Mandarine Apartments

Stayed at the Mandarin apartments for a week in August. Hotel and rooms are clean and spacious, however that’s the best thing I can say about this place. The hotel/apartments are mostly all inclusive therefore for quests like my family who were staying on a self catering basis it was very hard work.

We had trouble purchasing even just a cup of coffee let alone a beer! The staff were rude unhelpful and just didn’t want to know. As for the reception staff well you were lucky if you even got a hello or goodbye.

We were questioned as to where our wristband was time and time again having to tell them we were not all inclusive therefore did not need one. Bodrum itself was lovely and I recommend eating at the garden restaurant. They serve excellent food and are situated right on the beach. Will go back to Bodrum just not that hotel.

The Mandarin Apartments make a good choice for a budget all inclusive holiday. They are perhaps not as plush as some of the more expensive resorts, but for less than £300 we had a week's holiday in a clean, friendly and well located all inclusive hotel.

The food, during serving times, was plentiful, tasty and authentically Turkish. Drinks were free-flowing although the beer was definitely from the budget end of the range!

In short, I would recommend the Mandarin Apartments for those looking for an all inclusive break at an affordable price.

This hotel is gorgeous! The rooms are very modern and stylish. The staff are great fun, we love u Ahmed! The Turkish night was a blast and there was a wide variety of food in the restaurant, salads inside and hot food outside, cooked in front of you.

The staff also didn’t mid you going up as many times as you liked during the day for extra snacks at the pool bar. Sometimes I feel as if one is your limit! The pools are set in beautiful gardens and are very clean also.

Our room was right next to the Tikki bar on the 1st floor, only 22 steps away - we counted! The staff however were a bit slow when we ordered cocktails and I'm not sure they knew exactly how to make them.

The male receptionist was a bit difficult to communicate with as he spoke more French than English but he managed to sort out a few teething problems with our electricity card. Our recommended restaurant would be the Alp Kaptain (you see it sign posted on the main road next to the Bantur Naz). Its excellent value and staff are really friendly.

A bonus in the Mandarin is that they open a small cakes/pastries buffet down at the bottom pool in the late afternoon and self catering guests can also go along and help themselves.

The Mandarin is close to the centre of Bodrum but yet is quiet at night. Its only a short walk to the beach and there is a supermarket near each entrance to the resort. Also it was a relatively short transfer from the airport approx 30-40 mins and we were the first to be dropped off and last to be picked up so there wasn’t much hanging around.

We went with Goldtrail and the rep is stationed in the Bantur Naz opposite which was ok, but it wasn’t very clear where in their complex we would find her.

This was our first all inclusive holiday and we were delighted with what the Mandarin offered, we're booking up for next year!

I stayed at the Mandarin with 9 other members of my family. I had fractured my foot 7 weeks prior to the holiday, so I was still using a crutch. There was a locked gate in the resort which led out to a street full of shops and restaurants. But the staff refused to open this gate, which meant that to get to these shops and restaurants I had to walk uphill through the new part of the complex, up a flight of marble stairs with stainless steel banisters, through reception, and downhill on a dirt track. I wasn’t the only person there with mobility problems - there was a man in a wheelchair, 1 young girl and 2 elderly ladies with crutches also.

I was lucky my family were with me as I was unable to walk this distance carrying water and shopping. I pointed this out to the staff at reception, who just shrugged their shoulders. I also found the service at the pool bar to be very slow, I once waited 40 minutes for a toasted cheese sandwich and on another occasion I was overcharged. I gave up buying ice-creams at the pool bar, as you could be the only person standing there and no-one would serve you, they would be standing around chatting among themselves.

Overall, I found the staff to be unhelpful, and only interested in getting people to use the new bar at the front of the complex - hence the locked gate at the back of the complex which they refused to open. I would not recommend this complex to the elderly or those with mobility difficulties.

On arriving at our apartment in the older part of this resort, we found it to be a little dingy and a little to far out as it was all the way at the back of the resort and just a little run down and neglected.

However, when we complained to our rep Emma, she & the staff were more than helpful & moved us to a brand new room right by the pool, which is what we had requested when we booked. It really is a beautiful place, on arrival we were given a voucher for a free breakfast & a free dinner for our family (4 persons) I think this was a very nice touch, I have been to many places and we always go self catering and have never been offered anything like this before.

There were a few teething problems as the new part had just been opened the week before but all in all it really was lovely and I would recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Bodrum. It is close enough to the beachfront and town centre but still far enough away to be quite at night.