Eftalia Ocean Hotel

"⭐⭐ 2-Star Review – Extremely Disappointing Family Holiday at Eftalia Ocean Resort A holiday that left us seriously disappointed – lots of room for improvement I’ve visited Turkey before and have always loved the country. We’ve had some great holidays here in the past, which is why this experience at Eftalia Ocean Resort has been such a disappointment. Unfortunately, this holiday has genuinely put me off returning to Turkey, which is something I never thought I would say. We booked this holiday expecting a great family experience, but several issues throughout our stay made it difficult to enjoy what should have been a relaxing and memorable break. Uncomfortable beds and poor night’s sleep Let’s start with the beds. They are extremely uncomfortable. After spending the day walking around, swimming and enjoying the resort, you want to return to your room and get a decent night’s sleep. Unfortunately, the beds made that difficult. A comfortable bed should be a basic expectation when paying for a family holiday, and this was a major disappointment. Family swim-up room and unexpected upgrade We booked a family swim-up room, believing we had booked suitable accommodation for our family. However, when we arrived, we were told that the room wasn’t considered suitable for our family and were encouraged to upgrade to a bigger room at an additional cost. This was extremely frustrating. We had already made our booking and expected the room we selected to meet our family’s needs. Having to deal with this on arrival, when you’re looking forward to starting your holiday, is not the experience you want. In my opinion, the suitability of the room should have been checked before we arrived, rather than leaving us feeling pressured to pay more for an upgrade. Water slides and children’s facilities One of the main reasons families choose a resort like Eftalia Ocean is for the water parks and slides. Unfortunately, the slides are only open for a few hours a day, which is disappointing when these facilities are such a big part of the holiday experience. What’s even more frustrating is that the smaller children’s slides are shut off when the lifeguards go on their breaks, even though those particular slides aren’t supervised by lifeguards anyway. I understand that staff need breaks and that safety is important, but the resort should have a better system in place so children aren’t missing out on facilities unnecessarily. When you’re travelling with children, you want them to be able to enjoy the facilities advertised, and the limited opening times were disappointing. Food and restaurant capacity The main restaurant is another area that needs serious improvement. It simply doesn’t seem capable of handling the number of people staying at the resort during dinner time. The crowds, difficulty finding tables and general lack of organisation make dinner a stressful experience. When you’re on an all-inclusive family holiday, you shouldn’t have to feel like you’re battling through crowds just to get a meal. One positive piece of advice I would give to other guests is to have lunch over at Eftalia Island whenever possible. We found the food there to be considerably better than the hotel food, and it was a much more enjoyable experience. It’s disappointing that the food and dining experience at the hotel didn’t meet expectations, especially given the number of guests the resort accommodates. All-inclusive drinks We were also disappointed to discover that cocktails and spirits aren’t included in the all-inclusive package. This wasn’t what we expected from an all-inclusive holiday, and I feel the drinks offering should be made much clearer when booking. When you’re paying for an all-inclusive holiday, you expect a reasonable selection of drinks to be included. Finding out that certain drinks come at an additional cost was another disappointment. Slippery tiles and safety concerns Another major concern is the amount of tiling throughout the resort. Almost everywhere, both inside and outside, is tiled, and when the surfaces are wet, they become extremely slippery. With families and children constantly walking around in wet swimwear and bare feet, I feel this is something the resort should seriously review. Wet surfaces around swimming pools and walkways need to be managed properly, and better attention should be given to preventing slips and falls. Overall experience Unfortunately, when you put everything together, this holiday has been a massive disappointment. The uncomfortable beds, limited water slide opening times, issues with our booked family room, overcrowded restaurant, additional drink costs and slippery surfaces all added up to an experience that fell well short of what we expected. I don’t expect every holiday to be perfect, and I understand that every resort has its limitations. However, when you’re spending a significant amount of money on a family holiday, you expect the basics to be right and for the experience to be enjoyable. I used to love Turkey, but this holiday has genuinely put me off coming back. That’s probably the biggest disappointment of all. Eftalia Ocean has the potential to be a great family resort, but in my opinion, there are some significant areas that need addressing. I hope the management takes feedback from guests seriously and works towards improving the overall experience. Sadly, based on our experience, I wouldn’t be rushing back."

"In my opinion, the biggest problem with this hotel isn't the hotel at all — it is the behaviour of some of the guests. I was genuinely shocked by the way some British guests behaved during my stay. Some were extremely loud, rude, messy and constantly complaining about absolutely everything, while not looking at their own behaviour. When thousands of people are sharing the same hotel, the behaviour of a minority of guests can make the whole place look much worse than it actually is. For me, the hotel itself is excellent. The facilities, food choices, entertainment, attractions and hardworking staff deserve a very high rating. There were guests from Poland, Russia and many other countries staying at this hotel. In my personal experience, the majority of the serious problems I witnessed — the loud behaviour, rudeness, mess and constant complaining — came from a noticeable number of British guests. I want to be clear that I am not saying every British guest was like this, because that would obviously be unfair. But the behaviour of some of the British guests I encountered was genuinely embarrassing. Some people seemed to expect absolutely everything to be included for free and became angry when certain services cost extra. But that is completely normal in hotels, even very expensive ones. Things such as spa treatments, massages and certain additional services commonly have an extra charge. An all-inclusive hotel does not mean that literally every single service in the entire resort is free. If you want to know what is actually wrong with this hotel, don't look at the building, the food, the facilities or the staff. Look at the behaviour of the guests"

"Great for family’s and excellent facilities for children"