Marina Plaza Tala Bay

Jordan , Aqaba
AQABA, South Coast, P.O 1281, 3
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50 reviews shown

2/10

Poor

11 Jun 2025

Mohamad

This place is absolutely disgusting. We booked 9 nights. This hotel is full of roaches!!!!! And they are really big…. To top it off the shower was broken upon arrival. Then the restroom door knob was broken. And we couldn’t even flush the toilet. We called them to fix or to switch us to a diffrent room. They declined and kind you they were at our hotel until 3 am to fix the restroom things and said we did the best we could. And as for the roaches. They said it comes with hotel we can’t do anything about it. But we can give you dinner buffet to make it up. But if you think about the breakfast buffet. It’s more of prison style breakfast. Meaning poor quality. And everything is covered in plastic and food just gets reused for next day.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

15 Jul 2024

Saeed

Very nice people

Business

6/10

Pleasant

13 Apr 2024

Pam

Hotel just a little tired and in need of updating. Otherwise good location and very friendly and helpful staff.

Leisure Family

4/10

Poor

30 Sep 2023

Lina

Nice location but the room was not clean, the sheets had stains and the lighting was too dim
The hotel needs renovation, the extra bed had paint on it and a nail coming out of it.

The staff were polite and nice

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

26 Sep 2023

shlomi

value for money is a very nice vacation
one problem that the rooms are small

Leisure Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

11 May 2022

Ali

Room so bad

Friends_and_family Friends

2/10

Poor

23 Sep 2019

Mohammad

Bad experience, the room was not clean, the cushions looks they don't change the covers it was very dirty, the stuff is not friendly at all, no trust for customers, my reservation was with breakfast but when I arrived they told me it's without, I called Expedia , Expedia say sorry we can give you complementary cup of cake , after we paid on cash for breakfast without any compensation, even the breakfast is not tasty with limited options, bad experience at all, I'll not repeat it for sure

Leisure Friends

4/10

Poor

21 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Unclean rooms . Bad breakfast. Swimming pools small

8/10

Excellent

09 Dec 2018

Steven

I'd stay here again

Staff and the public areas are nice, but the room was dated. There is was an old school CRT TV, the fabric on the chair was ripped, and there were stains on the desk. However, the temperature control and bed were comfortable, the shower was good too.

4/10

Poor

12 Nov 2018

deiri

i booked two king sized rooms 2 weeks prior to my stay. however when i checked in there was only double bed room.
the staff was not helpful and was not rejecting to give the request room as i asked for a ground floor room as i had elder that couldn't climb stairs

4/10

Poor

27 Oct 2018

fahad

This hotel was posted as 5 stars hotel my room was in the 4th floor no elevator the room was full of sand and not cleaned after the previous guest this hotel is not more than 3 stars.

Family

4/10

Poor

05 Apr 2018

Terri

Location was only perk

I prepaid on Expedia seventy dollars more per night than rate listed on hotel Form they gave me at check in. Hotel was listed as 4 stars, but it was very shabby, poorly upkept. Only WiFi was at reception desk—-guests were sitting in front steps of hotel around the clock on computers. Website listed free WiFi. No elevators. Had to unplug lamp to charge phone—-no outlets or charging ports. Very disappointing.

6/10

Pleasant

07 Dec 2017

James

Hotel Breakfast Sub-par & WiFi was out

Hotel breakfast was sub-par and WiFi and Internet was non-functioning when we stayed in December 2017.

6/10

Pleasant

14 Jul 2017

Juho

Didn't live up to our expectations

We travelled 2 weeks around Jordan with my wife and thought of having relaxed final days in South Beach, Aqaba. This hotel was by far the most expensive on our trip so we expected it to be clean and well maintained. The hotel didn't quite live up to these expectations. Our room was dusty, fridge smelled bad and was barely cold, and the balcony was dirty and had broken furniture. Overall, with these prices one expects that more careful attention is paid to details, especially when it comes down to cleaniness. This hotel probably is good for families with children because of pools and beach or groups who enjoy drinking by the pool while listening to constant techno pool music. However, our plan was to relax after active travelling and unfortunately this wasn't a good place for that. About the location, it is remote to any shops and restaurants, besides those that are inside the Tala Bay resort.

Partner

2/10

Poor

28 Jun 2017

Verified traveler

Bad hotel

The room is not clean at all
The friedge is not working
No elevators
The staff is friendly but not professional at all.

4/10

Poor

04 Jun 2017

Dorit

not recommended

The hotel needs a serious renovation. The rooms are poor and need to be painted and replaced with furniture and bedding. The food at breakfast is below any criticism. We visited him five years ago and this time we were very disappointed.
not recommended

Partner

2/10

Poor

02 Jun 2017

well travelled

Horrible

Beach so far away, food was horrible, senior suit was 20 years old. Maintenance a joke. Staff not trained and don't care. No internet in rooms.

4/10

Poor

16 Sep 2016

Verified traveler

disappointing

This hotel appears like it use to be something special, but maybe a new management is letting it go. The cleanliness in common areas is poor and the service was not friendly at the front desk. Good place to stay for 1 night when traveling through the area, but not more. They did refund my last night there as I had had enough, which was nice.

2/10

Poor

14 Sep 2016

Verified traveler

the worst in the world

the worst hotel i have ever seen in my life !! the staff is very rude ! and and the hotel is dirty beside the pool is full papers

4/10

Poor

31 Aug 2016

don't bother

Reception clearly overwhelmed with queues out the door. Room minimally xleaned, no towels. Internet virtually nonexistent. Food just palatable. No redeeming features really except hardworking, underpaid staff. Cheap, all inclusive holiday but poor in all ways

2/10

Poor

15 Aug 2016

bad experience

This is one star hotel.

Bad experience every thing was not as the Web site shows air conditioning was not working. The beach was far away. The front desk don't want to help me with any thing. Or even give me a bottle of water and they want me out of the room before 12 bm and on the top of all that they made a mistake and charge me twice for the room. I don't think I will advise any body to go there.

2/10

Poor

15 Aug 2016

Baraka

disappointed

I travel a lot due to work, stayed in around 60 different hotels this year, and this was the worst by far. the facility is not too bad. unfortunately it was mainly due to the staff.
first I had to wait 50 min to check in as they said they didn't have a room ready, even though many came after me and checked in.
outside my room door there was a rubbish bag full and it smelt badly, it wasn't removed for 24 hours.
they said you will find water in the fridge, I didn't and had to go after a long trip to buy water.

breakfast, I didn't have breakfast once in this hotel. the first day I couldn't find a knife and fork, and asked the staff!! who said find one on a table somewhere..... I looked and all the table were dirty and had used plates and forks. so I asked one of staff again after 10 min who said (well, so...what do you want me to do)

4/10

Poor

09 Aug 2016

Verified traveler

Don't do it!

The staff appear to be trying - but are overwhelmed. The place is very overcrowded and needs work. Cribs and cots in the halls. The lobby area is just packed with people each day, pool is on top of lobby so it is loud. Wifi does not reach rooms, my room had a loud AC, weak refrigerator, shower that only worked on one setting and a door to the deck that was broken. Lots of issues for one night.

4/10

Poor

19 Jul 2016

H.A.

Not on the beach the staff are terrible BEWARE

The service is terrible the staff are incompetent.we asked about the shuttle to the city at check in and where told there was not one. We spent 40JD on a round trip then found out from another employee they infact did have a free shuttle. It took them almost 24hrs to get us a towel. Night staff are terrible they did not have a basic 1st aid kit not even a band-aid so I have to improvise and cover the wound up with a napkin .I would not give this hotel a 1 star beware. The hotel is not on the beach it's a 15 min hike in the hot 105 degree sun up and down hill. The only plus was once you get to the beach it's gorgeous except for the rocks and trash everywhere. The breakfast was good but the service was terrible no cups. They even messed up our bill. And a bag of my things went missing I kept asking and they did nothing. I was just so happy to finally leave.

2/10

Poor

15 May 2016

Marta

DON'T STAY HERE - NOT WORTH WHAT YOU WILL SAVE!

- 2 (of 4) of the chairs in the room were broken and we fell through them! Plus I got scratched by a nail on the chair when it happened.
- The phone in the room couldn't be used to call reception. The hotel is big, and it was a hike from the room to reception if you needed something.
- There was a coffee maker in the room but no mugs…
- They keys for the room kept de-magnetizing. It got to the point where I got them to re-magnetize the keys each time we went to the room, just in case.
- There was a shortage of pool towels. We were lucky to get them when we arrived! Whenever we tried to exchange for clean ones, we were told there were none.
- When we returned our towels, the guy noticed that one of them had a rip and tried to BLAME US!
- They say that there's wifi in the common areas, but it works for some 1 minute out of every 10. Really, there is NO wifi.
- They claim to have a gym, they don't. As in, it’s closed forever, not being repaired.
- Breakfast and its service were a JOKE! The bread was stale and the teacups were dirty. They didn't have enough staff for the number of guests, so you had to wait just to get a bowl to eat from. Also, each breakfast, EVERY table was either occupied or full of dirty dishes. To make it worse, when we addressed this with the staff (and heard other guests do the same), they gave us ATTITUDE!

Family

6/10

Pleasant

22 Nov 2015

Adam

Should be less than 4 star

The room is incredibly small, the TV was not working, the cleaning service was bad, and the staff are not familiar with online payment services. Also the price is expensive related to the services.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

12 Oct 2015

Philippe

Nice place

I stayed there for 3 nights after a week trip in Jordan. It was the perfect place to rest for a few days, just snorkelling at the beach or having bath sun near the pool.
People at the hotel were very friendly, service is good : booking for excursions, relaxing center, shuttles to Aqaba,...

2/10

Poor

10 Sep 2015

worst hotel experience ever

. I am writing to you regarding my recent stay in the Marina Plaza Hotel Tala Bay from September 7 to September 8, 2015 (Itin# 1116289330208). Unfortunately, I had the worst experience in my whole life during my stay in this hotel. I am sending this email in order to share with you my terrible experiences in the Marina Plaza Hotel Tala Bay and to request a full refund. The terrible experiences I had during my stay in the Marina Plaza Hotel Tala Bay include the following:

1. The front desk checked me in to a smoking room with a connecting door even though I requested a non-smoking and quite room without a connecting door. I called the front desk and requested to change the room right after I walked in to the room. However, they told me there is no need to change my room. They sent an employee who removed the ash/smoke tray and sprayed air freshener in the room and told me “the room now is non-smoking”.
2. The water flow in the shower was very weak.
3. The towels were not clean and had spots on them.
4. There was no water in the bathroom during my checkout day on September 8. It seems that they cut off the water to force me to early checkout.
5. My reservation was for a “Superior” room, which I paid for it. The front desk told me they have no superior rooms in the hotel at all and all hotel rooms are the same.
6. The Air condition was not working right. It was very hot and I was unable to sleep at night.
7. The bed was cheap and uncomfortable. As a result, I was unable to slee

6/10

Pleasant

30 May 2015

Geoffrey

Modern family holiday hotel

Large hotel, Well kept pools although closed between sunset approx. 7pm and 9am.Not good for late arrivals or an early swim before breakfast. Room extremely noisy due to air conditioner. Fridge did not work although staff did restock with cold drinks which warmed quickly. Breakfast buffet very good. Nice setting but out of character with the rest of Jordan.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

26 May 2015

kenneth

Quite good

Good staff, good food, good place close tored sea.

10/10

Exceptional

20 Feb 2015

jony

a good hotel

A nice stay . A bit far from city center but in general a good one

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

20 Jan 2015

Carolina

perfect!

Everything was perfect. I recommend this hotel.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

27 Aug 2014

Verified traveler

comfortable bed

services are bad except reception

Family

6/10

Pleasant

19 Aug 2014

Verified traveler

We would have chosen a different hotel

We stayed at this hotel mid August 2014. The hotel mainly caters to local and international budget groups. The swimming pools tend to be full of children, which makes using them difficult for adults. There is access to the beach, at a 300 yard walk through properties that belong to other facilities. The beach area does not belong to the hotel, and access is made possible for hotel guests through an arrangement with a different property. To get access to the beach one has to get a coupon that would be presented to attendants at the other property. This means that one has to pay in cash or credit for any purchases while at the beach since you cannot sign for any on your hotel room. One has to carry cash or a credit card, in itself a difficult prospect when in swimming gear.

The majority of hotel staff are very polite and accommodating, but this is one of those places where you are bound to meet one or two staff members who treat guest with indifference or outright rudeness. A point well illustrated when at breakfast we asked for a spoon when our table had none, and were answered by a restaurant staff member with "I don't have any" who then just walked away. We had to seek the restaurant manager to be able to get a spoon.

The swimming facilities, seemed to be disorganized. Poolside and beach towels were in short supply constantly where aggressive staff would send you away without towels when asked, ordering you to come back in an hour for towels.

10/10

Exceptional

28 Jul 2014

American in Jordan

Great Aqaba Getaway

I'm working in Amman for the summer and wanted to visit Aqaba for the weekend. I booked the hotel only a week in advance for a great rate and Marina Plaza had all we could have wanted. There's a great pool and its only a few minutes walk from the beach and the marina. It was nice recovering in the air conditioning of the hotel from the heat. And breakfast was bountiful!

Family

4/10

Poor

15 Oct 2013

couple & baby

Disappointed!

No elevator between floors, very hard to get baby stroller down from the second floor, water pressure in the shower is week, room door card mechanism got stuck once in the locked position, lock looks like its been unprofessionally installed! Ordered food from the menue, salad & rest of order arrived late and in installments! Manager felt bad and got us an ice cream fruit cup ! Green beens were prtially steamed, rock hard! One small bottle of water per room in the mini bar, no complementary bottles of water! Pool bottom dirty with leaves at the corners of the pool! They need to train their cook on how to properly make an omelet, mine was raw on the inside! Same breakfast every morning, boring! Bad beach, full of rocks, cant see sand just rocks at the shore, be carefull not to twist an ankle, you may need to wear work boots to this crappy beach. Breakfast area curtin dirty, had a smudge of what looks like ketchup for days, still there when i checked out! I wish i went somewhere else, Bad at best!

10/10

Exceptional

02 Oct 2013

Erezst2013

Great Hotel, Wonderful Beach!

The Marina Plaza is a wonderful hotel with great atmosphere, great service and beautiful location. The hotel is very well kept and maintained. The breakfast is rich and tasty, Great swimming pools and just 3 walk from the private beach club and a few very nice western style restaurants. We had a great time there!

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

03 Sep 2013

Tara

Nice, but not for me

Breakfast is great, the private beach is close, though it feels a little disconnected from the resort as it actually is. Rooms are clean and comfortable. It's genuinely a nice hotel. However, the pools looked overcrowded with kids running everywhere. So if you have children, you may like this resort. Since it was just my husband and me, we stuck with the beach where there was a little more leg room. The customer service was mediocre with one exception, since we were there on my husband's birthday, we were surprised with a delicious cake when we returned to the room. As far as location, the hotel is very isolated, near the Saudi Arabian border, about a 10-15 minute drive into Aqaba town where all the restaurants are. We had a rental car so we were fortunate as I wouldn't want to depend on a shuttle that departs only five times a day. There is a restaurant at the hotel, but as you can imagine it's over priced as there is no real competition. Overall, it just wasn't worth the money for me. I'd rather spend more and do better (center of town, more pools and a connecting beach), or spend less with more of a no-frills experience.

8/10

Excellent

18 Aug 2013

Abdulrhman

nice hotel

It was great , the staff was very helpful and nice, however, the room was very far from the beach and I didn't like that because when I booked the room it says that it has a beach view but it was so far from the beach.

8/10

Excellent

27 Jun 2013

Matt

Great Value, highly recommended

We were very pleased with our stay. The hotel's location in Tala Bay is probably best suited for people who want to spend most of their time at the hotel or have their own car. There is a shuttle but I didn't check out the times. The rooms were solid but the mattresses could stand to be upgraded and our TV had a fuzzy reception. The only real disappointment was not being provided with a bottle of drinking water. Free WiFi is a great perk though and not something that you find many places in this area. We had the buffet breakfast and were very pleased. My wife had a massage at the spa and was very happy with the service and price. Another perk is being about to use the beautiful beach club at Tala Bay for free, it's about a 5 minute walk away. The snorkeling was not very good there though, if you really want to see some coral you should arrange at the hotel or beach club to go on a snorkeling trip to a better site.

6/10

Pleasant

26 Jun 2013

Nijad

Resort is nice staff : bad

If you want to spend a vacation in a resort without dealing with any staff which is impossible, then you can pick this hotel.otherwise not recommended

8/10

Excellent

19 Jun 2013

Verified traveler

4 stars? should be rated 5 stars

Surrounded by an excellent beach side compound, all hotels around are 5 stars and 3 times the price. You get all the benefits of the location at a reduced price.

Room was comfortable and clean, fair for the price. The hotel has all the amenities you could expect in a pricier resort and at affordable prices.

the food was suberb, cheap and tasty.

We spend a great week there and would recommend it to anyone who fancies a 5 star hotel service but at a much more reasonable price.

8/10

Excellent

08 Jun 2013

Patrik

Nice and clean hotel

nice and clean hotel, good for families, seems that they already put down its "no food and drinks from outside the hotel" policy, coffee makers in rooms would be nice, though..

6/10

Pleasant

04 May 2013

Vanja

Average hotel good bfast

We just checked out from Marina yesterday.
Pros: amazing area, nice beach, water activities available, good breakfast, frequent shuttle to Aqaba.
Cons: rooms are small, no LCD TV, hotel needs renovation, hygiene level needs to be improved.

6/10

Pleasant

27 Apr 2013

Adrienne

A mediocre experience at a high price

Getting to the beach from the hotel is a mission. The staff are remote, not friendly. The rooms are small and have no coffee or tea making facilities. Room service is expensive for Jordan. In short, I would not go back to this hotel. After the attention, space and friendliness at other hotels in Jordan, this hotel actually felt hostile. It was a huge let-down at the price

Family

6/10

Pleasant

11 Apr 2013

ettore

Too expensive for the quality offered

I paida very high rate (worth for a good 5* Hotel) for a junior sweet for three persons. The third bed was a rusty camping bed moving around... not conforming with the rate paid. Hotel facilities need maintenance, personnel is kind and efficient, restaurant more than acceptable. Very nice surronding environment (wonderful beach & annexed facilities)

Family

8/10

Excellent

26 Aug 2012

Verified traveler

Clean, comfortable, good food, nice pool!

It was a bust holiday weekend, so there were several families with children. The only bad thing is the loud children next door. Not the fault of the hotel, just the luck of the draw. The hotel is a good 10km south of Aqaba, nothing is really within walking distance. They did have a shuttle to the city center area which ran at scheduled times. When we arrived to the hotel at check-in we were hungry and our food took about 30 minutes. They did warn us about this wait, so order before you are starving. Everything we ate there was great. The breakfast area was very crowded around 10am, but the staff was doing their best to clear it out and give you places to sit, be patient. It is not their fault everyone wanted to sleep in! The gym was small, but offered enough to do what I wanted. The Spa was nice and relaxing. Would have like more options on snacks. It seemed if you wanted something quick your option was ice cream. Maybe pick up some chips, fruits, ect on your way there to enjoy something by the pool. My only Large complaint would be the tip situation. I was getting a drink and the waitress kindly informed me that the tips do not go to them, in fact they just go to the resort. I tried to give her cash, but someone from management was near by and should could not accept the tip. I don't like any place that charges over 10% in surcharges and then doesn't even give the tips to the staff members that earned it. Try to tip in Cash if you see fit other than that, you paid enough!

8/10

Excellent

22 Aug 2012

Verified traveler

Pleasing stay

Everything was clean, staff was friendly but there was some lateness in some orders, overall its a 4 stars hotel and it deserve to be 4 stars.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Apr 2012

Mike

Great family vacation