Marvida Palmeras Pascha Holiday Village

🇹🇷☀️ OUR HONEST REVIEW OF THE NEW MARVIDA PASCHA BAY ☀️🇹🇷 Our holiday is coming to an end, and we have now spent a full week at the “new” Pascha Bay. We were actually very curious – and a little nervous – about this holiday. We have stayed at Pascha Bay many times over the years, and since Marvida took over in April, we have obviously followed the many reviews, some of which have been very negative. So what would we find when we arrived? There are definitely both positives and negatives. But one thing is certain: We have had a fantastic holiday. ❤️ We decided from the beginning to keep a positive attitude and enjoy our holiday – and we are very glad we did. ⭐ ARRIVAL From the moment we arrived, we received a very warm welcome from the reception staff. When they realised that we had stayed at Pascha Bay many times before, we were upgraded to room 7309. A beautiful suite on the 3rd floor with the most amazing view of the sea and the entire resort. 😍 We actually knew the room already, as we had stayed in the same one two years ago. The two lovely members of staff who showed us to the room may not have been world champions at speaking English 😂, but they were extremely friendly, funny and spent plenty of time showing us around. We arrived just as the dinner buffet opened at around 7pm, tired and hungry. At first glance, the buffet looked quite similar to the Pascha Bay we remembered. After dinner, we took a walk around the resort. WOW! The new area down by the beach is absolutely beautiful. The new stage and the whole surrounding area are a great improvement. So after our first evening, we went to bed with very high expectations. 😕 THEN CAME THE FIRST DISAPPOINTMENTS… The following day, we started noticing some of the changes we had read about before travelling. And this is where we have to be honest: Why change things that worked so well before? 🍦 The soft-serve ice cream at the pool bar has gone. 🍔 The snack bar has been moved all the way down to the beach. 🍹 And you cannot get cocktails/drinks at the pool bar at all anymore. We honestly think this is a real shame. When you are relaxing by the pool, it is inconvenient to have to walk all the way down to the beach just to get a proper snack. Yes, you can get French fries and onion rings at the pool bar – but honestly… eating the same fries and onion rings every day gets pretty boring. 😂 The drinks were probably one of our biggest disappointments. We have always enjoyed buying nice cocktails while on holiday, and I am more than happy to pay extra for a properly made cocktail. Unfortunately, the cocktail menu is now quite disappointing, and the quality varies enormously depending on who is behind the bar. Some simply did not know how to make a good cocktail. However, the good old Turkish rule still seems to apply: Become friends with the right bartender, and suddenly almost anything is possible. 😂🍹 🧹 CLEANLINESS & STAFFING Unfortunately, this is one of the bigger negatives for us. Cleaning around the pool area was almost non-existent. Glasses, cups and other things could be left standing around for far too long, and the area simply wasn’t kept to the standard we remember from the old Pascha Bay. But we want to make something very clear: We do not blame the staff for this. Quite the opposite. The staff who are working here are running around doing everything they possibly can. In our opinion, the real problem is that there are simply far, far too few staff members. You notice it throughout the hotel. More people are needed for cleaning, the bars, the restaurant and general service. The staff who are there simply cannot work any faster. There is also something else we really miss from the old Pascha Bay: The good managers who used to be present in the different departments. Previously, you always had the feeling that someone was responsible for each area – someone who had an overview, followed up on things and made sure standards were maintained throughout the day. We feel that is missing now. In our opinion, Marvida needs more staff and more visible managers who take responsibility for the individual areas. The employees clearly want to provide good service – they simply need more colleagues, better staffing and the right framework to give guests the experience they deserve. 🇹🇷 TURKS, RUSSIANS – AND PLENTY OF DANES TOO 😂🇩🇰 Before travelling, we had read many comments saying that the hotel was now full of Turkish and Russian guests. Yes, there were Turkish and Russian guests. But guess what? There were plenty of Danes here this week too! 😂🇩🇰 We could hear from conversations around the resort that several Danish guests were frustrated by some of the same small changes that we had noticed. But we certainly had no problems with either the Turkish or Russian guests. We may not all have exactly the same ideas about queuing and hygiene 😁, but you should never judge everyone based on a few individuals. We certainly did not experience the major problems described in some of the reviews. ❤️ ALANYA & TURKEY As always, we spent many evenings in Alanya, visited several restaurants and used taxis a lot. We had also read comments from people saying that the Turkish people had become rude, unfriendly or very pushy. Well… That simply wasn’t our experience. We love Turkey, we have got to know many people here over the years, and we genuinely enjoy talking and joking with the Turkish people. All our taxi journeys were either on the meter or at an agreed fixed price. We had absolutely no problems. In fact, many of the shopkeepers seemed almost a little quieter and more resigned this year than we remember from previous visits. The only place where we really felt people trying hard to get our attention was around the bars and nightclubs. THERE the salesmen certainly still had plenty of energy! 😂😂 🍽️ THE FOOD Overall, the food has been perfectly fine. We actually think the breakfast is very good. However, there could definitely be more variety in the buffet. After a few days, it starts to feel like many of the same dishes appearing in slightly different versions. In this respect, we think the old Pascha Bay was better. ⸻ 🔴 OUR NEGATIVES • No more soft-serve ice cream at the pool area • The snack bar has been moved to the beach • No cocktails/drinks available at the pool bar • The cocktail menu and quality could be much better • Not enough variety in the food • Cleaning around the pool area was almost non-existent • Far, far too few staff • We miss visible managers taking responsibility for the different areas 🟢 OUR POSITIVES • The new beach area is absolutely beautiful • The new stage is a great improvement • The staff who are there genuinely do everything they can • Friendly and helpful employees • Plenty of sunbeds • The expanded resort area means the pool feels less crowded • Good entertainment • Very good breakfast • Fantastic view from our room, 7309 • There is still plenty of the Pascha Bay atmosphere that we have loved for years ❤️ ❤️ WILL WE COME BACK? YES! We have had a fantastic holiday, despite both positives and negatives. Is Pascha Bay exactly the same as it used to be? No. Do we think every change made by Marvida has improved the hotel? Definitely not. Is the hotel as bad as some of the reviews make it sound? That is definitely not our experience either. We certainly haven’t been scared away. We will adapt to the new setup, and next time we will know what to expect. But we genuinely hope that Marvida listens to its guests. Because in our opinion, it wouldn’t actually take that much to make a big difference. Bring in more staff. Bring back strong, visible managers and better day-to-day supervision. Improve the cleaning around the pool. And perhaps reconsider whether some of the old things – the snack bar, soft-serve ice cream and drinks by the pool – actually worked better the way they were. If Marvida gets those things right, we genuinely believe the new Pascha Bay can become really, really good. The setting is still fantastic. The resort has a lot to offer. And the employees who are here deserve credit for working incredibly hard with the resources they have been given. So although everything isn’t perfect: We have had a fantastic holiday. ❤️☀️🇹🇷 We still love Turkey, Alanya and Pascha Bay. See you again next year! 👋🇹🇷☀️

Thank you to the wonderful staff in the restaurant for making this the best experience for my daughter. She has celiac’s disease and lactose intolerance and has to be careful about everything she eats. Even slight contamination results in her being ill for 24 hours. At Pascha Bay they allowed us to order separately prepared meals (as my mum also suffers from the same) for the whole family and were always careful. We had no food accidents and spent a very happy week enjoying sun, sea, pool, activities and delicious food. A special thank you to Mustafa and Cigdem in the restaurant. They would always meet us with pancakes and smiles in the morning. We will be back!

Overall this holiday was very good and nothing short of fantastic for the children. Bad points: Food was a little below par and below expectation. It was annoying seeing so much within the resort as additional cost in spite of it being an all inclusive resort. Many things from fruit juices at meal times to ice cream stands and most alcoholic beverages were at additional cost. The complex has no lifts anywhere so be mindful of this if elderly or traveling with children and/or disabled travelers. I found that the TUI trips that you could purchase through the TUI reps at the resort were expensive. Specifically the pirate ship trip was expensive and no different than the one offered in the town for £110 less. We only continued to use TUI for the trip as we were told that it had the TUI entertainers on it, this was sadly not the case. Good points: I’ll start with the fact that everything from swimming pools and the beach to the water park and other areas of entertainment were all within a short walk and inside the resort itself. Sadly I cannot remember the name of the gentleman but the chap that was on the fried egg station most breakfasts was super friendly. The whole kids and evening entertainment team were superb and a special mention to Jack within the TUI team for not only being a great singer and entertainer but also for being fantastic with the kids. Lastly I would recommend David the in-house photographer who is not only talented but also very friendly. I would recommend that you seek out his superb services at some stage during your stay. Hands down one of the best professional photographers we’ve used anywhere. Overall I would say that this is a great place for a family holiday. 👍

We have just returned today after a week at this beautiful place. We arrived ery late at night and were greated with a smile, some bottles of wqter and sandwiches, such a lovely thought after a long joirney. Our rooms were interconnecting, they were very clean and spacious with coffee, tea and a fridge. The shower was very powerful with plenty of hot water. Air conditioning and a ceiling fan. Cleaner came in everyday, made bed and gave fresh towels if needed. The food was great for an all inclusive, kids buffet, lots of different options with great signage. Snack bar next to the pool had pizzas, burgers etc. Also coffee and cake everyday at 4pm. So always plenty to eat. Lots of activities during the day for both adults and children. Including kids clubs. Reccommed beach shoes for the beach, as previosly mentioned. Evening entertainmemt had something for everyone. One thing id like to mention are the staff. They all do an amazing job, entertainment staff are brilliant, life guards , bar and resturant staff all friendly and polite. Only small negitive is the transfer times- it can take from 2-3 hrs depending on stops, we didnt mind this but possibly something to note if you have small children. Also the loction, beautiful beach bit nothing mich else close by.. We will definately be back.

Great time here very clean staff can not do enough for you friendly a guy named akin on the outside restwas briliant very very helpful he couldnt do enough went above and beyond to make sure your dining exsperince was a great one food great tho was a bit cold