Gaia Palace Hotel

Huge potential, poor quality experience — go in with your eyes open

We stayed at Gaia Palace on an all-inclusive basis booked through loveholidays, and it’s a property with real potential that badly lets itself down.

The bad impression started the moment we arrived. If your flight gets in after 9:30pm, there’s no proper food — despite being on all-inclusive. What we were given after a full day of travelling was three bread sticks, three slices of cheese, three of ham, a couple of apples and bananas, and three bottles of water. That’s it. And although room service is advertised as running until 11pm, you actually have to book it in advance, so it’s no use to you when you arrive late and hungry making us go out to get a meal. When we called at 10:15pm after setting up, we were simply told the staff had already gone home, so there was no food. It’s a poor welcome and an early sign of how rigidly the “all-inclusive” is run.

That ties into the biggest issue: the “all-inclusive” runs on a tiered system, and the standard package you’re sold is the bottom tier. Piped drinks with all local beverages and tap water. Several restaurants, drinks and areas that most people would reasonably assume come with “all-inclusive” dont exist and any branded drink, cocktails or bottled water at extra charges that can go for an extra £750 for 3 for 10 days — and none of this is disclosed before you pay. You only find the boundaries once you’ve arrived and start being turned away, which is exactly when it’s too late.

The food generally was a real letdown. The dining area is really small and the choice is very limited — only a couple of dishes on offer, and the sweets and fruit selection is worse still. To its credit, what food there is does at least taste flavoured — but that doesn’t make up for how little variety there is. Outside the main meal times there’s no proper food available either, so if you miss a sitting or just get hungry in between, you’re stuck. For an all-inclusive, the variety is nowhere near what you’d expect.

It’s also worth knowing the beach is a good 10-minute walk away, and drinks down there are not covered — you pay for them, despite being on all-inclusive.

The rooms were another problem: ours had a persistent mouldy/swage bad smell we couldn’t get rid of. If they set you at the ends of property, close to the tennis courts simply refuse. And mosquitos were a constant issue, making evenings and nights genuinely unpleasant after dark. If you’re travelling as a family, be very very careful about the extra “+1” bed. Only option available It’s a fold-in-half pull-out bed that’s really only fit for a small child up to about 8, with a pair of thin two-inch mattress no better than a beach lounger. No adult or older child could sleep properly on it — so be aware your older/bigger kids will complain every day for the poor night they had.

And if you’re someone who likes a bit of party or evening entertainment, forget it — here it’s poor to non-existent.

To be fair, it’s not all bad: the swimming pools are genuinely nice and there are always free beds available. That’s what makes it so frustrating — the potential is clearly there.

But put together, it’s a resort that looks the part and doesn’t deliver on the basics — food, rooms, and honesty about what you’re actually buying. This is not what all-inclusive should mean. Given the choice again, we’d avoid it — and we’d advise you to do the same. AVOID.

Don’t assume “all-inclusive” means what it usually means.

⭐ Absolutely wonderful experience!

Everything was absolutely wonderful! The hotel was very clean and well maintained, and the pools were always clean and in great condition.

The buffet was fantastic – there was always plenty of food to choose from, and we always had something delicious to eat. There was a great variety of dishes, so everyone could find something they liked. 🍽️❤️

I would especially like to highlight the amazing staff. They were incredibly kind, attentive and friendly. By our second day, they already knew which cocktails we liked and were ready to welcome us with them! 🍹❤️ The whole team was truly fantastic.

I would also like to give a special mention to two incredibly lovely girls (Hermina/Csenge) who looked after the little ones. In the mornings, there were fun activities at the Mini Club, and in the evenings, the children could enjoy a little Mini Disco. 💃🧸

There was also plenty of entertainment for adults – one evening we had karaoke and another evening bingo. 🎤🎶

We had a truly wonderful time and felt very welcome throughout our stay. A big thank you to the entire team for making our holiday so special! ❤️ We would definitely love to come back! 🥰