Astral Apart Hotel — Hotel in Manavgat

We have just got back from a last minute trip to Side (pronounced "seedy") in Turkey having booked through Sunmaster.||||On arrival we were told that there was no room available at the hotel, but that there was a room for us down the hill (about 1km away) at another hotel (there seemed to be some connection between these hotels) which was hot; the air conditioning was on but not effective, we ended up sleeping on the floor under the fan to escape the top floor heat. This hotel was dirty with rubbish bags being left outside our door for over two days. There were no eating facilities or bar on site, and the staff were rarely in evidence. The pub below ("The Brothers") was noisy into the early hours which with the heat made sleeping impossible. Despite being self catering the fridge was broken and there was no hot-plate, kettle, crockery or cutlery.||||The following day we went back to The Astral to find that the promised room had evaporated and we had to spend a second night dossing elsewhere. The offer of a room the following morning came and went we were eventually picked up in the afternoon. The room we were given was much better than the previous one being basically equipped with 2 ring hob, two pans a kettle, an iced-up but working fridge, a mug, 2 plates, glasses and a minimal amount of cutlery.||||We were on the top floor, so the heat was terrific and the air conditioning was broken (finally fixed at midnight thankfully) and one of the beds was broken, I had specifically asked for twin rooms as my teenage son certainly was not going to share a bed with me! Needless to say despite telling them several times and staff actually seeing the bed when the air conditioning broke and promises to mend it; the bed was never fixed.||||The Medhotels rep was initially very obliging, liaising with the hotel staff, but things seemed to get less obliging once we had stumped up the £120 for our booked trips. The rep was a frequent visitor to the hotel but spent much of his time sat at the bar with the owner and manager.||||Other reports describe staff as surly and unhelpful and intimidating, I can only say this was ot our experience, outwardly they were smiling and helpful, but on reflection were telling us what we wanted to hear but then not acting on what was promised to us i.e. "You will have a room tomorrow", "we will fix the bed" and so on.||||The crowning glory of the holiday was the pointing out that "international rules" dictated that people on night flights had to vacate their room by mid-day the previous day, this was despite us having a confirmed booking form from Medhotels giving us the room until mid-day the following day some 6 hours after our flight had taken off. The cost of staying on being an additional £40 or 85YTL; when I asked what the alternative was I was told "We could sit on our suitcases in the street if we wanted to (for 15 hours)". We had seen a family do this on the previous day and I have to say they looked dreadful in the 40 degree heat.||||The final insult was that despite our Taxi Blue transfer instructions stating we had to confirm our return 24 hours before both the hotel and the rep told us this was not necessary as the firm had all the details, would confirm the flight and fax through the pick-up time to the hotel. Needless to say the fax never came but we were told at 4pm on our final day that our flight had changed and we were being picked up at 6pm (not the arranged following 3am) which of course sent us into a panic. Staff of course could not state what time our flight was, I asked if they wanted to see my papers and contact the firm directly, I was told this was not necessary and that the taxi was coming at 6pm. Nevertheless I rang the firm myself to be told I should have confirmed 24 hours before, that my flight was on time, that I would be picked up a 2:45am and that they did not issue faxes to hotels and that their clients had to ring the confirmation number. Needless to say neither the rep nor staff could explain their actions. The rep eventually said "staff were very busy and perhaps they had made a mistake". I am not clear as to whether we were victims of ineptness or a scam.||||I can and have coped with basic conditions (especially having travelled in India) and to some extent you get what you pay for. However I found the staff inactive and unhelpful. You go on holiday for rest and relaxation. I have to say that 4 of our 6 days there were neither restful nor relaxing.||||I read this site after having booked my holiday and I thought perhaps that people were being a little fussy, however having gone with an open mind I concur with my fellow reviewers, money making rather than any customer satisfaction seems to be the main aim. Being pleasant ,open, honest and generally helpful costs nothing but was sadly lacking. Whilst at poolside I observed many others complaining. I would advise all readers to AVOID AT ALL COSTS.||||Definitely NOT good, NOT value for money, NOT relaxing, NOT made to feel welcome and definitely NOT...

Where do I start.... I am applying for compensation (seriously).||||About the Staff - The hotel was run by:- a woman in charge of reception who tried to con us out of money at every opportunity ie she demanded we pay 130 ytl for the air condition, after we saw it and changed our minds she still tried to get money out of us. The tattooed manager was totally threatening and a bully, when I stode up to it he tried to buy me with a botle of wine and when we kept complaining he tried everything he could to make life difficult. Another chap who who served at the bar, was security and a so called life guard (he pushed my 15 year old cousins who's a non swimmer into the pool). Two OAP cleaners, who couldn't speak a word of Engilsh and who walked of the job 3 days into our stay after I complained to the manager about the disguasting state of the accommodation, they were replaced by one cleaner, 2 children who were treated like slaves about 8-9 years old who were responsible for washing the linen, throwing the rubbish over the wall etc and finally a cook who slept outside the hotel in the same cloths he served the food in (glad I was self catering) he only changed his cloths 2 times during my two week stay.||||The Room - Well we stayed in the 1st room we were given for 2 days and demanded to be moved it was so bad the I cried in the shower (with my fipflops on) the 1st morning. The place was disgusting, the blue carpet not laid or fitted properly, the beds and the bedding, the fully furnished kitchen (joke) no kittle, 2 plates, a few dirty cultlery and one glass. The kitchen cupboards and wardrobe doors were covered with in sticky grime. We demanded the room be cleaned and the 2 OAP's turned up and was instructed what to do by the money grabbing receptionist. Needless to say when they left we went to the shop, purchased some bleach and clean the place properly. By the 2 day we demanded to be moved from the 3rd floor to he ground floor which was slightly better but we still had to clean it ourselves and defrost the fridge they gave us (not what you should be doing on holiday).||||Food - I never eat there but my cousin went into the kitcen and saw all the food laid out uncovered on the counter with flies gallor all over it.....uck.||||Daily cleaning...well this is what was claimed they do but they did not, rubbish was left outside the room for days until we started handing it to them whenever they passed by our balcony. We had to kick up a fuss in order for them to come and clean our room at the start of our second week at the was the last time they cleaned.||||Faciliaties - The toliet was blocked for a whole day and when they came to fix it at 2:00 am they said that we should not flush the toilet paper (if they emptied the bin on a daily basis I may have done so). They delivered a new fridge at 1:00 am which was dirty and the freezer was frozen solid. We ran out of toliet paper and was made to wait nearly a whole day for more, this was after they said that it had run out (good job we did have one more roll). We had to run around after the hotel staff the get new towels (good job I'm persistant). The TV did not work and the cooker was a death trap.||||The Rep - he was a joke and seemed to only visit the hotel to con us out of money for a over priced day trip, which he refused to discuss the following day and to sit a talk to the hotel staff. During the last few days he told my cousin that they could make our lives difficult after she called the English embassey and reported him the hotel for the pool incident. (we didn't see him again at the hotel). ||||Other English holiday Makers - we met some great people who were all in the same position and we all banned together, which made the holiday better.||||There's loads more but I'm sure others want to make their comments.... lol||||In a nut shell.....DO NOT VISIT THIS PLACE IF YOU ENJOY A CLEAN, WELCOMING AND...

All of the bad repoirts you read about this place are true. I did not expect a lot from this place, Basic Facilities, Basic Cleanliness, Basic Safety. I got none of these. ||I spent 2 weeks being terrified in this accommodation. The Med Hotels Website paints these apartments as being quite good but most of the information on the Website is incorrect. I will be contacting Med Hotels directly to point this out to them. ||Our apartment had none of the promised facilities. I had no working electric rings, no pots / pans etc, no safe in the room no fire alarm etc. This place is dangerous in that there is NO fire escape, the stairs are constantly runnung with water, the Manager refuses to switch on any stair lights until at least 2 hours after dark. The electric wiring is a nightmare.|| I complained because I had no electricity to boil water and after 2 days was eventually given a plug in 2 ring electric hob thing. I had to put it on the floor and it constantly refused to work after boiling half a pot of water. I was told that if I wanted to boil water I would have to hire a kettle from the hotel. This was a Self Catering Apartment. ||Our smoke alarm was hanging off the ceiling and the battery had actually rusted into the unit. We had one change of towels in 2 weeks and our apartment was cleaned once. Our friends spent 2 weeks without any cleaning, change of towels or bedding. We kept asking for clean towels but were told there were none. ||An elderly genteleman who stayed there at the same time as us was threatened by the manager because he complained. He had paid for half board but did not eat meat so he asked for an extra boiled egg at breakfast. They charged him 10 lira for the extra egg. ||Staff offer to but you drinks then you find out that they have put it on your tab at the bar. DO NOT use tab facilities at the bar, you will find many items added that you did not have. Always check the price and pay when you receive the items. I was charged 12 Lira for a glass of wine after being told that it was free. I got my change in Bottled Water because there was no money in the till. The charges are made up as they go along and if you have already accepted the item you have no choice but to pay. Complaints just bring further threats.||There is no real reception here. When we arrived in the middle of the night, staff had to be woken from their beds to let us in. Our friends did not get their Passports back for a week because, and I quote, "the Chef has the safe keys and he is in Antalya". ||When I complained to the Rep about our room and the lack of promised items, he shouted at me and told me to stop complaining. He then sat with the owner having a drink and a laugh.||||I found this place very frightening and I will do my best to make sure that Med Hotels and the Turkish Tourist Office do something about the situation. I will be adding my photographs at a later date.||||This was my first trip to Turkey. I found Side a very interesting place, the weather was wonderful and the people are so friendly. If you go to Side, visit Cheers Bar opposite the Horus Paradise Hotel. The food is wonderful, the waiters are great and they put on some really good...