Disappointed by Turkey hotel

We’re going to Turkey for the 3rd year in a row in a few weeks. You get lots for your money. The 2 we’ve been to so far have had a mixture of all nationalities, mixture of foods and most of the bar staff spoke English, even if only minimal.

What was the hotel?

Don’t believe the photos,the hotel we stayed at had amazing food photos,masses of seafood,crab,lobster you name it,showed steak,beautiful desserts,we never got any seafood or steak,just chicken in a different sauce every evening.

I posted pics of the food

it absolutely isn’t German based.

Loads of different types of food from sushi to Thai or British

The faux outrage on this thread is funny. It’s perfectly obvious that food that is prepared with German palates in mind will be different from one with primarily British tourists or a spread of nationalities. I would assume it’s heavy on the meat and veg and light on fish and salads. Not what I am looking for when on a hot beach holiday.

Maybe I am also a bit naive but I would assume £6k for a one bed European 5 star holiday would guarantee some form of luxury. We spent less on two weeks travelling round Costa Rica, and around £1000 per person for 2 bedrooms HB during October break in Tenerife 5 star, so it seems expensive enough to me.

You must know you'll get very few Greeks at a hotel in Turkey!

We went to side a couple of years ago - stayed at the Paloma Perissia which was lovely. The food was incredible. There are some insanely big hotels along that strip and I don’t remember the one you’re in.

Our hotel was a mix of nationalities - outside the hotel we found the resort German dominated to the point that we spoke to the Turks in shops and in the resort in German most of the time because it was just easier. I quite enjoyed the practice. Dp is fluent and bailed me out when I got stuck.

I wasn’t a massive fan of the Side area and wouldn’t go back - i found it soulless other than the archeological areas - so many tacky shops selling identical fake tat. The beach was nothing special.

if you think it’s amazing there, consider trying Croatia, northern Majorca, the Ionian islands of Greece which are all a whole level up in my view. We also loved the stunning coastline around the Marmaris area of Turkey far more than Side, even though Marmaris is also a tacky nightmare in the centre and you need to be away from the town.

I had a look at the photos of the food…. Huge range of food on offer from salads to chinese to sushi to nuggets and chips etc etc

I still want to know what "German food" is in a Turkish hotel.

@Soulfulunfurling - I never saw Sauerkraut and Sausages in a foreign hotel unless you count Alsace but that's a typical meal there as well.
And if you would go to my home town or DH's you won't see sauerkraut as a choice in a restaurant. It's actually a very local thing in southern Germany or only cooked at home.

It may be served in a restaurant abroad but then you have the full english, fish & chips etc plenty abroad as well.

On the Tripadvisor site you can tap the review language filter to see the breakdown. This tells you who you will be holidaying with. Your hotel does show German being the dominant language although not exclusively German by any means. See the first screenshot.

The second is an example targeted at Brits.

Me and dp haven't long come back from Turkey. 4* hotel, amazing food, all the staff spoke English (they also taught us some Turkish), beautiful hotel, plenty of sunbeds, adult only and lots of Btits who were on their 10th, 15th 20th time visiting the hotel. I def think you've been unlucky. Always check out your hotels reviews before going.

I understand op. I worked overseas for years and in particular some German hotels. The issues with the sun beds are real. The food was sausage based, kraut, pickled things. Although most people enjoy experimenting with food it was too much every day. The Germans can be loud. And en masse it can be overbearing.

It is not too much to expect a mix of nationalities. I wouldn’t enjoy an entirely British hotel either.

I would ask to be moved. You lose nothing at all by telling them how unhappy you are. In the meantime go out for days. Book with English speaking companies. Worst case can you afford to research a nearby hotel and spend the last few nights elsewhere if they won’t move you?

Lots of holiday areas prefer to attract Germans than Brits because they tend to spend a lot more money. So hotels are pleased if they can hire German speakers and this causes German clusters.

At least the lionesses aren’t playing Germany tonight that could have been awkward 😬

Bollox the food is mainly German! I’ve just looked at just the first couple of dozen photos (of hundreds!) and looks Amazing food!!

Deleted. Found it!

I don’t think it’s the fact they are German so much as it comes with the food being all German (which wouldn’t be my choice either) and the staff speaking German as their additional language- so OP isn’t being understood.

It sounds like you were unlucky OP.

The things that would annoy me from what you’ve described are the food - I’d want it to be mostly Turkish in Turkey, or at least a mix of things - and the sun-bed situation. I wouldn’t want to have to get up early for one!

I haven’t tried Turkey for summer holidays as I think it would be too hot for me but I know loads of people who’ve had a great time, so sounds just unfortunate.

I think as pps have said, do some day trips, enjoy the weather and the sea etc and try to enjoy it as much as you can! Even if the food is all German (and let’s face it, like the English they aren’t known for their cuisine) at least you’re not having to cook!

It doesn’t seem like you have looked into this hotel properly. Stayed in Turkey numerous times and now had this.

I think "bathroom not visible from bedroom" should be included on the list of searchable features on hotel booking sites, That might focus the minds of stupid hotel designers!

I’ve never seen any hotel website or travel agency state which nationality they mainly cater for; is that actually a thing? I assume if it is, that’s why so many hotels are full of Brits in the summer, they look for the “cater for Brits” signs?

ps I am not saying these reviews for this hotel are not genuine. But it’s not hard to figure out that they’re almost all German

I agree. I think trip advisor has to some extent become a victim of its popularity. You have to look at the individual reviews pretty carefully to gauge if they’re properly genuine and helpful or not. Just looking at the score out of five doesn’t really help at all.

That's such a lot of money to spend for a disappointing week. I'd seek out travel rep to see if you could be moved to a different room if different from brochure.

Big red flag for me. Also the reviews where the person has only reviewed that hotel. Lots of hotels give incentives such as a free drink in exchange for a glowing review. Its very disingenuous