"Our nine night stay at Swandor Topkapi Palace, Antalya was one of the most disappointing holidays we’ve ever experienced. While there were a few positives, polite staff, a safe children’s club, decent room cleanliness, design and amenities. The resort was clearly shutting down around guests while still charging full price.
Food & Dining
The food had good amount variety and flavour, but nothing was hot. Even at restaurant opening times, food was lukewarm or cold, including meats and vegetables. Travelling with small children, this was particularly disappointing.
The paid à la carte restaurant was equally poor, serving identical food to the buffet, just plated differently.
Towards the end of our stay, lights remained off in whole sections of the restaurant to deter guests from sitting there as their capacity was dropping off for end of season I assume.
Drinks
By day 5, the hotel claimed it had run out of sparkling white wine, yet bottles were served freely to guests arriving at reception each day.
By day 8, red wine had disappeared from every bar. When drinks were available, service was good, but management’s failure to restock basic offerings mid-holiday was unacceptable for a five-star resort.
Entertainment
The daytime entertainment from the animation team was pretty nonexistent and easy to miss.
The evening mini disco, aimed at toddlers, began at 8:30 pm, far too late for young children. For a resort advertised as family-friendly, this was poorly thought out.
Facilities, Closures & Safety
On day 5, the main toddler pool was closed all day for canopy removal, work that should clearly have waited until the resort closed.
On day 7, the main pier was shut and stripped back to bare metal, with all decking, furniture, and safety ropes removed, while guests were still swimming in the sea nearby.
The second pier, featured in hotel marketing videos (with the netted over sea seating areas), had already been closed before we arrived, meaning there were no usable piers for much of our stay.
Meanwhile, both neighbouring resorts remained in full operation, including their piers, for the entire duration of our stay, proving this was not a regional or weather-related issue but a choice by Swandor to wind down early, not taking their guests into consideration.
The pier dismantling took two full days and involved heavy work that could easily have waited until guests left. This made the nice relaxing beach area noisy, and like a work site with carts and heavy machinery moving back and forth to move everything.
On our final morning, major pathways and our accommodation block’s main entrance were closed off for tree maintenance using aerial work platforms, trimming palm trees directly above guest walkways. Once again, disruptive work that should have been scheduled post-season.
To top it off, on our last day, children’s ice cream machines were turned off, tea bags removed, and hot water switched off at the beach outlets — a blatant sign the hotel was shutting down operations before guests had even left.
Safety Concerns
Lifeguard coverage was virtually non-existent. Across 7½ of our 9 days, no lifeguards were present. On one occasion, a lifeguard was asleep; on another, on their phone all day.
The slides/flumes — which require supervision — were rarely manned, leaving guests to decide when it was safe to go.
Air Conditioning & Guest Services
The hotel even turned off the air conditioning for over 24 hours despite 27 °C heat. When I complained, the Guest Services staff member was rude and dismissive, repeatedly answering her phone while I spoke. She informed me that 70% of the hotel had complained that they were too cold - a response that I can only find humorous as it’s just utterly ridiculous when they can just turn their own a/c off in their rooms? Only after complaints to our Jet2 rep was it switched back on.
Children’s Club & Cleanliness
The children’s club itself was one of the few highlights — safe, secure, and well-staffed. However, the outdoor flooring was peeling and lifting, creating trip hazards that caused several children, including ours, to fall.
Our room was cleaned adequately, but the balcony was never swept, and the tiles throughout the resort are dangerously slippery. “Wet Floor” signs were left permanently in place dotted all over the resort rather than addressing the cause.
Final Verdict
Swandor Topkapi Palace was in shutdown mode throughout our stay. Facilities were dismantled, key services withdrawn, food was cold, and basic safety was ignored — all while neighbouring resorts remained fully open and operational.
If a hotel intends to begin maintenance and close down facilities seven days before the end of the season, they should not be accepting paying guests at this time. The lack of respect for holidaymakers was staggering.
This was not a five-star experience, and I would strongly advise others to avoid it."
