Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay Bodrum — Hotel in Bodrum

Overpriced for what it is

Edit: After this review, the hotel management took time to meet with me, listen carefully, and told me about upcoming renovations and service changes that address many of the points I raised. I got the feeling they genuinely cared to improve my experience and listen to my feedback to improve things. They also made a generous gesture of goodwill during my stay to put things right, which I appreciate. Thank you.

Original (unedited) review

TLDR; PROs: very friendly staff, great pool area, chilled vibe CONs: lack of variety in food options, no entertainment. Premium price tag without 5star feeling. Overpriced

We had a nice week here in Bodrum. Staff is very friendly we liked the pool and pool area If this was a 4 star hotel and 30-40% cheaper than it is my review would end here and I would not have many complaints. However as we spend more than the average annual salary in Türkiye here on accommodation and food over 6 nights I feel either the price was too high or the quality was too low for that sort of money.

Our room was an upgrade to a ‘Grand Deluxe King room’. Great Ocean view and a balcony and nothing wrong with it but for 580 GBP per night it was small and not as luxurious as title and price made me expect. There are 3 restaurants that serve dinner, there is one more that is open for lunch. If you eat lunch and dinner here you quickly exhaust the small menu especially if you have some dietary restrictions (one of us was Vegetarian) a 2 course dinner with a glass of wine can easily set you back 200 EUR (2 adults and a kid eating from the reasonably priced kids menu). I’d be happy to pay that if the food was spectacular but it only lived up to that price tag once maybe. You are better off (price and quality wise) to get a taxi into Bodrum (30 min , 15 GBP or less one way) and pick a good restaurant there. 30-50% of the cost including the price for the taxi. There’s a Spa, gym a great pool and a water sport centre at the beach. Outside that I don’t think the hotel offers any other activities, there’s no evening entertainment. We organised things ourselves but again I’m used to having more options here in a hotel of this price category. There’s a bunch of small things which I wouldn’t normally mention in a review but in the past when I stayed at resorts of the category the Kempinski aspires to, I would have mentioned half a dozen of small things that surprised me positively whereas here there was none of that and instead there were tiny nuisances like they ran out of spoons on the breakfast buffet (which again is good but falls short for 5 star) on every other day, when I ordered a coffee I needed to call the waiter again to ask for sugar, they brought chocolates for bedtime but it was 2 even though we were 3, some parts of the facilities seem slightly dated, there were showers in the spa not working, one restaurant was closed permanently. A sanitary item from the hotel shop has a ca. 6x markup which feels unnecessary for that sort of think (charge silly prices for jewellery or clothing if people want to spend money but not for that sort of thing)… none of that spoiled our stay but it doesn’t give you the premium feel to match the premium price tag. More often I was somewhat disappointed rather than wowed and I would not...

Edit: After this review, the hotel management took time to meet with me, listen carefully, and told me about upcoming renovations and service changes that address many of the points I raised. I got the feeling they genuinely cared to improve my experience and listen to my feedback to improve things. They also made a generous gesture of goodwill during my stay to put things right, which I appreciate. Thank you.||Original (unedited) review ||TLDR;|PROs: very friendly staff, great pool area, chilled vibe|CONs: lack of variety in food options, no entertainment. Premium price tag without 5star feeling. Overpriced||We had a nice week here in Bodrum. Staff is very friendly we liked the pool and pool area If this was a 4 star hotel and 30-40% cheaper than it is my review would end here and I would not have many complaints. However as we spend more than the average annual salary in Türkiye here on accommodation and food over 6 nights I feel either the price was too high or the quality was too low for that sort of money.||- Our room was an upgrade to a ‘Grand Deluxe King room’. Great Ocean view and a balcony and nothing wrong with it but for 580 GBP per night it was small and not as luxurious as title and price made me expect.|- There are 3 restaurants that serve dinner, there is one more that is open for lunch. If you eat lunch and dinner here you quickly exhaust the small menu especially if you have some dietary restrictions (one of us was Vegetarian) a 2 course dinner with a glass of wine can easily set you back 200 EUR (2 adults and a kid eating from the reasonably priced kids menu). I’d be happy to pay that if the food was spectacular but it only lived up to that price tag once maybe. You are better off (price and quality wise) to get a taxi into Bodrum (30 min , 15 GBP or less one way) and pick a good restaurant there. 30-50% of the cost including the price for the taxi.|- There’s a Spa, gym a great pool and a water sport centre at the beach. Outside that I don’t think the hotel offers any other activities, there’s no evening entertainment. We organised things ourselves but again I’m used to having more options here in a hotel of this price category.|- There’s a bunch of small things which I wouldn’t normally mention in a review but in the past when I stayed at resorts of the category the Kempinski aspires to, I would have mentioned half a dozen of small things that surprised me positively whereas here there was none of that and instead there were tiny nuisances like they ran out of spoons on the breakfast buffet (which again is good but falls short for 5 star) on every other day, when I ordered a coffee I needed to call the waiter again to ask for sugar, they brought chocolates for bedtime but it was 2 even though we were 3, some parts of the facilities seem slightly dated, there were showers in the spa not working, one restaurant was closed permanently. A sanitary item from the hotel shop has a ca. 6x markup which feels unnecessary for that sort of think (charge silly prices for jewellery or clothing if people want to spend money but not for that sort of thing)… none of that spoiled our stay but it doesn’t give you the premium feel to match the premium price tag. More often I was somewhat disappointed rather than wowed and I would not...

2025 - 4 stars: Quite different from last year, and unfortunately much less enjoyable. All the chefs and head waitresses at the restaurants have changed. Food quality and service at Olives, Rossa and Barbarossa have been very poor this year. Beach service has also declined noticeably. There's a huge gap between the high restaurant prices and the actual service level, which feels unjustified. However, Mammadrau restaurant's food quality and service remain excellent. Most staff work very hard, but the service lacks consistency and seems to be missing effective systems. The breakfast buffet, toilets and showers are full of flies - it's really unpleasant. That said, the general manager and senior management are clearly working hard to address these issues and have been very responsive to guest feedback. I'm confident their commitment will resolve these problems soon.

2024 - 5 stars: From the moment we arrived, the exceptional service and warm hospitality made us feel right at home, thanks to “Ladies in Red” team.

Our reservation process was seamless, thanks to Pinar Arslan, the reservation manager. Sude Nur, the breakfast coordinator, was always cheerful with her enchanting smile and made sure our mornings started off perfectly. Hakan, who provided thrilling buggy rides around the resort added a unique touch to our vacation with his positive energy.

We were also impressed with the amazing service from Mustafa Biliceli and Semah, the senior waiters. Olgun, Burak, Arda, Irina and Aiperi are all outstanding service members.

The restaurants, with the exception of Olives, were fantastic, offering a wide range of delectable dishes. While the quality of the food at Villa Rossa Restaurant and Olives Restaurant differs significantly, their prices are almost the same. The food and service quality at Olives Restaurant, as well as the outdoor furniture, could benefit from some enhancements.

Other luxury Turkish hotels offer a superior breakfast selection, particularly in terms of cheese, jams, pastrami, and more. For instance, there were only three types of jams available, and a small cheese room would greatly enhance the experience. But, these aspects didn’t detract from our overall enjoyment.

Additionally, the accessibility / walkability for disabled individuals and pushchair users could be enhanced throughout the hotel. The brand of Kempinski should take this seriously. Furthermore, the bar / service on the Sundeck should be open for operation, it deserves more attention. Having waiters travel to the pool bar to serve drinks at the Sundeck is neither sustainable nor efficient. They work under challenging conditions, especially given the hot weather.

I must add that the beach is brilliant, with crystal-clear waters and a serene atmosphere. Overall, we highly recommend Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay. We will return here for our...