After reading some of the reviews about the Melissa Gardens we were quite worried at what we would find. We arrived in the early hours of the morning and shown to our 2 bed appt and were very pleasantly surprised, it was spacious and very clean. The self catering facilities were quite good and had everything necessary for a self catering holiday. The pool was large with plenty of sun beds (there is also another pool across the road at the back of the complex). The food was in the restaurant was ok but nothing special, staff ignore u if u don't book their entertainment evenings but who cares, we didn't go on holiday to please them. The pool area was not hosed down once during our two weeks and only got cleaned by a thunderstorm we had one day. Our appartment was cleaned every day except for one day per week when the maid had her day off, we have never received such a good maid service anywhere we have stayed in Turkey. Side itself is very pretty with a lovely harbour but is very expensive compared to other resorts in Turkey, if u mention this the shopkeepers become very rude.

We had 2 balconies, one at the front of the appt and one at the back, the front balcony could not be used as Melissa Gardens is on a very busy dual carriageway and so had a lot of traffic noise. There are bars on both sides of the complex which play extremely loud music until 4 - 4.30 every morning and this also applies to the pool bar so sleep depravation was a problem.

Not all appartments are as spacious as ours was, some are extremely small and badly decorated and also have a drainage problem from the toilets so really stink, there were a lot of complaints from this block and the Thomas Cook rep was useless (luckily we had no reason to complain unlike some customers). So if you want to get some sleep on your holiday Melissa Gardens is not for you,.

Just got back from the Melissa Gardens with Thomas Cook, after reading some of the reviews i was abit concerned and how true they where...upon arrival at 04:30 I was given a very small one bed room on the second floor over looking the bar area. The room smelt of sewage but after travelling i wanted sleep. In the morning the sewage smell was worse and i discovered that the bathroom had an open drain next to the toilet, the rest of the bathroom was in a stage of refurb half tiled walls unfinished a plastic tonuge n groove style ceiling with holes cut out for no reason!. the small kitchen area was very basic not expecting the ritz but a cup of tea at least. The electric kettle was broken so after a trip to reception I was told it would be replaced but never happened..Then the first night turned out to be a nightmare.. the music started from the Fizz bar next door and went on all night till around 3am that loud the windows rattled to the beat..topped with the constant sewage smell coming into the bedroom from the toilet a holiday from hell......
After the second and third night of NO SLEEP till after 3am I spoke with the Thomas Cook rep Lee Dining to ask for a room change..only to be told NO ! but he could get us a flight home !
not there to help in any way but very rude..i think he needs a career change customer care none exsistant. Later he explained that he had had a hard season , not my problem!
After two days of trying to deal with thomas cook phoning the office and told it's hight of the season no rooms available.. and the final straw came when the Rep Lee Dining came to the apartment reception saw us by the pool and tried to run off out of the complex instead of trying to deal with us. All i wanted was a quiet room and sleep!
if i wanted loud music no sleep i would have booked a club 1830 holiday!
I spoke with the Turkish reception manager and within 20 minutes we had a room exchange on the opposite side of the complex.
But I had lost 4 days of my holiday and totally exhausted with no sleep thanks Thomas Cook!!!
The staff are friendly but are really only after your lira by wanting you to stay and eat at the poolside restaurant constantly walking around the poolside during the day asking to book you a table for the evening.
If you want this sort of pressure book an all inclusive as you never leave the complex.
There are two good good eating places either side called
The Queens & Yusef well worth a try
But a hidden gem is a 10 minute walk to the beach a bar called fantasy bar the views are fantastic and the food and service are great.
get out of the apartments and explore its a great place but top tip haggle

Melissa Gardens is basic, needs some refurbishment, including all the bed linen and towels renewed, but it is clean, spacious (the back apartments) and the owners and staff are lovely. If you are fussy then go elsewhere, but I can honestly say I would go back again, because of the location, the people and to see what improvements have been made. According to the current owners who have just taken over, they are in the process of upgrading. It is built in two parts, with two pools, the second part across the road, which was where we stayed overlooking the garden complete with dog (Melissa) turkeys, ducks, hens, rabbits etc. The apartments at the back are large with good size balconies. The pool area is clean, there is a small children’s pool and there didn’t appear to be any problem getting a bed (which are free by the way). A word about the waiters, they are all lovely and do not hassle you despite what some of the reviews say. The Turkish night and the Magic Show were excellent and well worth the money. However, I cannot comment on the spa as I used the one down the hill (Dynasty Linda Wellbeing Clinic) which was excellent. The surrounding area is like a small community with everyone being very friendly and no hassling at all. The beach is across the road about 5 minutes walk away. The restaurant down at the beach (Fantasia) is really good with Deniz and Erhan on hand to serve you. The Golden Fizz just up the street from Melissa Gardens is a great place to eat and good fun with Jimmy, Ali, Bob, Franky etc. All in all Side is a lovely place more suited to couples and families. One thing I would say is it would be difficult to push a pram or wheelchair around as the pavements up towards the Great Gate are not for the faint hearted! The main centre though is pedestrianised, the easiest way to reach the harbor and centre is via a Dolmus (which comes along every 5-10 minutes) and is very cheap. The Turkish people are very helpful and will make sure you get off at the right stop. They all work extremely hard with long hours (basically 24/7) but are so pleasant and just want you to enjoy your holiday.

I just came back from my fab week in Melissa gardens. After reading some of the review I was a bit worried originaly. The hotel is so great the apartment is so spacious. I went with my 2 friends and we all had room each in apartment. Staff in hotel was friendly but noone was pushy or rude to us. Both pools are amazing. It was a bit strugle to get decent sun beds but thats same in every hotel. The music from bars might be a bit noisy for some people but its bareble and I always got a good night sleep. Just want to say thank you to all hotel staff you are doing briliant job and I would love to come back next year. x