DIDIM BEACH HOTEL

In summary, avoid this hotel. It may have 'elegance' in it's name but there was very little on show during our stay. It's not clear who this resort of catering to and in an effort to try and please everyone, it misses the spot. It is marketed as a 5-star hotel but is far from it. After arriving in the early hours of the morning, we were checked in with very little enthusiasm or information, which set the scene for our stay. We were given most of our information by the very keen luggage porter. The room we were allocated was shabby, with peeling wallpaper, wonky toilet roll holder, gaps around the flush fitting & loose toilet seat that wasn't fixed throughout our stay. The room itself was not adequate for a family of four. While the main bedroom was spacious, the children slept in beds that were too small for the size of the beds, making it difficult to get to the balcony and for them to use the wardrobes. In addition, it offered them no privacy as we had to walk through it to get to the bathroom. Rather bizarrely, despite being a family of 2 adults and 2 children it proved difficult to get 4 bath towels (we were only ever allocated 3) and my wife had to keep asking a maid in the corridor for an extra one. Come on, Laur Hotels - this isn't difficult. Other reviews have mentioned the sunbeds, which is the same in most other resorts. Who goes on holiday to get up at 6am to 'reserve' a sunbed? The hotel asks guests not do this but does not carry out any enforcement, so what is the point in having this rule? In other hotels, we have been able to snaffle one or two sunbeds/loungers after breakfast but here there was no chance of anything after 8am. Clearly more guests than sunbeds. There is music by the pool but, like the food (see below), it is repetitive and doesn't change. It is also loud making it difficult to listen to your own playlist, listen to a podcast or read a book. And, if you fancy some peace and quiet at the Beach bar/Poseidon bar, good luck after lunch when as DJ turns up to play 'tunes' that are far too loud and spoils the ambience. We booked an infinity pool cabana one day and were caught in the middle of the pool music and beach DJ, meaning you couldn't focus on either! If any of the management team walked around the resort, they would witness this for themselves but we didn't see anyone. For an all-inclusive restaurant, the food left a lot to be desired. It was bland and repetitive with little variety. We holidayed in Türkiye last year and most nights were themed, with the Türkiye-themed night the most celebrated. Here, it was the same stewed and stodgy dishes for lunch and dinner (in a country as hot as Türkiye?), and even these dishes weren't always kept warm. Breakfast was better, although the diced potatoes were cold and hard in the middle suggesting they were under-cooked. The hot grill insisted in churning out fried eggs and omelettes - even when there were no guests - meaning they ended up uneaten and wasted because who wants cold and rubbery eggs? Surely the answer here is to cook on demand, so guests get hot food (with omelette fillings of their choice, maybe) and the hotel reduces waste. Given the length of our stay we were able to book the Turkish and Italian a la carte restaurants. The Turkish a la carte was excellent, with tasty dishes and a well-cooked main course of chicken and lamb in flatbread with a side of rice/cous cous. However, the Italian was a disappointment - watery soup, under-cooked garlic bread, 'pizza' that was covered in bland barely melted cheese; the main course wasn't much better, with COLD mash and creamed spinach served as an accompaniment to a cut of meat that was supposed to be steak but tasted like a slice of stewing beef. This summed up the holiday, where everything gave the impression of being done in a half-hearted manner. Some of the staff we interacted with really tried their best but you got the impression there was a lack of motivation and proactivity. A handful of bar staff are friendly and appreciated my basic Turkish to say 'please' and 'thank you'. There was a lady in the 24hour lobby bar (afternoon-early evening) and a young chap at the pool bar who were always smiling and helpful.

The food was delicious, and we would especially like to thank Ms. Melek at the Zeus restaurant for her attention, care, and professionalism. The cleanliness was also excellent. The hotel's beach is beautiful. The air conditioning is inadequate for cooling, and the parking area could be expanded. In all other areas, it received full marks from us.

The front desk is very rude and was letting Turkish people go infront of us in the queue his name was berke