"Before I write the full review I would like to point out that we WOULD return to this hotel having now experienced it and know what to expect.
I'm going to start with one of the worse points of the experience, and that would be the evening dress code. It was extremely confusing and not completely adhered to. The biggest shame was for those who made the effort! It states for dinner that men cannot wear sandals, open toe footwear, sliders or flip flops. However, ladies can wear whatever footwear they like. On too many occasions we witnessed both males wearing sliders and unsuitable footwear to dinner. On top of this the offenders were also attired in unacceptable clothing such as sports (gym) shorts and open armpit gym vests. This was both male and female. This was a complete insult to those who constantly made the effort and looked elegant and stylish for such an amazing setting for dinner.
I brought this complaint to the attention of the reception help desk only to be told I needed to highlight it to the duty restaurant manager on the evening. I found this slightly bizarre as this was the customer relations desk?
Having witnessed the inappropriate neglect of the dress code the following evening, I brought it to the duty restaurant managers attention and she merely shrugged her shoulders! I then asked her if I could wear my leather, stylish, sandals to dinner the following evening only to be told 'NO you will be removed from the venue!'
The hotel really need to address this and enforce the code so that everyone is dressed in a similar fashion.
Ok, rant over.
STAFF - generally they are extremely helpful (less the above mentioned) and will go out of their way to ensure you are looked after. A special mention must go to Sahan who looked after us at dinner on most evenings. He made us feel welcome and comfortable throughout the holiday.
The roller skating drinks waiter at the main pool is also as helpful and very attentive. He remembers drinks and distributes rehydration water bottles without even being asked.
At no point did we feel pressured to give tips, however we did tip regularly and it was fully appreciated.
CURRENCY - We took Turkish Lire with us only to find out that most places, including the hotel shop, displayed in euros.
ROOMS - we upgraded to the Superior Deluxe room with sea view. Talking to other residents, it would appear that this was the right choice as some were not entirely happy with the size or location of their chosen accommodation. Some referred to their garden view rooms as 'sheds'! These rooms suffered the road noise.
Our room was spotlessly cleaned daily and the free mini bar/fridge was restocked daily (no alcohol).
POOL AND SUNBEDS - We spent all our pool time at the main pool and chose not to frequent the quiet pool. There was nothing wrong with the quiet pool, we just prefer to have a some background music etc.
There are the usual early morning offenders of sunbed reservers who do not actually occupy their sunbeds for hours after laying their towels out. We only witnessed one occasion in the ten nights where the pool attendant physically removed towels from unoccupied sunbeds.
The pools are on the small side, but do exactly what they need to achieve.
FOOD - There are plenty of daytime choices for where to eat, however all but the buffet close after lunch. We did not book any of the a la carte restaurants, so we cannot offer a valued opinion on these.
The buffet food is the usual spread of many varied dishes but can become monotonous after too long. On too many occasions the sign, advising what the dish was, had not been changed from the previous meal. Scrambled egg, for instance, would be labelled as Beef Stir Fry?
On a safety note, there needs to be some sort of breakdown of ingredients. I chose the wrong dish on many occasions only to waste the food as it wasn't to my palette. For instance, I do not like liver etc. At breakfast there was a dish labelled as veal, which looked like normal meat, only to find out it was liver for breakfast. I was not the only one to make this mistake!
In addition to the above, allergy signs should be displayed. I do not have a nut allergy, however on more than one occasion I chose a desert that showed no physical signs of containing nuts only to find out it had a centre filled with nuts.
The pizzas at the beach location are great and the QR code ordering system is a great idea.
The sunset views from the Magnolia buffet restaurant of an evening are outstanding!
DRINKS AND BARS - the usual cocktails are on offer and of a good standard. The EFE beer is also pleasant and refreshing.
We particularly liked to venture down to the BOHO chill out beach bar before dinner to soak up the atmosphere, views, music and partake in a couple of pre-dinner cocktails.
The Piano bar is a pleasant quiet area which is often busy. There was no piano music played during our stay, only saxophone.
The Blue bar is where the main evening entertainment is provided and is a great venue with the sea as the backdrop.
I would question the reasoning behind the hotels charges for drinks after midnight?
Most bars were quiet by this time so the charging didn't really bear any significant impact on the hotels budget.
OVERALL - This hotel, unfortunately, isn't the star rating both TUI (5 star) and Jet2 (4 star) claim. With some minor tweeks, they could support the star rating and cater for everyone's expectations. Too many residents stated that they would not return due to the standards claimed were not being achieved.
The town of Side, 30 minute taxi ride, is well recommended but is the usual busy street life where you will be harassed to shop."
