Eftalia Village

"This was our first time visiting Turkey and we chose Eftalia Village because it looked lovely online. Overall, we had some enjoyable moments, but unfortunately there were quite a few things about the hotel that disappointed us. Having stayed at several all-inclusive hotels before, we felt Eftalia Village fell short in a number of areas, especially considering what we paid. Drinks were our biggest disappointment. I’ve never stayed at an all-inclusive hotel with such a limited drinks selection. The included options were house wine, gin, beer and vodka, served in tiny cups, with no cocktails included. Cocktails had to be purchased separately for around £10 or more each. Neither my partner nor I particularly enjoyed the alcohol available, so we barely drank at the hotel and ended up buying rum from a local shop to add to our drinks! We expected a much better selection for an all-inclusive holiday. When we arrived, we were also told we couldn’t use the à la carte restaurant for one evening unless we paid an additional £160 to upgrade our room/package. This was confusing as our booking stated it was included in our all-inclusive package. We decided not to pay extra. The welcome from some of the staff was also quite rude and unwelcoming. Constant salespeople - One of our biggest frustrations was the constant salespeople around the hotel. We understand being approached once to be offered a spa treatment or excursion, but the same people repeatedly approached us even after we’d said no thank you. It was particularly frustrating around the pool, where we were trying to relax and sunbathe. On occasions, salespeople would actually tap us to wake us up while we were asleep sunbathing to try and sell us something! We’ve never experienced this at a hotel before. There’s a difference between being approached on the street and being repeatedly disturbed at a hotel you’ve paid to stay at, where you should be able to relax in peace. One particular man approached my partner almost every day, spending ages trying to sell him things. He also repeatedly tried to rub my boyfriend’s arms and complimented his tattoos, which I found uncomfortable and inappropriate. We should have reported this at the time because it became extremely annoying and we tried to avoid this particular man. We did enjoy the Turkish spa and massage, which was worth paying for, but afterwards we were repeatedly encouraged to book further treatments despite explaining we only wanted the one. Food and rooms - The food was quite repetitive, with limited choice, and the snack bar was very disappointing. It mainly served chips, chicken nuggets and onion rings, which were often cold or overcooked. Other all-inclusive hotels we’ve visited have offered a much wider selection, including pizza and burgers. Our room was clean enough but fairly basic, and the walls were extremely thin. We could hear almost everything from the family next door, including them using the toilet/shower facilities, arguing, swearing and children screaming throughout the night and early mornings. One night I got around three hours sleep and politely asked them to keep the noise down, only to be shouted and sworn at in response. Better soundproofing would make a huge difference! Staff and overall atmosphere - We found some of the male staff quite rude and abrupt, particularly at the bars, and at times it felt as though serving guests was an inconvenience. The hotel also had a much rowdier atmosphere than we expected, with some guests regularly arguing and swearing. On one evening, two men from one particularly loud family became extremely drunk, fought with each other and jumped into the pool after 10pm. Obviously, the hotel cannot control every guest’s behaviour, but they did affect our experience. If you’re looking for a peaceful, relaxing holiday, particularly with young children, it’s definitely something to consider. Pools and beach - The pools were one of the highlights, and the water slides were great fun. The beach was less impressive, it wasn’t particularly pretty and it is very rocky and pebbly, although we still enjoyed having a swim. Overall - We did enjoy parts of our holiday, particularly the pools, slides and spa, but too many things let Eftalia Village down. The limited drinks selection, repetitive food, disappointing snack bar, thin walls, mixed service and relentless salespeople all took away from what should have been a relaxing all-inclusive holiday. For what we paid, we didn’t feel it represented good value for money. We certainly wouldn’t choose Eftalia Village again. It wasn’t a completely bad holiday, but compared with other all-inclusive hotels we’ve stayed at, we expected more and unfortunately left feeling disappointed."

"I had the worst vacation of my life here."

"Restaurant and food excellent, beach very good, room good (door closer very strong, which was annoying). Bathroom/WC needs some improvements regarding bad air from the drain), pools excellent, entertainment excellent, excellent and quiet location, terrace bar good, with a little loud music."