Grand Aquarium

We had a fantastic week at the Grand Aquarium, two adults and two children. The apartment was stunning, with two bedrooms, modern amenities and a lovely large balcony overlooking the pool. There’s a heated pool with a slide, plus entertainment during the day and at night. The restaurant served surprisingly good food at reasonable prices. Staff were enthusiastic and generally friendly and helpful. A couple of the maintenance guys came across as abrupt, but Saliye, the manager, is a little gem. Reception and management are there 24 hours. There’s a limited shop on site, though a couple of mini markets are nearby, as is Tommy's restaurant. It’s a bit away from the beach, but that wasn’t a problem for us. The walk through town along the canal is lovely and takes about 30 minutes. There’s also a regular bus from across the road. It was our first time in Icmeler, and if we come back, we’ll definitely check prices here again.

The restaurant food was decent, with a good variety, and the hotel itself was nice. It’s great for families, but if you’re looking for a quiet break, you might want to consider somewhere else. The walls are thin, so a noisy family can disturb you. Cats can also be a problem if you’re not crazy about them. Maybe we just had bad luck with the maid, but our room often wasn’t cleaned properly and we’d end up with black feet. We’d return, perhaps to the annex or a quieter part.

I feel completely let down by our experience with Jet2 and the hotel manager, when the holiday could have been amazing. We paid £1,100 more than the standard room price for a balcony whirlpool. We arrived at 7:30 after the pool had closed, with two excited children ready to swim, and found the tub full of mold that was coming out of the jets. Staff said it was debris from the hills and promised to clean it the next morning. They didn’t. We asked again without making a fuss, but it still wasn’t cleaned. On the third day they sent a technician with a spanner, but no chlorine tablets, iodine or even vinegar. He hit the tap with the spanner. When he left, he said it would probably happen again. There was no offer of compensation or another room until the day before I was hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia. Then they offered a late checkout card for our trouble. For a week of my holiday, I spent 1.5 hours each morning and 1.5 hours each night filling the tub, running it through and sending white vinegar through the pipes until the water ran clear enough that I thought it was safe to get in. I ended up in hospital two days later. The hotel claimed they had Jet2 check whether the tap water was discolored and tested it, but that was never the issue. The problem was the jets, filter, pump and pipes. Of course you won’t find the bacteria you’re looking for if you test the wrong place. Jet2 says that because of this, we aren’t entitled to compensation for our mis-sold holiday package.

This was literally shocking. I hope it was just our experience. There were some good staff, but a Serbian entertainer and amateur DJ threatened to fight guests outside after joking around with them and then not liking their jokes back. Maybe he was just having a bad week. We started going into town instead of sitting through more bad holiday experiences. I also felt he was too touchy with children who weren’t his. Others may feel differently, but it was too much for me. A couple of nights before we left, someone knocked on the door at midnight. It sounded like staff, but my partner was so scared she asked me not to answer. After that, she didn’t feel safe and didn’t sleep well for the rest of the holiday. We left tired and not relaxed. I personally wouldn’t recommend it, though hopefully this only happened to us.