Do not Travel with Goldtrail!!!! My partner and i travelled Aug of this yr (2007) for a week in an allocation on arrival in Turkey. This was for a relaxing week .... or so we thought!!! Upon arrival to BodrumAirport we where the first to collect our baggage. Upon exiting the Airport we where left totally confused to where the Gold trail rep would be to welcome myself and my partner to Turkey. After walking and being confronted by security we eventually walked to a random bus which luckily was Gold Trails. After talking to a number of reps we where eventually assigned to the correct coach.Gold Trail Representative - Advised that we where fully inclusive at a 3-4* accommodation, we where pleased with this and took away the pain of the 1.30 hour wait to actually start departing the airport. Travel - It took nearly 3 hours from the Airport to actually arriving at our accommodation. Resolution would be to advertise your logo at the Arrival gate so all travellers would easily locate reps and buses. Goldtrail repp asked us if we wanted a bottle of water for £1 and then said she had run out but didn't have the money to give back would we except Turkish currency.
We both had bad stomachs and as we were only eating and drinking at the hotel complex (fully inclusive) because we couldn't purchase food at the hotel or bring in food, we were told we had to pay for the all inclusive band. We
can only assume that this bug was contracted there. Our suspicions arose and were proved correct when My Partner asked for a glass of water; basically the barman took a plastic cup (not the cleanest) and added tap water! The Drink Dispensers - These where full of grime and again these where filled by tap water. The Room(we have both stayed in basic before, but i wouldn't even have put an animal in this room) - Upon approaching the room we noticed that the door looked to have been tampered with and did not look totally secure. Once the door was opened we where presented with the following: Floor - Marble was filthy and cracked Paintwork - Peeling and cracking walls Air conditioner - Worked however covered in mould and did not look like this had been serviced for a number of months - this is a major health risk and a cause of legonairres disease. Shower/wet Room - No bath, floor was marble, covered in mould and very slippy. Toilet - Full of grime, seat broken and was defiantly not hygienically clean. Toilet brush was covered in excrement. Television - Offended when my partner changed channels inappropriately titled two very rude names- In addition, no programs where available. Bed - Bellowed in the middle that resulted in many sleepless nights and constant back/neck ache. Only 2 pillows Towels - These looked dirty and did not smell very clean- We purchased our own towels after a day. Refrigerator - Door came away from unit when opened and when turned to its full capacity the contents where still warm.
Meals:
Breakfast - This consisted of cheap processed meats and cheeses, coffee and tea dispensers where full of grime with no fresh milk available: only UHT warm milk.
Lunch - Same food each day, basic salads (looked unwashed, brown and wilted) with chips. Burgers accompanied this which alternated from chicken and beef (which tasted appalling) each day. Very limited stock available and was sometimes left to eat salad or purchase my own food. (Which I was not able to bring into the complex, so many times spent sitting on the roadside eating my afternoon lunch!)
Evening Meal - Same food each day, no Turkish cuisine except for the 'one off' Turkish night which Donna Kebab was served! - Would have been more appropriate to have more a selection for the adventurous (Bugu Kababi, Kapama, urfa Kebab etc).
HOTEL STAFF & MANAGEMENT:
Arrival - No 'fully inclusive' package given upon arrival as promised by our tour representative. When I queried about this I was given a simple 'NO'
Wrist Bands - Constantly pestered when entering or leaving the complex for a wrist band, therefore we had to pay out £150GBP on top of our holiday. (After speaking to other party members we paid an astronomical amount already for this holiday!) Reception Manager would only release these wrist bands once we paid for the fully inclusive facilities from when we arrived - even though we had missed over two days of this already. Representative was advised but she was unable to negotiate with the Hotel Manager, so we had to pay!
No member of staff except the Hotel Manager (who was unhelpful) could speak a word of English. - How do you expect to cater for the British market when no one can speak or understand you! Now we don't expect them to speak English but broken English. We always try to learn from the locals please, thank you etc when we go abroad but these people where not interested at all!!
Bar Staff -
Drinks - Charging the price of 1 pint of beer and actually only receiving half a pint.
Before we obtained the all inclusive wrist bands we where refused drinks at the bar even when we offered to pay. - What is the point in sending holiday makers to this resort when 'Room Only' guests are not catered for?
Staff - Very rude, made to hurry up and eventually snatched glass so the waiter could prepare another drink for another customer. I was eventually told to "where to go" by the waiter when I did not finish my drink instantly.
During meals, any plates let unattended where taken away even when you only left your seat to get a drink. On one instance the plate was taken away whist I was eating.
Pepper was thrust under the nose of one guest who we where speaking to as they wanted to close the bar.
Hand bag was snatched from my partner by a waiter when she was by bar.
Instance when we went out for a meal on the last night (as we where sick of the same salad and burgers) we brought some food back and sat outside to eat with my partner and another couple. Immediately after me and the other male left our female partners the receptionist came over and made sexual innuendos / references.
Toilets - My partner and other female members of the group where constantly followed into the lavatories. Obviously they felt very uncomfortable and added to the constant glaring and innuendoes this holiday was fast becoming a nightmare.
FLIGHT:
Toilets - These where extremely unclean on both departure and return flights. Excrement and toilet paper blocked any attempt of flushing the loo; this was very unpleasant which made me have to wait 3 hours to eventually go to the lavatory!
Poor service - When I asked for some refreshments from the hostess I was responded with a childish 'huff' and unwelcoming mannerisms. Any other requests where simply put off by this tone.
Complaints - Complaints & Suggestion box was visible but unfortunately no forms where available (as the box was full returned forms). When I asked for a complaints form I was simply told that none where available!
Whilst we were there, there was constant telephone calls from hotel guests to goldtrail but no rep came to see to the complaints. Since arriving back we looked at our hotel on their website and it was nothing like the pictures advertised. We wrote our complaint to Goldtrail. Trying to speak to them on the phone- they are rude, very short and sound like they can not be bothered. Our reply from them was in a nutshell- we are sorry you didn't enjoy your stay, the hotel has had many health and safety checks and are up to date and we haven't recieved any other complaints regarding Goldtrail( well looking at the complaints on the review pages, i think they have!!!!) Oh and they also said we hope you travel with us in the future........... Well you can imagine my answer to that!!!!!!
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Welcome to Ciao. Sorry to hear about your bad holiday experince. Great first review though. Matt :-)
RICHADA 11.12.2007 23:06
That the holiday was in most respects a complete let down is bad enough, that you have been met by such appaling customer service in response to your totally valid complaints is a total disgrace. I think you may well have a case for taking this one to Trading Standards - you have nothing to loose and if the hotel failed to match the website discription, then your holiday wasalmost certainly mis-sold. Very good luck in persuing this, well done on informing us and the public at large about it too! Richard.
Maestrolover 11.12.2007 18:45
Thanks for the warning! Definitely a company to stay away from by the sound of it. Good detailed review.
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Dec 11th, 2007
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