Akayda Butik Hotel

We really enjoyed the hotel, especially the tasty breakfasts and pleasant room. It was peaceful there, while still being close to the old town. Side itself was the least enjoyable stop on our trip around Turkey, with prices in euros that felt heavily inflated, but this hotel was a great place to stay.

Stay away. I prepaid for a reservation through the Agoda app, but at check-in the hotel said it wasn't on their list and refused to honor it. They then brought up a German third-party agency and a mismatch between the hotel's legal IDs and the system. The explanations felt suspicious, and being turned away despite having an accepted booking left me concerned. I wouldn't risk booking here unless you're prepared to find somewhere else at the last minute.

We spent a week here in October on a half-board plan, and everything suited us. The room and hotel were clean, and we found both breakfast and dinner excellent. My wife doesn't like spicy food, so they made her dinner to suit her; breakfast was tasty and plentiful enough too. The staff were respectful and always smiling, and the owner was on hand whenever help was needed.

The transfer we booked through the hotel was terrible, and the place felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, far from the city center and beach. We were unhappy with our room and asked to switch at the start of the week. The owner was hard to communicate with, then agreed and promised another room the next day, but it never happened. Cleanliness, breakfast, and the rooms disappointed us, so we skipped breakfast and only came back to sleep. Even that was uncomfortable because of the beds and an old electric heater in the shower that looked like a bomb. We stayed a week and I found the whole experience very uncomfortable. Don't be taken in by the high ratings.