Sehzade Hotel

I booked 20 days ago and contacted the hotel two days ago with a question about the stay. They only replied today, saying the hotel was closed and I should cancel and find somewhere else. They hadn’t contacted me or given any notice. I’m glad I hadn’t paid in advance and had written to them, or we would’ve gone there and probably run into problems. It’s strange, since I see reviews from today and yesterday, even though they supposedly aren’t operating 🤷🏽‍♀️.

The room had several problems. The pillows smelled of other people, and the toilet was dirty with poop remains from check-in. We called the woman to ask for cleaning products so we could clean it ourselves, but she flushed it, said it was normal, and left, closing the door disrespectfully. The AC dripped water onto the bed and floor. The sheets were changed often, but they still had marks and stains. I joked that I could send them for DNA identification. The payment situation also made it hard to trust them. Although the information said cards were accepted, the woman asked for cash. I insisted on paying by card because my bank charges €20 for a cash withdrawal, and she agreed. A man came with a POS device that day and said it couldn’t process more than 4,000 TL, asking to split the 12,000 TL total into three payments of 4,000 TL. I agreed and paid the first 4,000 TL. The next request was for 8,000 TL. I paid it, then asked if we were all set. He said that was only the total of two 4,000 TL payments, which wasn’t true. Anyone could check their balance at any time. Luckily, he seemed to accept that I was right. I’m not saying he meant to scam me, but payment issues are the first thing you need to get right to earn trust. On the third or fourth day, the woman asked if we wanted to move to the room next door, but by then I’d made up my mind. The whole experience affected our trip.

We checked twice with the owner through the booking site messages, but when we arrived there was no room for us. They sent us to a dirty motel nearby instead. Its door was broken, and we didn’t feel safe there. Once a room finally became available, they insisted that we pay in cash rather than by card. Communication was very difficult because nobody spoke English. Parking was okay and felt safe, but the location wasn’t the best.

I booked directly with the owner for two nights for my wife, our three kids, and me. We agreed on a price, I paid, and he left. After 12:30 a.m., he messaged to say he’d return the money and that I had to leave the next day. His excuse was that he hadn’t known what day of the week tomorrow was. I asked several times if we could stay, but he refused. Half an hour later, someone came and returned my money. The next morning I was heading to Bursa, so I had to leave all our luggage in the hotel lobby and go. I came back two days later to collect it. Canceling our next two nights like that was incredibly unprofessional. I have proof of what happened that night and can share it with anyone who wants to see.