engage with.

Rooms - All bad feedback afraid. Cracked tiles in bedroom area, cracked sink in bathroom. Poor dated silicon around the sink and shower, very dirty and grubby, what you may expect from a mens football changing room! TV one channel in english being BBC News. Only three hangers in wardrobe, limited space for clothes only two draws, kept most of ours stuff in our suitcases. Had four cold showers in the evening as water was never hot. Shampoo bottles etc in shower and near sink, however none of them worked. Honestly I could keep going but above is enough to give you an 💡 of the general cleanliness. Cleaners change the towels three times in a week!

Food, all bad I am afraid, 🥚 were no existent, scrambled egg two days then nothing. Chef when he was there was not very friendly, fried eggs very poor. No pastries which is a first for me, there is always pastries, nope not here. Really struggled to eat morning or at dinner time, food was clearly budgeted for by hotel. I am not a fussy eater but I really struggled. Pros, The snack bar, only go to food option, Pizzas were lovely. Pool is very nice.

Cons, Spent evenings in bars as no entertainment in hotel. All inclusive not worth the money. Not value for money. Hotel rooms need refurbishment. General cleanliness poor in outside areas of hotel.

Would go back to Icemeler again but sadly not to this hotel.

Pool