Guest User
September 25, 2023
Having arrived back home after 10 days in the Akalia Resort and Spa Hotel within Side, Turkey, I would like to share my experiences with the hotel On arrival we were a little over midnight, the receptionist was asleep and has to be woken by myself and the taxi driver, luckily the taxi driver chose to stay with us until we were checked in as the receptionist could not find our booking and was adamant that we were at wrong hotel despite me showing the print out of booking, the taxi driver had to translate for us. However as soon as I asked for a manager, the receptionist miraculously found our booking and gave us our room without any details to help us with our stay (room location, meal times, all inclusive rules etc). Once we located our room, we were quite happy, the terrace faced an open work shed but we agreed that this wouldn't be an issue to us unless there was unwanted visitors looming. In the morning we were reassured that we were staying as with no information previously from reception, we had to check. Breakfast was disappointing, a buffet breakfast is expected but there was foods there that weren't labelled to say what it was but considering this was our first morning we assumed that it was possibly an oversight that day, however as the days went on it became clear food doesn't get labelled. The only fresh food in morning is eggs, the other options were leftover meals from previous days, this would appear to be some form of chicken/meatball/whatever meat in a casserole, potatoes etc. The packaged rolls available were of a very dry nature but was edible when packaged butter was available. Lunch consisted of the leftovers from breakfast, however everyday a woman prepared fresh bread filled with feta cheese that seemed to be a very popular choice to everyone unless you can't eat feta cheese, as the language barrier was an issue. No labels on food Dinner was leftovers again with maybe one dish cooked fresh each night, once again fresh bread with feta cheese made fresh by a chef but no option to have it without. No labels on food. Snacks were not available throughout the day so cannot comment and I was informed by another resident that I could get ice cream at the extra cost of €1 which could only be charged to my room. For all inclusive the drinks were to be expected however cocktails were not permitted during mealtimes, no reason given just told no. Unfortunately there was always an issue with the pepsi machine as staff continuously had to switch it on/off at the wall and the soft drinks were rarely carbonated like you would expect from a machine. On the plus side, water was available without hassle, housekeeping ensured our fridge in room was replenished daily. Entertainment was only available 1 evening out of the 10 nights, unless you count staff playing music via their phones through a speaker, this was inconsistent and sometimes far too loud that it was uncomfortable to sit within the hotel or own rooms, yet when asked to turn it d