Calimera Serra Palace

"Just got back from a 10 night stay at this hotel and wanted to write an honest review. Overall we had a lovely family holiday but there are definitely a few things that let the hotel down. The hotel grounds and facilities are clean and well looked after. There are lots of lovely areas to sit comfortably to play games and have an evening drink. Side old town is a taxi ride away. Very busy in the evenings but worth a visit. The staff at the hotel are very friendly and helpful. Careful of the man on the beach putting out sunbeds though, he was very rude and actually quite aggressive with me. He knocked my sunglasses off my face which hurt. He was trying to get me to look at a mattress he had dropped! We came with my mother who uses a wheelchair. We asked a year in advance for a room that was close to amenities and accessible for a wheelchair. We were put in the main building, furthest from any amenities, pool, main restaurant and beach on the top floor. There is a lift so we could at least get there but it made the holiday hard work pushing her such long distances every day. There are 2 large slopes we also had to navigate. The rest of the hotel complex was relatively flat which was why we chose this one. The beds are really uncomfortable!! We had seen this in other reviews but thought it was just people being fussy as you never get good beds on holiday. But these were terrible! Many other guests were saying the same. We asked for duvets to use just to add a bit of padding which only helped a little. I was in so much pain by the end of the holiday and I can usually sleep anywhere. Ques are a problem unfortunately. Again we had dismissed reviews about ques as we've found this in other hotels but always managed to find quieter bars to use. The problem here is that each bar serves different drinks. So you que at one for cocktails then at another for beer then another for a slushy! There were some heated complaints made after a 30 minute wait at one bar, not nice on holiday. We had to wait so long one time we missed half the evening entertainment. Lots of staff around but not enough serving drinks. The evening entertainment was OK. Not as good as other all inclusive Turkish hotels but fine. The same for the kids club, fine but not great so we only used it once. The children are split into 3 different rooms. 1 for Chek, 1 for Polish and the other for British and international. The British are in the minority here but we didn't mind. Just watch out for the lifts as other nationalities won't wait for you to get into the lift before pressing buttons meaning 2 of our family members got badly bruised from the doors closing on them! The party's are great fun and a lot of effort went into them! The Cappadocia night was great and so was the pool foam party! The beach was very similar to British beaches in terms of being a mix of stones and sand. The sea was quite rough at times making snorkeling a no go. Sea was lovely and warm though and we usually got a sun lounger. The beach bar only serves beer, wine and lemonade. No cocktails or other spirits. Food was only served in selected time slots so this meant more dreaded ques. Food was wonderful! Lots of choice in the main restaurant. Meat was usually slow cooked and full of flavour. Something for everyone. Be prepared for long ques at any of the bar food places though. There wasn't much in terms of themed night's which we've had in other hotels. Icecream like everything here is only served at allocated times. So more ques. Just a simple choice of chocolate, strawberry or vanilla. No frills. Air con is a bit of a pain. When it works it works well. It seems that they are all controlled by a main computer. They put a timer on so you have to get up through the night to turn it back on. The temperature may also be set way too high so you have to get someone out to reset it. More of an annoyance than a real problem. The rooms are modern and nice. A little bit small with an open plan style bathroom. There's just a small glass door to the toilet so hopefully you're not shy about going to the toilet with other family members in the room. The balcony is really just for drying things and smokers to use. If you have already booked, please don't fret as you'll still have a great holiday! Unfortunately I can't recommend this hotel though and won't be returning. They just need to sort the bars out and take away some of the strict timings for food."

"We have visited the hotel 4 times already. It is simply excellent. The cuisine is amazing - such a selection of freshly baked pastries (savory, sweet), so many meat and fish dishes, food for vegetarians and I also really appreciate the diet buffet. A large selection of fruits and desserts. And if you dine in one of the 3 Ala carte restaurants - that is just a culinary experience. Children love the aquapark and volleyball. Bartenders will take care of your drinking regime throughout the day. All the employees are constantly smiling. If you want to experience a wonderful holiday, I recommend the Calimera Serra Palace hotel. I thank all the employees for their work."

"We have recently returned from a 10 day stay booked through jet2. We arrived around 10pm, the front desk didn’t give us any information on the à la carte restaurants or any additional information about the hotel except where to find our room. We had booked a sea view room, so we were given a room in the block closer to the pool and where the main restaurant was located which was great. When arriving to our room we noticed our view was directly over a building yard and a car park and we had only a partial sea view. The balcony was also high up so when sitting on the balcony you could see nothing and no sun was able to come on to the balcony. We asked at the front desk if we could be moved and they said it was not possible as they were fully booked and there is no problem as we can see the sea. From 5am every morning we were Woking up by dogs barking that are in cages kept on the building yard. We had two empty bird nests on the balcony which were not disposed of the whole time we were there. Now on to the room, no where near a 5* room, the beds were rock hard by day 3 I was in a lot of discomfort with my neck. This is not the case with all the beds as the family we travelled with who were in the same block had comfortable beds. The shower head had been replaced but was not compatible with the wall fitting so every time you turned off the shower it would fly down almost hitting you in the face. The hand towel holder was held together by black tape and the shower was also dirty. Everything seems quite worn and falling apart like the drawer handles coming loose. When leaving the room the carpets had stains everywhere and looking over the central balcony our friends had palm trees but outside our room if you looked down it was all boarded up. The cleaning trolleys were never put away, always left out. It all looked very untidy and unkept. We had nothing in our mini fridge when arriving and it took two days and two phone calls to reception when they eventually filled it up. If you want to get sunbeds you need to be prepared to get up at 6.30 the latest. The pools and slides are fantastic and the kids and adults loved them. Great for all ages. By the end of the holiday the bridge going over the pool was collapsing, the wood was splitting underneath and a major safety issue especially with children swimming underneath and this wasn’t closed off. Certain umbrellas were not secure enough we saw one fly out and hit an elderly man in the shoulder causing an injury. Restaurants and bars - The à la carte Italian restaurant was fantastic for both food and service, we didn’t get to try any other of the à la carte restaurants. Now the main restaurant if you want to get there before it becomes crazy arrive at breakfast around 7.30 after that the Ques begin. The lunch and dinner was always busy. If you arrive in the evening there is not much choice for food especially for kids. Be prepared to que que que! They are full to capacity in the school holidays and understaffed. Sometimes waiting up to 40minutes for a drink. All bar and restaurant staff are lovely and work so hard and deserve every tip. Entertainment and entertainment team was absolutely fantastic. The shows were amazing, the best I have seen at any hotel. Overall I would say it’s a 3* star hotel but with 5* entertainment. If you want a bit a luxury this hotel is not that."