More Traveller Reviews of Club Xanthos
A touch of class!
from lillyrain
Just returned from Club Xanthos. Arrived with some trepidation considering some of the negative comments that i had read. Found the Hotel and the resort to be beautiful!!. The hotel is well appointed and very clean, the view from our room was breathtaking. If you are looking to be entertained at all times this resort is not for you, it is still relatively unspoilt by commercialism but dos have loads of lovely restaurants around the pretty harbour. Club Xanthos itself is a little isolated in the hills above Kalkan but the hotel does provide a bus into town twice a day and taxis are plentiful and cheap. If i had any negative comments they would be that the hotel charges way above the odds for snacks and drinks and that the staff could be a little friendlier. Having said that this in no way affected my enjoyment of the holiday and i will definitely go back.
We really enjoyed it!
from deb40
We have just spent 2 weeks here and after reading some ot the reviews I was very concerned..However I was pleasantly surprised. We arrived very early in the morning after a long delay and were put in a room with twin beds with a smaller bed for our daughter which was jammed into the roomso we could hardly move. We spoke to the manager and within a few days we were moved to a larger room. We had a fabulous time here..yes it is a bit out of the way but the staff were very friendly and we were made to feel very welcome at the hotel.The rooms were clean and comfortable and the pool lovely. The only complaint I would have is that there could be a bit more for children..however this was due to the brochure that we booked the hotel through ;as we were told there would be regular childrens entertainment, . In addition it would have been more helpful if there was a more regular bus minibus service into town as the bus only went twice at 10.30 am and 8.30 pm.Taxis into town were usually about 12 turkish lira so this could eat into your budget. However we were very happy with the food at the hotel and went into town for a few nights to one of the many fabulous restaurants, some with roof top settings overlooking the harbour...We loved Omars kitchen....a really small little family run restaurant which served really reasonably priced food.Loved Kalkan town and beach. Yes its full of hills, but it is a lovely village.You soon find out the place to go like the kalamar beach club and its worth going on a few trips to Xanthos, Myra, etc. Patara beach is also stunning and is only about 20 mins away. What the hotel lacked in entertainment was made up for by the friendliness of the staff and they made a fuss of our daughter which made her holiday. Shandy, the pool bar manager, is a genuinely lovely guy. Beautiful place..we would probably go back in a few years when our daughter is a bit older. . its probably not that suitable for younger children.
Very very very GOOD
from Flowi
Club Xanthos is an Excellent hotel. The Reception Staff (Mustafas Ateam)and all the other workers are very friendly. The service is above average. Food was very good too - buffet style and plenty to choose. Kalkan itself is a lovely town, famous for its roof top restaurants. Brilliant beaches and scenery. ENJOY!!!! Club Xanthos and Kalkan
Fantastic
from Lomas4
Superb hotel, from the minute you arrive, from the Reception Staff to the cleaners they are so warm and friendly, the rooms are cleaned every day with fresh fluffy towels, the service is fabulous the food is very good, go and have a drink with Shandy, who runs the pool bar he is very entertaining and lovely to talk too, Brian and his colleagues are good fun also, whilst having a professional approach. There are a lot of steps, however we found it good excercise.go to the beach club below the hotel very relaxing, have their fried feta cheese salad, mmm so tasty!!! We did not find a bad restaurant, we highly recommend the Paparazzi, he is a excellent spicey cook (try the masala) his family welcome you with open arms, most enjoyable evening!!! The Grinola is the best, Jimmy is a great host, sit in the bar area is a joy let alone the terrace rooftop, with the gorgeous food and fantastic view. The Aiden is worth a visit too. Go down to the harbour and book Yildiz 1 & Yildiz 2 these are run by two brothers (Osman & Adam) they will give a brilliant day out with lovely food and know all the best spots at a very good price!!! Can't recommend Kalkan enough. ENJOY!!!!
What a dump!!
from call123.co.uk
We stayed just one night at the half-board Club Xanthos and it was not the hotel that we had chosen to stay in. Style holiday changed our booking one week before departure. We had originally chosen to stay in the Nur Hotel on a B&B basis some 200 yards outside Kalkan town centre. Although the Club Xanthos's website said that it was 1.5km out of town it also said that there was a "regular" shuttle service into Kalkan. When we arrived we found out that "regular" means 2 times a day, once at 10:15 am and again at 8:30pm. Hardly regular by anybody's standards. It was for this reason that we rang our rep on arrival and asked to be moved but, alas they were unable to move us until the next day. The food we had for dinner was very boring, it pretended to be some kind of authentic turkish dish but we have never tasted any turkish food quite so bland in the previous three years that we have been to Turkey. It is such a shame to stay in a half-board hotel when there are so many great restaurants in Kalkan itself. The staff were decidedly unfriendly, it was almost as if they had all been told about the couple that didn't want to stay in their hotel and to make us feel as unwelcome as possible. The power in the room went off every 15 minutes during the night which meant that we had a very sleepless night as we had to keep turning the air conditioning back on again. The room that we were unceremoniously dumped in had seen far better days and was way overdue for a refurbishment. Needless to say before we had even completed our one night stay at the Club Xanthos we were both totally convinced that we had made the right choice not to stay there for the full two weeks of our holiday. My biggest tip for anyone planning a holiday in Kalkan is to make sure that you choose a hotel nearer to the town centre, but avoid The Pirat on the harbour as it too is in dire need of a refurb. There are just too many good restaurants in Kalkan to waste good money on a half-board hotel and if you are near the town you can experience Kalkan at it's best.
Keeps you fit!
from TribalMike
My wife and I stayed at Club Xanthos between 18th & 24th September 2006, It wasa long journey and when we arrived we both wondered what we'd let ourselves into, the hotel was situated at the bottom of a VERY steep hill, but the room (although cramped) and the service far made up for it. We both walked the 2Km trip to the town every day, and got a (crazy) taxi ride back (Was about 7YTL...about £2)..but the walk always made us feel better after eating all the food!...Brekfast was the same every day Boiled eggs, various breads, meats, cheeses and olives (Charlotte had olives at every oppurtunity...yuk!!), Dinners had soup (always nice) large salad selection and various hot meals...we couldn't fault them, we were told that the bar prices were expensive...don't believe everything you read!...We spent £60 on drinks for the 2 of us for the week...which we didn't think was too bad (you pay at the end of your stay...make sure you've saved some money!) Our room was air conditioned and small (but we didn't stay in there for long) it was cleaned daily by very friendly cleaners, all the staff were friendly, helpfull and cheeky, we tried to learn the language whilst we were there, and they were always trying to help us. The swimming pool was just gorgeous, VERY clean, very safe (although deep and no life guards, there were life-rings by the sides). There was no entertainment at the hotel, but go to Kalkan town, a week just wasn't long enough to see everything, the roof top restaraunts were superb (very romantic) we got there earlier than most (6ish) and had the roof top to ourselves watching the sun go down over the sea....stunning. We loved Kalkan, and Club Xanthos...although it was a long out of the way walk, we couldn't fault it in any way....and yes, we will be returning next year!
May 8th - 22nd 2006
from A TripAdvisor Member
We have recently returned from this hotel. I was alarmed reading the comments written in March and feared the worst. The location. All brochures describe this as not being suitable for the infirm however this cannot describe the severity of the hill this is positioned on or indeed the walk into town, the harbour is is over 2km away. We had a car for 2 weeks and without this it would have been impossible. The rooms are quite basic. The beds are very hard but the housekeeping is very good - fresh towels every day/ hot water all day. Rooms are not well sound proofed therefore when we had noisy neighbours cotton wool was needed to sleep. Food we were pleased with. Even if the main course was not to your liking there is lots soup/salads/deserts to suit all tastes. Staff were not as "jolly" as Turkish people are generally but they were polite/prompt. Kalkan itself we were disappointed. Not asclean/ tidy as other resorts/very steep (limited parking) /lot of building work/more expensive than nearby resort of Kas.
The camera never lies?
from davraver
Stayed here for two-weeks June 2004, many things may have changed but reading the recent reviews I think that the fundamentals are still here! Firstly - we chose the hotel on the strength of the photo's in the brochure; thank goodness that I have discovered "trip advisor" since then! As one reviewer states "the reception is amazing" I agree, unfortunately it appears that one person was given 80% of the construction budget for the hotel and spent it on the public areas whilst someone with much less talent had 20% to spend on the rooms!!!! A word of warning - Under no circumstances believe that there is space for three people in a room - no matter what age! We spent one night in the room before being told that the only option was a £200 upgrade to a duplex across the street. On talking to other guests at the pool-side we discovered three other families who had also been forced into similar upgrades.....Quite a good little earner on the side I would imagine. The one thing that I recall of the "entertainment" was that we played table tennis for maybe the first three days, until the waiters moved the table into a corner to make way for an additional twenty sunbeds for guests that never arrived..... The resort of Kalkan is quite laid back but hardly "up-market" as frequently described in the tourist press. You will be fitter though when your holiday is over, as the 20 minute walk to the harbour is like a climb in both directions. Due to the cost of drink in the hotel and the lack of entertainment or customers; we trekked out each evening, we discovered a roof-top bar at the hotel/apartment block facing the hotel entrance. I cannot recall the name of the establishment but the main waiter/manager was called "Euan"; what a character. If he is still there I would recommend a visit whole-heartedly. This was, as we soon found out where all the Xanthos guests went in the evening. And lunchtime! (Food was not so much - dire in the Xanthos as, how shall I put it? limited.... and the quality of service is probably better in a prison!) Places to visit are Kas along the coast on a dolmus. Patara, again by dolmus, or hire a car and visit Fethiye and Saklikent or Olu Deniz. We had booked through Goldtrail, their rep was apologetic for the room but ultimately useless in any negotiations.
Good for a cheap holiday
from heewee
This is a good value hotel and is clean and well run, the food is adequate but there are better places to eat in Kalkan. The rooms are very small and the beds quite hard. The bathroom was tiny. I would not stay here again but this was acheap holiday and one gets what one pays for
Beautiful & relaxing place
from sarah38d
My partner & i stayed at this hotel for 2weeks, the entrance to the hotel is amazing, beautifully decorated. The room that we had was quite basic compared to the hotel but we did have a balcony & a wonderful sea view! There are mmore delux rooms inthe hotel but they are all very pleasant. Breakfast & dinner are lovely wtih a different menu everyday for dinner, b'fast is a buffet as with dinner. The waiters are very lovely people & always friendly & bubbly, we actually made friends with a couple. The hotel is quite a walk from the town & harbour but it is still pleasant with wonderful views to look at on the way, you can get a taxi which costs 5try (aprox.£2) but we walked mainly everyday, takes about 20mins. There is a free bus from the hotel at 10am & 8pm. The hotel bar is quite expensive, as we realized after drinking there for 3nights in a row! But if you don't want to go to town it is a nice place to have a quite drink, with a lovely view, the bar manager is a very nice & funny guy. The only downful is that there is only entertainment 1night a week, we saw turkish dancing, which was excellent, even funnier when they dragged some of the audience up! Luckly we got away without embrassing ourselfs! There is a beech club about 5mins away, very nice people there, and very nice resturant, which is quite cheap, also serves english food & fab fresh milkshakes! There is free use of pedlows & a variety of water sports. I treated my bf to a turkish bath & full body massage on the last day & he absolutly loved it, the guy who does it is also a very nice guy. All in all i would certainly recommend this hotel, even though it is a walk to the town, mostly up hill! it is an extremly lovely & friendly hotel. We will certainly be back next year to repeat the fantastic experience again!
Terrible, don't go! Bad food and awful 'entertainment'.