Aqaba Gulf Hotel

The minute you step into the driveway you know that this property has seen its best many many moons ago. The gloomy, empty and unkempt reception reaffirms. The bare, dusty corridors leading up to the rooms reinforces. The bare breakfast spread with stale displays seals it. A story of once-upon-a-time-that-no-longer-is.

But not great either. The hotel was similar to others that we stayed in when in Jordan - hotels just don't seem to have the money for upkeep. The room was ok, the food was ok, the staff were ok - you get the idea. The location is pretty good. You are close to the main market and the public beach (although westerners are not really welcome to swim there). If you are suffering from Jordanian buffet boredom there is also a McDonalds nearby - a very welcome sight for our young daughter.

Hotel is located just a ten minute walk from shops where westerners are more interesting to the locals than shop contents. The nearby public beach is frequented mostly by local males. The English Pub across the road was however a welcoming oasis. The rooms were spacious allowing plenty of space for your bags and the dirt and grit within the room. At this hotel the thin layer of dust beneath your bed is replaced by an even thicker layer. The pillow slip smelt of smoke in a non smoking room. No toilet brush in the room and evidently the cistern has not seen the insides of a brush for a while. The toilet seat was loose with the cover even coming off in your hands. Maintenance was poor, curtains were broken on the ends, shower outlet leaking water from the inlet hose with the taps covered in grime. The air conditioning works which you are constantly reminded by its noise level. The Temperature control appears ineffective only fan speed works with noisy and noisier as the speed adjustments. The mats in the lifts announcing the day of the week may had been changed daily but they had not been cleaned for a decade. The food was unremarkable but on par with that in other so call four star hotels in Jordan. Unfortunately it seems on par with similar rated hotels in Jordan.

We visited as part of a tour group. The room and bathroom were disgusting. The reception area was adequate but the lift and hallway carpets looked as if they had not been cleaned for weeks - this was interesting as the carpet inside the lift was changed to reflect which day of the week it was! We found out that as tourism is so bad at present the hotel is renting rooms to local residents and cutting back on cleaning staff.

The rooms provided were average quality and were clean just like the lobby. The breakfast was alright and filling. I was a bit disappointed that you are required to purchase a wifi coupon at the front desk before you are allowed to log on to the Internet. The staff is nice and currency exchange is conveniently provided at the front desk. The location of the hotel is nice as it is near a street with restaurants and also close to the Aqaba Castle. You also have a nice view of the waters surrounding Aqaba. There's not much in the hotel itself, but it is located in an okay location for exploring.

We came last night and the toilet was dirty we called for someone to clean, they took long time to send someone for that, then we found that the mattress cover has blood on it and then covered bed sheets to hide it, we were disgusted and shocked how dishonest they were Don't deal with these people

I have just arrived at this hotel 2 hours ago. It claims it is a 4 star, but it is more like a 2 star If you ask me. The interior of the hotel is quite dark and old fashioned, but I am not too bothered about that. Staff have been very friendly so far. Upon coming to the room I was appalled at how dirty it is. There are stains on the wall, hair in the shower and the beds. The cup in the bathroom hasn't been cleaned and is full of used toothpaste from the previous guest. The walls in the bath haven't even been wiped for what seems like ages. The shower curtain is very dirty. I haven't eaten here yet and I don't think I will. If the rooms are this dirty I don't want to know what the kitchen looks like. Since this is only the beginning of my 2 night stay I will update this review once I leave, hopefully with some positive aspects to add.

Overall I am satisfied with this hotel for the price we paid, staff were friendly and there was good shuttle bus connections to Berenice Beach. Breakfast was fair and you can order a freshly made omelette. The restaurant was even open for early morning tourists for the Petra tour outside their ordinary hours! The only downside was that WiFi was quite pricey. You could otherwise get free WiFi from many of the nearby restaurants though.

For only one night, it is a very good hotel. Good sleeping quality and good breakfast buffet. Air condition is very good and rooms are very clean. The staff are OK and the hotel in general is fine for your stay but you will spend all the day outside the hotel of course.

I stayed here for 1 night as part of a tour around Jordan. My room was not available until 4:15 pm. When I finally got in my room, it hadn't been cleaned, the mini-bar hadn't been stocked (and was even switched off) and the door was wide open. Everyone else in my tour group had similar issues! There is no complimentary water or free WiFi in this hotel, and there is even a sign asking you to not bring in your own food and drink! The hallway was very noisy with music playing all night, and there was a hotel light right outside our window! We attempted to ring reception to complain, but no one answered after several calls so we had to ring room service. We were told that the light would go off after an hour, and this was at 10pm in the evening! The decor is like something from the 70s. They seriously need to refurbish the hotel and train their staff! I don't know how this is a four star!