Lemas Apartments

This was a last minute booking to a place we had never been to before. On arrival,(5.30am ), our room was not made up for 3 people, only 2. There were a number of issues also with missing items in the room, but the list I gave to Mr Fix it at reception, was dealt with straight away, even at that time of time morning.You have to remember this is a basic 3* (Turkish grade) hotel, so don't expect 5* luxury, but saying that, it was more than adequate as a sleep base, to discover the surrounding areas.
Breakfast was adequate, which was buffet style, and eaten outside. There was a fairly good selection of foods to eat, but the only problem were the flies around the food at times.We were only on a bed and breakfast basis, which turned out to be the best option, as dinner,again, was a buffet, with little choice. We ate out at various places around the area each night, as well as the al a carte at the hotel, and we were never disappointed. One thing you have to remember when eating out, is that you always get a complimentary starter which usually consists of a flat/pita type bread, with dips and salad.This can be quite filling. You might also get, depending on restaurant, free drinks/ sweet at the end of your meal.Always check your bill, as mistakes will happen at your expense.
The hotel has two pools, a large one on the main site, and a smaller one across the road at their other block of apartments.This one tends to be quieter, and more chance of getting a bed, as the main pool is difficult to find a bed at the best of times.
Rooms are cleaned/checked every day, and bedding changed every 3 days. Maids are very pleasant, and at the end of your stay, if you would like to leave them a tip, then 5 lira is okay(we were told), but 10 lira would be greatly appreciated, as their wages are very poor.
The bar area is okay, with a chap running up your tab for you as you have your drinks. This works well, but do check your final bill list, as mistakes are made.You can obviously pay as you go.
The bar staff are fantastic, and always try and get people involved in the evening.( best time is between 10-11 which is half price cocktails). Prices vary, but expect to pay 5 lira for their own beer(efes-5%), 3 lira for a coke/sprite. Measures for spirits are generous, as they do not measure-just poor....
The free bus service from the hotel is good to get to the main beech in Side, which is too far to walk, especially in the heat.
Taxi fare vary, but expect to pay around 15 lira one way to Side old town.
There is a small shop on site, which seems to stock most things you will need, and all items are priced up(slightly more expensive than the supermarket in town-which is only 10 mins walk away). The owners are excellent, very friendly and helpful.
If you have a room overlooking the main pool, then you might be bothered by the noise at night from the bar, as it is situated opposite.
There is a chap who comes round to try and sell you spa treatments on site.My advice is to go into the town( 10 minutes away), and go to the trip shop across the road, which is a lot cheaper, and you get a good discount if you book 3 or more with them.Very helpful.We did rafting/jeep safari etc-Excellent!!(all full days).
Make sure you understand the currency, as they are in transition at the moment, as the are using the Turkish lira as well as the Euro, and prices can be confusing. They will try and con you with the conversion if you have brought lira-be warned!
Take your own beach towels, as they do not allow you to take their towels to the pool/beach.
All rooms have air con, which works well, and very welcome at night.
Be prepared to pay around 35 lira to have a safe key for your stay. This surprised me when I arrived, but was very useful.
Just remember-this is a basic 3* star hotel, which is great as a base to discover the surrounding area. Don't expect 5* star luxury, as you will be disappointed.

iv just arrived from holiday and would like to say that lemas was one of the best hotel iv been to an will recommend people to visit there.All the staff are lovely an the rooms are 100% clean and view is really beautiful.I will deferentially visit again next summer thank you to all the lovely staff for making my holiday wonderful. Rabia Khatun

The staff at Lemas Suite are the friendliest hotel staff I have ever met. I have travelled to many destinations but the service we recieved from the staff at Lemas Hotel was 2nd to none. Just amazing!! Not a bad word to be said. The rooms were nice, we just had a fantastic time there. The food was just amazingly delicious, Sedat the Restaurant manager was just lovely, genuinely very down to earth and always willing to go that extra mile to ensure we were all happy with the food.
Sahin and Selim were 2 jokers we will never forget, they always made us laugh with their mischievous behaviour....very friendly!
I would definitely go back to Lemas Suite. We had an amazing time! :)

this is by far the best holiday yet. been to lemas 3times now and going back again in may and then again in august. ok so its not the ritz but its clean, comfortable and the staff are like family. you don,t have to dress up for dinner if you don,t feel like it, no-one will mind. i have never been looked after so well and ive been around the world. if you want 5star accomadation but no atmosphere, go pay for it. weve looked at these hotels and they are starchy and definately not relaxed. the lemas is fantastic, they can,t do enough for you, we love it there.

2 readers found this review helpful

been traveling in turkey for 18 years now also worked /driven in istanbul. Lemas what a hovel rooms good size cleaned everyday by happy freindly cleaner very quickly bedding changed every 4/5 days towls every 4 days fridge in room will cost you £35 a week so plug it in yourself. i was half board breakfast very minimal selection main meal in evening is soup starter then mainly chicken rice and chips no, choice half board this can take upto 1and a half hours from when you sit down,so after 4 days of this and watching in disgust as one of the many cats that wander around jump onto a table and groom itself then lick the salt cellar was enough to make us both get up and eat out after that. Pool was big but over flow around edge was full of mould and algue as was shower room floor. Bar staff JIMMY & ELVIS give 100% but there hands are tied, zero entertainment except thursday when its turkey night which is ok, old side around harbour is very nice but stay to the side roads for cheaper restarants orfords by harbour is nice so is the price small bass & 8 tiger prawns and salad 151 lira if you want a nice holiday in this area do yourself a favour go 4star plus and give lemas a very wide birth

7 readers found this review helpful

As a solo traveller seeking relaxation, sun and archaeology Lemas was a perfect base.
All the staff were lovely - extremely welcoming, professional, courteous and helpful at all times. Not at all pushy or intimidating.
Set amongst well-tended gardens with lots of flowers and greenery, there is a large swimming pool and children's pool with good amenities on site - little shop for food etc., hairdresser, massage, manicure, pedicure.
My room was very comfortable and spacious, with TV, air conditioning, sunny balcony, & was cleaned every day. Double glazed so no do disturbing noise at night time.
Excellent restaurant with buffet breakfast. Snacks, food and drink available at all times. Good varied menu for evening meal & ate there most nights. One evening one of the guests was celebrating a birthday and the tables were beautifully decorated by the staff with rose petals,flowers and candles - very pretty and romantic.
Small, friendly and welcoming bar area with choice of music (TV and even Kararaoke if required!). I think a Turkish night (just 1 night a week) is planned for later in the season, but generally quiet and unobtrusive, nice place to chat and relax. If "wilder" entertainment required, thediscos are not too far away.
Wouldn't really recommend to anyone with walking difficulties as no lifts and surrounding roads unsurfaced and a little potholed. *Map provided by Thomsons not good -not to scale and no street names so difficult to find way around on foot BUT hotel does provide FREE minibus service provided to one of the beaches near Side village which can be used to visit Side village, museum and archaeological sites. Local dolmus costs around £1 each way. Local bus station (ottogar) in Side village. Taxi from Side around £7. To walk to nearest beach takes around quarter of an hour. To walk to Side village, a pleasant walk along surfaced sea front parade or sandy beach, takes around another half hour.
*Tourist Informatin Centre provides a better map & has lots of useful brochures.
Museum excellent, archaeology and wild flowers are stunning.
Didn't eat out much as the hotel restaurant was so good, but if going to see the ruins at sunset (spectacular) would recommend the "no frills" ( with great home cooking )- Caretta cafe/restaurant just outside main City Gate raised above the beach. Lovely views, relaxing music and a couple of little pet rabbits and pet tortoise with 4 tiny babies! Also tried slightly posher one called Alaturk which has pet turtles and photos of the local Caretta turtles which are sometimes to be seen near the beach. They do a good mixed meze dish. The restaurants on the harbour front looked nice but hassle from pushy touts so perhaps best avoided.
I had a really enjoyable & relaxing stay at the Lemas and met some lovely people, both Turkish and English & would not hesitate to return. A perfect choice for me - but not for you if you really want 5 star comfort in the centre of all the action.

2 readers found this review helpful

If you are looking for tranquil surroundings, good fun atmosphere,curtious friendly and helpful staff, good food, chamber maid service daily then look no further than Lemas apartments in Side, Turkey. Spacious air conditioned apartments with fridge and cooking facilities all with balcony, and on site mini market, 2 large pools, plus kiddies pool, play area, table tennis and snooker available. Beautiful sandy beaches, plenty of varied shops and restaurants 10 minutes walk away. We would definatley return, a great time was had by all of us.

9 readers found this review helpful

Booked as a late 10 day deal and then read the reports - oh god what have we done? Well to late so went out on June 23rd and arrived at complex at 3.00am - staff on arrival friendly and helpful. We thought we would be in one of the 3 main buildings as in brochure but apparantly B&B stay across the road in a relatively new block 3 storey block with 18 rooms - not mentioned/shown in brochure.
This had its benefits as it was away from main buildings, pool and area so much quieter and because we had our own pool/bar, we found over time that a lot of couples came over from the main complex - the only downside of being in these apartments was no fridge or kettle - rooms were sallish but clean and funtional for what we needed and although we asked for a pool view, the view we got to the rear overlooking fields and mountains was much better - plus cooler as east facing.
Yes I agree with what people say - a bit of a trek to the main drag - 10 minutes and 15/20 minutes to the beach but the hotel ran a free minibus ( well ancient dolmas)to and from the main beach on the far side of Side which was a lot quiter than the ones close by.
The staff were great - some real characters and all very friendly - Freddie, Mustafah and all the guys - could do with getting a more lively/cheerful barman as he (Ollie) looked and acted like he was at a wake.
The rooms were cleaned and beds made/changed daily - the cleaner was brilliant.
Side is great for history and shops - the usual my friend/plus bartering applies but found the shops were all copies of each other every fews shops (but hey this is Turkey) but for nightlife Kunkoy is the place - we were raving till 4.30 on Sunday night/Monday morning and place was still going when we left.
The good bit was lots of foreigners - Dutch, Swedes, Norwegians but we never found any Germans although Brits are gettings as bad for towels on sunbeds - there at 5am
Overall as a late booking it was a lot better than we expected especially after reading all the reports - we would recommend it - if you want posh piccies on the wall and tasteful decor, suited and booted staff and all the other types of English life - stay at one of the huge all inclusives on the sea front

we had a great holiday at the lemas suites apartments. the staff were excellent and could not have been more helpful. rooms very good food and facilities good. we arrived late in the evening, tired and hungry. the manager and his young assistant woke up the chef to make us sandwiches and fries, all done willingly.
the only drawback was the distance from Side and the beach, but we like to walk and did not find it a problem. there was a free bus to the beach.
i would definitely recommend this hotel to friends and family.
the restaurant was also very good and also many good restaurants locally and in Side.

1 reader found this review helpful

The hotel itself was very nice but there were a few things I need to get off my chest. We went self catering which was a bit of a disaster as we only had 2 hobs which would take forever to heat up although we did have a kettle , the rooms were spacious but very badly lit , lots of the plug sockets and lights had been cut off so you couldnt use them the "one" bulb in the lounge was awful.The shop was a "rip off" the guy behind the counter seem to make his prices up £ 5.00 for a toblerone ( 10 lire) it was so expensive!!! and not many things to chose from , so you had to walk a short distance to the next shop. Th hotel was was 3 miles from Town and in the middle of nowhere , if I would have known that I would not have booked this hotel the dirt road it is on was pitch black at night so had no choice to get taxis back from Town costing between £5- 7.50 per time this added a lot of cost on my holiday as you can imagine for 14 days. The pool was nice to look at but the gids around it were filthy full of green gunk , not nice I noticed this when I was sitting by the pool , never went in the pool again. it was only cleaned out in 2 weeks when I was there , my partner was swimmimg in it and told me she could see hundreds of hair slides and bobbles at the bottom, not nice.
The Beach was also a hike especially coming back up that dreaded hill by the Asteria... I was puffed out ( unfit) . The beach was often like lieing in an ashtray , I dont smoke either , but the beach was full of cigarrettes , I have been to several places in Turkey and this has been the worse. The majority of holiday makers are German so the Turks were always talking German to us. Our Rep was useless he stayed with us for 10 minutes , he never told us were to get the Dolmus from etc we asked him to recommend places but he struggled. Even on the way back to the Airport he fell asleep on the coach . He gave us wrong informattion regarding Aspendos , which was an excellent place to see. I felt that because we were not in a 5 star hotel he couldnt be bothered with us, as he stood to make more money from the other hotels.
The first Choice brochure failed to tell us how far away the town was I feel this is very important especially after having surgery on my foot this didnt help also the money aspect of it. Side itself was very expensive more expensive then the West of Turkey and I will not be returning.. definately not a place I would recommend. or the hotel. the reception staff were very nice but I cant say that about the shop / market staff.
I did enjoy the historical part of the Holiday and did visit the Museum which was excellent. so my advice to any one going to Side is make sure you find out how far your hotel is from Town.