After reading rave reviews, I decided to choose this hotel. Five stars, beachfront location, beautiful photos... What could go wrong? EVERYTHING! And it started right from the door. We arrived at 8am. It was hot outside, but the hotel doors were welcomingly open... The air conditioners, if they worked at all, were so quiet that not a single guest got a draft. Yep. Be prepared: Wi-Fi is either only available after check-in (at 2pm) or for a fee of €3 per day. If you have a late flight (our transfer was at 10pm, and our flight was at 3am), you'll be offered two options. The first is to shower in the spa center, which is located in a very busy courtyard (taking a shower and changing "comfortably" in full view is no fun). The second is to extend your stay for €10 per hour. And yes, so you'll immediately understand who they're treating you like (thieves), they'll ask for a €10 deposit for each towel. And for good reason: exchanging it for a clean and dry one is quite a quest.
There's practically no cleaning. Water isn't replenished (even though they promised). Our sheets weren't changed even once in six days, and our towels were changed twice. And now, pay attention. On the last day, it was pouring rain, and I saw with my own eyes how the staff mopped up the water on the floor with those same towels! They'll wash them later, of course... so, you'll have to live with that for now.
The beach isn't even the first line. To get there, you have to cross the road (cars and buses pass regularly), pass another hotel, and only then will you see the sea. The beach itself is small, and there aren't enough sun loungers for everyone. They're tired, the old plastic cracks with the slightest movement. The umbrellas on the first line are complete "skeletons" with no cover. Every other one with fabric had holes. The pebbles were rough, painful and unpleasant to walk on.
Food. I'm not picky; I usually order rice, vegetables, meat, or fish. But here they managed to ruin even that: ALL the dishes tasted like lamb. Chicken, vegetables, and no meat—everything was cooked in lamb fat! The juices were watered down. Decent coffee only cost money, and the free one from the vending machine couldn't be called coffee. Fruit: watermelon for the first two days, cantaloupe every day (tasted like cucumber), decent peaches, firm plums, and delicious grapes. And a special shout-out to the local bartenders: the glasses are the size of shot glasses. It's impossible to get drunk, so you'll be consistently walking 10,000 steps a day (thanks for caring about our health 😀). And if you ask for a cocktail in a beer glass, you'll hear, "No way, it's only for beer!" (Insanity).
Overall, the hotel isn't that bad, but only for those not spoiled by good service. Calling it a budget "five-star" is a stretch: there are excellent "four-star" hotels, cheaper and much better in terms of food, cleanliness, and service. I doubt I'd want to come back here again. Even for free. Don't be fooled by the rave reviews—they were written by people who were in Turkey for the first time or hadn't seen what a real five-star hotel looks like.
