We were looking forward to staying here as soon as we heard that it was a 4 star. However, this is NOT worthy of 4 stars, we would rate it as a 2+ star. If you go expecting 4 star standard you will be very disappointed.
The main problems were:
1) The room - 5 words: Small, dirty, dangerous & falling apart. The bed was uncomfortable, with only one pillow each and one thin sheet which seemed far too small for a double bed - I woke up every night shivering and with my feet sticking out of the bottom! Parts of the door frame were also falling off, and we didn't even have a plug for the sink! The bathroom was tiny and very dingy, with a shower/mini bath set up with rusted fittings and a sliding door which meant clambering in by grabbing the sides and hauling yourself in. However getting out was the dangerous part as you had to grab the opposite wall with one hand and the shower door with the other and swing yourself up and out, and this was positively dangerous. After a couple of goes we sussed out the technique but it was still pretty dodgy, and we're in our 20s - I wouldn't want to attempt this if I was pregnant, disabled or older. Another pain was the water in the shower and basin which was incredibly salty and made your skin and hair go really peculiar and uncomfortable, and despite making sure I kept my mouth closed I always ended up with salt water in my mouth which made me feel queasy.
2) Cleanliness (or lack of) - The majority of the downstairs of the hotel,
the parts non-residents saw, were generally quite clean and smart, although the toilets were absolutely filthy. On both occasions that I went in there I walked straight out again as they were so disgusting. They were also permanently flooded. The stair area looked filthy and the carpet was very worn. As for our room, in 6 days it was only cleaned 3 times, but all this consisted of was putting the same dirty sheets & towels back on the bed, we didn't even get any clean ones. The lack of cleaning also meant we did not have any extra toilet rolls so I had to keep going downstairs and 'borrowing' some from the filthy toilets. On the plane on way home I was violently ill which some kind of stomach bug and 4 days later i'm still suffering, unfortunately my boyfriend also caught the same thing. Obviously we can't prove this had anything to do with the hotel, but due to the filthiness and lack of cleaning in the hotel we do have strong suspicions…
3) Price - Overall the whole town was expensive, and the Hotel was no exception. Even when sat around the pool in 40 degree heat they didn't allow you to drink any water bought elsewhere, you had to buy it from the pool bar, and they charged about £1.30 for a 1.5 litre bottle. Meals in the restaurant were very expensive too (about £7 - £10 per main course), and the bar was extortionous - a beer was nearly £2 and a Black Russian cocktail (which my boyfriend had to go behind the bar & make himself!) was £6.
4) 'Free' Mini bar - Despite being told when we were first taken up to our room that everything in the mini bar was free, it turns out that this was a lie. Don't believe them! Because you will have to pay for it and it's not cheap. We were also charged for one item which was never in the mini bar to start with, which they had previously explained to us was originally missing.
5) Breakfast - When we checked in we were told that breakfast was from 8.00 - 10.00. However on two occasions when we had early starts for day trips & went down for breakfast at 8.00, and nothing was yet set out. On one morning this resulted in us having to wait until 8.20 before we could grab what we could before rushing off to catch our coach, and on another day we had to leave without any breakfast at all - annoying when you have paid for B&B, but also not acceptable when going on a long coach trip and day long excursion.
6) Lift - Broken!! This doesn't seem like a huge problem when you first get there but believe me if you're on the third floor and the temperature is in the late 30s/early 40s those three flights of stairs are not fun. We were told that the lift had just broken and was going to take 10 days to be mended, however after reading other peoples reviews it seems that this is rubbish and it has been broken for a long time. They obviously have no intention of fixing it.
7) Facilities - The hotel's write up and website boasts that it has: 3 bars, in fact it only has 2 as the third (the roof bar) hasn't been built yet! Fitness suite, which consists of two ancient treadmills and an exercise bike in what could only be described as a storage room. Kids club - we saw nothing like this, and I don't think I'd trust many of the staff to look after my kid. Sauna - ?!? Where??
8) 'Turkish' night - The price for the Hotels Turkish night was £10 each which included a buffet and BBQ and 'fire show' and dancers. To be fair, the food was quite nice and there was some traditional Turkish dancing (however the majority of this was done by the Hotel staff dressing up in various different outfits and looking thoroughly bored throughout), but the rest of the night was filled with local children break dancing and a member of the staff doing a Michael Jackson impersonation - what's Turkish about break dancing and Michael Jackson?! Plus the fire show was just another of the staff drinking 2 bottles of Rum and spitting this out and igniting it. What made it worse was that all the dancers then moved round the tables expecting tips, which was ok for the first time but after the fourth lot you just feel like you're being ripped off.
9) Altinkum itself - Not what we expected at all. If you like Karaoke bars, football, and all your food with chips then you'll love it here. Unfortunately we were looking for something more Turkish, or at least something less like a substandard Torquay or Blackpool, so we didn't like it. In fact we had trouble finding anything Turkish on any of the menus. With all the bars the town was also very loud and noisy, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who wanted a quiet or chilled holiday or for families. Food and drink in the town is really overpriced, particularly as the food is nothing special, we were paying about £20 a go for two main courses, a bottle of water & 2 soft drinks. This was a shock as we were told Turkey was cheap for food and that the food was good. The good thing about the town is that its in a good area for trips, the Apollo Temple is a 10 min taxi ride away (although settle on a price beforehand so you don't get ripped of like we did), Ephesus is an hour away and Bodrum is about 2 hours.
Having said that the Hotel did have a couple (literally!) of good points:
It's location was good, near to the main route of shops and bars and literally across the road from the beach. Also, some of the staff there were very friendly, however one in particular seemed to think it was acceptable to leer at the women and make comments like 'hey sexy', 'how are doing gorgeous' which made me feel both very uncomfortable and angry. Although I noticed he only did it when the women were on their own, he never had the guts to try this when I was with my boyfriend!
I'm totally mystified about how this hotel ever got 4 stars. I would advise people not to stay here. It may be slightly cheaper than alternative hotels but don't be tempted by this, it's well worth paying the extra as, trust me, a bad hotel like this will really put a downer on your whole holiday. If you are already booked in here make sure you request a room on the pool side as the seaview side is incredibly noisy until the early hours.
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