Stayed at the Golmar Beach from 31st May until 14th June 2012. We had a room on the 3rd floor and the views were stunning. The room, itself was clean and fully adequate for our stay. The staff were lovely, be nice and you get it in return.

Food was quite nice and there was enough choice to feed our family including two, teenage boys.

The pool area was very clean and we spent a lot of in the pool, as it was so hot.

Would we go back? We are next May.

The Hotel Golmar Beach is set at the far end of Icmeler Bay, we had chosen this for various reasons, but mainly with the slides etc at the hotel, being right on the beach and towards the edge of the resort. I had emailed ahead of our arrival after reading somewhere that the rooms on the lower floors are not only quite cramped but also disappear behind the trees and the slides around the pool and can be incredibly hot (several guests and friends we made on holiday found this to be the case and moved rooms to a higher floor) we knew we’d have a sea view, but asked in advance for a room which looked out to see but across the pool and bay.

When we arrived at the hotel the security guard helped us in with our cases which was very welcome, receptionist was not the most welcoming and if he were your first contact in Turkey you’d be quite put off. We were advised that we could pay for air con, safes, fridges etc, but at 4am we just wanted to get to bed and crash out.
We were taken up to our room which was 423, and it was absolutely perfect, the room looks out over the slides and the pool and looks right away over the bay of Icmeler right over to Marmaris in the distance. A beautiful view at night, which only got better during daylight hours and when the sun going down.

The room had a double bed and a fold up camp bed but this was an excellent fold up, and my son said it was extremely comfortable. TV with bonus of additional English channels (BBC1, ITV, ITV2, ITV3 and a couple of others), spare pillows and blanket if needed in wardrobe. Bathroom with toilet, sink and shower, there was an enclosure around the shower, but it wasn’t the best at keeping the water away from the rest of the floor and it was fairly small. But the room was perfectly adequate, if not more than, for what we wanted and needed.

Room was incredibly clean, balcony was too, and unusually the hotel had carpet, all very clean and well looked after. The rooms however are incredibly hot, and we do wish we had taken up the air con on arrival as it made for a difficult night’s sleep. When we did finally get the air con in the morning, it wasn’t the best, I know some other people moved rooms because the air-conditioning was not very good, but during the time we were there we did manage to work out how to get it to cool the room to its best. Keeping the bathroom door tightly shut is one of those as the bathrooms have a large open air vent to the outside and it was incredible just how much the heat came into these. Bearing in mind though, we were there in August, and amidst a heat wave where night-time temps were showing in the region of 32-36c and the little thermometer down at the pool showing our days hitting 50-55C.

We never had a problem getting hot water, if anything the shower had a tendency to be too hot and keeping a consistent temperature at some times of day was difficult, had plenty of towels with signs at lifts saying they are changed every other day. While we were there our towels were changed daily, our sheets were changed varying from every other day to every day, top covers weren’t changed at all, a little disappointed with that as one of ours did get dirty when we spilled something on it.

The doors open to outdoor landings, but there are 3 lifts which go up to the various floors, landings are all clean and well lit.

Pool area is lovely and clean, it’s cleaned at night and also the pool is cleaned first thing in the morning. There are the two slides which were turned on at 11am and turned off between 530pm and 615pm (varied during our stay) the pool however is open from 9am till 7pm although they didn’t kick you out if you were in there for a quiet swim. There wasn’t an overly need to place towels down on beds as even though it was peak season there were plenty, however, you do get your usual groups of people who put towels down on lots of beds, and as I couldn’t sleep very well, you can watch people doing this from as early as 5am!

One side of the pool gets sun in the morning, the other gets it from lunchtime onwards, there is a sun terrace at the end of the pool which tends to get it all day, but there’s little cover and it can get hot, you could always get a bed up here.

We were on a bed and breakfast basis, although we didn’t make breakfast very often while we stayed here, the times we did it was a typical Turkish breakfast. Choice of 3 or 4 juices, tea/coffee, cereals (milk not kept chilled however) and then boiled eggs every day. Each day there would be one other item of food, this would vary from tomatoes with cheese on, hot dog sausages, scrambled egg. There were also breads to toast, plenty of jams, honey etc and also a couple of cakes type things.
Breakfast was served until 10am and you do have to be there very prompt, if you surface for a late breakfast make sure you get everything you want to begin with, as at 10am prompt all of the breakfast things are packed away.

We didn’t have dinner on the half board option, but did eat several times in the hotels bar, the sandwiches which they do were lovely at lunchtime, omelettes, pizza and burgers were also nice. Not bad value for money but certainly saved walking up into town in the heat.

We did however walk up and on the first main street from the hotel had breakfast a couple of times in the Mediterranean Restaurant for 4 lira. And what a beautiful breakfast this was! Prices at the hotel were a little higher compared to some places in resort, large Efes 5 lira, small soft drink 3 lira, 5/6 lira for a large one. (there is a little supermarket attached to the hotel just up from the bar area next to the pool and they sell bottles of water, coke etc where you pay 3 lira for a 1 Litre bottle or only a little more for the larger bottles, cheaper than buying soft drinks from the bar! They also sell ice creams at the bar and the staff often walk around and ask if you want them (saves going down!)
Sandwiches were around 8 lira, chips 6 lira, burgers around 5 liras, omelettes around 7-10 lira.

The hotel is located directly on the beach, literally walk through the pool area, down through the hotel bar/restaurant and across the path and you’re there. Plenty of sunbeds usually here and the guys at the bar come round to get you drinks etc and food if you wish. We only spent one morning here as we preferred the pool area, sand is fine shingle/grit so not the nicest to walk on, but it was relatively clean. Further along you can use areas of the beach in front of other bars/hotels, but some do charge for the use of them, or if you get drinks from them then they don’t charge.
There are water sports, pedalos etc at various points along the front, and there was a big inflatable climbing wall, giant air pillow etc which was 10 lira for 30 mins or 15 lira for an hour. They provide life jackets and you just swim out and use.

The hotel is also located close to the marina, excellent for the boat trips which leave from Icmeler as its literally a couple of minutes’ walk, we also walked around to the marina to get our water taxi over to the town of Turunc, (15 Turkish lira each return). It is also easy to get the Dolmus as the hotel is the final stop in Icmeler, so there’s always ones just about to start their journey and they stop more or less opposite the hotel in the parking area. If you hired a car, parking at the hotel was across the road in an open/public parking area so not on hotel grounds, but there was security outside of the hotel most of the time and through the night.

In general we were pleased with our hotel, we weren’t overly thrilled with the resort of Icmeler to be honest, and previous visits to Olu Deniz which we have loved, Icmeler just wasn’t Olu. But everyone has individual preferences. We found that in general the people weren’t as friendly here, our room lady we saw a couple of times and she always smiled and said hello, and there were a couple of other staff who were as friendly, however, the rest left a lot to be desired.

It certainly wasn’t the friendliest hotel we’ve stayed in, and their concerns for the guests welfare at times left a lot to be desired.

This was reflected in 2 separate incidents. The first when my 9 year old son was brushing his teeth and the bathroom mirror fell off the wall and smashed over his head. When I went to see what had happened he had the mirror around his neck and there was glass everywhere. Thankfully he suffered no cuts, but when I went to reception (our room phone didn’t work!) to ask for help, he just said ‘no problem ’,well actually yes it is a problem, there’s glass everywhere and it was only from luck that my son wasn’t seriously hurt. 40 mins later they sent a man up who didn’t speak any English at all, he just looked at it, walked out of the room, coming back to the room with a dustpan and brush which he passed to me, expecting me to clear it up! I passed it back to him so that he could take care of it. He said something and went to leave, but the sink and the shower area were still filled with broken glass, he picked up the big bits and left. I then had to spend ages without anything to really clear up, picking up all of the small shards of glass that lay about the bathroom floor. I had to use the towels, which when I told them at reception to ask for some more, we weren’t given any, Had to wait for the maids the next day.

The other incident was in the 2nd week of our stay, we noticed that someone had been to toilet in the small child’s pool and that there was poo floating around. We immediately reported it to reception as children were playing in it. The guy at reception just was not interested, nor overly bothered. Over half an hour later, the man who had come to sort out my bathroom mirror walked around the pool and left, and didn’t do anything. The pool was finally cleaned the following morning, but we were a little shocked at just how much the staff didn’t care about it or for the welfare of the people at the hotel.

This attitude and the fact that there was often a feeling of they have your money so aren’t interested was something that would put us off returning to this hotel again, but on the other hand, we know that we were lucky with the hotel and the general cleanliness and facilities that we had. There should have been free Wi-Fi which was temperamental so don’t depend on it working for you.

All in all, we had a good holiday, but we wouldn’t choose to return to the resort of Icmeler at all, and therefore wouldn’t be returning to the Golmar. If we were to come back, we may stay at the same hotel, as we felt that it was one of the better ones around in the area (we did hear some horror stories from people in other hotels). The kids loved the pool and the slides, it was clean and comfortable and we did have a good holiday especially with the friends we made around the hotel and that really did make the holiday a more positive experience, but one of our nicest days was the day we took the water taxi to Turunc away from the Golmar and Icmeler in particular. That about sums up the holiday really.

never been to turkey before so was unsure. lovely hotel. pool excellent with two good slides. staff very helpful. boat driver who's name escapes me nice bloke and luke the bar manager was very helpful and would have a chat with you. rooms cleaned on a daily basis.had half board and i enjoyed the food. ate evening meals in the hotles a few times if we were not off wondering and it was very good. has it's own private beach and also took a day trip to the sister hotel, very nice day out. had two boat rides and the midnight trip was amazing. nice loacation too. quiet but if you want something a bit more lively five minute walk and you are there. going again next year.

Booked last minute so a bit worried, but shouldnt have been, great hotel, basic but very clean, food ok, a bit basic but everything you need for breakfast except bacon!
Lovely position, very quiet at night, but a short walk and lots to see and do, beach made of shingle but water very clear, pool and slides great for kids, very friendly staff, would recommend the hotel Turkish bath-great fun and the hotel boat trip, great day, lots of fun, lovely food and very cheap day out. Hotel entertainment once a week which was a Turkish night.
Worst thing about the holiday was the transfer from Resorthoppa which took 4 hours as they didnt have a clue where they were going!!
Would love to go to Golmar Beach again one day

excellent, clean and frinedly hotel. brilliant location, quiet at night yet near enough to restaurants and entertainment. Sheets and towels changed daily. Stayed on first floor - this was more modern and updated than rooms higher up. Slides and pool area well maintained and staff regularly asked if you needed anything eg drinks, icecream, food, etc. Steps around hotel areas but plenty of staff on hand to help lift buggy. Travelled with 8yr old and 1 1/5 year old. They made lots of friends including the icecream boy. Views over the bay beautiful. Barter in shops to get the best bargains - they love the challenge. Market day is Wednesday - worth a visit but go early as is very hot. Went to water park in marmaris - 8 year old loved it. Went on their yellow bus which runs every 5 minutes - very reliable and cheap way of transport. All in all brilliant holiday for whole family and can't wait to go back.

lots of food on half-board basis,if you like chicken and mince/Turkish breakfasts,this is the place for you as you get this everyday,the hotel was very clean and located right on the beach the staff were helpful if asked,but left you alone otherwise. there was no entertainment.the family rooms are big but smelled of cigarette smoke.i would go here again but would book twin rooms for a bit of privacy.

Been to Turkey on fourteen previous occassions, this was the best yet.The hotel is in a great position, right on its own part of the beach. Breakfast was everything that one would wish for.All areas of the hotel were well kept, the rooms are of a good standard, with first class maid service. The staff are very attentive, professional,and nothing is too much for them. The hotel is quiet at night, although you are ten mins from the centre of the resort. A big thanks to Kerim, and the rest of the staff,for making our visit so memorable. We will return again to the Golmar.

we all loved the golmar beach hotel!!
there was two familys in our group, and not one of us had a bad word to say about this hotel.
the views from your room is breathtaking. this would be the best way to describe it.
there are plenty of sunbeds. you can either go by the pool, on their own section of beach or on the tanning deck.
the food is ok. none of us starved. they do like to use chicken a lot.
the location is perfect in my eyes as it is at the end of the bay. it is only a couple of minutes walk into the centre. when you wanted to sleep at night, you could because there isnt much noise near the hotel.
the staff are really nice. they will be there for you if you need them.
the hotel is on a whole very clean. never had a problem with anything.
there isnt loud entertainment at the hotel. this is how i prefered it. if you wanted the music and entertainment you only had to walk a couple of minutes and your there.

We found the Golmar Hotel gave us a fantastic experience.Although it does need some updating,the staff work very hard to keep it clean. I marked the entertainment with a 2 although we only had one organized night in our 2 week visit we found that if we tried to speak Turkish we soon became popular with staff, and exchange friendly banter day, and night it was really fun. We met lots of other families,and some of us will be meeting up at the Golmar again. Its location is the best in Icmelar. Its views of the beach and horizon are fabulous, and it offers peace and tranquilty of an evening whilst being on the edge of a busy lively resort If you want a memorable experience I would recommend this hotel anyday.

We found the Golmar Hotel gave us a fantastic experience.Although it does need some updating,the staff work very hard to keep it clean. I marked the entertainment with a 2 although we only had one organized night in our 2 week visit we found that if we tried to speak Turkish we soon became popular with staff, and exchange friendly banter day, and night it was really fun. We met lots of other families,and some of us will be meeting up at the Golmar again. Its location is the best in Icmelar. Its views of the beach and horizon are fabulous, and it offers peace and tranquilty of an evening whilst being on the edge of a busy lively resort If you want a memorable experience I would recommend this hotel anyday. We would like to say Thanks to Ebo Ahmet,Kerim and all the staff,