Calido Maris Hotel — Hotel in Manavgat

I am now reposting my review due to being threatened by the hotel MD with the risk of police arresting me and his lawyers arriving if I do not delete my original review of the hotel. He confronted me at pool side in front of all my family including my 4 young children and also our friends that came with us and their children. In front of everyone he shouts “you’re a liar!” and he “will be calling the police!”. I simply stayed quiet and allowed him to embarrass himself in front of everyone. Once he understood I was not going to retaliate or react he then left leaving me shook up and in total shock of what just happened. About an hour later I was greeted by the hotel rep and was invited to a “meeting”. To of which wasn’t a meeting at all but a total bribery campaign explaining that I must remove my review unless I want to be arrested. - just to make this clear this is my first ever complaint to a hotel and also my first ever review! so for a quiet life I removed it as I was quite worried as I may not make it home! Thankfully we did all make it home safe and I also made a copy of my original review which is below of the almighty horrid Calido Maris hotel in Side, Turkey.

We were having a wonderful holiday up until we hit day 4, 25th May 2024. At 8pm that evening my 5 year old threw up while eating dinner. She then threw up again shortly after so my wife took her back to the room while I stayed on with my other 3 children for mini disco and evening entertainment. Around 9pm my wife rang me to inform me she has now started to be sick also. At 10pm my other daughter was complaining of really bad belly cramps and shortly after started to be sick too so we retreated back to our room early. Throughout the night a total of 7 of us out of our family group of 13 was sick continuously throughout the night. Adding to this review now by the end of the week a total of 10 of the group of 13 fell sick. On the 26th May I proceeded to lodge a complaint with the with the hotel and was greeted with the managing director of the hotel. After hearing of our sickness and belly cramps throughout the night he simply could not give any care whatsoever. His response was "I do not care if you leave a bad review we are a big hotel so it does not matter what you say or do, we are not a new little hotel, I can make special food for you maybe?" I responded quite abruptly explaining it's YOUR food that's made us all ill!” He then stood up, shook my hand and walked off without a care in the world and made it very clear I was being a nuisance to him. On my way back to my room I decided to speak to some other guests, and they all responded that they are also suffering with sickness and diarrhoea! They also went on to inform me that other guest are having the same issue of being sick and diarrhoea and the MD made the same remarks to them too! And he wasn’t bothered people are dropping like flies falling ill while staying at his hotel!

I would Seriously think twice about this place, do not get sucked in by the pretty pictures and YouTube videos, the staff there are careless and speak very little broken English. Even at reception, the lady spoke next to no English. Once you've paid and they have your money you’re treated like dirt. The only good thing about the hotel is the animation team especially Fabio and Sabrina. They are the most kindest people and go above and beyond to make sure you have a smile on your face, all the children loved them and they properly involved all the family and really did help us enjoy ourselves. Fabio and Sabina have huge talent and It’s a shame they work at such a horrid hotel, they deserve so much better. With all the sickness and belly problems my poor children were left bed bound until they felt better, which resulted to be day before home time unfortunately. My middle child willed herself to the pool on fear of missing out but was then sick behind the water slides. Also the MD continued to follow us around the place and even into the restaurant too taking pictures of us where we all ate plates of chips...

We stayed at Calido Maris for a week last month (August 2024), and while we had a great time and plenty of time to relax, the resort itself isn't quite perfect. It's not bad either, it's just... ok.

Rooms The rooms were adequate. The bed was comfy and getting an extra pillow and an extra blanket was absolutely no trouble with houskeeping. The aircon in the rooms worked REALLY well, hence the extra blanket needed at night! The decor in the room is fairly basic, and overall the rooms were a bit tired and worn out. The bathrooms were ok, no issues with shower pressure or hot water. The TV contains very few english-language channels, so if you have kids, it might be worth downloading some stuff in your native language. Fortunately, my 4 year old was quite happy watching kids TV in other languages. The minifridge in each room was well stocked with drinks. Cold water, fizzy water, lemonade, iced tea. Unfortunately it doesn't appear they restock it over the period of your stay. I'm sure if we'd asked, they would have, though we were happy enough just grabbing some bottles of water from the lobby on the way to bed of an evening.

Food The main restaurant is quite big and has a massive array of food. There's masses of salad, bread, dips etc. There's simple pasta and burgers and chips if you have fussy eaters. The hot food inside was quite often what I would describe as "hearty". Lots of stews and things like that. Tasty, but not particularly exciting or inspiring. They have a grill section outside, and an outside pasta secion. The dessert bar was definitely a highlight, and I think I ate my weight in baklava! There's also ice cream available. Overall the food was tasty, but not amazing. It was adequate.

Lunch time we usually had food from the poolside bar. It usually consisted of pizza, pasta, chips and burgers. Usually sort of snack food. There was a salad bar. There are actually two food outlets by the pool, and on one of the days they did little kofte wraps that were amazing! Keep your eye out for them. Also, if you fancy a pint by the pool, go to the pool bar early as they only have a handful of pint cups, and they do run out. So get a pint cup, and then hang onto it and take them back for refills, otherwise you'll be stuck drinking beer out of thimbles.

Pool The pool was definitely a highlight. Most days we'd set up on sun lounges near the kids pool. There's plenty of stuff for the little ones to keep themselves occupied with in the pool, and plenty in the bigger pool for the bigger kids. The slides were good fun and the lifeguards were excellent as well. In one instance, my son managed to catch his leg on the side of the pool ladder and gave himself a pretty decent cut. Went to one of the lifeguards and he had a look and decided it needed looking at by the onsite doctor. Took us down there and waited with us while the doctor took a look. Fortunately it didn't need stitches or anything, so my son only had to miss one day of pool fun, but overall they were excellent and took safety seriously.

Entertainment The animation team are excellent. The evening entertainment was great and the kids really loved it. The team themselves are also super friendly and if you see them in passing, or share a lift, they always say hi and strike up a conversation. They made us feel very welcome, so well done to them. We didn't really use the kids club much, however the day we did use it, the kids had an absolute ball, and the staff that were running it were excellent, and the kids didn't want to leave. In hindsight, we should have sent them more, but they were having too much fun in the pool.

Overall, it's a nice resort, however it's starting to show its age a bit and could probably do with a closed off-season to do some much needed repairs and just give everything a bit of a spruce-up. The rooms are due for a refurb as well, but overall we didn't have a bad time, it just wasn't quite an amazing time. It met our expectations, but didn't really exceed them. I'm not sure I'd recommend staying here, but I also wouldn't...

Summary - I would definitely return to this hotel and I regret only spending a week here. The hotel is a well maintained and safe location to unwind, as a couple, family or with friends. The food is bog standard for an all inclusive, however you will never be hungry. The entertainment is on point, there is always something to do here.

Arrival to Hotel - The reception was fairly quick and simplistic, no issues checking in and assistance with our bags to the room. Room- Lovely spacious room, fitting 3 adults. The pool view was definitely worth it and could chill on the balcony for hours in the sun. The rooms are very well maintained and clean, with working TV and mini fridge. The first few days, our AC didn’t really work, and the room was still hot, we told reception and they had a technician come round in less than 10mins and fixed the issue. We also asked for additional pillows and they were also provided within 10mins. Pool - We spent most our days around the pool. Would recommend putting towels down around 8am if not earlier to get the best sun beds. The pools are clean and so are the surrounding areas. Just be cautious as it can be slippery and have seen a few adults and kids fall. There are numerous drink bars around the pool providing both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. We brought large flasks to use instead of small plastic cups and they had no issue filling them instead and would definitely recommend you do the same. Food - Within the main restaurant, there is a wide variety of food from different meats to a variety of salads to a choice of desserts. I can guarantee there is always something for you. The food is a bit bland, but still edible. Only issue we found, was the restaurant can become packed and feel slightly stuffy but apart from that no issues at all. On the other hand, the snack bars are brilliant, providing burgers, pasta and pizza around the pool. The food from the snack bars were delicious and definitely recommend. Entertainment Team - Can’t fault the entertainment team, especially Mario and Mady that we spoke to the most. Mady always brought the good vibes and even remembered our names considering how many guests were at this hotel, which was lovely to hear. During our stay, there had been an heated exchange between tourists and citizens at the hotel, after which some of the team provided extra assurance and comfort that we were safe, but disregarding that we always felt safe and never worried. Additionally, the whole team is fantastic with kids and even provides an entire day towards kids entertainment, all other days had fabulous entertainment, during the day it would be darts, polo and aqua aerobics, and for the evenings, Turkish nights, modern dancing, etc. Even had the opportunity to go to Side, clubbing with the team. Cannot praise the team enough, any issues or questions they will most definitely sort you out. Staff - We found most serving staff spoke English, however some spoke little to none, but were still willing to listen and understand. The cleaning ladies are so kind and brilliant at what they do, the rooms are left spotless, folded our clothes and even made little swans from our covers. The bar staff are funny and like a chat when they get the chance. The cocktails were a bit strong the first night, however after making a joke or two about having less alcohol on holiday, it was soon sorted. Excursions and Extras - Within the welcome meeting, we were provided a leaflet with various activities, like quad biking, jeep safari, sightseeing, however we only did the jeep safari, which worked out to be around 40€ for a full day of water fights, a boat ride and food for lunch, I very highly suggest going on this, we had a blast and would definitely do it again. For other interests, ask the entertainment team or reception as they can help and will probably know the best places to go to, for...