Ideal Prime Beach

Prime Beach Hotel, Marmaris – Our Experience

We’ve just returned from a stay at the Prime Beach Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, and overall we had a really enjoyable holiday. There were a few little things that could have been better, but nothing that negatively affected our stay, and there were definitely some areas where the hotel exceeded our expectations.

Arrival

We arrived quite late at night after a long transfer, but check-in was incredibly quick and straightforward. The reception staff explained the hotel amenities and added the gym access to our room key.

One thing we really appreciated was being given two room keys, meaning my partner and I could access the gym separately without having to coordinate who had the room key.

We were also told about the food available at the pool bar late at night, which included soup and sandwiches. The soup in particular was delicious and was exactly what we needed after a long journey.

Room & Hotel

Our room was perfectly adequate for what we needed. We knew we wouldn’t spend huge amounts of time in the room, so we weren’t expecting anything particularly luxurious. There was plenty of space for clothes, with hanging space, drawers and shelving, and the mini fridge was stocked with bottles of water and cartons of juice.

The bed was comfortable, although our room was set up as a twin, so it was two single beds pushed together. Because of this, the main power sockets ended up in the middle of the bed, which meant we couldn’t really use them at night for charging our phones. It wasn’t a huge issue, though.

The air conditioning worked very well — perhaps a little too well! It became quite chilly during the night and the cover on the bed was very thin, so we ended up helping ourselves to some extra covers from the cleaning trolley.

Another small annoyance was that the air conditioning automatically switches off whenever you open the balcony door. Again, not a major issue, but worth knowing.

The room was cleaned every day and the bed was made. I can’t say whether the bed sheets were changed every day, but we certainly had fresh towels daily.

The bathroom was great. The shower was really good and the hotel provided shampoo and shower gel, which meant we didn’t need to use the ones we had packed ourselves.

Pool

One of the things I wasn’t particularly keen on was that the pool area doesn’t open until 8am, meaning you can’t access the sun loungers before then. The loungers are taped off so that people can’t reserve them early in the morning.

As an early riser, I personally wasn’t a fan of this. I always like to get up early on holiday, have a look around and choose the beds I want before breakfast, and I don’t personally see an issue with doing this if you’re actually going to use the beds.

We spoke to other guests who told us that people actually queue up by the tape before 8am and then rush to get the beds they want when the area opens. That completely put us off!

Instead, we headed down to the hotel's private beach area, where you could access the sunbeds whenever you wanted. I was often down there around 6am getting the beds we liked, which suited us much better.

During the mornings we did see staff walking along the beach removing towels from beds that were clearly not being used, allowing other guests to use them. We didn’t have any problems with this as we used our beds throughout the day.

Beach

The private beach area is quite small, but it was absolutely perfect for what we wanted. I’m not a huge fan of being in the sea, so I only ventured in a couple of times, but the water was a pleasant temperature. There were lots of little fish that liked to nibble at your feet if you stood still for too long, which was quite funny!

The beach area was generally lovely and quiet. You could hear the music and activities taking place back at the hotel, where the animation team were very active, but they never came down to the beach trying to persuade people to join in.

That suited us perfectly as entertainment and activities weren’t really on our agenda for this holiday. From what we could hear, the animation team were offering different games and activities throughout the day, but even when we went to the pool bar they never hassled us to take part.

Beach and pool towels were available every day. You receive a towel card when you arrive, which you exchange for a clean towel each day, so there was no need to bring your own.

Food & Drinks

This is definitely an area where I would give the hotel a lot of praise.

I genuinely enjoyed the food and felt there was plenty of choice throughout the day. There was such a good selection that I was able to try different things rather than feeling like I was eating the same meals repeatedly.

The main restaurant always had a great selection and was never unbearably busy. Yes, you have to queue along the buffet while everyone chooses what they want, but that’s pretty standard in any all-inclusive hotel.

And the desserts were incredible! There were so many to choose from that I eventually gave up trying to decide and just had a plate full of different ones. I enjoyed every single one!

The waiter service during lunch and dinner was probably average. If you caught their eye, they would come over and take your drink order, but they weren’t particularly forthcoming.

The snack bar by the pool was fantastic and had a really good selection of the kind of "beige food" that you absolutely want when you're on holiday! The pizza, pasta, kebabs, burgers and jacket potatoes were all delicious.

One thing I particularly loved was the fresh fruit stand that was available throughout the day. You could help yourself to big slices of melon and watermelon, and we would put some in a plastic cup and take it down to the beach as a little snack between meals. Such a simple thing, but we really enjoyed it.

There was also a coffee and cake area, although we didn’t actually use this — mainly because we felt like we were already eating enough cake at mealtimes!

There is a small shop on-site selling snacks and drinks if you want to buy something extra. Prices weren’t too bad, but with so much included in the all-inclusive package, we didn’t really feel the need to buy anything.

Location & Area

The hotel is in a great location. It’s within walking distance of Marmaris and there is also a Dolmus bus service that makes getting to Icmeler really easy.

We walked along the promenade into Marmaris and passed plenty of restaurants, bars and shops along the way.

One thing you should be prepared for is being approached by restaurant staff trying to encourage you to eat at their establishment. They really do try their hardest! We found that if you were polite but firm and simply said no, they would let you continue walking. You can’t fault their effort, though!

One evening we ate at Viking Beach, where we had a gorgeous pizza each as well as starters, and it was very reasonably priced. The staff were lovely and, importantly for us, they didn’t hassle us. They allowed us to look at the menu outside and make our own decision without trying to persuade us to come in — which is actually why we chose to eat there.

We also took the Dolmus into Icmeler one evening. It’s a very cheap way of getting around and the buses run frequently, so we never had to wait long.

Personally, we thought Icmeler was better for shopping than Marmaris, although both are worth visiting.

Gym

The gym was quite important to both of us because we wanted to maintain our usual running and fitness routines while away.

The gym is advertised as being 24 hours, and technically it is. You can access it at any time using your room key.

The downside for me was that the air conditioning doesn’t come on until 9am. I’m an early morning runner and really enjoy getting on a treadmill first thing, but it was simply too warm in the gym to run for any significant amount of time without the air conditioning.

Instead, I took my runs outside along the promenade in the mornings and used the gym later in the afternoon.

Actually, this worked out really well because the route outside the front of the hotel was perfect for running — flat, quiet in the early morning and a lovely temperature before the sun came up.

Departure

On our final day, we decided not to pay for a late check-out, so we left our room at 11am and left our suitcases in the designated luggage storage area at reception.

There was a separate room for luggage and, although we obviously had some initial reservations about leaving our belongings there, it seemed perfectly safe and there were plenty of staff around.

Our transfer wasn’t until 6pm, so we were able to continue using all of the hotel's facilities for the rest of the day.

Another really nice touch was that we were allowed to keep our pool towels until the end of the day. There are two shower rooms by the children's pool which guests can use, and these have locks on the doors, meaning you have a private space to get showered and changed before travelling home.

This was a really useful facility and meant we could enjoy a full final day in the sunshine rather than feeling like we had to sit around waiting for our transfer.

Overall

Overall, we had a really enjoyable stay at Prime Beach Hotel.

It isn’t a luxury five-star experience, and there are definitely a few little things that could be improved, particularly the pool opening time and the gym air conditioning. However, for what we wanted from our holiday, it worked really well.

The food was one of the biggest highlights for us, the location was excellent, the beach was peaceful, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and there was plenty available throughout the day.

For us, it was a comfortable, relaxed and enjoyable holiday, and we would happily consider returning.

Brilliant location and great atmosphere, rooms are good and views amazing, great value for money. Staff are amazing across thw board. Food is fab and so much choice. Entertainment team are fab, so inclusive for everyone, brilliant memories made as always