Seren Otel Çeşme

We had a car, so the place worked well enough for sleeping, but I wouldn’t choose it for a beach holiday. It’s far from town, restaurants and the nicer beaches, with construction and dust around. The closest beach is about seven minutes by car, and Ilica is another 25-30 minutes away. The advertised beachfront location isn’t accurate. There was little sense of security. Our electronic keys didn’t work, so the rooms could essentially be accessed by anyone. One night, drunk people were hanging around the rooms and swimming in the pool until 2:30 a.m., and nobody came to deal with it. The reception desk was usually unattended. We booked three rooms by the pool for four days and three nights. The rooms were spacious, nice and generally clean, though the showers had hair in them and looked like they’d only been cleaned superficially. Towels and sheets were very clean. The poolside design is lovely, but that’s the only place to spend time. The terrace table and chairs were dusty and stained, as if they hadn’t been made ready for the season. Sometimes staff vacuumed rooms at 10 p.m. with the doors open, which disturbed us, especially with children trying to sleep. The air conditioning also didn’t seem to work. Housekeeping came only once during our stay, and there weren’t enough towels or bed covers. Only one single bed cover was provided, and just one of our three rooms had warm blankets. We asked four times for hand soap for one room and never got any. There were no kettles, although the booking description said there would be. There’s no restaurant, just a small kitchen serving a very basic, limited breakfast. You need a car to get food during the day, and the drive into town takes around 12-15 minutes. There’s no proper parking either. The listing said to reserve a space, but there weren’t any reserved spots, just first come, first parked along the fence by the side road. It felt more like an Airbnb run by one man than a properly managed hotel. We managed because we had a car, but people coming for a seaside break should know what to expect.

The pool was green rather than blue like the photos, and we couldn’t get a clear answer about whether it was safe to use. One employee told us not to go in because it wasn’t clogged, while another said it was fine. We didn’t trust the hygiene and left. We’d planned a lovely final summer getaway, but the stay was a huge disappointment, especially in such a busy season. When we arrived at 3:00, the rooms weren’t ready. They put us in one they said was ready, but there was no water, and used body towels were in the closet. We were told water would be available in five minutes, but it never came. From the start, the staff seemed uninterested and unprofessional, even though they spoke to us in a friendly way. It was a disgrace, an uncaring, filthy, rude place with no water in the middle of summer. Don’t trust the positive reviews, they must have written them themselves.

Melike Hanım and Mazlum Bey were especially wonderful, and the rest of the team were just as friendly and attentive. We spent three nights here, felt completely comfortable, and the kids loved it. The pool and restaurant were clean, and I had no bad experiences at all. If you want a boutique hotel, don’t hesitate. We’re so glad we came and can call this our home now. Thanks to the whole Seren family, may God bless you. Ignore the negative reviews.

I never actually got to see Seren Otel Çeşme. We booked a week at the start of the year and let the hotel know when we’d arrive. They confirmed the reservation promptly and positively. Then, just a week before our trip, they suddenly asked for three times the agreed price and stopped replying when we tried to contact them. From other guest reviews, it seems this may happen to others too. Now we’re left without a place to stay right before travelling and will have to search for an alternative once we arrive. If it goes badly, my girlfriend, her young daughter and I may spend the whole first day going from hotel to hotel. That’s no way to start a holiday. I advise people against booking here. I’ll report what happened to the relevant tourism authority and file an official complaint.