IC Green Palace Hotel

Unfortunately what started out as a lovely holiday quickly turned pretty miserable.

For a 7 day stay, by day 2 our 3 year old daughter had sickness and diarrhoea, followed by my husband on day 3 and myself on day 4. We only ate from the hotel cafes and restaurants so it was definitely from the hotel. I didn’t ever go in a pool so it wasn’t pool water. My 7 year old son only ate chips and bread etc and was the only one unscathed.

Unfortunately the staff could not care less. I phoned to reception when my daughter was first sick to tell them I had stripped the bed and the soiled sheets were in the hallway. I did this purely as a courtesy call; the receptionist didn’t ask if we were okay, this was never followed up again by them. The rep from the hotel - Irmak - (onthebeach) was contacted in the following days as we all steered to get ill but did not care (literally responded ‘I don’t remember you’, ‘make a report to guest relations’ and ignored me from this point on when I asked for her support in this; spoke to guest relations and rather than offer empathy and any level of kindness we were told it’s because we weren’t used to the heat and no-one else had any issues, including staff who eat there, inferring we were wrong. Believe me, the last thing we wanted for a 7 day £4500 stay was 4 days of vommiting and diarrhoea. I still suspect it was fruit / salad bar but will never know. For us, from day 2 we felt frightened to eat or drink anything and this really affected our trip.

A few waiters and waitresses were warm and friendly but generally the staff were aloof, sometimes even quite blunt and abrupt. Rarely did any smile, even when entering into the kids club and introducing our children who wanted to stay. The shop on site sold us a £20 inflatable which popped a day later; when we went back to complain he told us it was to be expected / wear and tear.

Cocktails were better than many other all inclusives. Food choice was better than many other all inclusives but the negative of food poisoning or hygiene issues made us not want to try anything and only stick to beige food.

Kids club was the least friendly or interactive we’ve experienced at an all inclusive. One or two of the girls were friendly and warm but so many never smiled, weren’t interested, no warmth. Never experienced this at an all inclusive in turkey and we have been to many. On the surface it looks great - activities and looks organised but when you go in it’s a strange atmosphere where staff don’t seem to be interacting with the children.

Pools are excellent, couldn’t fault the pools.

Evening entertainment was pretty poor, and on late. We actually only went twice which again is unheard of for us on an all inclusive. Normally we always attend kids disco then adult entertainment but they were in different locations with a time gap between and due to the quality of adult entertainment (members of audience competing in a strip tease as the main show?!) we stopped bothering.

Room was smaller and tattier than you’d expect for the price. Balcony was disappointingly TINY didn’t ever go out on it. Minibar not ever fully restocked. Positive was there was a bath for kids, robes and plenty of towels.

I can only rate this as terrible due to the 4/7 days being ruined with different family members suffering with severe illness and then the way this was handled by staff on site. A little empathy would have gone a long way but to immediately deny wrongdoing and seemingly blame us was downright unprofessional. I wanted to come home on day 4 and for a family who saved for 6 months for this holiday, that’s pretty devastating.

We first visited IC Green Palace 4 years ago in 2022, not long after it opened. Our visit in 2022 was nothing short of incredible for their ‘kids concept’ - carnivals on the large lawn, bubble festivasl, outdoor evening cinema for children, excellent kids entertainment of an evening with lovely added extras of drinks trolleys for kids with mini cocktails and snacks etc. We booked to return this year and found that sadly none of this is now on offer. We can’t comment on kids club as our boys didn’t go to any sessions. The kids evening entertainment was questionable and was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen, even my 5 year old said “what’s going on mum”. Again, this seems to have gone downhill. The rides on site are only open for short periods of time at night - again, on our last visit the atmosphere at the kids area was much better with the rides running all night. Just simple Things like only 4 of the bulbs on the Ferris wheel worked - would just expect a bit more.

The splash park is great for kids however we were disappointed to find that children under 125cm or 10 years old couldn’t use the big slides. My youngest is 5 and an excellent swimmer but they were very strict and wouldn’t allow him on any slides despite me asking if I could sign a waiver. I do feel this needs to be reviewed as the mini splash park is great for kids up until 5/6 - my 8 year old was a bit big for the kids splash park but not big enough for the main aqua park.

As per many of the reviews from returning guests it does appear that the hotel has made significant cutbacks over the years. Again in comparison 4 years ago there were multiple Ice cream freezers around the site to help yourselves all day as well as fridges with beers in - again, none of this is on offer now with ice creams (beach bar exception) and fridges all behind the bar. Waiters used to always be around the pool on skates - if we were lucky enough to catch the attention of one they didn’t seem keen to bring you drinks this time.

The rooms were ok, no real change however the bathrooms were tired and could do with a bit of a refurb however the rooms were impeccably clean with fresh towels and a minibar restock every day - I can’t fault the cleanliness at all, they were spacious and the beds were comfy. You get fresh pool towels every day which is a bonus.

The restaurant situation is nothing short of chaos. It is worth noting this hotel caters mostly to Middle Eastern and Russian guests - it’s true they say only the brits know how to queue and we were shoved out the way by obnoxious guests pushing their way in to food lines. My biggest tip is get to evening service as soon as it opens - some nights it was so busy we couldn’t even get a table. The food however is lovely, plenty choice and we have zero complaints here. My kids are fussy and managed to hate platefuls every night. We often ate lunch at the snack bar or got a jacket potato by the beach (these were absolutely divine!)

The shops on site are EXTORTIONATE so take kids floats etc with you. You can get a taxi to the strip for shopping. The spa is also extortionate- they’ll get you in for a free 15 minute massage then before you know it they’ll want you paying 150 euro for a massage (it’s a no from me!)

Despite what I have mentioned, I do want to say that this hotel is beautiful and the grounds sell it to us and would make us return. It is beautifully maintained and impeccably clean. We had a wonderful holiday and for the price it was worth it. The mixology cocktail bar is a must if you visit. Compared to some of the huge Lara Beach hotels this hotel does offer less however this is reflected in the price.

Would we return? Probably - if the price was right but we wouldn’t be rushing back as I think my boys need more than this hotel can offer now sadly.