Anelli Hotel Antalya

Staying one night here was the biggest mistake of my life, the worst travel experience I’ve had. The rooms were poor, with bad hygiene, faulty water taps, no room service or housekeeping, and no working electricity or lights. The restaurant was bad too, and even breakfast had no good food. The staff seemed strange, nobody knew English or listened, and they just told us to go out and buy things. Horrible experience.

The lobby looks sleek and modern, and the receptionists are hospitable. Rooms vary in size, but ours was spacious, the bed was comfortable, and they’ll change the sheets if you ask. The air conditioning was excellent and a welcome relief in Antalya’s heat. Breakfast has a decent range, though some items repeat. Room service was excellent, and the cleaner deserves praise. There are plenty of restaurants and street food vendors only a couple of minutes away. A few things in the room can come loose, like the towel rack in the bathroom. Most staff don’t speak English, though that’s common around the city and makes conversation difficult. The hotel is also some distance from the city center and currency exchange kiosks, but nearby ATMs can solve the latter. Overall, it was a very enjoyable stay.

This place is far from the main city center. It has no pool or beach and isn’t all-inclusive, as the website states. Our room’s window was stuck wide open and couldn’t be closed, which felt dangerous with small children and meant a bird or bugs could get in. One of our rooms still wasn’t ready even though we arrived well after the earliest check-in time, so we had to wait in the lobby. Room and bathroom size can vary, and you might end up with a very small one. Breakfast wasn’t bad.

We spent six nights here and had a relaxing stay. We arrived at midnight and got a room about ten minutes after checking in. They also upgraded our room for free. The lobby was modern, clean, and had plenty of seats. The air conditioning there was a welcome relief in the heat, and it was comfortable enough to hang around for hours. The receptionists were helpful with information, but not much use when we needed help finding taxis. We sorted that out ourselves and used Uber every day, which worked better. We booked a deluxe, suite, and double room. All were adequately sized. The deluxe seemed largest, with two storage closets; the double had one, and the suite had two. Each room also had a chest drawer for clothes. Our bathroom towel rack fell off on the first day, so we couldn’t hang towels there. It wasn’t a big problem, but I’m taking off a star for it. The rooms were very clean, and I believe the hotel was only a few years old and well maintained. The sheets were clean, though I noticed a few small marks that didn’t bother me much. Every bathroom had a bidet, which is essential for us as Muslims to keep clean. Each room had a fridge, and the cleaner left complimentary bottles of water inside whenever the room was cleaned. It was lovely to come back to cold water. Air conditioning in the rooms was a must in summer when it can reach 40 degrees Celsius, and I loved returning to a cool room. We knew before arriving that the city center wasn’t right nearby, but it wasn’t too far: a taxi was 120-160TL, about £4-5 for a 15-minute ride one way. There’s a gym less than a minute away and plenty of restaurants, including KFC, popeyes, traditional food, and wrap places. Prices were very good for visitors from countries with strong currencies. We were lucky to have a mountain view room. The mountains were in the distance but clearly visible, and it was amazing to wake up to them every day. Breakfast was a buffet from 7.30am to 10:00am, so the hours were reasonable and you could eat as much as you wanted. I enjoyed it, and there was something different each day. Items included sausages in tomato sauce, scrambled eggs, fresh warm bread rolls, menemen (scrambled eggs in tomato and spices), different cheeses, salami, an espresso machine, a juice machine (very sugary), boiled eggs, fried salami, and cereal. Every room had a TV, but there were only one or two English channels, both news. We tried connecting our fire stick, but there was no sound output. The double room’s TV was in an awkward spot, right near the ceiling, and basically impossible to watch. A couple of tips: Uber was cheaper and convenient. I’d get an E-Sim through the ‘Airalo’ app, since cheap data-only SIMs were impossible to find in Antalya. ATMs are a few minutes away on foot. Choose ‘Without DCC’ and withdraw from Ziraat Bank.