Destiny Marine Hotel

Said and Kardelen at the front desk were especially nice and clearly knew their work. The staff were kind, and the place was clean and peaceful, with beautiful rooms. You can walk from the hotel to see the sea, and the location is good. I'd recommend staying here.

With real regret, I can't recommend Destiny Marine hotel because I don't believe its food safety can be guaranteed. I stayed there with a friend for nearly two weeks in the summer of last year. One morning near the end of the stay, I became severely ill with food poisoning after eating chicken, Ceasar's Salad, in the hotel restaurant the night before. That evening I'd also had Ayran and icecream. I had to go to hospital urgently, receive serum infusion and take medicine to recover. On another morning visit, my nephew found rotten chicken salami and threw it away. The hotel says it has a food engineer on staff who checks the food every day. That sounds slightly unrealistic for a mid-sized hotel, and they showed no proof of such a specialist or any certifications displayed on the walls. I also spoke with their health consultant, who argued that my hospital report saying gastro-enteritis meant chicken or poultry couldn't have caused it, because a chicken-related result should have been ecoli or salmonella. I checked this with my hospital for a second opinion, and they said enteritis certainly doesn't rule out chicken as the source. Salmonella enteritis is also a condition, so salmonella and enteritis can occur together. After I shared the hospital's response, the hotel stopped answering my calls and messages. During my 9 months in Turkey, I'd eaten out an average of 5 to 6 days a week without a single case of food poisoning. I got sick after one of only two dinners I'd had at this restaurant. I find it statistically impossible that this was just a random event at the hotel, and believe the dinner caused it. People I spoke with who had no stake in it were convinced chicken was the source, and some guessed chicken before I told them I'd eaten it. People in Turkey know there's a serious poultry chicken food problem in the country, and that it's getting worse. KFC left the country for this exact reason, yet the hotel seems unaware of the situation. It's a very nice hotel otherwise, but this incident spoiled my stay.

The rooms were clean and comfortable, with a sea view and balcony, and breakfast had a delicious range of choices. Everyone working here was kind and helpful. Said at reception pointed out some tourist places we could visit in Istanbul. Special thanks as well to Kardelen, the hotel manager, who always thinks about guest satisfaction. I love this hotel and would recommend it for a quiet holiday in Istanbul.

Said at the front desk and Kardelen, the sales manager, gave service of a high standard. The hotel was beautiful, the location was good, and breakfast was brilliant. Thanks to everyone there. I'd recommend it to anyone coming to Istanbul.