I‘ve consulted this website before, so I decided to give something back in return, especially since for the Joy Kiris World resort there’s only 1 English review here. So let’s get down to business:
We visited the resort Joy Kiris World in the June of 2008. We picked it through a catalogue, from the pictures there it actually seemed a little too good to be true. It actually wasn’t, we liked it quite a bit.
Location: by far the best feature of this resort is the location. Situated at a somewhat of a peninsula, the resort actually has 3 separate beaches, each one different from the others. I honestly don’t think you can find a location like this that easily in the Mediterranean region. On top of that, there’s a large rocky hill that runs through the property, covered with lush pine trees. Frequently you get to see a small herd of mountain goats that often wanders down from the rocks to feed at flowers in the hotel gardens, until the staff chases them off.
The hotel: the resort comprises out of numerous standalone buildings. There’s the main building that houses the lobby, the reception, the main restaurant and bar, shops, theater, spa and so on. This one is in a great shape, probably recently renovated, with nice interior decorations. Living areas are spread throughout the property, with 5 high rise buildings and dozens of small bungalows. Don’t know about the bungalows, but the high rise apartments are just average, nothing offensive but quite far from a 5-star standard you might be used to in the EU. The rooms are large, clean, but the furniture is old (though repainted). Our bathroom, in spite of an all-marble treatment had a tub with paint peeling off and corners around the tub that sure could use more scrubbing. On the other hand the rooms are really quite large, and bed mattresses seem to be of a higher quality. There’s a cable TV in the room and a minibar that gets refilled daily with free soft drinks.
Then there are several other bars and restaurants scattered throughout the property, with the largest being by the main pool.
The whole resort is situated in a large and beautiful garden with lush vegetation, golf course-like lawns, tall mature trees, colorful flowers and several ponds, complete with goldfish and waterfalls. This is one truly beautiful feature of this resort, you can easily get lost in this maze of vegetation. All of these are meticulously cared for and maintained, with the lawn watering being on several times per day and lawn mowing being done several times per week. If a dry patch of grass happens to pop up somewhere, almost instantly there is a worker standing there pouring hectoliters of water on it.
Beaches: a picture says a thousand words, so I’ll try to upload a few. As I mentioned, there are 3 beaches there, which is quite unique. All have umbrellas and chairs for free of course, and besides the standard umbrellas there are numerous booth-like boxes’ with curtains and mattresses inside. They feel quite private and cozy, but you should get up earlier if you want to have one of these. Generally speaking it’s a good idea to go to the beach of your choice before 8 a.m. to reserve the best place on the beach by putting a couple of towels on the chairs. That also applies to the booths.
Most of the time we were using the third beach by the amphitheater, which is by far the least crowded (not that the other ones are) and offers a visually stunning backdrop with rocky cliffs hanging over you. This beach only has 10 booths and no sun umbrella, so there is on average no more than 20 people there. Really quiet and private.
All of the beaches are very clean, you don’t get to see any garbage at all.
The only downside of the beaches is that they are not sandy, it’s all gravel of various size. I personally prefer sand, the whiter the better. On the positive side, the water is crystal clear because of it.
The water is perfect for snorkeling, no need to travel anywhere, each beach is separated from the others by rocks, and those are the best places to go. You’ll see huge amounts of fishes just a few meters from the beach.
The water was dead calm 95 percent of the time, hence great for kids.
Food: plentiful, mostly really good, so watch your weight. I’ve been to a few all-inclusive resorts, I think this one had by far the best and the largest selection of food, including huge quantities of fruits, deserts and drinks. In case you’re wondering, none of us got diarrhea or any other problems, though wife and daughter only drank bottled water (available in unlimited quantities in all of the bars), but I personally drank local drinks with no problems. I think it is more of a problem of African destination (Egypt, Tunisia) rather than Turkey.
Staff: first and foremost, kudos to the restaurant floor manager. The staff there was great, perfectly organized and managed, courteous and always there when needed, whether to take away used dishes, or to sweep a spill on the floor, or to restack food. Really very efficient. They are very friendly with kids, though my 3-year old didn’t appreciate that all that much.
As for the rest of the staff, we had no significant complaints, except for the fact that for some reason a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door knob does not guarantee you won’t get a knock on the door asking you whether you want your beds made up or the minibar refilled. Strange, if you ask me.
Guest: be prepared that the vast majority of the guests will be Russian. Travel to Turkey is a lot less complicated for them than travel to the EU, where they have to go through a complicated visa process, hence Turkey together with Egypt are their destinations of choice. Though it was something new to us, I must say we didn’t mind it. Some of them sure have bad manners, they cut in line at lunch and fill up their plates like there’s no tomorrow, but overall they are quite introvert and keep to themselves, definitely quite a difference to the rowdy and noisy English or German tourists that you often come across in the popular southern European destinations.
There’s one thing that the Russians can and should be blamed for, and that’s the fact that shopping in Turkey has become more expensive than in Western Europe. As an example, you can’t buy a t-shirts for less than 20 euros, and they won’t even bargain they way they used to. Why would they when the Russian will pay the asking price no questions asked. So in spite of Turkey being the second largest producer of textiles in the world, you’re not likely to expand you wardrobe in any significant way. You can get better clothes for a third of the price at home, and that’s a fact.
All in all, we had a great time and I can recommend this hotel.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
