Side Orange Palace - All inclusive

We stayed at the end of January and found it quiet, clean, and a good place to relax. The rooms and hotel were extremely clean, the lounge was nice, and the food was really good with different options. Staff were amazing, helpful, and friendly. It’s a large hotel with good facilities, including a heated pool, Hammam spa, and gym, though it’s not a massive resort. It wasn’t noisy at all. Most staff speak German, but a few speak English. The location is good, with a shuttle to the beach, which is also within walking distance, and there’s a beach bar. Just be aware that there aren’t many activities for children.

Something really surprised me tonight. I arrived at the hotel at 05:00 in the morning in my VIP transfer vehicle to pick up a customer and take him to the airport, but I wasn’t allowed in.

The food was okay, and the rooms were fine except for those on the top floor, which get extremely hot. For a five-star all-inclusive hotel, I expected fresh juice and a proper espresso, but there wasn’t any fresh juice and coffee came from a machine using powder instead of milk. The place is very noisy, surrounded by other hotels that all make a lot of noise. From the balcony you can see a pool, but it belongs to a neighboring hotel, not yours.

I’ve been to Turkey four times and have always loved the country, the people, the hotels, and the service at more expensive places. The price and quality usually matched. I’m a doctor, we’re kind and open people, and I always tip the waiters and housekeeping and greet people with a smile. I’d never written a review before, but this hotel was the first that left me dissatisfied. The sea is about 500 meters away. A minibus runs there regularly, about once every five minutes, and we tipped the driver several times. But he only remembered it once. One time he demanded another tip, even though we hadn’t paid for the ride. It was awkward, and other Germans laughed at us for not paying. He treated other tourists the same way, and they were also surprised and upset. Service seemed unfair at the tables and bar. Waiters spent the evening bringing wine and tea directly to German guests, while Russians had to queue for drinks themselves and wait behind them. Even when we offered tips, they didn’t bring drinks to our table during the ten days, so we went to the bar. The Germans were served in bakaly, while we got wine in faceted glasses and had to ask for proper wine glasses. At the bar, Russians could wait around 10 minutes while the hotel manager and Germans were served at their tables. The waitress supervisors brought tea, coffee, or water to German tables about every 20 minutes, but the Germans didn’t even need to go to the bar. Prices were the same for everyone. At the end of the holiday I asked reception for the complaints and suggestions book. They told me to wait, and I waited 20 minutes for the manager. None of the employees spoke Russian or English. The manager of this five-star, 100-room hotel spoke English only a little and understood poorly. She didn’t give me the book or understand the problem. She said, ‘I don't like it - pack your things and go to another hotel; this hotel is for Germans and for Russians, we opened it for 1 year because of the crisis and then we will close it’. The hotel’s founder is German. Ninety percent of the guests were elderly Germans aged 75-80, some Russian-speaking emigrants, though most spoke German. There were queues, which seem common now because of coronavirus, but that wasn’t my main complaint. There was almost no entertainment or disco, and the hotel is far from the sea. While we were at the beach, someone replaced our room table with one that had cracks and what looked like vomit on its leg. It hadn’t been cleaned or wiped. Someone had apparently broken the original table. We had been leaving $5 for tea every day, and at reception they took the table away so we wouldn’t later be charged for it, but the whole situation was unpleasant. Our room was a walk-through room opposite the elevator, though the soundproofing was good enough that this didn’t bother us. A friend at the hotel was told not to take so many plates because of coronavirus, since the waiter served food at the table to save clean plates.