Mirage World Hotel

We stayed at Mirage World in Icmeler for 9 nights and, unfortunately, we won’t be returning.

Our first impression wasn’t great. When we arrived to check in, people were constantly pushing in at reception. We found this happened throughout the holiday, whether queuing for food, drinks or reception. Queueing simply wasn’t respected by some guests, which made everything feel quite stressful.

Our room was incredibly small for three people. We had to live out of our suitcases for the entire stay as there was very little storage. The room was also very dated, with mouldy curtains, and the fridge never stayed cold. The air conditioning was definitely the best feature of the room and worked really well.

The food was probably our biggest disappointment. It was very repetitive, with much the same selection every day, and there were flies around the food. The dining hall itself was chaotic. Unless you arrived early to queue for a table and food, you risked missing out, and even after queueing, the food was often only lukewarm or cold. We ended up eating out on several occasions, and the quality of the restaurants in Icmeler was far superior.

The WiFi was also disappointing. We specifically chose this hotel because WiFi was advertised, but the connection was so poor that we ended up paying extra for a WiFi box. On a positive note, the shop on site was excellent, and the shopkeeper was absolutely lovely and very helpful.

The pool area could also be frustrating. People would remove parasols from other guests’ sunbeds, and there was a general lack of consideration from some holidaymakers.

The entertainment was just okay. The children’s disco was on every evening but became very repetitive, so we often chose to spend our evenings exploring Icmeler instead, despite being on an all-inclusive holiday.

I also visited the hotel hairdresser for a blow dry. They were very busy and it felt quite rushed, but the end result was perfectly fine.

Finally, Icmeler itself is absolutely beautiful. Prices have definitely increased compared with previous visits, and you do get approached by restaurant staff as you walk along the promenade, but that’s something we’ve come to expect in Turkey.

Overall, while the location is fantastic, the hotel didn’t live up to our expectations. Between the cramped rooms, repetitive food, poor WiFi and chaotic dining experience, we didn’t feel it offered good value, and sadly we wouldn’t return.

We've just got home from a 10-night stay at Mirage World in Icmeler.

We arrived at the hotel at 9:20am but didn't get our rooms until 2:45pm. We were told several times they would be ready "soon", so we ended up losing our first day sitting in reception waiting. We were really disappointed with how this was handled.

The pools were lovely, especially the quieter one near Block D. However, if you want a decent sunbed, be prepared for a very early start. By 6:45am, almost every lounger had already been reserved with towels. So be prepared to get up at 6am.

The water slides were fantastic though, and the kids absolutely loved them.

The evening entertainment was very poor. It consisted of bingo at 9:30pm followed by what was supposed to be a show from 10:00pm until 11:30pm, but it was mostly people messing about and the usual hotel competitions. It wasn't entertaining at all. The foam party, however, was brilliant and another big hit with the kids.

The housekeeping staff were excellent. Our room was cleaned every day, fresh towels were provided daily, the beds were changed every three days, and bottled water was replenished each day.

Unfortunately, we had a few maintenance issues. The sliding patio doors didn't lock. Reception fixed one room quickly, but it took five days for the other room to be repaired. The fridge also wasn't cold, and despite reporting it, it was never fixed.

The on-site shop, run by two brothers, was excellent. They were incredibly friendly, helpful and always happy to chat.

The food was the biggest disappointment. Breakfast was lovely, but lunch and dinner were very repetitive and didn't suit our tastes. Food was bland and resembled slop. We ended up eating out six nights out of ten.

The behaviour of many other guests (not british) also had a big impact on our holiday. Meal times were chaotic, with lots of pushing, shoving and very little consideration for others. We saw people piling their plates with food only to leave most of it untouched, and taking excessive amounts of fruit and desserts that were clearly never going to be eaten. One incident that really upset us was when my son sliced some bread onto his plate, only for another guest to take it straight off his plate. When he took it back, her husband grabbed it and screwed it up right in front of him. Thankfully, we found the British guests to be polite, well mannered and friendly, and everyone looked out for each other.

We highly recommend that you upgrade your room - block D are new, spacious and have plenty of storage, other rooms are tiny, some have no windows and are very dated and I believe some have mould.

Would we return? Sadly, no. It's a shame because the hotel has plenty of positives, but the poor food, disappointing entertainment, unresolved maintenance issues and overall guest experience mean we wouldn't choose to stay here again.