Garcia Resort and Spa

I don’t normally leave negative reviews, but this hotel was so far below acceptable standards that I feel obliged to warn others.

After 22 hours of travel, we arrived at 23:30 and waited over 30 minutes to check in because staff couldn’t locate the night receptionist.

When we were finally taken to our room (a paid upgrade to a jacuzzi room), we had to navigate around multiple piles of vomit on the walkway. It wasn’t just one patch — there were several piles spread along the route, clearly where an extremely intoxicated guest had walked and been sick repeatedly from the main hotel area all the way to a sun-lounger by the pool, where she was still lying, visibly drunk and ill. We had suitcases with us and it was impossible to avoid stepping around it. Shockingly, this was not cleaned overnight and was still there the next morning. This alone should have triggered immediate cleaning, but nothing was done.

When we reached our room, things got worse. We walked into a strong sewage smell, filthy surfaces, black mouldy jacuzzi pillows, and a bathroom flooded by a leaking toilet. The room was genuinely unsafe.

Once the night receptionist realised we weren’t blaming him personally, he visibly relaxed — which tells you a lot about how staff are treated by management. He privately admitted he wouldn’t stay in that room himself. We were told the hotel was “fully booked” and were advised to sleep with the patio doors open or sleep outside on the balcony sunbeds. We ended up sleeping in the bar area until morning.

The next morning, the same receptionist told us an early checkout had occurred and kindly offered us the chance to use that room to shower before cleaners arrived. After 22 hours of travel and a night sleeping in a bar, we were placed in a used room just to wash. This is not 5‑star service.

Our “upgrade” room was cleaner in smell only. The door looked like it had been kicked in, the fridge was hot to the touch, the balcony was never cleaned, and the pool gate had bent bars and a missing panel to close off our balcony. Cleaning consisted of emptying bins, replacing towels, and folding the duvet. No actual cleaning took place. I had to borrow the cleaner’s mop to clean the floors myself, and my husband slipped and aggravated a knee injury.

The restaurant was the worst part. Food was cold, repetitive, and poorly handled. We witnessed dropped utensils being placed back into food by a hotel guest, lids left open on heated dishes, and cross‑contamination between meat and non‑meat items.

Staff presence was minimal. All six members of our group became ill whenever we ate at the buffet and ended up eating out most nights. This should never happen at an all‑inclusive resort.

Several staff members privately told us the hotel is “2‑star at best” and that they are understaffed. Multiple guests said they had posted negative reviews and were called to reception and asked to remove them.

Another major issue was the behaviour of certain large tour groups staying at the hotel. We repeatedly witnessed guests pushing ahead in queues, removing rope barriers before opening times to secure seats, taking photos of everything including other guests, and using utensils across multiple dishes, causing cross‑contamination. Staff presence was minimal, and these behaviours were rarely challenged. Several guests told us they had been refused room changes because rooms were being “held back” for specific tour groups, and all football matches listed as part of the entertainment schedule were turned off at half‑time because “some guests don’t like it.” This kind of preferential treatment is completely unacceptable in a hotel advertised as 5‑star.

The hotel advertises an à la carte restaurant. We never found it, and no-one we asked could direct us to it.

This was not a holiday — it was a health and safety failure. Until major changes are made, I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone.

Do NOT stay here if you are expecting a five-star resort. It really, really isn’t.

We arrived at Garcia Resort & Spa tired after travelling and, within approximately three minutes of walking into reception, realised that the five-star rating might require a fairly generous imagination.

The reception area is dated and tired. To be fair, so were we, but nobody was advertising us as five-star.

Having missed dinner, we were presented with a soggy sandwich and told not to worry because the late-night “soup kitchen” opened at 11pm, where we could get a lovely hot bowl of soup.

Excellent, we thought.

It was neither lovely nor hot.

What arrived was essentially some vegetables enjoying a swim in warm water, accompanied by dry bread. Michelin needn’t trouble themselves.

So, we did what any sensible people would do and went to the bar.

This is where the holiday really started to reveal its personality.

A family had brought their own karaoke machine – because apparently the hotel’s existing music simply wasn’t enough – and were enthusiastically singing over the top of it. Two completely different sources of music at the same time. Quite avant-garde.

While enjoying this unique entertainment experience, a group of extremely drunk guests decided to head back to their rooms. One member of the party was unfortunately no longer capable of walking, was sick on the floor directly in front of us and, having been placed in a chair, proceeded to use said chair as a toilet.

We had been at the hotel for only a few hours.

At this point, we decided that perhaps the safest place to be was bed.

How naïve.

The room – and the bed with a life of its own

The room itself was a decent size, but tired and in desperate need of some TLC. There was damp in the bathroom and every so often the shower drain treated us to the unmistakable aroma of sewage.

Presumably this was part of the spa experience.

Then there was the bed.

It creaked every time either of us moved and the mattress wobbled like a jelly on a washing machine. After the evening we’d had, we were desperate for a good night’s sleep.

The bed disagreed.

Breakfast the next morning was mediocre. We love Turkish food and had been looking forward to eating it all week, but much of the food was lukewarm and uninspiring.

Still, we had six more days. Surely things could only get better?

Another rookie mistake.

The pool – finally, something genuinely lovely!

Credit where it is due: the pool area is beautiful.

The views are fabulous, there are three pools and plenty of sunbeds. The water was a little chilly, but that’s understandable at this time of year.

The sunbeds themselves were rather elderly and we didn’t see them being cleaned during our stay, but by this stage our standards were adjusting nicely.

We had deliberately travelled outside the main school holidays and had hoped for a slightly quieter, more adult atmosphere. There were actually still plenty of families staying, presumably because September is cheaper, so that was our miscalculation rather than the hotel’s fault.

And then came dinner.

Welcome to the Garcia Hunger Games

Every evening, several coachloads of tourists would arrive, many of them Chinese tour groups staying for one night before leaving the following morning, at which point another convoy would arrive.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a hotel accepting large tour groups.

There is, however, something wrong with accepting them when your restaurant appears completely incapable of feeding both them and everybody else.

At peak time, the restaurant became something resembling a competitive sport.

Tables? Good luck.

We quickly learnt that attempting dinner at the normal time was pointless, so we waited an hour or so for the excitement to subside.

We didn’t particularly mind waiting, but families with young, hungry children understandably found the situation much more difficult.

Once we eventually ventured in, we discovered that the buffet had been comprehensively flattened.

The best meat from the barbecue disappeared and wasn’t replaced. Hot dishes regularly needed replenishing. And the desserts?

We can only assume somebody had offended them, because they had been absolutely annihilated.

The amount of uneaten food subsequently left on tables was extraordinary too. Watching plates piled high with food simply being abandoned was particularly frustrating when other guests were waiting for those same dishes to be replenished.

Eventually, we discovered a revolutionary solution.

We ate somewhere else.

We went out for dinner a couple of times simply to enjoy good food, a calmer atmosphere and the novel experience of actually being able to sit at a table when we wanted to eat.

Unsurprisingly, these were the best meals of the holiday.

But let’s talk about the drinks…

There was another genuinely good thing about the hotel.

The drinks.

The drinks were good.

Very good.

Which was fortunate, because increasingly large quantities of them were required as the week progressed.

By about day four, I’d stopped wondering whether the hotel deserved five stars and started wondering whether I could drink enough gin to see them.

Housekeeping – minimalist in every sense

The cleaning staff were very friendly, as were most of the staff throughout the hotel.

The actual cleaning was perhaps best described as… restrained.

The bed was sort of made. Towels were folded. The floor was swept.

And… scene.

Our balcony finally received a proper wash when we had a huge storm.

Unfortunately, this revealed that the drainage hole was completely blocked, so instead of draining away, the rainwater rapidly began turning our balcony into the hotel’s fourth swimming pool.

Not wanting the room to join it, we found a bin and started bailing out the water ourselves.

Five-star luxury really does involve some wonderfully immersive experiences.

To the hotel’s credit, somebody came the following day and cleared the drain.

To the hotel’s slightly less credit, the debris they removed was left in a pile on our balcony, presumably so it could find its own way back into the drain during the next storm.

Fortunately, the next major storm arrived on the day we were leaving.

By then, checking out felt less like the end of a holiday and more like being granted parole.

The spa – one final flourish

We were told that refurbishment work is taking place, including in the spa area.

Good.

It needs it.

Before leaving, we used the spa shower to freshen up for our journey home.

The shower promptly flooded the ladies’ changing room.

Of course it did.

Frankly, after a week at Garcia, it would have been disappointing if it hadn’t.

Five stars? Really?

Perhaps the most surprising thing is that the hotel was apparently only built in 2014. It feels considerably older and sadly looks as though it has simply not received the maintenance and investment it needs.

There are positives. The pool area and views are genuinely lovely. Most of the staff were pleasant. The drinks were very good.

But a nice pool and a strong gin and tonic do not make a five-star hotel.

The rooms are tired, maintenance is poor, housekeeping is minimal, the food is mediocre and the restaurant arrangements when large coach parties arrive are chaotic.

We arrived expecting five-star Turkey.

We appear to have accidentally booked Turkish Fawlty Towers.

The only thing missing was Basil.

In short, if you’re looking for somewhere cheap to stay, do yourself a favour and find somewhere else.

And if you do decide to stay here anyway, pack earplugs, wellies and possibly your own mop.

You may need all three.