ROYAL TAJ MAHAL

Our stay at Royal Taj Mahal was extremely disappointing overall and nowhere near the standard we expected from a so called 5 star resort. The issues started from the moment we entered the room. A glass lamp was hanging dangerously by a single cable from the wall. I was shocked that housekeeping or maintenance had not identified something this unsafe before allocating the room, especially at a family resort where young children are staying. The hairdryer was broken and an electrician had to come into the room during our stay to repair it, which was inconvenient and disruptive. There was also a broken socket near the kettle area, forcing us to move the kettle elsewhere dangerously close to our toddler. One of the main reasons we booked this hotel was because their website clearly states “No smoking on site” due to my asthma. In reality, this was completely misleading. People smoked absolutely everywhere. Around the pool, on the beach loungers, outside restaurants, snack bars, seating areas and nearly every outdoor space imaginable. There was even an ashtray provided inside the room, which completely contradicted their own policy and strongly implied smoking inside rooms is common. Because of the constant smoke exposure, my asthma flared up badly throughout the holiday. I had to repeatedly use my inhaler during both day and night and frequently suffered headaches because the smell of smoke was constantly lingering around the resort and sometimes inside the room too. Another major issue was communication. For a 5 star international resort, the lack of English spoken by staff was honestly shocking. Most staff members were polite and friendly, but communication became exhausting because even very basic English was not understood. Every simple interaction required us to use a translation app on our phones. When asking whether dishes were vegetarian, staff would often respond by offering chicken, pork or other meat dishes, which became frustrating very quickly. The vegetarian food situation was extremely disappointing. Turkey has so many incredible vegetarian dishes and flavours, so we arrived with high expectations. Unfortunately the resort offered very limited hot vegetarian options and most lacked flavour, seasoning or effort. In many cases the “vegetarian option” was simply plain boiled vegetables. During the first few days we practically survived on pasta for lunch and dinner. Honestly, if I wanted pasta every day I would have flown to Italy instead. To be fair, after we complained, some of the chefs did make an effort to provide a few additional vegetarian dishes, which we appreciated. However, the quality still did not come close to the effort clearly put into the meat dishes. It genuinely felt like vegetarian guests were an afterthought. The so called “Indian themed” dinner buffet was another huge disappointment. The resort is called Royal Taj Mahal, so naturally as an Indian family we expected at least some authentic Indian food. Unfortunately there was absolutely nothing Indian about it apart from labels. Simply adding the word “Indian” before rice or curry does not make it Indian cuisine. Another frustrating issue was the indoor pool situation. The hotel technically has an indoor pool, but they refuse to operate it from May onwards purely because of the calendar month, regardless of the actual weather. The outdoor pools were still too cold to properly enjoy during our stay, meaning we barely got to use the swimming facilities at all. It made no sense for a family resort. We had also emailed the resort in advance explaining we were travelling with a young child and celebrating our daughter’s birthday. Despite this, we were allocated a room extremely far away from the main facilities, to the point where we avoided returning to the room during the day because it was such an inconvenience with a toddler. We were not expecting anything extravagant for the birthday, but even a small gesture, a better located room, or simple acknowledgement would have shown some level of hospitality. Unfortunately there was nothing at all. The mocktails were also genuinely terrible. Every drink tasted either overwhelmingly sweet or extremely sour with no balance. Strangely, cocktails and mocktails were available around the clock, yet ice cream for children was only available during limited hours, which seemed ridiculous at an all inclusive family resort. To mention a few positives, the children’s funfair area was genuinely lovely and our toddler really enjoyed it. The resort also had drinking water stations and toilet facilities conveniently available throughout the property, which was helpful. Most staff members were polite and tried their best despite the language barrier. Overall, the resort may look impressive in photos, but the actual experience was nowhere near luxury. Poor maintenance, misleading smoking policies, lack of English speaking staff, disappointing vegetarian food, weak hospitality and several avoidable inconveniences completely overshadowed the few positive aspects of the holiday.