DoubleTree by Hilton Kusadasi — Hotel in Kuşadası

We stayed in this hotel for three nights in early June. It is a modern hotel, built in 2013, with 87 rooms over four floors above two floors containing reception, a bar and several meeting rooms. There is a rooftop restaurant (closed when we visited), a pool and a gym. We didn’t use these. The hotel is located a short way out of town overlooking – but not part of – the Marina Complex. We reached the hotel by taxi from the ferry port at a cost 8 euros. The ferry port is also home to a large number of shops which on their perimeter had few taxis available – it was necessary to cross the main road to find a taxi. It is a long walk from passport control to the perimeter. Public transport did not appear to be available. There is an underground car park at the hotel. ||The reception area is intended to be very grand but it is soulless. It is a huge space, largely left open but to the right and slightly behind reception is a comfortable soft-seating area. To the left of reception and overlooking the road and marina is a coffee shop and bar. Apart from the seating area none of the other areas had any appeal, perhaps because during our stay they were nearly always empty. Our room was on the highest accommodation floor (level 4) floor. The room was generously sized with a balcony with a view across the marina and port. The room had a desk and chair and an easy chair. The room had twin beds (no problem and check-in did apologise), they were very comfortable and the linen was good. There were tea and coffee making facilities, a fridge with water and a safe in the wardrobe. The wardrobes were adequate. But the safe was at high level and not convenient for anyone under 6ft. The instructions were in Turkish. The room was tired, and a defective table lamp took two days to be replaced. The bathroom had an over-bath shower, and again, was tired. Toiletries were excellent. Towels were OK. But the Hilton use of baths ought to be accompanied by – at the very least – and in-bath mat or (preferably) an anti-slip coating, or for a 5 star hotel (which it claims to be) a walk-in shower. Wifi and air-conditioning were both fine. ||The major problem with the hotel, beyond an obvious lack of regular care and attention, is external noise. We did not overlook the road, we were adjacent to a small park populated by innumerable, feral dogs. The dogs barked pretty much 24/7 and certainly with increased enthusiasm at night. Whilst we were aware that the security guard at the hotel tried his best they remained a nuisance. They were such a nuisance because the double glazing was inadequate. ||Housekeeping in our room and the public areas was OK. It was done at a convenient time for us in the morning, but possibly because the hotel was not full. ||We only ate breakfast at the hotel. Other meals may have been on offer particularly as there was a restaurant on the roof – but these were not outlined to us/open. Breakfast was unsurprisingly an American buffet, self-service from a wide selection. The breakfast room was on the first floor and was light and airy and had access to outdoor seating round the pool – some of which was canopied, some of which was open. As vegetarians we had a reasonable choice of hot and cold food. ||The hotel is a 30 minute stroll to the centre of town, the ferry port and the bazaar. En-route there are a large number of restaurants, some shops, and new developments in the marina complex offering a whole range of shopping experiences. ||We did not interact that much with staff. The reception staff were either very good or pretty poor. The latter category had very little English. The breakfast room staff were excellent, with good English and wanting to help.||We encountered a couple of American groups but given the vast space in reception there was no problem - and we hadn’t encountered any of them at breakfast. ||In our estimation this is not a 5 star hotel. We were not impressed and sadly it was one of the poorer DoubleTree hotels we have...

We are avid travellers and have stayed in Hilton across Europe last year so we chose Doubletree by Hilton in Kusadasi.

A beautiful & huge property located across the sea with mountain views.

Kusadasi was our second destination after Bursa, the roads were an awesome view with colourful houses lined up on the mountain's.

About the hotel:

We reached around 3pm and we had booked a king cottage. However we had friends who joined us after we booked so they were booked in regular room so we asked to see the rooms to decide whether they would like to stay in the cottage or regular room. The small pool outside the king cottage was filled with dirt, obviously no one books it in winter. The bathroom is huge but the room didnt have space to add an extra bed in the room (for a family of 5). Don't know what they would provide as an extra cot. So wisely we opted out and chose to take 2 interconnecting rooms. So glad we did.

About the restaurant:

Since they needed time to organise our room we went in the restaurant as the kids got hungry. We placed the order and were waiting while a cat came in the restaurant (apparently that seems to be normal there as they feed the cats) WHILE THEIR WEBSITE STATES NO SERVICE ANIMALS AND PETS NOT ALLOWED, I politely asked the attendant to let it out as it was circling around our chairs for food.

When our food was served, the cat came in again, once again we requested the attendant to let it out, but what he did was very annoying & unacceptable. He let the cat out, locked the door, and when we told him pls wash your hands before serving us, he got offended and unlocked the door letting the cat in to tease us.

When we argued, the manager from the reception came and told us he will call police if we shout. Without knowing what had happened and instead of handling the situation he made it worse. To our surprise the attendant then lied to him that the door opened because of the wind and the cat came in. We told the manager to check in the restaurants camera what exactly happened, but he was very rude.

We decided to leave the hotel when some other manager came in and requested us to stay and that she will handle the situation and apologised for what happened.

The overall experience was way below Hilton's hospitality we have enjoyed across other European countries. The property is huge, good rooms, good view but it really needs an overhaul on carpets, they were extremely dirty & stinky. Both the bathrooms in our interconnecting rooms had a very bad smell (as though not occupied so not cleaned regularly) the AC made a huge noise which clearly needs servicing as well. The tea/coffee was not refilled unless we asked for it.

About the breakfast:

The breakfast is not exciting either. They would mix orders as language is a big problem, they hardly speak English, even when you show them what you need in an omelette, they made a complete mess, not cooked well.

Once again I am disappointed and will definitely reconsider a 100 times before booking a hilton again in future. And I would recommend travellers not to base their judgement on the website photos alone, as they are taken when the hotel is new and everythibg looks clean & nice but in...

I stayed here for one week. It is my second time visiting Turkey In very different hotels. There are pro's and con's to the double tree hotel which I will list to decide if this is the right hotel for you.

I have to say out of any hotel I have ever stayed these were the nicest & most accommodating staff I have ever come across, from guests services to reception staff, to the breakfast & bar staff, spa staff, cleaning and even maintenance workers, I was quite taken aback by how hard they worked ever day & how friendly they all are to everyone.

I would like to personally thank Zeynep and Beyza for looking after me & making my stay so comfortable.

Pros: Staff are exceptional and will do their very best to cater for your needs, five stars for staff! The food and drinks are very good at all venues in the hotel. Room service is very good. Spa pool and treatment rooms are lovely. You can use the gym any time you like, available 24 hours. Pools are great. On the Marina with nice shops and restaurants close and only 10 mins walk to the main strip so away from all the crowds. Beds are super comfortable. Great location if your a night owl lots going on near by.

Cons: If you do not like cats you will not enjoy this hotel as they wander in & out and if you sit outside for breakfast they will be under your legs. This was not a con for me but is for a lot of people so put in this area. The hotel is dated and definitely not a five star hotel which was disappointing. Eg. Wood around 2x different pool areas was lifting & lose screws around. Some gym equipment missing legs, parts or not working. Rooms are not soundproofed and it is a busy area, if you are an early bird like me and wish to sleep earlier forget it: dogs and cats fighting & barking at night, clubs near by play loud music (finishing usually by 2am). If you are a sea view room you are facing the main road so expect traffic noise. Ive noticed in the rooms a lot of the doors dont fully close or have gaps underneath. The staff really looked after me and i moved rooms however if it had a been a busier season they may not have been able to move me. It was less noisy but still noisy in my new room. Some days I could not connect to wifi as the signal was so poor so I could not view the menu outside in Linnets.

Overview: I did enjoy my stay & would only return to the hotel for the amazing staff, they remember the drinks & food you like and will do their best to accommodate you with anything you need. But the hotel is very expensive to stay compared to others around so I thought it would have much better facilities, rooms, comfort... 5 star hotels do not have doors that dont close and broken equipment, tiles missing from pools etc.

I felt sorry for the staff dealing with peoples complaints as I was not the only one with issues and some guests I felt were very rude to the staff but theres not much they can do it seems the hotel is in need of a lot of upgrading. I would like to mention it seemed there was some maintenance happening in the hotel while I was there so perhaps they are...