Arcanus Side Resort — Hotel in Manavgat

I have returned from the Astria Sorgun resort, Side, after a week of hell lasting from 22-29/06/13. I tend to ignore reviews of this nature because it can often be from people who cannot be pleased, however I can assure you I have never had to write a negative comment on any holiday I have ever been on. Until now.||||The hotel itself is, in my opinion, a nice four star. I can see how it once merited five star, but has been overtaken by newer hotels. The reception is nice, bar areas nice, the pool is nice and gardens are lovely. The room was a bit jaded, and our room had lots of silicon seal around the bath, and overall was a bit jaded. You can see from the pictures, things like old style tv's, not flatscreen as you would expect on 5* give away it's age. Good soundproofing. Clean, too.||||The food is up with the best I have ever had on an all inclusive. The head chef can be seen at every sitting, and he is a guy who is passionate about the presentation and quality of the food. Grill cooking and fish is excellent. ||||The flumes are open for two 1 hour slots per day, and the lifeguard is nice and very alert.||||And that is it. The rest is negative. Some of the issues I experienced may be down to language but not all. There is virtually no-one who speaks English there, though this is the first time I have had a problem. ||||Some examples?||There were nuts at other tables. (I think they may be chickpeas.)My wife asked for nuts. The waiter said no and walked away. I asked for nuts. Another waiter shrugged and walked away.I asked a passing girl for nuts. She brought me a beer. I smiled, went over to another table and pointed to the nuts. She brought me a coffee. I gave up. ||||The pool area has the usual problem of people putting down towels and not using them at all. Not the hotel's fault, but a tip would be for attendants to put a card down on empty ones saying they will be taken away if not used in 2 hours or so. It would help families with young children as there were ones taken in the shaded areas which never got used for the whole day, every day. There are plenty of other loungers in the gardens.||||I didn't hear another British accent all week, which is normally bliss as I like to see different cultures, but we felt quite isolated.||||When we arrived, we transfrerred by taxi. 70 Euros, which was good value as the hotel is about an hour away. When we checked in, we went straight to the midnight snack, 5 minutes after arrival, and before it was due to close. However staff took the buffet away before it was due to close. We managed to get a bite, but guests who transferred by bus got nothing.||||Despite the food, the canteen (yes, canteen) is a miserable experience. It is possible to have a pleasant buffet dining experience, I have elsewhere, but the main hall is too noisy, the serving area too cramped, it's too bright, and the waiters are amongst the worst I have ever seen anywhere in the world. Service varied between incompetent, indifferent, rude lazy, and helpfull but hopeless, with two staff able to take an order successfully.(Go through the main canteen, and down the stairs.) Some staff managed to walk from one end of the hall to the other without picking up a single plate. I saw people eating dinner while plates were piled on their table, and waiters were standing around. Others on mobile phones. I could go on but there are too many issues. The main impression I got, was as if a new hotel had opened, a swathe of staff left, and a load of bodies had been hired in one go to fill gaps. No training evident at all. Most staff were working hard, but getting so much wrong or forgetting, they were making multiple visits to tables for the same order, trebling their workload. Incidentally, the dining area is supervised, so forget any ideas of complaint, as this standard is apparently acceptable.||||I found the bar waiters to be surly at best. However, It dawned on me during my stay that they work incredibly long hours. Not only this, but I witnessed one being treated in the most disgusting manner by another guest. His crime was to put ice in the drink before the alcohol, potentially short changing the customer. (On an all inclusive!! get another drink when you finish that one. Its free!) I told him he should complain, but he just shrugged as if there was nothing he could do.||||I can cope with bad service, I'm not on holiday to be fawned over, but a number of things happened to us which were a cause for worry, and are the reason we will never be back to Turkey.||||One night, I was busy and my wife went to the bar. When it got to her turn, the waiter refused to serve her. He moved on to the next man as if she wasn't there. He didn't actually say anything, just continued to ignore her as if she wasn't there until she went away, humiliated. I also saw an incident where a girl came back from the bar with a cocktail, ranting in a foreign language, to her partner. Eventually the barman arrived with a new drink. I didn't need to speak their language to understand she was telling him there was no alcohol in it. There were other incidents, like the woman who visibly tensed at the bar, and rolled her eyes at me in a "here we go again" fashion. I couldn't fathom how some females were served fine but others not. Did the waiters have a problem with women with children?||||Another incident happened at reception. I went to the currency exchange, and asked for 50 Euros. The boy at the desk didn't speak English. I showed him my Visa and pointed to the currency board. He shrugged, unable to make the link. Another helpful chap spoke something in his ear and a light light went on. "Ah yes," he said. "No." and went back to typing. Baffled, I wondered if he meant they don't take switch, and held up Some english money. "Change?" I asked, pointing to the Euros. He carried on typing for a few seconds, before turning back stating "I told you no!" ||||I can only assume that he understood me, given his reply, and either this five star hotel (don't make me laugh) has no currency exchange, or he didn't want to deal in English currency. Either way, our mutual inability to communicate and his response left me feeling quite intimidated.||||We went to the animation twice. It was woeful, but the other guests seemed to love it, so I guess it was a style of humour which didn't translate. There is candy floss and popcorn there, which is a nice touch.||||We visited the town of Side, which was lovely. However we had some awkward moments where locals called us rude British for refusing to go to their shops and restaurants Disappointing.||||Finally, I didn't see the general manager once during my stay. He may have walked the floor, but I didn't see him.||||If you are going here, I hope that I was right, that there are some training and language issues, which have been ironed out and you have a lovely time. I hope so because much of the place is really good and the food is excellent.My only tip would be use the staff as little as possible, don't assume that politeness and a smile will get you anywhere, and you'll be fine.||||I have been to Morocco 3 times and Turkey before, and found some of the most genuine, friendly, hard working people ever. This experience has put me off so much that I will never visit...

Arrived home yesterday after a weeks stay here at Arcanus resort Sorgun|Firstly the hotel is very nice but also very big ||Check in was super efficient and friendly welcoming staff, we booked a payed for a double with sea view which was exactly what we were given, room was very spacious although a downside to this we found the bed very uncomfortable, the mattress was very soft and pillows were not great, other people may like this but our preference is a firm mattress, however the room was spotless and well presented with a mini bar that is stocked daily with water, soft drinks and cans of Efes, the room also had fantastic WiFi connection and a free safe in the wardrobe. There was plenty of storage. Apart from the soft bed the room was perfect||Food and drink|You will not go hungry here and we found the food to be of a very good standard, breakfast lunch and dinner in the main buffet restaurant, with snack bars at the beach and slide pool along with a choice of bars and the Arcanus bistro is open from 4pm until 7am the following morning. The choice of places to eat is endless and very good quality and choice available what ever your fancy|There are 5 Ala carte restaurants also but we did not use these so cannot comment on them|The drinks on offer are vast and tasty cocktails along side spirits and beer|They offer a massive choice and the quality is great. ||Pool / beach|The pool is massive and is keep very clean, the pool itself I found a little on the cold side however once in the water it’s a welcome relief from the hot sunshine|The beach is very clean with a large pier extending out into the sea, there is a small bar on the pier but we did not use it. |The sun beds around the pool were quite uncomfortable but again this is not in any way a bad thing it’s my personal preference. |They do various activities around the pool which includes water gym and pool games with inflatables and surf boards||Staff|The staff here are amazing and regardless of nationality they go out of their way to say good morning and make you feel welcome. Special personal thanks to the following. |From the pool bar mehmet, your smile is infectious and will miss you a lot, we thank you for all you did for us and hope the hotel keep you there for many years as every hotel needs a man like you. |Also from the pool bar at night time , gulbarhar and arife, thank you girls for our fantastic cocktails and service with a smile, we will miss you both|And from the away park snack bar, Furkan you are a legend and never failed to smile. |All staff are great but these four staff members really stood out for us. ||Now for a couple of negatives, the guys from the spa and the tattooist. Can honestly say the tattooist is not a nice man, he tried very hard to get us to buy tattoos with him but despite telling him we were not interested he would not let up, and one time we were walking past the spa where he was stood chatting with staff there , he told the spa staff to not bother talking to us as there was no point as we did not have any money, the fact is it was not a case of us not having money, we just did. It want to get tattoos done and to tell other people we have no money is just rude and arrogant, I understand every body is trying to make a living but dont be rude when someone says no. |The guy that walks round offering spa treatments is just as pushy, on our first day he would not take no for an answer, and basically told us we needed the treatments to get a sun tan, even though I told him we have been coming to turkey for many years and have always gone home with a tan, just didn’t like being pestered and eventually he got the message and left us alone, however did continue to say good morning unlike the tattooist who basically ignored us after the comment about having no money. Unsure if these guys are employed by the hotel directly but what I can say is if you say no thank you, they seems to take offence. ||The animation team are quite good especially Honda, and to be fair would leave you alone if you declined to join in their activities||Over all the hotel if beautiful, well kept with some amazing friendly staff, however for us was just to big and that is the only reason we would not return here, everything else is perfect and I don’t want to think we would not return because of any issues it is literally down to personal choice on hotel size. ||We had a very good week here and apart from the issues with the spa guy and tattooist our stay was a welcome break from normal life. ||Thank you Arcanus Sorgun and we wish the best for...

We spend 11 nights here from end April beginning May.

We had a really lovely holiday and did not want to go home.

Beds comfortable, not rock hard like another resort we we visited before. Wifi good but you need to sign in every morning. We upgraded direct to seaview apartments and got "corner" rooms which was nice and spacious.

Most staff at reception speaks English. Food was good, a little bit repetetive at times but you can have a good variety if you choose well. Most staff in restaurant friendly and helpful. Coffee with milk is not a thing so google it and ask in Turkish. They have English breakfast tea labled black tea.

A'la carte - we did mexican and turkish, food was ok, it was a nice different experience and the waiters were good.

There is a smoothie bar which is nice, you can ask for them to use fresh banana (if they have or take some from the restaurant).

There is also a nescafe coffee bar where you can get proper coffees. They don't have any decaf tea or decaf coffee.

We enjoyed the pattiserie and icecream, lots of variety. Bar staff helpful, friendly.

Pool and facilities were great, we also loved feeding and swimming with the fish at the pier, we took our scuba masks with. There were lifeguards until 5pm every day. In one video review it showed a bucket of bread on the pier where you could feed the fish but there was nothing when we went so we just took some from the restaurant. The fish has a spot where they all congregate waiting to be fed.

There is a shop on site where you can buy everything you need for a pool/beach outing but it is expensive.

We arrived very late (waiting 1.5 hours for our bags in Antalya🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️) so missed the evening buffet but they do have a bistro that serves burgers, chips, grilled chicken, salad all through the night until the breakfast buffet open. It is not the best food but you won't starve if you arrive late.

The evening entertainment is good, not amazing or fantastic but entertaining enough to watch. We enjoyed the times when they got everyone on the dancefloor the most.

There are loads of activities on throughout the day but we are very lazy holidaymakers so I cannot comment on that.

Room service were hit and miss, there was one lady who did a fantastic job whilst other times we had to call them back to clean the floors.

There are a lot of cats that lives there, they ask guests not to feed them and they are under vetinary care.

There are lots of shortcuts to the pool, outside area if you go straight down to the ground floor (with the stairs).

Smoking - we absolutely hate smoking so it is a tad bit annoying that so many people (including staff) smokes. There are designated areas but smoke smells travels. Our rooms were fine though and only once we could smell the guest underneath us smoke. We also once moved spots on the Pier as the wind blew smoke in our direction. It is very much a thing in Turkey though (everyone seems to smoke) but we survived and we don't smoke or have any friends that smokes.

Fellow guests were mainly german, some dutch and few other british families. The atmosphere were relaxed and friendly.

There is a doctor on site until 5pm, then a nurse till 6pm. We did not need any medical care so cannot comment.

The hotel is near Side - a lovely touristy town town with ancient ruins and boat rides (5Euro) , best to have TL on you for the bus rides (about 45 TL) as it is much cheaper than paying in Euro. You can also go to Manavgat by bus, it is a working town with markets on a Thursday and Saturday. To go to the waterfalls (nice for a little outing) just ask to go to "Wasserfall" and they will drop you at the spot where you cross the road and wait for bus marked Wasserfall. You will see a lift going on to a clift top, it is free with beautiful views of the city.

We booked via "On the beach" and everything went really well. Only annoying thing is the guy calling you at 8am for a "meeting". We just told him to we are not interested in expensive excursions but to be woken up so early after a very late night is...