Side Royal Paradise

“Nice Budget Vacation Hotel - Great Location!”

Just spent the past few days in the Desire Beach Hotel in Kumkoy and overall it was a great home base for traveling around the area and seeing the sights. The hotel itself didn't have a whole lot to offer since it is/was completely off-season (December). Room was kept clean and tidy, no signs of ... more

Just spent the past few days in the Desire Beach Hotel in Kumkoy and overall it was a great home base for traveling around the area and seeing the sights. The hotel itself didn't have a whole lot to offer since it is/was completely off-season (December). Room was kept clean and tidy, no signs of budget hotel here from a dirty standpoint. Mattress was typical spring mattress with little padding and pillows were marginal. The all inclusive package included drinks and all three meals of course, the drinks of which were not great quality alcohol, nor soft drinks. Beer tap says "Tuoborg" but who knows whats really coming out of the tap - its enjoyable tho. Food on the other hand isn't anything exciting or tastefully intruiging. I discovered the joy of partaking in the open bar PRE-meal to reach a level of inebration that made the food tastier. Breakfast consistently consisted of fried eggs with a sausage that I couldn't enjoy without feeling cheap, although I assume it to be normal turkish food. Days where potatoes were included in breakfast were especially enjoyable since throwing a bit of salt on 'em made them very enjoyable. Aside from that, dry bread with marginal jams and jellies were included, as well as cereals (corn flakes and choco crisps), the choco crisps leaving much flavor to the imagination (they tasted awful without massive sugar additions to flavor. The salad bar was a reliable and tasty feature that I didn't partake, but my girlfriend did and thoroughly enjoyed and lamented as "incredibly fresh." We never stuck around for lunch, but dinner always included ground beef to some degree, chicken of course and veggies, with the ever present spaghetti bolgonese combination thrown in for posture and as a backup in case you couldn't stomach what was given. Overall I would give the food a 2/5 stars. Much has to be said about the personell, which were exceptionally friendly and entertaining. They made an effort and it was obvious that they were either paid well or enjoyed their jobs. Very cheerful and welcoming - especially if you learn a bit of their language and treat them with the respect they deserve. A solid 5/5 star performance by the entire staff. The pool was presumably not heated because it was too cold for my liking, but considering the hotel was filled with retirees during this off season visit of mine, its no wonder they dont waste the time to heat it. The spa and Hamam area looked good enough, although we never partook. Another GREAT feature aside from the nice employees was the location - a 30 second walk from the Kumkoy Bazaar, but even closer is a GREAT little restaurant that shows all soccer games! Awesome! Also, Kumkoy had very reliable bus service to Side and Manavgat, making self planned day trips very easy and efficient. Not exactly close to the beach (0.50km according to Google Earth), but certainly doable. Take a look at the pictures... they don't look great, but what we paid for our all inclusive vacation it certainly was a great deal and the quality of hotel was surprisingly good. DO NOT EXPECT LUXURY when you are paying ROCK BOTTOM prices. As a discount hotel in the region with 4 stars, I found it excellent, and would certainly visit again.

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