If you stay at this hotel the only good thing about it is the independent jewellers opposite the dining room. We each had rings made by Adnan and he is a trustworthy, lovely man who will not rip you off. The opposite in fact and during our 2 week stay he became a good friend.
Everything else about the hotel says "Stay away". The people running the Onura are not the owners so there is no attempt to give its very tired look a facelift. In our room the toilet seat was loose and I reported it-nothing was done to fix it and it eventually came apart. They finally fixed it and a few days later it fell apart again. Also in the bathroom was a hole in the wall through which a telephone cable was hanging out. The bath panel was coming away from the bath. The beds always had the cover laid out in a fancy pattern but linen wasn't changed that often. Towels were changed but only every second or third day. The 'balcony' was a joke and contained three birds' nests which were in use so loads of bird droppings everywhere. After numerous requests the crap was eventually cleaned up and if we left a note it was cleaned that day.
Do not pay any attention to anybody who says the negative reviews are unfounded-we ignored them thinking they were exaggerated but they aren't. If anything people have held back.
The food? Quite possibly the worst hotel food I have ever encountered. It was always cold, unappetizing and very poor quality. I eat street food in Thailand so I'm no food snob and generally love most foods but the Onura's 'cuisine' was so lousy that I struggled to find anything edible at each meal time. Truthfully. They couldn't even present salads that looked nice-everything looked like it had been bought at the local market when they were trying to get rid of the leftovers rather than having to dispose of it. The selection of fruit was limited to water melon, melon, sometimes peaches and one day there were cherries but that was it. The inside dining room was like a children's playground and offered the most unpleasant eating experience outside of McDonalds when there's a party taking place. Evening meals were dreadful. Again, poor quality foods prepared badly and other than the stuff from the outside cooking teams it was almost always cold. The grilled chicken was the only meat item I could eat. They do kebabs once a week but you'll find the meat swimming in the fat that gets rendered during the cooking process. I was hoping for typical Turkish foods but we were regularly served 'Special Sausage' or variants on them and to say they were awful is being kind. 'Special Sausages' were flat, machine shaped pieces of meat(?), oily and the texture of shoe leather. Enough about the food-you get the idea. It really is dreadful. Don't even ask about the snack bar's offerings during the day-lamb burgers, chips and something they call Turkish Pizza which is pita bread and cheese. This was served every single day and generally the burgers were luke warm or cold, the buns weren't warmed and always inedible. Truly dreadful stuff.
The hotel boasts a 'private beach' which is a joke. The sunbeds are on what can only be described as a man made quayside covered in a layer of sand. The actual beach is about 15 to 20 meters wide and is very rocky-both in the sea and on the shore. The water was always murky and where the big rocks are you'll find some black sea anenomes which stung a number of people while we were there. I ventured into the sea once in 2 weeks and even then I went to the beach of the next hotel because it had some sand and no big rocks under the water. To add to the 'beach' review you feel as though you're going on an expedition. From the main level of the hotel (ground floor) you first go down 2 floors then walk 20 or 30 metres and go down the equivalent of half a flight of stairs, cross the snack bar and then you reach the elevator to take you down about 5 floors to beach bar level. You're not done yet, there's still 2 more full floors to go before you reach the sunbeds. Ismail at the beach bar is a nice guy and his friend in charge of the sunbeds is also very helpful.
The snack bar is where evening alcohol is served and is very basic-wooden chairs and tables and that is it. Not the most welcoming of places and the staff are not the best-especially 'speccy' who seemed to be the head bar man. They offer cocktails but no menu to choose from so you can only order a blue one, pink one, green one or 'one like that person's'. Standards mixed drinks are served but it depends who serves you as to whether you get enough gin or vodka that you can taste. The beach bar only serves beer, soft drinks and coffee. You can get coffee and juice drinks in the lobby bar but they turn the coffee machine off at 2am (they'll switch it on again after that time but will make you pay). There is free Wi-Fi in the lobby bar area.
If you want to go to Kusadasi do not use the taxis hanging around outside the hotel-there's no need. Walk down the slope to the main road where you'll be able to catch a local dolmus to take you to Kusadasi Centrum for 2 Lira each. Taxi will cost about 27 Lira. If you want to go to Soke for the day head into Kusadasi first and then catch a dolmus there (4 Lira each) because they are always full by the time they reach the Onura. Obviously, on the return journey you'll get off at the Onura. Kusadasi town itself offers nothing other than endless t-shirt, leather jacket and jewellery shops. I found prices in Soke were typically 30% cheaper than Kusadasi. There isn't the selection of shops in Soke but they offer better value for money.
Visit Ephesus-absolutely fantastic place and worth the visit and almost worth putting up with the Onura for.
As I stated at the beginning, the only recommendation I have for this hotel is Adnan the jeweller. I wouldn't stay there again if it was offered to me for free.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
