Asteria Ephesus Kusadasi

The views were absolutely out of this world, and our bungalow room was stunning. There’s a lot of walking around the property, but regular transport runs between the bungalows, main pool, beach and reception, and we never had to wait long. The smaller pool with slides and the children’s area is nearby too. Reception can call a taxi into Kusadasi centre, or you can catch the dolmus outside the security gates. We always took taxis. There are also three or four shops on site, and their staff were unbelievably friendly. We came in August, a little put off by the reviews, but ended up having an amazing first trip to Turkey. We’ve done nothing but praise the place since coming home. The staff we met were so kind and helpful. Even when there was a big language barrier, they tried hard to understand us. It’s a great spot for families, and both adults and children in ours loved exploring. If you have very young children who don’t like steps or ramps, you might want to ask for a main suite room. The food was the main downside. It was very repetitive and didn’t suit our taste, with more options geared toward local countries and tastes. We didn’t have much to eat or choose from, so hopefully there’ll be more variety in future. We also noticed a lot of stray dogs. We’d never stayed somewhere with stray dogs or rabies concerns before, but staff reassured us that the dogs are cared for, tagged, monitored and vaccinated regularly. We loved every minute of this beautiful stay.

The location in Kusadasi is amazing, and the facilities and staff are great. The team were super helpful, and the specialty restaurants were really good. The open buffet food was alright. It’s an old hotel and could use renovation, especially in the rooms and hallways. The entertainment team did their best, though they need better English to explain the games and shows to guests.

The pool was nice, and the staff do try, but the hotel’s condition makes their job an uphill battle. The food was poor, the room felt very tired, and the hallway carpets were worn. The walls were falling apart and had just been painted over. This place needs a huge amount of care and work, and should close for six months to get it done. I definitely won’t be back.

The food was meh, and getting an a la carte reservation was a struggle. You can only book in the morning for the following day, and it was always supposedly full. Bars also closed early because of staff shortages, while entertainment was sometimes cancelled at the last minute and replaced with karaoke or something. The air conditioning was broken, the Wi-Fi didn’t work, and the hotel is old. Its energy-saving system made a lot of noise. I tried to find a solution with reception, but every day there was a different excuse or they couldn’t help. They should lower both the price and the star rating, maybe charge half of what we paid. EDIT: I’m still here, so maybe fix things now? For example, let us book a la carte dinner for tomorrow. They told us it was full, but I just checked and it wasn’t!