Azalea Apart Hotel

“I expected worse according to the reviews here... All depends on luck, which room you get!”

I was half terrified when, after booking the hotel with Detur (who had given it 4 stars!) I came here and read the reviews. We even tried to change hotels but should have paid a lot of extra. No thank you. So to Azalea we went... Shortly put: Not a 4 star hotel, but according to our experience 3... more

I was half terrified when, after booking the hotel with Detur (who had given it 4 stars!) I came here and read the reviews. We even tried to change hotels but should have paid a lot of extra. No thank you. So to Azalea we went... Shortly put: Not a 4 star hotel, but according to our experience 3 stars is more like it. An average place. If you don´t look into nooks and crannies, the overall feeling is basic but clean. We were positively surprised, expecting muuuch worse... Pros: + Our room was bug free (we think). No bed bug bites or cockroaches around. + Our cleaning ladies were VERY helpful and friendly! Unlike for many others, the room was cleaned from door to ceiling every day. Our beds were changed and made with swans and other decorations. Even our dishes were washed when they don´t have to do that in an apart hotel. Absolutely stellar review for the lovely cleaning staff! +++++ (Though this may be because we had a little misunderstanding and drama on the first day and my slight panicking put some action in the staff... But luckily our little accident ended up making sure our cleaning service was impeccable. :) + The pool areas were OK. We travelled in late season, so nothing was crowded and there was always space to relax around the pool. In the end of the week we´d become acquainted with the pool bar staff who were friendly and even offered a free fruit plate one day. This may be because we were a crew of Finnish people packed there and they apparently like Finns... ;) + The water slide on the shabbier pool (the are two pools) was fun for all ages! If it ran, that is... They had to ask everyday to get it working, the hours didn´t apply. + Wifi worked well especially in the balcony and pool area. After you paid for it... + Location is OK. It´s a 10ish minute walk to the beach. And cons: - The reception staff is very unfriendly and/or disinterested in customer service. One day we were in a hurry, and they surely took their time doing god knows what when all I tried to do was to pay for Wifi (yes, you have to pay for it in this hotel). the explanation was "this is Turkey, we do things differently here"... Does that mean slowly, without a smile and in a very unhelpful attitude? In this hotel for sure. - In our room everything worked, thankfully, but our neighbours and others had plenty of complaints: their toilets didn´t work (and after fixing still didn´t...), their air conditioning didn´t work or only one of the two in different rooms worked. Also complaints about cleaning and not getting toilet paper (being told you have to buy your own!)... This part we know nothing about because our room and toilet paper situation was great. Lucky us! - Certain people from a certain big country east to Finland acted like idiots in the hotel. And this hotel had plenty of them. Everything was trashed and left around. They apparently bought all the beer from the pool bar, so everyone else had to wait until they could re-stock. I also heard a rumour that some ADULTS had done a number two in the swimming pool!! I don´t even want to think about this, because I happily swam there... The hotel staff hated them as much as every guest from other nations. No offense, but seriously, disgusting and rude to say the least! - You have to pay for pretty much everything: Wifi, air conditioning, safety box... Expect to throw nearly an extra 200 € for a 2-week stay to get these! - Pool bar was friendly but expensive as hell! Drinks cost 8-10 €, beer was the only reasonable thing costing about 3 €. Apparently you were not allowed to even bring your own water bottle to the pool. --- All in all I guess it´s up to luck with this hotel. Everything might work just fine and you can enjoy your holiday in a basic apart hotel. Not 4 stars, remember that though... OR everything might go wrong. Dirty rooms, minimal room cleaning, too much noice from the bar, etc. A lot has to do with your own attitude as well, but I understand that many are disappointed because they are expecting a nice 4-star hotel. In that sense, look elsewhere! But a basic stay in an affordable priced apart hotel can be expected. If you don´t mind unfriendly receptionists and possibly toilets not working... ;)

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