Marina Plaza Hotel, Tala Bay, Aqaba — Hotel in Aqaba

A mixed experience

A generally pleasant experience in Aqaba - the marina resort is lovely with several restaurants and activities. The resort is literally in the middle of the desert and the temperature in August is oppressive - it was topping 45 degrees every day while we were there (mid-august 2023). This seemed off the beaten track for British tourists - mostly Arab families with young kids and many Italian tour groups.

The positives were - the deluxe room we booked was nice, with a clean and comfortable large bed, nice bathroom, and balcony with marina views. The air conditioning in the room was great and easy to use. Room service and housekeeping were efficient and replaced towels, water, accoutrements each day. We spent almost a whole day out on a boat snorkelling with the company Deep Blue diving - would also really recommend. We booked in person one day in advance at their beach shack in front of the beach club (which was easily accessible from the hotel).

Around the marina there are really nice restaurants and the included breakfast was comprehensive. Some of the reception staff were very friendly and spoke good English.

However, there were some significant negatives. Only a few reception staff spoke good English and there was a definite language barrier with less senior members. The communal pool area was often very busy with many children, and due to understaffing there was a lot of rubbish around the pool area (cans, used crockery). The hotel also played pretty loud music the whole time. Most members of staff seemed very young (older teenagers/young twenties) and inexperienced and didn’t speak much English. I think the lifeguard spent more time in the pool than out of it and joined in with swimming races rather than watching for safety issues. In the bedroom, some appliances like the hairdryer did not work, and there were very few electrical plugs to charge things.

The worst part of the stay was that the check in experience was pretty terrible - when we arrived in the midday heat we were told that we couldn’t check in yet and had to wander around while the room was prepared. When we returned, the porter took us to the wrong room (the number was written very unclearly on the card due to the language barrier) and we arrived in a room which was dirty and the beds were not made. This was extremely frustrating as we were sweltering from the heat. After a challenging discussion with a manager whose English wasn’t very strong, we established we had been taken to the wrong room. We were escorted to the correct room which was much nicer and what we were expecting. The reception team compensated us with a free bottle of Jordanian wine. The next day, the card to the room stopped working again, so again we had to walk in the heat to reception to get this fixed.

Luckily for us, this turned out very well indeed. We were greeted at reception by an absolute sunshine of a man, who when i said “my key isn’t working” replied “oh that’s great news… because it means I get to see you again.” I had never seen that man before in my life.

Overall - lots of promise, but at times...

Let me start off with saying if you have the ability to book elsewhere, do it. This 4 star hotel is 2 star quality, only book for a reasonably cheaper Aqaba expirence by the beach front. But with no good way to get a decent food expirence due to restaurants being so far away.

I had the unfortunate chance to stay at this hotel again, the first time i have been here we lost our reservation and spent hours getting it sorted. But this visit was by far the the most miserable.

When I checked in and went into the room i had felt a dripping of water on my neck, It turned out the A.C. was leaking and the floor was wet. When we told the man who showed us the rooms he said he'd tell someone but nothing was done about it.

But by far the worst thing that occurred was the all you can eat buffet for breakfast and dinner. The food is basic and adequate but you must pay an absurd amount of money for drinks. The only thing that was was included was water. HOT WATER, practically boiling, and tasted like i was DRINKING CHLORINE. When I confronted the manager to ask where the water came from he kept dodging the question, but finally telling us that the water is actually spring water but the taste came from the ice. It is very doubtful for that to be the case, if it some how is, there would have been way more ice than water becuase the taste was so prominent. However, there was an ice bowl there but it was empty. I pleaded to have it filled but when i returned no one had done anything.

Keep in mind, i was not the only guest to complain about the water. There were a total of 4 people including myself who complained and nothing was done with it. Moreover, 2 JOD of soda is upsetting but tolerable, just overpriced hotel prices. But the same price for a small cup of tea is ludicrous.

Now if you are forced to stay here, popeyes delivers. Just make sure to sneak it in.

Sidenote: wifi only works in ths...

At first I would start with that I regret coming to this hotel! Although Jordan is a very amazing country with memorizing tourist attractions.

The hotel is located on the Southern coast a bit far from the city but there are many taxis and shuttle buses the cruse back and forth. The rooms are neat but need an urgent renovation as it seems that it has been through a crisis. The pool is renovated and looks alright. Food is oriental I'd say and didn't come to my liking.

BE AWARE OF THE STAFF!!! Especially one of the managers who's name tag says Meshaal/Mashal!! This person harassed my wife and our 21 year old daughter, he seems nice at first but very untrustworthy as he asks too many personal questions especially phone numbers and whether we have What'sApp or no. During our stay he kept appearing out of no where and seemed that he was stalking my ladies with weird looks or some crooked smiles which made us feel very uncomfortable!!!

My anger is way beyond belief on how much I'm disappointed in our stay. I wish there was a negative star rating available I would have made a negative 1000 star review. Don't be fooled by the hospitality and kindness as there is alway a backdoor that will lead to either harassment in a sexual kind or demand for a kiss or a hug which is very unprofessional !

PEOPLE HAVE THEIR OWN SPACE AND DISTANCE PLEASE KEEP YOURSELF OUT OF IT !!! WE COME TO YOU FOR LEISURE AND PIECE OF MIND BUT NOT TO...