I feel as though we should have been told about the poor quality of service, and the poor quality of the accommodation in which we booked.
The hotel was advertised as a 4* all inclusive, this suited my partner and I as we wanted a quality if not a decent holiday at a fair price. We could not afford much therefore we were impressed we paid £797 in total for the holiday. This was £797 too much! If I knew how bad the accommodation was going to be there is no way I would have booked it, I would not even send my dogs there!
The main problems with the hotel were the food and overall the accommodation. I do not believe 4* is a true grading for this hotel, it is barely a 2*. In fact, I have stayed in 2* accommodation which was much brighter, cleaner and had more of a friendly feel.
The hotel staff made us feel out of place, they did not smile or speak unless we made conversation and this was at reception! Therefore customer service at this hotel was non-existent!
When we arrived at the hotel, we were immediately confronted with three holiday makers arguing with the receptionist due to the hotel being overbooked! Therefore first impressions were disgraceful, until we found our room was reserved and we managed to check-in straight away.
We were guided to our room by a more pleasant hotel worker. The room was in the main hotel building (don’t know which block as it was very confusing), our room number was 235 on the second floor. Also the hotel did not state ‘Deluxe’ anywhere on or in the hotel so we still do not know what hotel we were in. We requested a pool view room; we didn’t get one which we didn’t mind as this wasn’t definite. When the member of staff opened the door to our room, we were immediately disappointed (it did not look anything like the photos advertised on any website), it was small, had a small bathroom which wasn’t particularly clean, there were also three beds in the room – this was strange as there were only two of us staying there! We booked a double room and received a twin room, which again we didn’t mind as we are pretty easy going. We didn’t feel the need to complain to reception especially as it was the middle of the night.
The decoration of the room was OK but the carpet was dangerous! It overlapped in numerous places which would not pass health and safety regulations as it was a constant hazard! We again thought it was pointless to complain as we already found out the hotel was overbooked (therefore could not be moved to a different room), and the only way to correct the problem would be to remove all furnishings, ripping up the carpet and replacing it. This obviously was not going to happen.
The balcony was not a proper balcony by hotel standards! You could fit one chair on at a push; it would be best described as a Juliet balcony. This was also not very clean. The door to the balcony was not sound proof and we could hear the music from nearby pubs and clubs.
The door to our room had a huge gap under it (approximately 55mm), we could hear conversations in the corridor, people banging on doors, and it was awful! Not a relaxing holiday as we had planned!
On the website the room facilities are described as having a ‘mini bar’ which was an empty fridge! It also states that there is satellite TV, we had BBC world news in English, there were 8 other channels in a different language with which only 2 worked! We were annoyed by this as we enjoy watching TV whilst getting ready!
The beds at the hotel were also disappointing as they were like sleeping on concrete (no exaggeration), they were ridiculously hard and uncomfortable!
The entrance to the bathroom was dangerous as it had a tiled marble step to get into it (approximately 50mm high); I hurt my toes numerous times going into the bathroom. After a couple of days we noticed our bath was leaking, making the floor very wet and dangerous! Whilst having a shower we had to negotiate where to stand as the bath was unstable as it felt like we were going to go through it! It was a nightmare, we never relaxed here.
The air-conditioning was also a problem, we woke up every morning coughing with a sore throat and this was the only possible explanation why! We did try to stop using it but as it was so hot we had no choice!
The hotel itself was appalling, truly disappointing! As an all inclusive hotel, catering for different nationalities including English, nothing about the food tempted our palettes. The only hot food at breakfast was boiled eggs and some sort of potato dish, there was salad, cold meat and cereal, the only bread available was sliced baguette! We stayed for breakfast twice at the hotel the rest of the time ate out, which we did not budget for! The time of breakfast was 7:30am until 9am, which is not very good if one would like a lie in. Lunch was the best time for food and even then it was disappointing and very repetitive, we usually do not mind this but a lot of the food was inedible. The choice was spicy liver, spicy chicken, grilled meatballs, under cooked rice, spaghetti and Bolognese sauce without the meat, and this was the only time chips were served! There was also salad, spices and bland cake for desert! The food was not presented very well; the chicken dish looked as though someone had chewed it and spat it back out (no joke)! The dinner menu was worse with less variety and the same dessert as lunch. Lunch time was from 12:30pm till 2pm and dinner from 7:30 till 9pm. I do not believe these times are long enough but for the lack of variety it is probably too long! Snack time was 3pm till 4pm, and served meatballs and sliced baguettes. Tea time was supposed to be 5pm till 6pm but nothing was offered. This was unacceptable as an all inclusive hotel!
My partner and I booked all inclusive so we did not have to budget for food and worry about money as everything would be paid for! This could not be further from the truth as after two days we could not eat at the hotel anymore and went to local restaurants, this resulted in having to go to the cash point on numerous occasions(as turkey is quite expensive), making this budget holiday very expensive! We both could not wait to come home!
The alcoholic drinks on the all inclusive were terrible, there was beer, vodka, gin and raiki, even though they placed bottles of Malibu, southern comfort, archers etc conveniently on the shelves, which customers would have to pay for. My partner drank soft drinks as she did not like the drinks offered on the all inclusive! I believe this should be advertised as many holiday makers would not be happy about the variety.
The restaurant was dark and dingy(not bright and clean like in the photos), after food table cloths would not be changed even if they were dirty! It is advertised on your website that there is an a la carte restaurant, we did not see this and were advised we could only use the facilities in the main hotel not the Litera Icmeler Relax hotel, this was deserted! There was also only 1 lobby bar and 1 pool side more not 2 as advertised on the website! I cannot express my disappointment enough!
The pool bar was OK, no food was allowed there and we were given plastic beakers which we did not mind, even though Turkish guests received glasses. The poolside toilets were beyond dirty, to reach them there were many steep, tiled, marble steps which as you can imagine were very dangerous as the floor was constantly slippery! The floor was that slippery, other holiday makers were constantly falling over! We had to be extra careful!
On the website there is a photograph of a lovely garden, in reality the entrance was overgrown and not very appealing! We walked through it once and once was enough!
On the website the Litera Icmeler Deluxe is described as offering ‘a good variety of services and facilities for all the family and offers rooms in the main building and the annex block just across the road’ this is not true as the ‘annex’ was deserted. We were told by reception we could only use the facilities in the main building.
As my partner is not keen on lifts we tended to use the stairs a lot, at the top of the stairs on our floor, the carpet was not secured properly (with no joint strip from the tiled floor to the carpet) which was another tripping hazard!
At the bottom of every flight of stairs (to the outside of the building) there was huge glass windows which were constantly open! This was very dangerous because if someone fell down the stairs they would go straight through and would almost definitely be seriously injured! The hotel was a constant hazard!
The lights in the corridors were automatic; therefore when no one was there it was it total darkness. This was unsettling as you could not see from one side of the corridor to the other. Anyone could be lurking around and you would not see them! Sometimes my girlfriend thought her safety was being compromised! I cannot express my regret for booking this holiday, I deeply regret it!
On our floor the entrance to the lift had chipped marble tiles which was dangerous as if anyone was walking barefoot they would be injured! Not to mention that it did not look very appealing, certainly not 4* quality. By the side of the entrance to the lift, there were constantly glasses and plates outside, again not very appealing and not 4* standard!
The lift also had a huge gap from the floor to the door so you could see the ground below, not very good when you do not like lifts! The lift was also very wobbly and seemed to be unsteady (the lift said there was a maximum weight of 200kg and I am 96kg our suit cases were 20kg each so that makes 136kg without my partner and a member of staff helping with our cases?), again not very good standard for a ‘4* hotel’. There was nothing ‘Deluxe’ about it!
Thats my opinion and we will never go back,
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
