Turtle Beach Resort All Inclusive

Before going, I was apprehensive based on some of the reviews posted. This place is AMAZING!! The staff friendly and efficient, the place is kept incredibly clean, and the food and drinks...we plan on coming back, this is our island vacation spot. Winston, Shaneika and Daniel were our main bartenders and they took care of our every need. They read our minds on refills and made sure we were taken care of. We LOVED the food, the variety kept us stuffed full. The beach is raked clean and fresh beach towels are available daily. Previous places we have been to had beach sand everywhere, it blew our minds that the staff managed to keep the sand on the beach and away from the hotel!! The rooms are beautiful, clean, and so comfortable. The waves are amazing. I can’t even begin to describe the magic of this place and it’s people...Barbados, you have won us over...SPECTACULAR experience and thank you for hosting us!!! We love you!!

Turtle Beach was amazing!!!! All inclusive is the way to go and I promise you will love it like I did!!!

It’s been over a month since our visit to Turtle Beach Resort by Elegant Hotels in Barbados. I am finally calm enough to write this review. We were so exponentially disappointed by our trip that I honestly did not want to re-live it. I do not know how this resort is awarded 4 stars. It is way more like 2 stars and the ONLY reason it gets two is for the beautiful beach. Other than that, there is NOTHING to brag about. We arrived at the resort and the woman at the front desk greets us by telling us she gave us an upgraded room. When we got to the room, it was one of the rooms that had not been refurbished. It was disgusting. The furniture was old, damaged and decrepit and the bathtub was filthy and shop-worn. We paid over $4000 for our stay so THIS was NOT what we paid for. On top of it, this was a ground level room and the patio door lock was broken. We told them they had to come and fix it or move us. Not only was it a security issue, it was a safety issue to not be able to lock a door that went directly to the ocean with a toddler. From 3pm to 9pm we were basically stuck in that filthy room while they messed around with this lock and continually promised us a new room. We lost an entire day of our vacation. They never once offered to store our luggage while they attempted to remedy the situation. We had to sit in the room, with the door open and no air conditioning ALL DAY because we had absolutely no way of securing our belongings. Meanwhile the noise, lack of AC and constant parade of people in and out kept our baby from napping all day. It was a disaster and NO ONE seemed to notice or care that we were there and that the baby was in distress. Finally, at 9:30pm they moved us to a new room. I can tell you that EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE ENCOUNTERED throughout the day, with the exception of Bellman Nigel were the rudest people I’ve ever met. The new room was remodeled and nice, with 2 balconies that had locking doors. That’s where the good ended. The dining situation was a disaster. It is so hot and the only place you can dine with air conditioning is the Italian Restaurant but we couldn’t go because our baby was too young and not allowed in the restaurant. That’s fine - I can appreciate that and didn’t mind. However, if there are zero options to eat comfortably in air conditioning, something is wrong. The breakfast “restaurant” is a disaster. The website touts “waterfalls”. You can tell by my photo said waterfalls have not worked for YEARS. Now they are just dried up tile walls filled with calcium deposits and hard water stains. The paint on the walls and ceiling is flaking a falling off. The service at the egg station is slower than a snail. I kid you not, my husband waited 27 minutes in line for eggs one morning. Yes, I actually timed it because after the 6th morning I wanted an accurate time for this review. The staff is RUDE. They can’t be bothered to fill your water glasses and stand in corners talking amongst themselves. My son ended up sick with strep throat and while we have NO way of knowing where he caught it, I’m sure it didn’t help that we had to wash his bottles in the bathroom sink...the same bathroom where we found a roach in the bathtub. Again - the AC situation was quite a problem for a baby with a 102 degree fever and every time we requested a table under a fan to eat our meals the staff made us feel like it was major inconvenience. On top of that I had to routinely disinfectant my son’s highchair they brought us bc they were never clean. Multiple times we found remnants of his last meal left on his chair the next time they brought it to us. We had to take the elevator every day due to the stroller and you can see that someone has ripped the emergency phone off the wall. Thankfully we never got stuck. I went to the ice cream shop during the day to get my son sorbet for his throat. Again - the staff was beyond rude. They literally acted like I was bothering them for coming in. At one point we were at the buffet and there was a father translating the food cards to his son and one of the women came up to him and screamed at him to keep moving. We were in complete shock. Our son also had to sleep with us every night because we only had a crib sheet one night. They took and it never returned and I requested a new one DAILY. They kept putting a full adult sheet in his crib. I repeatedly told them this was a suffocation danger but no one listened or brought a crib sheet. The hotdog machine by the pool never worked and was covered in rust. I was so furious taking pictures of the egg line situation on day 6 that a waitress finally noticed and sent someone over to talk to us. We told her ALL of this and she asked what she could do. We literally told her if she could speed it up to tomorrow for our departure, that would be great. Instantly everyone we encountered was overly polite. They wanted to play with our son and fill our water glass. Too little, WAY too late. The bottom line is this resort is an absolute disaster. If you’re looking for a 2 star resort, go for it. This is not even close to four stars. The resort is old, worn, and FILTHY. Room service trays sat in the halls for days. Dirty mattresses were propped against the walls for days. The food is horrible. They served TILAPIA as the “fresh fish of the day”. I know this because I asked. We are in the Caribbean and they served tilapia. Not my idea of 4 stars!! There is no air conditioning for any main meals except the Italian restaurant. The only thing that could’ve saved this vacation would’ve been the staff but that was the worst part. These people have NO interest in making your stay memorable. You are made to feel as though you are a burden. They are flat out RUDE and do not remotely appreciate your business. After 6 miscarriages and three rounds of IVF over 3 years my husband and I were beyond excited to take our new baby on his first vacation. It was the only vacation I’ve ever been on where we counted the days till we could go home. I wouldn’t go back to Turtle Beach by Elegant Hotels if I was offered a fully paid trip. STAY AWAY.

PROS: No issues with the added airport transportation pick up or drop off. Easy and comfortable. ABOUT TURTLE BEACH RESORT: -Staff are nice. -Rooms are clean -No issues with A/C. Rom was always cool and the ceiling fan is great. -Food at every restaurant was good. Loved the options. -The Sandtrap restaurant always had food if we missed breakfast or need a quick food option -Security was alert while my daughter and I were on the beach alone (it was getting dark) - I dont know how they manage mosquitoes but my daughter did not get bit AT ALL by mosquitoes while on the resort.We didn't wear any repellent the whole time. The one time I was bit was when we traveled off-site. -The live band in the evenings was great! Cons: -Rooms are VERY dated. -Getting reservations at the a la carte restaurants was nearly impossible. -The guest identification cards are obsolete. No one ever asked to see them , but I was told to carry them with me. The resort should switch to wristbands to identify inclusive guests. -Service at the buffets was hit or miss. Sometimes they refill your glasses and check on you, other times not so much. I felt ignored a few times. -The pictures of the resort are a tiny bit misleading. The resort was much smaller than I anticipated and old looking. Overall, I still feel it was great value for the meals and the accommodations. Yes, the resort is dated but we were hardly in our rooms. We had a great time. I would definitely return!