Just returned from a week at Club Javelin - the penultimate of the season. Like the previous reviewer, I was quite worried about what we would find based on tripadvisor reports and Sunsail's own forum. So it was a great relief to have such a wonderful family holiday. Biggest thanks for this go to the staff - the Sunsail team are a lively, fun bunch whose obvious enthusiasm for their jobs is infectious. Look after them First Choice - they are your most important resource. The local Turkish staff were wonderful too particularly the chef and kitchen/waiting staff.

The sailing/beach side of things was fantastic. All of us (nervous beginner to expert) felt safe and confident at all times - the safety processes were brilliant.

Hotel was luxurious in terms of spacious rooms and incredible balconies with awesome views; stylish furnishings, and comfort (if you like a firm mattress). We Brits have become a nation of property developers, so there was much comment about the quality of the finish. Yes you would be disappointed if the black-and-white check pattern on your own bathroom floor went haywire half way across, and every fitting had had a few holes drilled in the wrong place first. But does it impact your holiday? I think not at the moment, but the hotel/company must be on top of running repairs right now, otherwise it will start to eg. they'll need to replace the baths pretty soon, metal fittings are starting to rust etc.

Lack of shade was a big worry that turned out not to be a problem (albeit in October sun). I think you could always find some shade - maybe not within 50cm of the poolside. Creating more windproof areas would be welcome.

Food was fab. Masses of salads and fruit - dips, pulses and veg with meat and fish. Real Med diet rather than international style buffet that I feared. If you are a fan of large slabs of meat you may well complain. A few folk said it was 'samey'. It was in the sense that you were offered vastly more choice every day than you could ever cope with.

I didn't feel too ripped-off. The shop was the worst culprit even with an end of season sale.

The only real negative was the seat pitch on the airplane (First Choice Airways). It was very uncomfortable - far worse than any of the low-cost airlines.

Apart from that a brilliant holiday.

Having read previous reviews was a little worried about what we might find, but having won this holiday, complete with flights, had nothing to lose.

Very pleasantly surprised. Good apartment with sitting area and good sized balcony with superb views (all the rooms have sea views). Parents with young children beware - lots and lots of steep concrete steps - we had 3 flights to climb. Suitcases were delivered to door, and collected from apartment on leaving so that helped.

Food (half board), excellent. Good breakfast with huge choice from fruit through to cereal, hot dishes, individually cooked omelettes etc. Excellent kitchen and waiting staff and baker \(working outside), making flat breads constantly.

Our board included 2 lunchesand 5 dinners (including a welcome dinner on the first night as we arrived about 10pm). Buffet style but good choice including excellent salads, choice of hot dishes and wonderful desserts. Plenty of choice and no limit to portions. Wine (about £20 a bottle and bar very, very expensive) Best to buy wine in local supermarkets in Bodrum etc and drink on your balcony.
Punch party - beware - not included but good value overall as plenty of free punch.

Excellent swimming pool. Sailing and more sailing, if that is your thing. Lovely setting but a little isolated. Use the local buses for getting into Bodrum etc, from Camel Beach. About £1.50 each into the town. Hold onto your hats, but good fun. Good spice market in Bodrum (right bus station and supermarket). Visit the Castle - recommeded for about £5 each.

At the beginning of October things fairly quiet and closing down for the winter, but we enjoyed lovely weather with just a couple of rrain storms, and found the people friendly and welcoming.

If you take the local bus to Hotel Florida and get off there, you can walk along the seafront and loads of restaurants, cafes and bars, and a good walk (about 2 miles) back to Club Javelin. Gives you a bit more choice.

My holiday - 1 week at the Javelin resort, 1 week on flotilla.
Setting - A lovely setting with good views of the bay from each appartment. The hotel resort was great too.
Room - Good.
Food - Tasted okay but i am aware of approximately 20 cases of people with sickness and diarrhoea, including sunsail staff and myself. A few staff had the day off work and many customers spent a day or two in their appartments, too weak for the activities. At first i thought it was typical of the Bodrum area, but as soon as we left the hotel to join our sailing flotilla my tummy bug had gone completely.
Sunsail policy - You have to pay for course that are not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. For those too ill with S&D still had to pay for their course. We booked a yacht for a day during our stay at Javelin at a cost of £100 per day. On the morning of our sail we were told there would be no wind at all that day - i was alarmed at a comment from a sunsail staff who told us to "just put the engine on". The beach manager refused to refund us the £100 - he told us the policy is there to stop people cancelling at the last minute particularly if it is very popular - I think this is fair. In our case though, the yachts were only half booked - and with absolutely no wind we couldn't do any sailing.
Activities - very good range off and on shore.
Beach equipment - very good, wide variety and are well looked after.
Courses - This was our first sunsail holiday and I was alarmed because you have to pay for most courses and they are very expensive. Waterski 15 min session = £20 but you only get 10 minutes on the water. We booked three courses worth of waterskiing, the team were great but they were booked up and had no time allowance for the change over of customers - usually they gave up their breakfast break and start earlier in the morning so you get more minutes on the water.
With Neilson holidays all courses are free except yacht training and 1 to 1 with instructors on windsurfing. Which were very cheap. We payed £110 each for a 4 day yacht sailing course.
Spa - Very Very Expensive, more than the average back in the UK. A Turkish bath at the resort costs at least £70. We phoned a local Turkish bath who charged £20 and gave you free lifts there and back.
Bar and non inclusive meals - Again very expensive. Small beer (3/4 pint) about £4, cocktails £9, club sandwich £7.50. Water is twice as expensive than the local shop. Can of coke £2. Everyone felt as though they were being ripped off at every opportunity by sunsail and the turkish hotel company.
Staff - very friendly and helpful.

General Details:- Stayed in Sea View Suite 16th to 30th August 2008. Age 44, married with 12 year old son. Been around a bit and usually stay in 4 star accommodation.

Summary:- Hotel much improved and food still good however Sunsail have lost the plot.


The good bits:-

As a return visitor to this resort I can give some perspective to the new Sunsail experience and I would like to state that with perfect weather and a good location it would be hard not to have a good holiday.

The pre booking service and assistance was excellent and all enquiries and additions were dealt with competently and in good time.

The hotel has been completely renovated and is far superior to the old Javelin hotel. The new hotel is a good concept and clearly considerable thought went into the design and layout. The rooms are spacious, clean and the air conditioning actually works. The beds and furnishings are functional and there is adequate storage etc. The bathroom was clean however the standards of Turkish plumbing have not improved and after using the shower our floor was awash with water. There is a room safe but ours was not bolted down so it was not particularly useful. The rooms have a magnetic card key system which occasionally worked first time but usually required some patience and repeated swiping before the door unlocked. The rooms are quite spread out and there are a considerable amount of uneven steps to negotiate which is likely to be a big problem for pushchairs etc. The general standard of finish is poor and if I were the hotel owner I would be up to my armpits in lawyers refusing to pay the building contractors. The local hotel staff were excellent and any problems reported to them were attended to immediately.
The food was plentiful and whilst some guests commented that “it was always the same” this is probably due to the fact that there was always a considerable amount of choice. The food quality is not gourmet but it is perfectly acceptable and I defy anyone to loose weight!!

The kids clubs are still well run and the AA’s (Activity Assistants) do their best to keep all age groups safe and entertained.

There is a high emphasis on water safety and rest assured that whilst out windsurfing or sailing you are being watched.


The not so good bits:-

The new dining area is spacious and is always immaculately clean (once again the local staff do an excellent job) however the old intimate and friendly atmosphere has disappeared and joining a table of other guests to socialise and discuss the day’s heroics on the water is difficult.

There is a lack of shade and very little beach so for those of us who cannot sit in the sun all day have to employ the rather poor practice of towelling the sunloungers.

Whilst it is claimed that the resort has the same amount of rooms as the previous hotel I would bet that there is more occupancy and the overall number of guests has increased and this contributes to the slightly busy feel of the resort.

The hotel has been renovated and it would appear that the entire bay has followed suite consequently the area does feel a bit overdeveloped.



The completely inexcusable bits:-

In the past three star hotels and bad plumbing have faded into insignificance because of the tremendous customer focus and superb Sunsail staff. Unfortunately this has all changed. I must point out that with the exception of one or two obvious skivers the Sunsail staff are keen enthusiastic quality people who are perfectly capable and willing to provide a superb customer service.
Regrettably the entire Sunsail ethos appears to have been replaced by a need to generate profits and squeeze the customer for every penny. The free clinics and valet parking service for dinghies are well below standard as many of the beach team are committed to providing specialised courses (at an extra cost). Equipment is not always available as it is being reserved for a course (which has to be paid for). You can now guarantee that you will get a day yacht on the day that you choose if you pay a £50 booking fee. When you return to shore be ready to moor and de-rig your own boat as it is unlikely that anyone from the beach will be available to help.
The Dufour 30 day yachts were good boats in their day however they are tired and need to be upgraded.
The waterski staff were excellent however the ski boats are shabby and the ski equipment is very poor.
Some of these issues were raised with the waterfront manager and the response was “well most people seem to manage”. Well of course they manage, they don’t have any other choice do they!
The bar prices are high and the welcome BBQ on the first night at an extra cost is a totally cynical cash generation scheme.
From what little I saw of the Sunsail management it was obvious that their role model was David Brent and on the occasions when I did ask questions the answers were so patronising that I could only walk away quietly fuming.
First Choice Airlines (which incidentally almost makes it into my top ten list of oxymorons) are not conducive with the cost of a Sunsail package. I must give them credit for trying but the seat pitch on their plane must be a design misunderstanding between metric and imperial units, and their in-flight service is reminiscent of the heydays of Monarch Airways.


Conclusion
The Javelin Hotel is much improved however Sunsail is a premium product which is being destroyed by attempting to operate to a bucket shop model with call centre management techniques. AVOID UNTIL THEY GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER!!