Xanadu Island — Hotel in Bodrum

Absolutely blew me away. I don't think it is the place if you have children but you make it what it is. There is not a lot for them to do, its a place to just relax and enjoy. The waiting staff are amazing, bringing you anything you want from drinks to food, wherever you are. Free laundry and ironing services. room service is 10 Euros, which there is a nice menu for you to look through. Personally, its just as easy to get any food, drink and take it to your room. The mini bar is full of water and pop, which is replenished everyday. No alcohol in there, you don't need it, the alcohol is just in the many bars...help yourself !. The people going round cleaning, gardening, handing out towels, cooking and preparing food, working the bars, serving you...they make the place run, they are all fantastic. The weather, we went (June 11th -18th 2019) is just right, there was not too many people there, but enough to create a vibe, made some good friends and met some lovely people from all over Europe. Evenings, put on your best gear and enjoy yet another fresh buffet in the main dining are or go a-la carte (which you book in advance in reception), it's beautiful. You can eat at whatever time you want, and bars are open 24 hrs. If you don't like to drink too much in the day and like even more peace, there are 2 coves with decking at the south of the complex with a machine that has cold drinks in. Go for a swim in the crystal blue water. There is a beach too with a bar on it, but its not sand, this part of South West Turkey, Arkalyar is, or was, volcanic, so the beach is made of very small stones. this doesn't spoil the fun. Along there is a lovely guy who can rent you jet ski's or go on a blow up settee and be pulled along behind a fast boat. We went on 2 trips, 1 was from Turgretris to Kos on the Catamaran. Took 20 mins, Kos is nice. 2nd trip, we went to Bodrum Gold centre and Turgretris market on a Saturday. Turgretris Market...Saturday..OMG, if you like to run the gauntlet, go. If not don't go there, it was horrendous...absolutely horrendous, i'll never go to that one EVER again. Bodrum Bazaar on a Tuesday is much more chilled, you can actually look at things and walk away without having things pushed into you bag and being demanded to pay for them. I cannot find a single thing wrong with the Hotel or staff. Except for the odd obnoxious guest that click there fingers for service. All you do is catch one of their eyes, smile and they will be over to accommodate you. Take a few 10 or 20 lira notes, its nothing to tip a regular server, they appreciate it, ( its not compulsory but i didn't mind, i was all inclusive and didn't really need to take money), and they make sure you do not ever get forgotten, they don't earn much, and they work so hard for you. We sat by the main pool, at lunch, you can either go into the main buffet area or take a walk up the stairs, you can leave you towels on your sunbed and go across to the Archipelago bar. Here you can have a superb freshly cooked chicken wrap, pasta, burgers, chips, Pizza or chicken goujons. If you like the area, go grab your towels and sunbath there !. Remember to take your towels back by 18:00, and the girls will give you back your cards ( you get 4 cards on arrival, you can get 4 towels if you wish, they are handy for placing round you like den if you get too hot !) If you leave a towel and forget it, no card means 50 Euros ,so don't forget to take them back. Empty sunbeds are fair game, sunbeds with towels on are used, they might, like me, have gone off for food! At 18:00, the sunbeds are pushed to one side and staff get the place ready for the evening entertainment. You don't need a hairdryer, there's one in the drawer in the bathroom, there's also soap, shampoo and other body wash things in there. The showers and baths are brilliant, instant hot water. Room cleaned everyday if you want, just flick the switch near the door next to 'do Not Disturb 'don't leave THAT one on or you'll never get your room cleaned! I'M HOOKED! I wont go anywhere else LOVE IT, LOVE...

Not the Five-Star Experience We Expected

We recently stayed at this resort, and while there were some positives, the overall experience did not live up to the expectations of a five-star, all-inclusive holiday — especially at this price point.

A week before arrival, I contacted the resort to ensure that appropriate gluten-free options would be available during our stay. Specifically, I requested gluten-free bread and pastries for breakfast, and gluten-free desserts for lunch and dinner — of a similar standard to what was being offered to other guests. As an all-inclusive guest, I expected these basic dietary needs to be taken seriously.

I received a reply from POLINA in guest relations, advising that these arrangements could be sorted on the first day of our arrival. I expressed concern with this approach, as I wanted reassurance in advance to avoid arriving and being left with nothing suitable to eat. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

When we arrived, there were no gluten-free bread or pastries available for breakfast, and no proper gluten-free dessert options for lunch or dinner. I ended up having plain cheese for breakfast — a far cry from what you’d expect at a five-star resort. I spoke with POLINA in person and was told that everything would be resolved by the next morning. However, the same issue occurred again at breakfast the following day.

After two days without proper gluten-free options, I raised the issue again — this time with another guest relations team member named Tugce. She truly went out of her way to help. I saw her personally visit the kitchen and speak with the chef on more than one occasion. Thanks to her efforts, the situation was finally resolved. A special thank you to Tugce for her professionalism and genuine care — she made a real difference.

We also chose to upgrade our room upon arrival, paying extra for a larger option. Sadly, the upgraded room had not been properly cleaned. There was a visible layer of dust on almost every surface, the floor was dirty, and there was a large food stain on the sofa bed. I took photos and reported this to management, and the room was cleaned afterwards — but again, this is not what you'd expect from a resort claiming five-star standards, especially with a paid upgrade.

Another point of disappointment was the dining setup. While the resort advertises à la carte restaurants, we were unable to dine at any of them because we were traveling with children under the age of seven — something that was not clearly communicated at the time of booking. This meant we had to rely entirely on the main buffet restaurant, where the food was, frankly, underwhelming for a resort at this price point. The variety and quality simply didn’t meet the expectations of a premium experience.

In summary, the resort has potential, but it failed to deliver on key aspects like service, food quality, cleanliness, and communication. Guests with dietary requirements should be prepared to follow up repeatedly, and families with younger children may find themselves limited in dining options. For the price we paid, we...

Before the review I want to point out that I was many times in the hotels of Turkey , in many areas only five stars category, so I think that I have capability to make a correct impression of the stay.|We came with the kids for holiday and we believed that we find something similar, in the terms of services ,with the most very good hotels from Antalya. There is no comparison with them. What they have different and it’s a big plus ,are the water , the view and the placement. |A plus was the accommodation , we had a two bedrooms apartment, excelent placement with a beautiful view. The rooms are big and the cleaning service of them was very good, daily changing the towels and bedsheets at four days. We had a problem when we came in our first day , they missed the cleaning of the shower but after our call they came immediately to fix it .|Welcome service good in the terms of time . We didn’t stay long at check in , but after a short discussion about the program they let us with the belly boy, no one came to show and explain us the accommodation s facilities.|About others good things which I can talking about I can say like this:|- enough towels at the beach and pool areas |- the main restaurant have many places , no need to hurry |- polite staff generally speaking but I can not say friendly like in others hotels where I was |If you are talking about the minus things I can say like this :|- the food variety is in average zone , not many choices and most of them similar with the others, cocked I mean . Grill zone is poor in the terms of fish and |seafood but also meat wasn’t so varied.|-not everyone talk English also in the areas where you are expected to find this.|- entertainment services are daily similar and very bad scheduled, nothing for kids not so small, ours have 8 and 11. Night shows are average, nothing attractive even for adults. |- in the areas of pools and beach they have sunbeds without mattresses, so uncomfortable if you are staying to long .|- concierge facilities are bed and unprofessional, I booked the transfer to the airport with them . I asked three times a VIP transfer for 4 persons , I came every time to them to assure that they understood about it and in the end I received a very old van for 20 persons. But the money I paid was for VIP. |When I asked about it they said that they understood big transfer although we had the discussion on WhatsApp very clear . In the end they fix it with a …sorry😂|So conclusion in the end is if we are talking in generally the hotel is let’s say good but if we are talking about the money...