Grand Yazici Club Marmaris Palace

This was the best hotel we have stayed in as a family. Although it is a long transfer from the airport it is worth it. We arrived in the middle of the night and had someone take our cases to our room on a golf buggy. The room was lovely and cool. The air-con was brill. In the morning we woke up to the most beautiful view. We were in apartment 547 and didn’t book a sea view so it was a real bonus. The breakfast was really good with everything you could think of spanning through two rooms. The pools were lovely. There is a shaded pool above the relaxation pool which was good for the kids as it wasn’t too deep but not really shallow like the kids pool. The two biggest pools were too deep to stand up in for the kids. You aren’t allowed to jump into the pools which I think is a shame. We took some inflatables but managed to accumulate a mass of them as the cleaners were throwing them out once people were leaving. Inflatables at the shop in the hotel were very expensive. The lifeguards were very diligent. I got up about 7am and managed to get sun beds by the pool. It is really quiet at that time and a swim in the sea is lovely when no one else is out. There are loads of lunch options. We liked the pizza and burger stall but there is also an a la carte table service Italian restaurant that you can go to for a bit of cool air. It is included in the all inclusive. The sea is glorious with lots of fish and a jumping platform. You can get slushy and beer from the beach bar. The food is really great. I spent most of the week eating salads and meze type meals. The variety of sweets is extensive and delicious. The best meal was the a la carte Asian. You get one a la carte free meal if you stay longer then a a week and the Asian was delicious. A great sea view, sushi and then three courses. The staff are all working very hard constantly and are really friendly. The room was cleaned every day and if you want towels replacing more than every other day then you just leave them in the shower. Personally I think every other day is more than enough. We had a concert on the last night where they transformed the swimming area into a bar with nibbles, sparkling wine etc. The only problem with the hotel was the massive use of plastic with no obvious recycling. Every-time you get a drink it is served in a new plastic cup with a plastic straw and water is given in small plastic bottles. I didn’t think to bring my own beakers and you can’t buy them at the shop. I also cringe at the amount of food waste with people stacking their plates and leaving most of the food. Also some people are very aggressive to the staff around the pool who are trying to make sure everyone has a lounger. If you leave your towel for more than 2 hours it may be removed - I think this is reasonable but people think it is okay to shout and swear because of this. The boat trip at the hotel was good and we visited lots of beaches and Marmaris and Izmir are worth a visit. You can catch the bus cheaply outside the hotel. The airport is so expensive but if you go to Costa the price of water is a lot cheaper than elsewhere. Big shout to Serdar, Mehmet Can, Kenan, Bayzan and Elyas. These are great bar staff that we noticed especially but all staff were great.