Hotel was as the pictures show. As expected because the rooms are all white it’s easy to see all the scuff marks left by previous visitors. The halls leading to the rooms have black carpets and neon pink lighting which can be a bit dizzying. The rooms have large mirrors on each wall. Felt a bit like a “love hotel” in that sense, if you know what I mean. The bathrooms were clean with instant hot water and a very powerful shower, although what was disappointing was the toilet, I value cleanliness a lot especially with a toilet, they have a basic bidet loo with the the spray nozzle really sticking out which wasn’t t clean at all, I would have preferred a spray gun. They left paper/plastic cups in the room for teas/coffees, apparently for hygiene reasons, the cups smelled like chemicals, I would have preferred a usual ceramic mug being a 5 star hotel. The facilities were in abundance, the spa was definitely a big winner for me. The staff (for the hotel) on the other hand hardly smiled, were uninterested and really unhelpful 99% of the time. I felt like I was a burden even when requesting simple stuff like a bottle of water. I found very few spoke any English, and look I get I’m in a foreign country but if you’re going open up you lands to tourists at least be a bit prepared for the most spoken language in the world! I even used google translate at times but that didn’t seem very useful as for reasons unknown to me the staff still didn’t understand what I was asking for… I went in June, so the outdoor pool was open, I opted to use the indoor pool due to the high temperatures, it was nice that I had it all to myself, the pool was clean but the woods bordering the pool was wearing away and cracking. The hotel food wasn’t that great, I tried breakfast buffet once which was ok I guess for being around £6-7 pp. The lounge menu was dreadful, I ordered a ribeye steak that took 45mins only to be served with a thin overcooked, dry tuna looking thing. I tried to explain this wasn’t ribeye or anything that resembled a steak, they didn’t seem interested and were quick to hand me the bill.
Outside the hotels is boulevard, a parade of around 30ish restaurants and coffee shops. Teaming with energy and life, they close around 1am every and have a lovely a**osphere. Prices are not too steep with a decent meal setting you back around 250tl.
I’ve got to say I felt unwelcome in turkey, I also went to Istanbul a couple of weeks before this and had a similar experience. Perhaps I’m biased, I was a solo male traveler with a Middle Eastern /Asian complexion, I tipped well, spoke politely and tried not to bother too many people yet I felt like I shouldn’t be there. I have since learned by one of the cafe owners that Turks don’t actually like people of my “complexion” or anyone resembling Middle Eastern people which is disappointing, and the end of the day if you want the tourism be a bit more hospitable at the very least in the hotels.
Muy bueno
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