Garden Of Sun Hotel

“Set your expectations - 5* UK is not the same in other countries.”

As the title says, please don't think you'll get 5* luxury. I think the rating is more around the facilities - spa, kids club, water slides, entertainment, and awards they have for health and safety, environment etc. As others have said, many of the staff struggle with English, but to be expect... lisää

As the title says, please don't think you'll get 5* luxury. I think the rating is more around the facilities - spa, kids club, water slides, entertainment, and awards they have for health and safety, environment etc. As others have said, many of the staff struggle with English, but to be expected, you can get by with hand gestures and the like. Food in the restaurant is self-service buffet-style, and more traditional Turkish, but there are lots of chips/nuggets/plain chicken/salad for those who go to far-flung countries and expect British cuisine! As it's predominantly Islamic country there is little pork, so no bacon/sausage for breakfast. The outdoor barbeque is nice, we have kebabs and fried chicken from there. The snack bar open 1-5 serves the usual burgers/chips/salads/breads and all fine. Drinks are available at the lobby bar, pool bar, restaurant bar, snack bar, and OK for me. Ice creams available daily at 3pm, and donuts fresh cooked at the barbeque. The pool is big and has plenty of room, the only issue is it's 5 foot deep all the way across, so need to keep your eye on little ones. The water slides are open morning and afternoon, and the kids enjoyed these. The entertainment team worked hard, with lots of activities, but not many joined in, it's a thankless task! Zumba, aerobics, water polo, etc. The evening entertainment was a bit late for me, kids disco started at 9:30pm, and adult entertainment followed at 10, but we saw some good shows, Ethiopian Circus acts, Traditional Turkish dancing, and an urban dance troop. - avoided the Miss GOS and Dad's shows! The room was fine, nothing special, but plenty of clean towels, fridge, and aircon - amazing you really need it in 30-40deg heat! We had a Superior room, which is slightly bigger and nicer. We had access to the Wifi from our room no problem, in fact it covered most of the site, and although a bit slow at times when lots of people jumped on, it did work. The hotel has a bus to the beach, but we just walked the 5 minutes out the back entrance, across the dual carriageway - they don't respect pedestrian crossing, so watch the kids :) Felt very safe in the locality walking around with kids was no worry, the shops/boat trip/cafes had pushy salesmen, but once you said no thanks, they just stopped. There's a MiGros supermarket out the front door, up the road, first major right, to get pop and snacks for cheap. We visited the Temple of Apollo, a 600BC ruin a short 10-minute taxi journey away, reception booked the taxi for me which only cost £5 - yes everyone seems to like English pounds! The temple is amazing and you can walk round, touch and climb on, which is unheard of in other countries! 6 Euro entry fee per person. Don't forget those shopping opportunities, as the shop sign displayed proudly, "authentic replicas", footy shirts £10, Handbags £20, trainers £20, take an empty suitcase with you! All I'd say is please set your expectations before you go, the hotel is UK 3* at best, but it's done well.

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“Honest overall review”

Location: 1 1/2 hours transfer from the airport. Beach 5 min walk away whilst is a small beach. About 20-25 min walk into altinkum Accommodation: Main reception area well maintained Lifts to room very busy and can take time to arrive. Stray dog present at the main hotel entrance throughout ... lisää

Location: 1 1/2 hours transfer from the airport. Beach 5 min walk away whilst is a small beach. About 20-25 min walk into altinkum Accommodation: Main reception area well maintained Lifts to room very busy and can take time to arrive. Stray dog present at the main hotel entrance throughout the stay. Room: Dated decore. Old AC unit, works if the balcony door is closed. Can't turn off via remote if wanted so only way to turn off is by opening the door. The balcony doors don't lock, whilst no handle on the outside it can be opened from the outside as checked. Safe didn't work, had to arrange for someone to come which took 3 attempts of requesting until someone arrived. Cleaned daily whilst no replacement of towels when placing in the shower to indicate requirement of replacement. The towels were taken but no extra to exchange put back. Pool: Pool was good, deep throughout at 150cm Water slides good, not on all the time, on a few hours in the morning and few hours in the afternoon. Manned by a lifeguard whilst every time I went up with my little one the lifeguard was on the phone rather than monitoring safety. Food: Food was massively disappointing. Very little choice. With food duplicated throughout the restaurant. Choices were: casserole, curry and pasta, chips every night alongside selection of salads. Food luke warm at best. Bbq was OK and did change frequently. You have to go to restaurant as soon as it opens to get something as any later you will find food containers shut limiting ability to get any food. Dessert options appeared to be a selection of Turkish deserts. The food throughout the day: Breakfast 7-10 Late breakfast 10-10.30 (left overs from main breakfast) Lunch 12-30-2 (same things as night meal: cassorole, curry, pasta and salad. Ice scream 3 (no selection of flavours) Donouts 4 (yummy and hot) Main meal 7 Drinks: Standard fizzy drinks watered down Fruit juices Apple tea Hot drinks apple tea and coffee, no hot chocolate Alcohol very limited selection available on AL: beer, wine, gin and vodka. Outside of this payment required. Many times of me standing in the queue and getting to the front then being missed serving those behind with me having to push back in to be served. Entertainment: Various games through the day Kids club was a small building in the park bearly seen open (during the week I seen open once) very little information on timings for this Kids park dated and needs revamp Slides good open at times in the morning and times in the afternoon Kids disco starts at 9.30pm (feels a little late for young ones) Followed by evening entertainment at 10pm Anything else: doesn't feel geared up for English tourist, much difficulty in staff speaking English especially the reception Shop expensive Not 5 star, 3 star at best

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