First Class Hotel

...(100km) to Altinkum and our first sighting of The First Class Hotel. It is actually situated about 10 minutes from the main promenade, and in the area where most of the hotels are situated, with shops and bars close by.

Up the steps and into the lobby which was a large area with cream suede sofas (what possessed them?). A quick look around revealed a large starcase with a dirty worn out carpet, and one lift.

I am always ...
...bang into anything, and my first thought was "where is the sink?". A quick shimmy round the door revealed it next to the toilet complete with one nasty looking piece of soap, and a hairdryer danglng next to it.

The bath/shower was something else! Half bath and half shower, I think it was designed to sit down in, or perhaops to give the illusion of a bath in a really confined space. The height of the cubicle meant that you ... more

With eldest son working in Turkey for the summer, we decided it was time for mum to go visit and spoil his fun. So, a quick surf around the various travel agents found us a great deal, leaving at the time we wanted, going to the resort we wanted, and promising a 4 star hotel for around £200 each b and b, including airport taxes and transfer fees.

So... having landed in Bodrum, paid our fees to get into the country, we had about an hour journey (100km) to Altinkum and our first sighting of The First Class Hotel. It is actually situated about 10 minutes from the main promenade, and in the area where most of the hotels are situated, with shops and bars close by.

Up the steps and into the lobby which was a large area with cream suede sofas (what possessed them?). A quick look around revealed a large starcase with a dirty worn out carpet, and one lift.

I am always quite hopeful because nothing looks good when you get there in the early hours of the morning, so although it was quiet and there were no signs of life, it boded well that the check in was speedy, and we were given the keys to our room.

ACCOMMODATION

Welcome to the small world!

The room had two single beds and a bedside table between them, as well as a dressing table. However, since the room was tiny, this amount of furniture meant that we were unable to open the door to the balcony. So, at 5 am, we struggled to get the small table onto the balcony and completely rearrange the room so that we could move.

This movement of the furniture revealed lots of debris and what I do believe were toe nail clippings...clear evidence that beneath beds or never cleaned. On the green carpet covering the whole floor, this was not a pleasant sight, but being fairly stoical, we soldiered on!

Walk into the bathroom, being careful not to bang into anything, and my first thought was "where is the sink?". A quick shimmy round the door revealed it next to the toilet complete with one nasty looking piece of soap, and a hairdryer danglng next to it.

The bath/shower was something else! Half bath and half shower, I think it was designed to sit down in, or perhaops to give the illusion of a bath in a really confined space. The height of the cubicle meant that you had to hoist yourself up into it, and then try to negotiate the broken shower so that you sould get a wash. Standing on the bath bit meant you were too high for the shower, and standing in the shower area meant you were in the wrong area to get any water. Once finished, it required a level of agility and luck to get out without slipping and falling into the sink.

All in all, a not very clean bathroom, and not one in which you would want to linger. It did cross my mind as to how often it was cleaned and spurred me on to buy cleaning products at first light!

The balcony was the normal size, resplendent with two not matching plastic chairs and of course the bedside cabinet. It also sported a broken handle, so if you went on the balcony with no one in the bedroom, and closed the door, you were locked out until help arrived. However, I think we were the lucky ones...some of the guests were complaining that they had no glass in their windows.

THE FOOD

I always look forward to my breakfast when I go away, mainly because I never seem to have time for it at home. Breakfast was a self service affair consisting of lots of hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, bread and ham.

No problem there, as this is what I expected; the problem lay in the luke warm water in the large urn and the over stewed tea (is tea stewed?)

Breakfast is eaten in the restaurant which seats around 50 people, or can be eaten on the outside terrace area or by the pool.

Snacks were available by the pool, and were of the usual variety...hamburgers, chips, English breakfast, sandwiches, all brought to you by the bar staff, and eaten by the pool.

AMENITIES

The hotel boasts a telephone in each room (not working) a television (working), Bathroom (tiny and dirty), mini bar (not there), safe box (for a fee) air conditioning (for a fee and not downstairs) and 24 hour hot water (another story!)

There is also a large swimming pool, which has a children's area and 2 drench showers. Around the swimming pool, are several sun loungers, and I can honestly say that in this hotel, the pool was the place to be, although the water was a tad less chlorinated than most...there was a definite layer of sun cream on the top of the water!

There is also a medical centre and a fitness room with a bottom toning machine and a couple of other bits of equipment. The most popular amenities for us were the pool table and the table tennis table, although we had to buy our own bats and balls as they had none!

They also advertise animation and jet ski, although we saw none of this...perhaps it was the wrong week.

Downstairs, for the use of the guests using the pool and the restaurant is one set of filthy toilets which you would probably use only if you really had to. The locks were broken on them I I actually got locked in one day when I had to use them because there was no water anywhere else in the hotel.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I can only say that should you get a "good"deal to this hotel, refuse it! I always expect a certain standard when I am told the star rating of the hotel, and I really don't know what rating this should be. I wasnt' expecting wonders but was expecting something different!

The location of the hotel is central although perhaps too central. we had a room at the back so were relatively untroubled by noise but people at the front complained about the constant noise coming from the bar underneath the hotel...all night karaoke is not necessary for a good night sleep!

The pool area was cleaned daily, and the pool was large and must have been relatively clean as we caught no nasty bugs.

The room was cleaned once while we were there, and when it was, we were given one sheet to cover ouselves (cosy). Towels were like gold dust, and when asked, the staff were very begrudging about giving either toilet paper or towels.

We did elect on arrival to have air conditioning in our room, and by the end of the week, wished we hadn't. There were frequent power cuts, and when the air conditioning stopped, it had to be set again, so if you were out of the room or asleep, this was obviously impossible. Also, if the balcony door was opened, it had to be reset, so all in all, it was a complete waste of money.

There were a number of water failures in the hotel, and when these happened, the incredibly unhelpful staff told us, and the other guests, to go and buy waater to have a wash. I have no objections to there being no hot water but when it happens twice in a week that there is no cold water, I do think there is a serious sanitation problem...lucky for us there were no poorly tummies! When staff were asked about the water they told guests we were always complaining and that we should be quiet because there are earth quakes all over the world. That put everyone in their place!!

So, all in all, a completely dreadful hotel masquerading as a 4 star hotel; dirty with unhelpful staff. I have stayed in some dire places when I travelled round when younger, but at least they were advertised as dire. This hotel has a nice glossy pamphlet with pictures of rooms which I can assume only are of another hotel! Before I went, I even checked out the website, www.firstclasshotel.com, and the pictures and info there matched the brochure. Scary stuff!

That said, we still had a good holiday because we stayed out of it; although we and several other people asked to move hotels, we were told we couldn't (maybe because of the earthquakes!).

We knew we were going to be in the place for only short bursts of time, but when problems arose, it would have been good if the staff had been a tad more helpful.

So, sorry to moan but the first class hotel, in my opinion, can't be rated as any class!

Thanks for reading my rant

daniela x 

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