Incredible facilities but refused to switch on AC in our 25c room
TLDR: The main reason this hotel isn't getting 5 stars is because management refused to switch on the air conditioning. I would have given it 3 stars if it wasn't for the incredible facilities. As a family with a young baby, the rooms were constantly 25c+ at night, which is simply not safe for sleeping. I would seriously reconsider going back to this hotel because of it, which is a shame because it is amazing otherwise.
The Good:
- Staff were every attentive and wonderful with our child.
- Wide, high quality food choices. Desserts are incredible. Don't think of the buffet as a last option - the buffet at this hotel is amazing.
- Hotel constantly being cleaned, the place is spotless and well maintained. The rooms are also very clean, cleaners come in twice a day.
- Minibar is included and well stocked.
- Fantastic, modern and large gym with great classes every day.
- Spa was really high quality but expensive.
- Never too busy to get a reservation at a restaurant or bed on the beach. No one seemed to use the pool.
- Kids club is next level. So many specialist things the kids can do. Science, gaming, wood work, t shirt making, the kids kitchen, etc. The lady responsible for the baby room was extremely friendly and welcoming - she was the star staff member for us.
- Good WiFi throughout.
- Can order drinks from your bed on the beach.
The Bad:
- Restaurants seem to be open randomly with no schedule. Presumably due to it being quieter in May, they don't open every night. This makes planning the week difficult to ensure you try each one. They also only offer QR codes for the menus, so you can't see the menu until you get to the restaurant. It would be better if there was a central website with the menus on it and physical menus would add a touch of quality.
- We almost missed the patisserie cafe because we didn't see it existed until the last day. A map provided at check in would be useful.
- Emailing ahead with requests or notes (e.g. you're travelling with a baby and need a crib), won't be actioned. We arrived at 9pm and it took until midnight before a crib arrived for the baby to sleep.
- The cocktails aren't great across the hotel. They're made extremely strong so they don't actually taste like they're meant to. E.g. mojitos had no sugar, limes were not crushed, no crushed ice - so just tasted of pure rum.
- It's a long walk to the restaurants/beach if you're near reception. It took four escalators and two lifts for us to get from our room to the beach. There are shuttle carts that can take you if you request them.
- Hotel next door is extremely loud until late in the night. It can be heard through the windows.
The Ugly:
- The rooms were so hot. Our baby's thermometer read 25c+ some nights. The hotel management refused to switch the AC from heat to cool because 'the Turkish guests would find it cold'. This is simply unsafe for a baby to sleep in. We struggled to sleep some nights, even with the windows open. This is simply unacceptable for a 5* hotel - even a 4* hotel. We would seriously consider going to a different hotel because of it. Unfortunately, even with all of the amazing facilities, I wouldn't recommend the hotel to families until the AC is turned on. They did offer us a fan but this is simply not the service of a 5* resort. When we requested to speak to the manager, they offered to move us to a more shaded part of the resort which did bring the temp down slightly but still mid 20's. They had received multiple similar requests for AC from European guests.
- We were told one night at a paid restaurant would be 'comped' ie. complimentary, because they had to rearrange the date. When we got to checkout I noted that but they refused to remove it from the bill and the customer assistant who told me it would be comped said he didn't mean that it would be free. He shouldn't have used the word comped if he didn't have approval to do that.