Guest User
February 19, 2024
This has taken me waaaaay too long to write up, In face, i'm embarrassed how long this has taken me to write this up. This was one of the best hotel stays I've ever had. From the quality of the accommodation, to the friendliness of the staff and the quality of the food on offer you would be hard pressed to find anything better in this or any other area. Our room was very nice, okay it overlooked the front reception area but that was fine, they turned the aircon on when we requested it as morning prayers were waking us up at dawn from the nearby Mosque but all was good after we asked them and they sorted it. Sleep restored. The beds were relatively easy to secure using the old tactic of placing a towel or whatever on them early doors and they were there when we arrived after breakfast or even lunch. Probably a time of year thing. I was the only daftie swimming in the sea (temp of about 16 degrees which was fine as I'm from Scotland and i'm more used to 6-10 degrees at home.) but it was great exercise and fun. The area was nice, plenty of local shops etc to explore and no really hard sell on show. It's Turkey so plenty of copied goods on show. So, onto the good stuff for us, the food. I am Coeliac so I need gluten free food. I sometimes have a bit of a bumpy ride to start when I arrive in places and this was no different but after finding Unal (Culinary Director) and Dogan (chef) and having used my translated restaurant card to explain my needs there was always a number of options for me every day at every meal. From crepes and pancakes at breakfast made GF to GF pizzas at lunch the evening meals were great and even had a fresh grill on the patio. The food was superb. Whilst the folk I mentioned already were very helpful, my main man Arif Iskin the executive pastry chef was absolutely superb, he greeted us every day and ensured we had everything we needed and offered (and made) anything we wanted gluten free. Thank you Arif! Yes, each dish had an information card displayed but we gave feedback daily on errors we spotted so they are working on that but generally very good indeed, just be sure to query ingredients if not satisfied. (and if you don't get Arif or Dogan, they are clued up). In the bars, Hakan was a lovely waiter, really pleasant and helpful guy and "Bambi" (Ceylan) was so lovely and helpful as well, she worked mainly in the Patisserie near the restaurant where you can get cakes, bakes and ice cream all day included in the all inclusive. Also worthy of note was Tuncay, another helpful and friendly waiter. My wife (uncharacteristically) subjected herself to a programme of health promoting medical massages with Leo which really sorted out pain she had been having and was well worth the money. She was worried and shy but I attended the treatments which reassured her. This hotel seems to compete with the Acanthus Cennet along the coast towards Side old town to be the best in the area. I would 100% recommend going to stay th