We stayed here many times when the hotel was run by Sheraton. Unfortunately, things have gone very much downhill since Rixos took over. The rooms are still lovely, the bathrooms have been cheered up and there's even some new balcony furniture, but then there is the staff...
Check-in was such an excruciating experience, we were actually reaching a point where we thought we might give up. When we were eventually served, another guest interrupted and I was just abandoned mid-check-in (we'd already waited about 15 minutes to get someone's attention - the entire staff was checking in a Turkish football team and apparently that meant that no other guests could be served during this very long process). When I asked the member of staff if I could finish my check in, he told me to wait because he was dealing with another guest - oddly enough, he had actually been dealing with me until this other guest interrupted. We then left our bags with reception, as our rooms weren't ready. When we returned in the afternoon, nobody knew where the bags were - not in the storage room, not in our rooms (as had been promised). They eventually turned up somewhere behind the reception desk, but it's not exactly a secure arrangement.
When we returned from dinner in the evening, we decided to have a nightcap in the bar. We were told that it was 25 lira for a glass of wine (about £10) and that it would be cheaper to have a bottle. The bottle that arrived was Majestik, one of the nastier brands of Turkish wine - and one of the cheapest. It costs around 12 lira in the supermarket, but we were charged 70 lira - a mark-up of nearly 700%. Oh dear - I know one expects to be charged a premium in a hotel setting, but I would have thought this was a bit excessive by anyone's standards.
Breakfast was excellent and the staff were lovely - very obliging and smiley. Unfortunately they forgot to tell us that we could have espresso coffee until after we'd already had two cups of the mystery liquid they serve up billed as 'coffee'. I don't think it had ever been near a coffee bean - it was quite horrible. The food, however, was excellent - a great selection and everything fresh and hot, with a very nice chef cook eggs to order.
I probably would stay here again, because the location is right, it's easy to get to, has good parking and the rooms are comfortable, but it is a shame about the front office staff. When the hotel was run by Sheraton, the service was efficient and sleek, and the staff always remembered repeat guests by name (we stay there often, as we live three hours away). Unfortunately, Rixos were too short-sighted to keep the key members of staff employed while they undertook a refurbishment, and most of them decamped to two other new American-branded hotels that have opened up recently. I don't know where Rixos has found its new staff, but I think it might need to find a new source!
- Sheraton Antalya
- Sheraton Voyager
- Antalya Sheraton
