Viking Garden Hotel - All Inclusive

“Family Holiday”

I stayed at this hotel for a week in May with my family (5 adults and 2 children, aged 12 and 13). We arrived during the shoulder season and then had a couple of days during the peak season. The hotel has both pros and cons (which I have listed below) Pros:- Location: The hotel is extremely well… more

I stayed at this hotel for a week in May with my family (5 adults and 2 children, aged 12 and 13). We arrived during the shoulder season and then had a couple of days during the peak season. The hotel has both pros and cons (which I have listed below) Pros:- Location: The hotel is extremely well situated and is extremely close to lots of shops, bars, restaurants and cafes. Just go out of the main entrance, walk to the end of the street and turn right. Within minutes you've got everything. Pool area: I can't comment on the inside pool as I didn't use it; but the outside pools are a very decent size. The smaller of the two has 2 water slides. We didn't struggle getting sunbeds either (even when the hotel got busy during the season) and always managed to get a row of sunbeds close to the pool. Entertainment: As we arrived during shoulder season there weren't any daytime activities but there was a selection of night entertainment- live singers; bingo; Turkish Gala night and Mr. Viking Garden (absolutely hilarious and the best night). When the season fully started during the day there were activities such as darts, yoga and water aerobics. At night there is a mini disco (it's certainly not how I remember mini discos). On our last night there was an African Acrobatic Show. The entertainment team was lovely too. Overall I enjoyed the entertainment and I think I would have enjoyed the activities during the day if I'd gone during peak season. Just make sure you get down early to get a chair. Views: I stayed in room 111 and had a lovely view of the mountains, the mosque and blossom trees. Room: As mentioned above I stayed in room 111. This was on the same floor as the reception and lobby bar. The room was a very generous size with a double bed, single bed and sofa. Plus desk and chair; ensuite shower room and a small balcony with a table and two chairs. Unfortunately I did experience a few problems with the room which I will list in my cons. Cons:- Housekeeping: For the first two days of my stay I had a wonderful house keeper. My room was spotless, fresh towels each day, new bottles of water, bedding changed etc... unfortunately for the rest of my stay my room was not cleaned. I had to ask for clean towels, empty the bins and make the bed. Room: Although my room had a lovely view and was a generous size, the toilet was a problem: it either didn't flush or after you flushed it it would take about 40 minutes to fill back up and would make an awful racket that you could still hear from the balcony with the bathroom door and balcony doors closed. This was reported and supposedly fixed but it still continued. There were also no tea and coffee amenities. All Inclusive: Unfortunately this hotel definitely did not meet mine or my family's standards of all inclusive- you had to pay for cocktails and ice-cream, the bar closed at 23:00, the coffee machine was switched off at this time and the teapots were emptied so if you had an early morning flight and wanted a hot drink whilst waiting for your transport then it wasn't possible. Additionally the only free alcohol was wine, vodka, gin and beer. The rest you had to pay for. Dining: I'm a fussy eater but I've always found something to eat before; here the bread was lovely. The pancakes in the morning were either burnt or raw; there were no labels to say what anything was (resulting in a member of our party pouring themselves a bowl of nuts as they were amongst and looked like cereals). This is incredibly serious and life threatening if someone has an allergy. When it came to being in season the staff did struggle and couldn't keep up with the amount of guests: tables were left uncleaned, there were queues of people waiting for food, there was only one person serving in the restaurant bar. Often once a certain food had run out then that was it. There was no system in the restaurant people would push in, there were often no tables (inside or out). Overall an extremely poor dining experience. Conclusion: I would not recommend this hotel. Unfortunately the negatives outweigh the positives, especially in terms of the all inclusive status and dining experience.

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“Budget hotel”

The hotel itself IE pool and facilities are lovely. Nice and clean lots of sunbeds. The all inclusive drinks are only wine, vodka, gin, whiskey. They’re served in small thin plastic cups which crumple as you hold them. The snack bar food is cold and served on tiny polystyrene plates. The main… more

The hotel itself IE pool and facilities are lovely. Nice and clean lots of sunbeds. The all inclusive drinks are only wine, vodka, gin, whiskey. They’re served in small thin plastic cups which crumple as you hold them. The snack bar food is cold and served on tiny polystyrene plates. The main restaurant is ok, food is decent enough. Lots of choices. There was no butter and breakfast is limited if your British and want toast etc as there’s no toaster. The room we stayed in was fine, lots of space, nice and comfy. The lady on reception is unbelievably rude but the other staff are fine. The reception area is really cosy, spa is decent enough and indoor pool is absolutely freezing. Location wise plenty shops nearby. Westwood Irish bar along the road is good too. There was no entertainment at the hotel when we stayed.

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