Gusmay Resort - Hotel Cala del Turco

I don’t usually leave reviews, but this needed to be said. We stayed Aug 14-16th with our service dog. At check-in I showed the front desk the paperwork and documents, and they reviewed them and said it was no problem. The stay itself was good, and the people at the resort were friendly and kind. At checkout, the lady seemed angry and was very short with me. She said we had a small dog, but ours is large and is a service animal, and I’d already provided the documentation. She insisted we owed €40.00 (€20.00 per night), even though the website and Expedia say service animals are free. I tried to explain, but she argued that I was wrong and that we had to pay. I paid, though it normally wouldn’t matter, and planned to check the website later because the hotel’s service wasn’t great. When I left, I checked and sent the hotel a picture showing the free service animal policy along with my receipt. Three emails and two calls later, there was still no response. I’m writing this because I hope it doesn’t happen to someone else, not because of the €40.00 euro. Hotel management needs to read its own website and know the hotel’s “rules.” It was disappointing, since everything had been good until then.

The entertainment team was great and seemed to be the hotel’s most functional department. The place itself is nice, but the management was completely absent. They’re obviously short-staffed, especially in the restaurant, and the staff who were there really tried their best. It didn’t feel like a four-star environment at all. Where was the management? I won’t come back.

The hotel grounds are clean and nice, but breakfast was mostly sweet food, around 95%, plus one kind of ham, one kind of salami, greasy scrambled eggs, and one type of yellow cheese. After we asked twice, they started serving boiled eggs. There were no vegetables, white cheese, or even ricotta. We also had trouble with our beach umbrella spots every day. Once, while we were in the sea, the lifeguards even “collected” our belongings without asking. When there’s a problem to sort out, all the staff seem to forget how to speak or understand English.

The one real plus was the beach, which is beautiful, with crystal-clear water and a very relaxing atmosphere by the shore. The rest was a letdown. The staff were unfriendly and unwelcoming, and this didn’t feel like five-star service. No one offered to help with our bags, despite me obviously limping with a knee injury and my wife being 8-months pregnant. Our “Deluxe” room had no amenities, bugs everywhere, including mosquitoes and roaches, and no information booklet or mini bar prices. There was no Wi-Fi anywhere on the resort, not on the beach, in the restaurant, or in the room. With poor cell service too, we were completely off the grid. They say they’re pet-friendly, but pets aren’t allowed in any public areas. At the dinner buffet, staff cleared our table twice when my wife and I got up for more food, taking our drinks that we’d purchased too. When we asked why, they told my wife to leave her purse on the table. Terrible customer service.