Smart Stay Beach

The beach was a mess, and it wasn't really 100 meters away unless you count the distance as the crow flies. The route there was dirty, and the shore and sea were filthy, almost like mud. The sunbeds were broken and dirty, with no foam mattresses. When we found any, we had to wash them in the sea ourselves. There was no service, toilet, shower, or changing room. At 6 pm they took our sunbeds and chased us away. The hotel is close to a stadium where games went on until 2 or 3 in the morning, and nobody warned us that there was no elevator. We were disappointed, nearly disgusted, from the moment we arrived for our all-inclusive stay in September 2025. The hotel doesn't deserve even one star. We spent the whole first day explaining that we needed blankets and pillows. The furniture is old, and washing it doesn't make it any less old. Every day the only fruit was watermelon, rotten oranges, and wilted apples, so I went to the supermarket to buy other fruit. The bread started with two types, white and a kind of black bread, but the black one disappeared after the third day, even though one of us was diabetic. The reception kept saying Wi-Fi worked throughout the rooms, but I never got connected in mine. At least it worked in the canteen. We can't fault the service staff, who did what they could and what they were told.

I stayed at Smart Stay Beach and came away pleasantly surprised. Everything was clean and looked after, the food was tasty with plenty of variety, and the staff were consistently helpful and friendly. My experience was much better than the low ratings led me to expect. It deserves a higher score, and I'd recommend it.

After a peaceful week at the Ponz Hotel in Kusadasi, I booked three nights at Smart Stay Beach Hotel in Gumbet for June 2023 through a booking site. Getting there from Kusadasi was tiring, and I arrived exhausted. At reception, they treated me unprofessionally. My reservation was to be paid at the hotel, and I paid in dollars, but the receptionist demanded lira and an amount higher than the dollar amount on my voucher. The hotel manager came, checked the voucher, accepted it, and apologized. Even so, they put me in their worst room and refused to change it. When I objected, the manager eventually gave my money back. I went back to the Ponz Hotel in Kusadasi, where the manager welcomed me warmly and arranged another three nights in a lovely room. The trip back and forth between Kusadasi and Gumbet cost me heavily in bus and taxi fares, and I had to carry my luggage around that day. Smart Stay Beach's conduct also took away my desire to stay in Bodrum. This came down to poor management and rude, unprofessional employees. I wouldn't recommend the hotel.

I spent a week at Smart Stay Beach in Turkey, and the food and drinks made me dread mealtimes. Meals were bland, repetitive, and didn't seem fresh. The same three or four dishes kept coming back each day. The buffet had few choices, and the food looked and tasted as if it had been sitting out for hours. Salads were wilted, mains overcooked or undercooked, and desserts stale. I also saw flies around the food more than once, which raised serious hygiene concerns. There was little for anyone with dietary needs. Vegetarians had little beyond plain rice and limp vegetables, and there were no suitable gluten-free or vegan choices. For a hotel marketed as a premium destination, the lack of effort to accommodate people felt lazy and unprofessional. Drinks didn't make up for it. Juices tasted artificial and watered down, soft drinks were flat, and the alcohol was very poor. Cocktails were barely drinkable, the wine tasted cheap, and even the water tasted odd enough to make me wonder where it came from. Staff seemed indifferent to guests: requests for fresh food or clean plates got blank looks or dismissive responses. They either weren't trained well or didn't care. I went in with high hopes after reading online reviews, but the stay was a disaster. The consistently poor food and drinks overshadowed any possible positives and ruined the trip. If you care about food and a pleasant dining experience, I'd look elsewhere. The limited choices, hygiene problems, uncaring service, and low quality made the stay a nightmare. Turkey has plenty of wonderful hotels with good food, service, and hospitality, but Smart Stay Beach wasn't one of them. Save yourself the disappointment, frustration, and wasted money.