Kadikale Resort-Spa

The animators were the real highlight for our small family, keeping the entertainment going and deserving special praise. Housekeeping did an excellent job, and the hotel was clean. I also enjoyed the snack bar for lunch. It was a wonderful holiday.

The wooden dock by the beach was OK, and we could get a fresh beach towel each day, one per guest. But there weren’t enough loungers or parasols. People claimed them before 8AM, often leaving towels or water bottles to hold their spots when they left. Staff didn’t remove those things, even though we were told they would after 15 minutes. That pretty much matched how little attention staff seemed to give things here. Getting around the resort means taking stairs everywhere, so anyone with knee problems or other trouble with stairs should stay away. The room we ended up in was apparently the only one available after we complained that we’d been given a single room instead of the double bedroom we paid for. It was more like an apartment and seemed unused for a while. The two A/C units were filthy, barely one cooled at all, and the room smelled damp and moldy. There was black mold in the bathroom too. See the pics. When we brought problems to reception, staff were rude, or suddenly didn’t understand English. A very young receptionist was especially rude while the manager stood beside him without saying a word. Someone was sent to clean and fix the A/C, but little was actually done. This wasn’t the ultra all inclusive resort that was advertised. Ice cream and snacks were available for only two hours a day. Cheap liquor and machine soft juices seemed to be the only things available all the time. The food was good, with enough for everyone and choices for different tastes. The sweets all tasted much the same and had too much sugar, though that seems to be how locals like them. Forget the Turkish hotel star ratings. I’d call it 3.5 stars, or 4 on a sunny day. Someone said a hotel is what you make of it, but I struggled to find anything worth what I paid. I won’t come back here, and most likely won’t return to Turkey either.

The food was OK, but the gym and pool area were poorly kept. The gym smelled bad, and its floors and equipment didn’t seem to get cleaned regularly. Most of the machines were faulty and unsafe, including treadmills with belts that slipped and could cause a fall. I raised this with the hotel manager twice, but nothing was cleaned or repaired. Around the pool, benches were dirty and some had nails sticking out, which could injure someone.

We were disappointed with the food, which was repetitive, not very tasty, and offered little variety. The dolmus stop was also farther away than the information suggested, and there were no beach facilities suited to children, which we’d expected. Our room felt dated, with worn beds that made sleeping uncomfortable and an old TV with poor picture quality. The door wouldn’t lock properly, so we didn’t feel safe. We reported these problems to reception several times, with no action. The hotel had advertised Wi-Fi, but we found internet only at the staff desk. We mentioned that repeatedly too, but got no solution. We stayed for two weeks, and the hotel fell short of what we expected.