Sealife Family Resort Hotel — Hotel in Konyaaltı

Extremely disappointed and shocked by this hotel, which in no way deserves its 5-star rating.

We booked two rooms for 8 nights – one for me and my husband, another for his mother and our child. We paid around €3000 in total. What we experienced was beyond unacceptable.

The most serious issue: a major lack of safety and zero proper response when our child was injured. Our 7-year-old daughter went on the waterslide designed for children. The lifeguard was looking at his phone instead of monitoring the slide. Two children were climbing up the slide from the bottom, and our daughter, unable to see them due to the curve, collided with them and broke her front teeth.

No staff took action to take her to a hospital. They waited for us to return from a walk because “the doctor costs €100” – completely irresponsible. When we asked why the lifeguard allowed three children on the slide at the same time, they just said, “7-year-olds aren’t our responsibility.” No answer, no apology, no follow-up. They promised to show us the camera footage with the manager, who never came back. All our messages to Guest Relations were ignored. The incident was covered up.

There is no lifeguard on the beach either.

The food was absolutely awful. Every single day the same poor-quality options. For a hotel next to the sea, they served only one type of grilled fish, one steamed fish, and suspicious-tasting seafood in soy sauce. One night they served river crabs—quickly removed because they needed them for paella the next day. Even the cats on the terrace didn’t touch the food.

Meal times are inconvenient: breakfast 8–10, dinner 19:30–21:00. At 20:59, staff rush to clear everything like a survival game. The beach snack bar closes at 15:50, so in the heat, you can't even get a drink by the pool. Ice cream for kids? The freezer was locked 90% of the time.

“Night snacks” mean stale bread, dry cheese slices, leftover soup, and plain pasta—no sauce. Unbelievable for a so-called 5-star hotel.

Access to the beach is through a tunnel, and the photos are misleading. The beach is rocky, not sandy, dirty, poorly maintained. Half the umbrellas are broken. The sunbeds are old and uncomfortable.

The rooms are tiny, beds are not real doubles but small and very hard, balconies barely 1m². Rooms near the street are extremely noisy, and the amphitheater is right under the other wing.

Only one young staff member (I think named Birk) was kind and helpful, but the overall service level is extremely low.

At the spa, I booked a couples massage as a surprise for my husband and asked to be in the same room. They said one bed was broken, so we were separated. My husband’s massage room had its door open the whole time, with kids running and laughing nearby. I could hear it in my own room too, even with the door closed. When the massage ended, they rushed us off the beds immediately to bring in the next guests. No relaxation at all.

Ironing? Extra charge. Ironing board? Not available unless you pay for laundry service.

To summarize: Zero quality, zero safety, zero food variety, zero customer care. Avoid this hotel at all costs. It is not worth your money or...

I will start off my stating that "all inclusive" daily resorts that mainly rely on catering to large crowds and customers on travel packages is not really what I like. This means that it is unfair for me to judge my experience based on my preferences. However, since we ended up staying at two different hotels with the same concept (this one, and another in Side), my assessment will be based on comparisons with the other hotel I stayed at that offers the same kind of service. Some of the hotel's facilities (especially the rooms, at least where we stayed, and the fitness room) are clearly newly renovated. The fitness room in particular was one of the best equipped fitness rooms I have been into in hotels with treadmills, free weights, and olympic bars. Unfortunately, this is the extent of positive things I can think of. These are the top points that really annoyed me:

1. Value: Considering that I paid MORE and for LESS nights compared to the hotel in Side, the quality of services and food was FAR inferior to the other hotel. Overall, this hotel is extremely poor value for money
2. Quality and variety of food: This was by far most negative aspects. The quality of food and the variety is shockingly poor. Dinner was usually served from 6:30 to 9 pm. We would usually go around 7:30-8, so not really late. However, even one hour after the start, we could see that many items are finished, and they don't get replenished, and so the staff resorts to refilling with the same basic items EVERYDAY. This meant very little variety. For what we paid, I would expect a far more well maintained buffet. Instead, I ended up eating kind of the same stuff everyday despite being there usually with still more than one hour to go in the buffet. As I also outlined, the quality of the food across the board is shocking, and I all I can surmise is that the hotel is cutting costs on this. As one example, I once ordered a "vanilla milkshake" during lunch from the pool bar. I was standing there so I could clearly see how it was being prepared. The bartender basically mixed a vanilla syrup, ice, what I am hoping was milk (though it was not coming off a milk carton), and then whipped cream! Really?? Milk and vanilla ice cream is apparently too expensive. Soft drinks are really bad quality and appear diluted, and there are essentially no fresh juices to be found. These are just a few examples. Very disappointing.
3. The Beach area: the area reserved for hotel guests is far too small and cramped for a hotel of this size. The umbrellas are too packed in space next to each other, and so if you are not a smoker, and surrounded by people who are, it can get really unpleasant, especially if not very windy.

All negatives are really based on simple concept: If you cannot have more beach space, can't afford a decent food quality and quantity, then don't accept too many customers!...

Sealife were hard to contact unless it is through Instagram. They did not reply to my emails and through Agoda. It was only a few days before I found them on Instagram and Olga replied to me. She seemed helpful as I requested a double bed and not two single beds.

When we arrived, I found the front desk staff not friendly. They just brushed you off and acted like you were a nuisance. As the holiday went on I realised all the staff in this hotel are not friendly and sometimes very rude. As my husband has lived in Turkey as a student he is able to say a few Turkish words, he was able to talk to them but he was ignored each time. Before Sealife we stayed in Ankara and the people there were very friendly so I would say it is specific to the staff in this hotel. Staff never say hello, I observed the waiters get treated poorly so I guess it is not a great place to work. They also have cats walking around who are malnourished. I would be calling RSPCA if it was the UK.

Food is literally provided all day which is why we booked this hotel but I didn't expect the food to be so average. It is not fresh food, it is the same food given again and again. This is not Turkish food. It reminded me of being in school again, people rushing into the canteen. As you are eating, the waiters around you will try to grab your plates to clean even when you are still eating! This is what I found very rude and complained to Olga. I found this so odd as why provide food all day if you are rushing people to finish? They also have a stupid rule of not allowing food anywhere else in the hotel and not bring food in. After that behaviour I stopped eating at Sealife and had food outside which was better.

The rooms are not good, I was in A Block so they looked nice but they have very thin walls. Anytime the room next door used their shower the noise was so loud it sounded like he was in my shower! The bed sqeaks everytime you move. The beds had a blanket so small it did not cover me and my husband. The second night I requested another blanket, no one came for 20 minutes, I called reception again and the male was rude to me and spoke to me like I was annoying. Another 20 minutes later a blanket came.

Like any hotel Sealife offers to clean your rooms so for 2 days I left the tag on the handle to say I would like it cleaned. Both days the room was not cleaned, I rang reception both times to inform them.

It is really disappointing, Sea life can not function the basics of a hotel. The price you pay is extortionate to what you actually get. They are too big of a hotel trying to offer so much but just can not provide a decent service. They have lots of great reviews but it is very deceiving. Customer service is crucial in tourism and Sealife are significantly...