Grand Aquarium

We stayed at the Grand Aquarium for one week in Block 6, and overall I'd describe it as an average family-friendly self-catering hotel with some clear strengths and some areas that could be improved. The biggest positive by far is the entertainment team. They are absolutely fantastic and genuinely make the hotel what it is. They're friendly, approachable and work tirelessly throughout the day and evening to keep everyone entertained. They create a brilliant atmosphere, are great with both adults and children, and really get everyone involved if you want to join in. In my opinion, they're the hotel's biggest asset and deserve a huge amount of credit for making people's holidays enjoyable. The hotel itself is pleasant enough. It's surrounded by mountains with some lovely gardens and flowers around the pool, which makes it a nice place to spend the day. During the school holidays it was busy but never felt overcrowded, and there were always plenty of inflatables left behind for the kids to use, so there's no real need to bring your own. Our room was cleaned most days, the air conditioning worked well, and there was always hot water. The only issue was the shower pressure, which could be quite poor during busy times of the day. If you showered early in the morning or later in the evening it was much better. One thing that did disappoint us was the number of extras you have to pay for. Having to pay separately for air conditioning, the room safe and Wi-Fi in your room feels a bit outdated these days. The air conditioning wasn't ridiculously expensive, but when you've already paid for your holiday, it feels like something that should simply be included. The bar staff were always friendly, but the service could be very slow. It wasn't unusual to order drinks and then have them arrive 20 to 30 minutes later, often at exactly the same time as the food. It would have been nice to have a cold drink while waiting for the meal. This felt more like a staffing issue than the fault of the staff themselves, as they always seemed to be working hard. The food was probably the weakest part of the holiday. Lunch was fine if you kept things simple. Burgers, chicken nuggets, chips and similar meals were perfectly okay, but most of the menu was fairly bland and average. In the evenings I'd definitely recommend heading into İçmeler or Marmaris instead. We found the restaurants there offered much better quality food, plenty of choice and some great entertainment too. We also tried the barbecue night. There was a nice selection of salads and cold dishes, but the meat itself was quite basic. For the price, I didn't think it represented particularly good value. Either the quality needs improving or the price needs to come down. Sally, the manager, was always friendly, welcoming and happy to stop and say hello, which was nice to see. This hotel is definitely aimed at families. There were lots of children around the pool, plenty going on during the day and a lively atmosphere most evenings. Personally, I probably wouldn't recommend it for couples looking for a peaceful, relaxing break, but I can completely understand why families enjoy staying here. We've previously stayed in all-inclusive hotels across Greece, the Middle East and Turkey, so we knew this wasn't going to offer that type of experience. I'm not comparing it to luxury resorts—I'm reviewing it for what it is: a smaller self-catering hotel. I think that's the fairest way to judge it. One thing that's worth mentioning isn't really the hotel's fault but Turkey in general. Compared with previous years, prices have increased dramatically. Once you've paid for meals, drinks and all the extras throughout the week, self-catering doesn't represent the value it once did. In many cases, an all-inclusive holiday now works out costing a similar amount overall while giving much better value for money. That's more of a comment on Turkey as a destination than this particular hotel. Overall, I'd give the Grand Aquarium 3 out of 5 stars. I can completely understand why many families return year after year, and we still had a good holiday. For us personally, though, we probably wouldn't come back, simply because we'd choose an all-inclusive holiday next time. If there's one thing everyone at the hotel should be proud of, it's the entertainment team. They really are the heart of the place and made the holiday far more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

This was my 7th time in the hotel always loved it. This year was not as good. Bar and restaurant staff had changed and the service was not very good. Often the orders were wrong or we waited a very long time over an hour and half for an apple juice for the baby at one point and when we tried to remind them we were still waiting they just said we are busy. They also had a new system for serving around the pool they have put numbers on tables but they didn't seem to know what number the tables were and we were chasing them round the pool area shouting them because they were taking our drinks or food to wrong place. The activities team was great as usual but it felt there was less interaction than we experienced in the years before but when we did interact Cedric and GeeGee where really pleasant and fun. Reception staff also lovely and very polite. Rooms still clean and comfortable and serviced every day. Sunbeds not so available unless you get up really early. It was as usual a very nice holiday and we did enjoy it but not as much as the past years we have been so may have to give it a miss next year and try somewhere else.

U pay for what u get !! The positive was that the hotel was spotless and cleaners was in every day all the staff do work extremely hard , the negatives is no bar around small pool and also shower worked when it wanted a lot of time no hot water , also we didn’t enjoy bbq night as was too busy and the selection of food was poor overall had a nice holiday but I’d choose a different hotel !