Jasmin Beach Hotel

My friend and I stayed at the Jasmin Bach Hotel. The food was of poor quality and tasted terrible—it was cold. The cleanliness was awful, and we ended up going hungry regarding the hotel meals; we had to eat out every day. I do not recommend it; it was a bad experience.

Hello fellow vacationers. I have visited Gümbet many times and stayed at various hotels. I had stayed at the Jasmin Beach Hotel with my family before and returned this year, but it turned out to be a disappointment. The food was very poor quality and tasted bad; the menu was repetitive, and the meat was cold, stale, and had an unpleasant odor. Unfortunately, we ended up eating out every time. Never again.

If you enjoy sleeping badly, eating oily leftovers and listening to the same 20 songs on repeat, this is the place for you!

Where to begin?

The room: Small would be an understatement. We were right beside the neighbouring hotel and got the pleasure of listening to an extractor fan all night. Nothing says “relaxing holiday” quite like the soothing sound of industrial ventilation.

The bed was approximately as comfortable as sleeping on a paving slab. There was no proper blanket either — apparently towels now double as bedding.

Our room was also right beside the pool, which meant we got front-row seats to the nightly entertainment until almost midnight. And by entertainment, I mean the same handful of songs and some truly painful karaoke played over and over again. Because obviously what every family with young children wants after a day at a resort is to be kept awake until midnight listening to questionable singing.

Housekeeping: Another interesting concept. We requested our room to be cleaned, but the rubbish wasn’t emptied and the used towels weren’t replaced. Toilet paper wasn’t replenished either, so we had to contact reception to get more.

Except we couldn’t call reception because the room phone was broken. So off we went on a lovely little walk to the front desk every time we needed something. Perhaps this was their way of helping guests hit their daily step count.

The gym: Calling this a gym is ambitious.

Broken machines, rust everywhere and equipment that looks like it has been abandoned for several decades. Some machines looked less like fitness equipment and more like exhibits in a museum called Things You Probably Shouldn’t Touch. Definitely not somewhere I’d recommend exercising unless you enjoy gambling with your joints.

The food: Honestly, I’m still not entirely sure how many times some of it had been served.

Food appeared to be recycled from one meal to the next, with everything seemingly competing to see what could contain the most oil and salt. If you enjoy food that leaves you wondering whether you just ate dinner or drank a bottle of cooking oil, you’ll be delighted.

The à la carte restaurant wasn’t much of an upgrade either. Very basic food at prices that certainly weren’t basic.

Smoking: If you’re a non-smoker or have asthma, prepare yourself.

People smoke everywhere, and there don’t seem to be enough properly designated smoking areas. Sitting outside and trying to enjoy a drink while someone is blowing cigarette smoke directly across you isn’t exactly the relaxing holiday experience advertised.

A proper smoking section away from the main guest areas would make an enormous difference.

The music: I now know the same 20 songs extremely well. Unfortunately.

They were played so frequently that by the end of the holiday I could probably have performed the entire playlist myself. Variety clearly wasn’t included in the all-inclusive package.

The positives: The staff were friendly, and I’ll give them that. The waterslides were also genuinely fantastic and probably the best part of the resort.

Unfortunately, good waterslides and friendly staff don’t make up for uncomfortable rooms, poor housekeeping, terrible food, a practically unusable gym, excessive smoking and nightly entertainment loud enough to make sure nobody gets an early night.

Would I return? Let’s just say I’m very grateful this was a holiday and not a permanent relocation.

There is potential here, but the hotel desperately needs to invest in basic maintenance, improve housekeeping and food quality, sort out the smoking situation and remember that a family resort should probably allow families to sleep before midnight.