We stayed at the Kahya Hotel for 2 weeks from 18th May to 1st June. After reading some unsavoury reviews, we can honestly say we needn't have worried.
The transfer to the hotel took well over 2 hours as our particular driver did not appear to be sure of the location of a couple of the hotels en route.
Other reviews mentioned problems at check-in with being asked to upgrade to all-inclusive, we weren't even asked to upgrade so were quite relieved, but should you wish to do this, the cost is 10 euros per person per day (or 20 turkish lira, or YTL).
We were advised to take Turkish lira, but as this is a very popular resort with the Europeans, the Euro is widely used and encouraged. You can pay for anything in either currency or even a combination of both. We paid for the safe at the hotel in YTL and received Euros in change, so do not get confused by this. To simplify things, Euros were classed the same value as the pound, and lira were classed as double the Euro/pound. There was no charge for air conditioning in the room as it was included in the price we paid.
It was almost breakfast time when we arrived (which is from 7.30am to 10.00am), so we went straight to the food hall and have to admit, walked around it twice wondering what on earth we were going to have, but we were suffering from lack of sleep and not quite with it! There is a cold buffet section, with a few plates of food which we could only describe as 'indescribable'; loads of different salad items (but how many Brits have salad for breakfast?!); different breads (next to a large toaster); only 2 cereals, one chocolatey, one plain; eggs (soft boiled, hard boiled, omelette); plain yoghurt; jams; honey; cheeses; chicken and salami type slices, watermelon, etc. As the majority of Turks are Muslims and do not eat pig, there is no bacon so do not expect an English
breakfast here. We would recommend taking your own teabags and a travel kettle, as Turkish tea is incredibly strong.
As we were half board, we didn't have lunch at the hotel and made do with snacks from the supermarket. The hotel lunch looked very similar to breakfast and dinner. Each morning, a noticeboard listed what would be on offer for dinner, and it was usually chicken or meatballs, with rice every day, either chips or potatoes and, surprisingly, fresh vegetables (carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, even sprouts), albeit on different days. The food was geared towards the European clients but there was always enough to choose from for us Brits. However, I'm sure the Germans don't really want to eat almost the same thing very night either! The chicken (and on 1 or 2 occasions, lamb) was beautifully cooked and very tender. You could see that the hot buffet was steaming hot so there were no issues with dodgy uncooked food, and we saw no flies or mosquitoes in the food hall. We were pleasantly surprised by the standard of the food, and although it did become rather repetitive, we didn't feel the need to have to eat dinner elsewhere.
The hotel is about 90% German with a few Brits, Russians, Dutch and Norwegians. We spoke with a few other nationalities, but were not acknowledged by the Germans, though this did not cause us any concern.
The hotel is 50m from the beach and sea, just across the road and through beautiful gardens with lovely plants, statues, water jets and fountains, which are lit up at night. From our room and balcony, we had a fantastic view of Alanya castle on the peninsula hilltop, which was also illuminated at night. It took about 20-25 minutes to walk down to the harbour where the main nightlife is - not 300m to the nightlife as stated - where you can view the castle on the other side of the peninsula also. If you hope to have many nights out in the harbour bars with good music, be prepared to spend lots of money, beer was cheapest at 6YTL and cocktails were about 18YTL, so look out for bars that are selling 2 for 1 cocktails, it will save you loads.
During the day you can catch a bus (dolmus) up to the castle for about 1 euro or 1.75YTL. We wouldn't recommend attempting to walk up the winding hilly road to the castle, there are little or no footpaths and lots of traffic, not to mention the stifling heat. The views of the harbour and the Red Tower are stunning on the way and up down the hill. We walked around the castle (which only takes about an hour) and took in the spectacular views of Kleopatra beach, and could see the Kahya hotel and our balcony from the top of castle!
The Damlatas Cave is worth a look at the end of the same road as the Kahya, although it's not that big inside. The entrance fee was about 4YTL.
Be prepared to haggle with taxi drivers - their prices can be extortionate, they will certainly try it on.
Two sunloungers with umbrella are 9YTL per day on the beach, but you can just lie on your beach towel or buy an inflatable and you won't be charged. The sand was scorching to walk on, even with flipflops on, so beware! The sand shelves quite deeply on entering the sea. Handy hint - the beach bar drinks were double the cost of those from the supermarket near the hotel. A guy walks the beach asking if anyone wants drinks, icecreams etc from the beach bar, so don't get caught out buying from him unless you have plenty of money! An ordinary can of sprite was 3.50YTL from here and was only 1.50YTL in the supermarket.
There is a nice sea breeze on the beach, which you will not find around the pool, where it was much hotter. There are signs up for clients not to reserve pool sunbeds, which is ignored by others, so just do as they do and take your towels with you when going down for breakfast, and bag a sunbed before you eat. It was quite crowded pool side and it wasn't even high season.
If you remain half-board, buy your water from the Kleopatra Supermarket (turn right out of the hotel entrance and it's just a few metres down on the right hand side down some steps). A large bottle of water here is 0.75 cents, whereas a small bottle in the hotel costs 3.50YTL. We were told the tap water was OK to drink, but due to the high mineral content, it's not recommended, although it's OK for cleaning your teeth with.
Shop around for trips. We spoke to 3 different tour agents (all close to the Kahya). We chose the Kursunlu waterfalls/Aspendos amphitheatre/Side trip (known as the K.A.S. tour). An agent at Lovely Tours said everything was included except drinks on that trip. The second and third agents' prices for the same tour were almost double, and when we queried why, it's because Lovely Tours' price does not include entrance fees into the Kursunlu waterfalls (which is a National Park) and Aspendos. We booked the K.A.S. with Nico at Elkay Tours (he normally sits under the shade of the trees just nextdoor to the Kleopatra Supermarket mentioned above). You pay him only a small deposit and then pay the balance to your tour guide on the coach on the day of the trip. We found Nico to be a very friendly and honest guy, we only did that one trip with him but spoke to him most days, he was lovely to us and offered many a cup of apple tea. Please try it if you are offered some, it's quite nice and not like herbal tea at all, plus it may offend them if you say no! On the day of our trip, other couples on the coach had booked with Lovely Tours and were very surprised and annoyed to find that the price they paid did not include admission fees, so this is further proof that Nico was a little more accurate with his information than others. If you go elsewhere and get a price of about 60YTL per couple for this trip, please note that this is VERY unlikely to include the entrance fees, and you will have to pay extra on the coach if you want to gain access to both sites.
There is another trip to a waterfall at Manavgat, which is a long broad wier-like fall with a small drop, as opposed to the 8 or 9 waterfalls at Kursunlu which are around 14m to 18m drop. They looked much better in the brochure pictures than Manavgat, but there are quite a few steps to go up and down at Kursunlu so it might not be suitable for those who have mobility problems.
The Turks are extremely proud of their nation and it pleases them if you have taken a bit of time to learn a few words or phrases. We researched on the internet and found a useful site where you can listen to and write down the pronounciation etc as you go through it. We took a list of words with us and found it fun trying them out.
We only ate out twice for lunch, both times at the Sedir Restaurant down the road from the Kahya, it's really friendly and they do the most gorgeous flat bread with dips as an appetiser whilst you wait for your meal. Most of the restaurant staff away from the hotel speak fairly good English, and like to speak to the Brits as they told us the Germans ignore them. Reviews from last year recommended Dolly's restaurant which was supposed to be 20m from the hotel, but we didn't find it. There is a sign for Dolly's up on the side of a clothes shop just down the road, but no restaurant so can only assume it's no longer there.
Beware of being overcharged for drinks from the hotel bar. You cannot 'pay as you go' for drinks, you are given receipts for what you've had and it's added up at the end of your stay. Other Brits had a certain number of receipts to prove what they had had during their stay, but on check-out, the male receptionist tried to tell them they had had much more, and so to avoid confrontation, they just paid the extra. This happens often according to other reviews so we were prepared - we took NOTHING from the mini-bar in our room and NOTHING from the pool bar the entire 2 weeks. We were discreet about taking water, sprite or beer in from the supermarket, especially when walking back to our room through reception, and as we didn't flaunt it, we were never tackled over it. We kept our own drinks in the mini-bar fridge to keep them cold, and had no problem with having items removed during our stay.
We were pleased to learn from other reviews before we went away, so hopefully you will pick up a tip or two from this. It sometimes seems that the locals want you to part with as much money as possible, but they are not all the same and we had no problem when out and about, day or night. We found the Turkish to be very friendly and inquisitve - they will ask where you are from so they can speak your language. If anyone does try and stop you when you just want to pass by, give them a friendly but firm 'no thank you' and walk on.
We had a fantastic time in Alanya and found it be to be a really beautiful place. Don't be put off by other bad reviews about this hotel, now we are no longer there, we wish we still were! Having heard others talking about their hotels on the way home, it sounded like we definitely landed on our feet with the Kahya. The highlights of our stay were the fantastic castle views (especially at night, which we will never forget), plus the beautiful gardens and beach across the road and the friendliness of the locals. We would stay at the Kahya again, but probably not for a while as we like to try different places each year.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
