New Garden Hotel Side

What you are about to read has probably already been mentioned in other reviews, because unfortunately, all of this seems to be considered “normal” at this hotel.

First of all, you have to pay separately for both air conditioning and Wi-Fi every day. If you stay for two weeks, you can easily spend around €100 just on air conditioning. To be fair, we had no complaints about the Wi-Fi itself.

The staff experience was extremely disappointing. The bartenders were the exception and genuinely made our stay more enjoyable, especially Mo, who really stood out for being friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, our experience with the reception staff was completely different.

We found the receptionist extremely unprofessional and unfriendly. At one point, the receptionist had invited his girlfriend over during his shift, had drinks with her, and later went to a room with her, leaving nobody at reception. On another occasion, he also appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.

Whenever we reported a problem, instead of trying to find a solution, the reception staff would immediately argue with us and make it seem as though everything was our fault. The defensive attitude you can see in some of the hotel’s responses to negative reviews is exactly the same attitude we experienced in person.

One situation in particular was completely unacceptable. Our room had not been cleaned, so I went to reception to ask what had happened. The receptionist was not even at the reception desk. He was two floors above me, shouting down from a balcony. When I tried to speak to him about the issue, he clearly did not want to have a proper conversation and simply shouted, “Yes, yes, tomorrow, tomorrow.” I told him I wanted to discuss it properly, and he said he would come downstairs. After waiting for around 20 minutes, nobody came.

The next day, instead of apologising or trying to resolve the problem, I was confronted about the fact that I had been angry. I was even told that I was not allowed to ask the bartenders where the receptionist was. This was ridiculous considering the reception was supposed to be available 24/7, yet in our experience the receptionist was absent most of the time.

Regarding the room cleaning itself, we were later told that we had supposedly refused housekeeping, even though nobody had come to our room. Again, instead of listening to us or checking what had happened, the blame was immediately put on us.

The overall hygiene was also poor. Our hotel room had stains in several places and visible mould. The bathroom and shower were not cleaned properly, and fresh towels were only provided every three days. In my opinion, this is simply not acceptable for a hotel.

There were also kittens and cats all around the property. While they were very cute, it did not feel hygienic to see cat food left around different areas of the hotel or cats drinking directly from the swimming pool.

Food at the hotel was quite expensive. Again, the bartenders did their best to accommodate our wishes and were one of the few positive parts of our stay.

We also booked the hotel’s spa, wellness and hammam package. The hammam and massage themselves were actually very good and relaxing. However, during the massage, extra treatments were performed that we had not asked for, and afterwards they tried to charge us extra for them. We had clearly explained beforehand exactly what we wanted, so this was very frustrating.

Overall, the hotel was unhygienic, the service at reception was unprofessional, and complaints were handled very poorly. Instead of feeling listened to as paying guests, we often felt blamed or dismissed whenever we raised a problem.

The bartenders and the spa experience were the main positives, but unfortunately they were nowhere near enough to make up for everything else.

If I could give one piece of advice, don’t waste your holiday time at new garden side.

I normally do not leave long reviews, but after this stay I feel people should know what they are booking.

The biggest issue for us was not even one single incident, but the way this hotel is run. Reception was unreliable, complaints were handled badly and the cleanliness was nowhere near the standard you should expect.

The receptionist was regularly missing from the desk, even though the hotel advertises 24-hour reception. More than once we had to ask other staff members where he was. Apparently even doing that was a problem, because the next day we were told off for asking the bartenders where the receptionist had gone.

One morning our room had not been cleaned at all. When we went downstairs to ask about it, the receptionist was not even at reception. He was standing two floors higher on a balcony, shouting down at us. Instead of coming down and dealing with the problem, he kept repeating “tomorrow, tomorrow”. He then said he would come downstairs, so we waited. Around 20 minutes later he still had not appeared.

The following day the situation somehow got turned around on us. Instead of addressing the fact that the room had not been cleaned, we were confronted for being angry. We were also accused of refusing housekeeping, which was completely false. Nobody had come to our room in the first place.

This was the pattern during the whole stay: raise a problem and instead of getting help, you end up in an argument.

We also witnessed behaviour from reception that we found completely inappropriate for someone working in a hotel. The receptionist had his girlfriend there during his shift, was drinking with her and later disappeared to a room while reception was left unattended. On another occasion he seemed to have been drinking as well.

The room itself was another disappointment. There were stains, visible mould and the bathroom and shower were not properly clean. Towels were only changed every few days. For a hotel, the hygiene was simply poor.

There were also cats and kittens everywhere around the property. The animals themselves were cute, but food was left around the hotel for them and we saw cats drinking directly from the swimming pool. That did not exactly make the place feel cleaner.

Another thing people should be aware of is the extra charges. Air conditioning and Wi-Fi are charged separately every day. If you stay for two weeks, the air conditioning alone can cost around €100 extra. The Wi-Fi itself worked well, but paying extra for basic facilities like this is still disappointing.

The food was also expensive for what you get.

The only staff members who actually made a positive difference were the bartenders. They were friendly, helpful and tried to make guests feel welcome. Mo especially was great and deserves credit.

We also booked the spa, hammam and massage package. The massage and hammam were actually very good, but even there we had an issue. Treatments we had not requested were added during the massage and afterwards we were asked to pay extra for them. We had already explained exactly what we wanted before starting, so this felt very misleading.

For us, the negative experiences completely outweighed the positives. Poor hygiene, extra charges, an absent and unprofessional reception and a complete inability to handle complaints properly.

I would not stay here again and I would not recommend it to others.