Hotel Royal Hill

There are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and shops around the hotel, and the staff were consistently friendly and helpful. Our room was spacious and clean, with a lovely view of the sea and pool. Both breakfast and dinner were delicious, with a good variety. Special thanks to the manager for responding quickly to every request and making the place feel so calm and welcoming.

The public beach, shops, and restaurants are all close by, and there's a taxi stand 50 meters from the hotel. We considered Hotel Opera first, but switching to Royal Hill was a good decision. The hotel felt peaceful with fewer tourists around, and the walls blocked neighbor noise. There is also an elevator, which we missed at other hotels. The only noise issue was a nearby beach bar, though it wasn't too bothersome and isn't the hotel's fault. We spent a week here and would especially recommend it for couples. The rooms were good quality, staff very friendly, and the pool clean. Breakfast was tasty and changed daily, and you could also pay for dinner. When we had to leave at 4 a.m. for our flight, they prepared breakfast for us to take along, which was thoughtful. We had no major problems. A small bathroom fault was reported, and a repair team came two hours later. Since it looked more complicated, they offered us another room at the same standard with the same view, ready for us to decide. The hotel was quiet, comfortable, and we'd rate it 9.5/10.

I've booked two double rooms with sea views for a two-week stay, and we're now one week in. I'm writing in the hope that something might change. Be aware that a full sea view seems to apply only to executive suites. Our rooms have partial views, which isn't what I paid for. The location is excellent, two minutes from the beach. The rooms are modern and clean, with spacious bathrooms, and the air conditioning works, though it's noisy and turns off when you're out. Reception staff are polite. But there is no air conditioning in the hall or restaurant, despite the equipment being there, and eating inside in 45-degree heat is impossible. Smoking is allowed everywhere outside, so sitting out there isn't pleasant either. There's no air conditioning in the elevator or corridors. Breakfast runs from 8 to 10 a.m. and is the same every day: vermicelli soup, two kinds of cheese and sausage, boiled eggs, herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers, cheap muesli, milk, an over-salted omelette, powdered orange drink, water, tea and infusions, instant coffee, plus melon and watermelon that are often tasteless. Arrive after 8:30 and the fried eggplant or zucchini may be gone. There are no pastries at all. Sometimes they have local puff rolls with cottage cheese, but those can also be gone after 8:30. There's no lunch. Dinner costs 500 TR (10.50 euros) if you pay at the hotel, or up to 18 euros through Booking.com with half board. The stated hours are 7 to 9 p.m., but locals start eating from 6. If you come after 7, some dishes, broccoli in my case, may already be unavailable. The dinner menu is repetitive too, pickles, two salads, tomatoes and cucumbers, and chicken prepared in different ways. Fish is offered once a week. If there's a stew, there's hardly any meat in it, even if you arrive on time. The only fruit is melon and watermelon, always. After a week, we stopped eating dinner at the hotel. The pool is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. because tables are set beside it for dinner. It's usually overcrowded, and local children are often noisy and disrespectful, shouting, pushing one another, or jumping near other swimmers even though jumping is prohibited. Their parents don't seem to mind. The lounge chair cushions are dirty. Food and drinks are marked as prohibited in the pool area, yet guests are served there. Twice I saw broken glass while children were running barefoot. Three women handle cleaning for 70 rooms. Sometimes I have to insist just to get towels changed; they are worn out and often stained or torn. A Russian-speaking woman from Central Asia may tell you there are too few clean towels that day. The two Turkish women are much nicer. I never asked anyone to clean my room, but nobody offered, so I do it myself. Wi-Fi is extremely weak and often disappears around 11 p.m. It's only good enough for messaging, not watching YouTube. I wonder whether I'll get any response to this review. I doubt it. The management seems to think everything is perfect. It isn't.

The food was delicious, with plenty of choice at both breakfast and dinner. Staff were caring and friendly, and the rooms were good too. Wi-Fi was sometimes unreliable. Thank you so much, I'd recommend this hotel.