Palmet Bodrum Hotel

The pool is nice, but it only runs until 7 p.m., and everything on the beach is dirty. The food is trash, the desserts are really bad, and so are the coffee and Coke. Our room was awful when we finally got in: the bathroom floor was filthy, the shower didn't work, and there was no toilet paper or sheets. The beds were bad and the AC didn't work either. The TV did work, but we had to plug it in ourselves. I don't recommend this place. It has a few good points, but mostly it's bad.

There was trash everywhere, even in the lobby: empty plastic water bottles and coffee cups on the way to reception. We had to ring a bell to wake a sleeping staff member, who answered a basic question by switching between English, Turkish, and Russian. We arrived at 7 a.m. and were told our room wouldn't be available until 2 p.m., though we could use the pool, restaurant, and beach while we waited. At 2 p.m. they said it was ready, but when a staff member unlocked it, there were girls' dresses on the floor, plus sand and water right at the entrance. We asked for another room and waited about 40 more minutes. The beds, sheets, and towels were the only good things in the new room. The small fridge, TV, and AC didn't work. The bathroom was a disaster, with no shower curtain or hot water, a broken toilet seat, and the smell of rust and salty water. I wouldn't recommend this place even to my worst enemy.

We didn't stay at the hotel, just visited the beach. It was the nicest nearby spot for swimming and relaxing. Away from the crowds, we could enjoy the beautiful view across the sea towards the hotel and its palm trees. The water was clean, with a sandy bottom, and it's one of the few places on the Bodrum Peninsula where we saw lots of fish near shore.

Disaster has a new name.