"We travelled as a couple through Jet2 to what was supposed to be a 5* resort (4* rated by Jet2).
We arrived at the airport on a late flight and then had to wait ages on the coach transfer for two families who didn’t turn up, which delayed us massively getting to the hotel after a very long day/night.
We’d spoken to a family on the plane who told us they were ditching the coach transfer and getting a taxi instead. When I let the rep know that we might be waiting for people who wouldn’t be turning up, they weren’t bothered and didn’t seem to do anything to check the whereabouts of the missing families. So we just sat and waited for a long time — ours was the last coach to depart.
Arrival & Room
We arrived at the hotel and the receptionist wasn’t particularly welcoming. He flitted between us and another family to complete their forms, and then it was just a quick handover of the key and we were taken to our room, with no mention of whether we needed anything to eat or drink.
We were in room 1234 in the main building, and the room was a huge disappointment.
It was small and tired-looking, with hideous art on the walls — it resembled a huge ant, but we weren’t sure what it was supposed to be!
The big modern mirrored TV was an initial plus, until we realised there were very few English-speaking channels and we were unable to stream from our phones during our stay. So, in all essence, it was just a big mirror!
The queen bed was initially a bonus until we slept on it and discovered how hard and uncomfortable both the mattress and the pillows were. There was also a single bed in the room, which we did not require as a couple, so this made the already tiny room even smaller.
It looked promising when we saw a patio door and also a window — until we opened the curtain to see that the balcony was tiny. You’d struggle to have two people turn around on it, and it was on a weird corner angle, so all you could see was a sliver of palm trees and a few sunbeds.
The window had part wall and part sea view, but again, it was tiny.
the room was poorly lit & dark & dingy. 3 mirrors but only lighting was plush in the bathroom, a very dark mirror over a table which could have been good for make up / hair was so dark with no lighting so again rendered useless
The bathroom was tired and the plumbing underneath the sink was exposed and looked botched.
The air conditioning was old and struggled. This wasn’t a huge problem as the temperature wasn’t soaring given the time of year, but it also had a central fan and light which was old and made a noise as it turned and rocked, so we weren’t sure if it was safe to use.
The hotel advertised bathrobes and slippers. Slippers, yes — bathrobes, no.
After unpacking and trying to get comfortable, we finally got to sleep sometime after 4am.
Despite putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, we were awoken just after 8am by a man with a shopping basket asking to restock the minibar. We politely told him no and returned to bed, only to be awoken less than an hour later by another man with the big trolley again asking to restock the minibar.
At that point, we gave up and went to the pool areas.
This happened every morning, they don’t seem to take any notice of the do not disturb signs & we were woken at least once & sometimes twice every morning
Pools & Pool Areas
The pools are a pro to the hotel. There is a choice of different pools and loads of sunbeds. They all looked clean, with lots of lifeguards, all of whom were friendly. The towel staff were also very friendly.
The bars at the pools, however, were run by some of the most unfriendly staff, who never cracked a smile and wouldn’t even acknowledge the order — they would just put the drink in front of you.
It was a horrible experience queuing for drinks as there were loads of wasps and flies all crawling over the spouts of all the drinks and even through the nozzles into the bottles. A few guests got an added surprise with their drinks!
There doesn’t appear to be anything in place to try to control the wasps and flies, so it can be an unpleasant experience eating or drinking outside.
The ladies making bread were lovely, and the bread was cooked fresh to order with a smile, so again, another pro.
But the cons kept coming!
The tiled areas around the pools are so slippery, as are the small ramps in the outside seating areas. We witnessed many people fall over or nearly slip over, including myself.
Entertainment & Noise
Being late September, we anticipated the season being quieter, so we weren’t particularly bothered about entertainment.
That being said, we only saw two members of the animation team during the day.
One was friendly enough but would sit with one family and play a game, so it wasn’t inclusive. The other was the guy who did the Zumba, and he was also friendly and tried to get people involved.
That was it for what we saw of the daytime entertainment.
However, it was far from quiet and relaxing.
This hotel has more screaming children than we’ve ever encountered anywhere in our extensive travels!
I think it must be the time of year for families from Germany, Russia and Turkey to visit with small children.
We entertained ourselves by counting how many screaming children we would encounter each day. It was constant, non-stop screaming inside the hotel, outside by the pools, in the restaurants, and small children running in the corridors near the rooms.
There are water slides etc. here, so you’d expect families, but the amount of small children, all of whom seemed to be unhappy, was a bit of a shock!
Headphones were needed around the pool, even though we chose the quieter pool with no slides. There was no haven from it.
We’re not against children — I come from a preschool/school background — but it was excessive and far noisier than any hotel we’ve ever stayed in before & we’d suggest this isn’t a hotel for couples despite being advertised as so.
The Cats & Tortoises
Then there are the animals to contend with!
Jet2 do not mention on their site that this is actually a pet-friendly hotel. You can bring your pets here to dedicated rooms if you desire.
This wouldn’t have been an issue as we didn’t notice anyone with dogs, cats or anything like that. However, the hotel itself has cats and tortoises!
There are dedicated houses set up asking for donations for them, and they freely roam the site.
I’m slightly allergic to cats and neither of us are cat lovers, so this was an unpleasant surprise and definitely something I feel Jet2 should be telling guests before they book!
It’s very unhygienic. Around the pool, you’d pop to the loo and return to find a cat asleep on your bed/towel, so you would have to change it.
Around the bars/outside food area, they roam around chasing birds, swishing around your legs, and they even come inside the hotel too, curling up on the furniture and leaving their hairs on your clothes.
We also saw fleas jumping from one of the chairs in the lobby.
Food & Drinks
Food was plentiful but very repetitive. Lots of it, but recycled.
A meatball named one thing at lunch would appear renamed as something else later, and everything is heavily salted, which we can only presume is to preserve the longevity of the food.
By the end of the week, we both had stomach pains, felt sluggish and sick, and had a constant taste of salt in our mouths.
We did the Turkish à la carte, which was beautiful.
We paid for the Chinese, which was good but not outstanding.
We also had the BBQ booked twice. The first time it was cancelled due to rain, and the second time it opened just after a huge downpour. It’s all outdoor seating next to lights and bushes, so it was overrun with mosquitoes and flies. We left before eating.
Drinks were okay. The rum and vodka were nice — it was just the wasps etc. that brought this part down.
Bad Weather
Three days of rain rendered us bored, as there is nothing to do here in bad weather.
We saw the animation team once in reception, where they played an inventive human fruit machine game to make guests laugh, but this was rudely shut down by a senior manager who shooed them outside.
Belek & Getting Around
Belek itself, we found out at a great cost, is literally a three-minute drive away.
However, the yellow cab summoned by the hotel for us charged €10 each way!
We quickly discovered it was an 18-minute walk, so we went on foot the next time.
The area is incredibly expensive due to the golf courses, so we did not enter many shops.
We visited Land of Legends, which was a lovely experience and well worth a visit, although again, high-end prices, so not somewhere for general shopping.
We got a taxi from the in-house car hire guy for this, which was £40 return.
We were interested in going into Antalya for cheaper shopping. The Jet2 rep quoted €75 each way, which he said was €5 more than the hotel cab but more comfortable.
The hotel would charge €120 return.
We looked on Uber and it was £43, so we ordered an Uber and waited by the security gates of the hotel.
It showed a yellow cab with the registration number and driver name, so we were looking out for this when two yellow cabs pulled up right in front of us.
The first driver got out and rudely asked where we were going. We said Antalya and he said €70 one way.
We said thanks, but we had an Uber coming. He rudely laughed and said no one was coming.
It transpires this is a scam in the area — you order an Uber, the yellow cabs work together to accept the booking, and then one pulls up to charge you double!
We declined and decided not to go as we didn’t trust them.
They then stood chatting to the security guards, so they are obviously in on the scam too.
Theft Around the Pool
On the second-to-last day, we left our stuff on the loungers to get lunch. When we returned, someone had stolen our novelty towel clips!
Not a big deal as they didn’t cost much, but it’s the principle that people can steal from you around the pool area whilst you’re on holiday.
Jet2 & Our Departure
We had the late flight booked on our last day and tried to contact Jet2 via WhatsApp, through the rep and the telephone helpline to get it moved to the early flight.
However, they only responded in the evening, making it too late to sort everything out.
They also refused to change the transfer, even if we paid extra to move flights, meaning we’d need to pay the extortionate cab costs to get to the airport.
So we checked out at 11am and just hung around the lobby due to the rubbish weather and lack of facilities for guests to shower or change for the airport.
Late room checkout was a hugely inflated price of €20 per hour. Our transfer was coming at 7.30pm, so that would have been another huge bill.
The hotel had heard from our rep that we’d been unhappy, and they sent me a text on the morning we were departing asking me to go to see them to see if they could help make our stay more comfortable, which was odd as we had already checked out!
Two guest relations ladies found us in reception and wanted feedback.
We were tired and fed up but did let them know our brief concerns, one being the cats, which Jet2 does not tell you about.
One of them suggested we should have asked the question upon booking, which took me back a little, as I have never needed to ask a hotel if cats would be joining me around the pool or at dinner in all my years of travelling!
We decided not to enter further into this conversation and thanked them for checking in.
We’d also tried to speak to another lady at guest relations a few nights prior to change the time of an à la carte booking. We were told this was done via the app. She was not friendly, welcoming or helpful.
However, I saw her with German guests and she was being helpful and warm. I have also seen reviews which say guest relations supported travellers with à la carte bookings, so I firmly believe it was due to my nationality, despite me being very polite.
Overall
All in all, I would not ever consider staying in this area of Turkey again.
Unless you happen to be a cat, a tortoise, a wasp, a fly or a screaming child, I also would not recommend this hotel for a 4*/5* relaxing holiday experience."
