Club Med Turkoise — Hotel in Providenciales

This was my first trip to Turks and Caicos and first time staying at Club Med. I have visited over 15 Caribbean islands, stayed at all types of resorts (1 star to 5 star), and even lived in the Caribbean when I was younger. I provide my background only for others to know, I might be a CM newbie but not a travel newbie. Yes, I did my research prior to my visit and the CM culture is not what lead to my poor review.||||The Beach: 5 star beach. It made the whole trip! The beach is quiet and gorgeous. It is great for shelling. Lots of cabanas (granted some people will save them and never use them, just watch and move their stuff. Staff never comes to the beach to check so items could have been from a few days before). Excellent beach for swimming, relaxing, and sunbathing. Our group spent 6+ hours each day in the ocean. One day, Jojo the dolphin even followed the boats in and said hello to us in the water. Cool experience to have a dolphin only 5 feet from you (it is a wild dolphin so don’t rush to it or touch it, if he is interested he will come to you). Downside to the beach, there is no beach bar and it is a walk to the hotel bars. ||||The Staff: 3 stars. Most are very friendly. Bartenders and entertainers were the nicest out of the staff and they were the most helpful. The waiters seemed indifferent. Some staff (Jojo’s) were rude. The entertainers try their best to put on good shows (shows are a little underwhelming like on a cruise ship but still fun). ||||The Property: 3 stars. It is run down and looks its age. All the property looks a bit beat up. Pool is large and nice. Lots of chairs but little shade. People do horde chairs, but there were always some open no matter the time of day. Lots of activities and entertainment throughout the day. Long walks to get towels. Beach towels are well loved and only 1 given at the time. ||||The Hotel Room: 2 star. The rooms are very basic. I was not expecting great rooms, but be prepared for a very basic and rustic room. Overall it was livable but we were only there to shower, sleep, and keep our clothes. Our bed didn’t come with a top sheet, only a bottom sheet and duvet cover (too hot for the Carribean). Had to ask for sheets the next morning. Now, the shower was a mess. The water runs under the door and floods the room. We would bring our used beach towels and use them as sand bags to catch/stop the water. Water constantly fluctuated temperature. Sink had strange metal wires sticking out of the faucet. Only provided 1 towel per person per day (but if you are nice they will give you more especially when you say it is for the shower door). Our room had great AC but many people complained that the AC didn’t work and had to have fans brought in. This is a known issue for years and part of the age of the hotel. This needs to be fixed asap as it is too hot in the Caribbean to not have AC for tourists. ||||The Drinks: 1.5 star. The alcohol was bottom shelf and not very strong. Bars do not stay open all day, so you have to run around the property to find open bars. Jojo’s (closest to the beach) had terrible hours. The bartender there was the most unfriendly and bitter person. Sharky’s had the best bar, best bartenders, and the best pour. But overall the drinks were so weak. Bartenders measure out the pour always at less than a shot (strange at an all inclusive) and roll their eyes when you ask for a double shot. Very boring selection of alcohol. Osprey Vodka is like water. They do make special drinks each day which are tasty, but nothing is ever strong.||||The Food: 1 star. 1 star is being generous. All 4 people in our group were disgusted by what was served and had so many stomach issues. Buffet food was never hot or cold but room temp. Items including cream and mayo base sat out for hours without proper temperatures. Food is pre-paired and sits until someone takes it. If no one claims it, that item can sit the whole 2-3 hours getting gross. The whole middle buffet section which holds salads, dressings, fish, and raw foods was always warm. Food sits on ice plates but the ice melts as the day goes on and the food gets warm and spoils. We learned to avoid this entire area. We would try a little of everything, but we found very little safe food to eat. The worst part was the flies. We would lift a spoon and flies would fly out of the food. So nasty! For 5 days, we were hungry as we were fearful to eat. Safe foods: ice cream, omelets, pizza, and white chocolate bread. We found if you go right when the buffet opens, the food is better but quickly turns. Once food is out, it is not always replaced. Employees also rush to get food and horde the fresh food taking it in to go boxes or plates piled high. Sharkey’s also offered food but it was long waits, they would run out of food often, and later in the evening the food (like fries) would sit in the fryer and be hard as rocks. This place also leaves condiments out in the sun and flies. When I read over reviews that say the food was wonderful and excellent, I have to wonder what is wrong with them or if they have their hotels mixed up. Every guest we talked to hated the food and we even talked to people at the airport who left several days early or switched hotels because the food was so bad. ||||Overall: Turks & Caicos is a beautiful island. Grace Bay is amazing. But the island is expensive. Club Med is the most reasonable option for those looking for all inclusive AND adults only resort. I say if you know that the rooms are very basic and the resort is very run down, it is a good option. Be very skeptical of the food and use caution of how the food is kept before digging in. Bring pepto, Imodium, and heart burn meds to help get through it. Explore the island restaurants especially for dinner. ||||Things to bring:||- Bug spray (night time and sand flies)||- Sun screen (lots)||- Drink cup for alcohol||- Drink cup for water||- Small room air freshener (little Caribbean secret for the musty room smell)||- Extension cord (to charge near bed)||- Extra towel ||- Pool floats ||- Pepto, Imodium, Prilosec, Tums (food sucks)||||Tips:||- If you arrive early, it is $25 per person to use the pool, eat, and drink. Worth it if you get in a few hours before check in time. Note: your room will not be ready early. ||- If you arrive later (after 5) you may not be able to get towels. ||- Theme nights are fun to follow and dress up, but ladies, bring comfy shoes (even for white night).||- Many say it is worth $80+ for a reserved table for white night, we had a great view from the free tables and were closer to the food/drinks.||- Tipping is not necessary. If you get great service, by all means, tip. But don’t feel obligated here. ||- You probably will have to get your own water at the restaurant.||- You can pre-book your airport transfers with the hotel OR you can get a taxi for a little less and beat the airport traffic if you leave before the shuttles. ||- Bring cash. Taxis are cash only and normally is about $20 per person one way to places. The cost...

Honestly, don’t waste your money- I do not recommend you stay here whatsoever. The Island is absolutely beautiful. However, there’s many more places on this Island- whereas the value of your money is appreciated. It is impossible to have an enjoyable vacation at Club Med, Turks and Caicos’s due to several factors: No hot water-one evening as I was trying to shower and get ready to go have dinner at a local restaurant outside of the Club Med resort to dine at Coco Bistro you need to make a reservation minimum six months, sometimes two year to in advance which I did and unfortunately on this evening, I had to go to dinner unshowered with suntan lotion in my hair & on my body! All I wanted to do was feel refreshed after a long day in the sun, to dress up to be able to enjoy a nice evening and a nice dinner. No one in the complex had hot water it was freezing cold, and it was a cooler evening as the weather here has been a little cooler than normal, and I was told, and many were told that somehow supposedly the water company “Accidentally” Turned off Club Med water. Sounds to me like someone did not pay their bill on time. On another note, regarding the same topic about the water situation, you cannot have a normal shower even when the water is not turned off it is either freezing cold, or while you have warm water it becomes scalding hot with no notice it almost burned the top of my scalp and / Or - you’re showering and warm water, and then it turns freezing and cold with no notice either. Not to mention the smell of the water you could taste it while you’re brushing your teeth& smell it while you’re in the shower. There’s no excuse- A human being should be able to take a simple shower with no extreme difficulties. The food, it’s absolutely terrible. Poor quality, Hardly any choices to someone like me who doesn’t eat any fish, or shellfish, and whatever meat they did have was either fried, overcooked, or beyond chewy. I basically ate salad the entire week for dinner with some chickpeas and bread. Every morning I had a greasy cold egg because by time he walked to the other side to wait online to get a little bacon or some potatoes your egg would be ice cold or vice versa if you want to get your bacon first I went back to the side to go get your egg then the bacon would be ice cold as well. * Please remember, at an all inclusive resort, there should be several choices for all types of guests of the resort, whether it’s gluten-free, low-carb, vegan/vegetarian or seafood lovers. The kitchen staff was absolutely terrible on this trip, with the exception of maybe one or two people in that area, which serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They seemed miserable, offered no, smiling, and didn’t even give you any iContact. This is sad to me. Obviously, Club Med and the organization that owns Club Med which I believe is now China, they need to treat their employees a lot better or train their employees so a guest would feel welcome and appreciate it while they’re dining. The vibe actually sucks here, it’s not what it used to be. It just seems like there’s a huge disconnect on so many levels. On this particular trip, I’ve met some very nice G.O’s , especially Pamela, who is acting as the chief, while the Chief of the Village was supposedly traveling on Business. She was very professional, very polite, very compassionate, and easy to talk to, as I (and many others) had many issues during my (their) stay at this resort. No, let me tell you about the accommodations, the rooms are beyond outdated, dirty, and disgusting and falling apart. Please note the first time I came to Club Med was in 2000 to this very same resort and I’ve been here a total of I believe 18 times over the years and the last time before this visit now and February 2024 it was in 2018. They’ve made no changes, no updates, nothing to the rooms. Metal rack completely fell off the wall, and no one was leaning on it. All I did was simply pull off a face towel to dry my face, and the one side ripped out of the wall....

Where should I start? There is so much to write about. We can start with T.C.I it’s a beautiful island and I really hope to come back soon. When it comes to Club Med Turkoise I can honestly say that this hotel is one of the best hotels I’ve been to in the Caribbean. And I have been to many hotels, mainly RIU hotels. We can start with the few drawbacks there is to mention. The hotel is a bit old. And it shows. I mean it’s not a problem for me. But it might be bothersome for others. It’s also mainly a Self-Serve hotel. But if you know that it’s not a problem. But I guess that’s the only drawbacks there is. If we can start to talk about all the positive things. Because there is many. First, I was solo traveling. But I didn’t feel lonely one second. Because the G.O.’s where lovely, and so were the G.E.’s and the management team. There where a lot of things to do, if you feel o be active during your stay. Watersports, aerobics, gym’s, pool games, tennis and trapeze. You can go scuba diving. But you can also choose to just relax. During my stay I only tried Sailing. That was nice. And I really must mention William the sailing instructor. I became good friends with him. What a lovely guy. We had lunch and dinner a couple of times. He took me sailing. The best G.O. at club med Turkoise. . The management team should do everything they can to keep him in the Club Med family. That’s also a thing apparently at club med. The friendly G.O. are more then happy to eat lunch and/or dinner with you. So you never feel lonely even if you solo travel. I also want to point out that as a solo traveler they organize a very nice evening for all solo travelers. With some drinks and Hors d'œuvre. In general, they organized a lot of things. White nights, foam parties, great shows every evening. Then we of course have sharkies. Where I spent all my afternoons. Good drinks, great afternoon snacks and fabulous live entertainment after a day at the pool or beach. They also organize different excursions. I went on an excursion to iguana island and snorkeling. I have to give a shoutout to Oceanne and Joshua at the excursion desk. They do a lot of things for us G.M’s always helpful with questions about different excursions and organize great trips. I have to give a shoutout to the kitchen team. They prepared the best food. They really kept me well-fed. The food was superb. The worst thing about that is that its so hard to choose. Because you really want to try all the dishes they prepare. Then of course we have the lovely ladies at the bar, that kept me hydrated during my stay and made the best rum punch and rum and cokes. Molly and Valerie. Great girls, who loved a good party. I also have to give a shoutout to the ladies in the trapeze team. Especially the girl who was doubling as a bartender. Unfortunately, I have forgot her name. But she was from Argentine. I also want to give a shoutout to the transport planner, the guy who organized the transport from and to the airport. Unfortunately, I have forgotten his name. But he was a really nice guy who I had the pleasure to have a couple of drinks with. Some other people who made my stay worth is Oswaldo and Fernanda. And we can also not forget Simone the fitness coach. I had a lot of fun with this trio. Then we have Nicholas, the Tennis coach. Great guy. I can honestly say that I had the best time at Club Med Turkoise. And I have been traveling most of my life, to Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean. But never ever have I felt such a community, such a strong bond between the people who works there and the guests. This was my first visit to a Club Med, but definitely the not the last. If you think about going there and have doubts. Then I can just say go here. You will not be disappointed. I heard Head & Heart by Joel Corry yesterday on the radio whilst driving to the store. I was waiting for all the G.O’s come clapping. They made a lasting impression. I also have to mention the people in the management team. Kevin, Sophie and Francoise always there...