Diamond of Bodrum

Just got back from 2 weeks at the Diamond of Bodrum and really had a great time. The Hotel is about 25 minutes transfer from the airport. It is set over 7 stories and is in the perfect location. Its right on the beach and near the shops and bars but not too near! Rooms : Ours was a nice size, fresh towels were supplied daily and room was cleaned every day. Email the hotel before you go and request a sea view as you will be missing out on a gorgeous view if you dont get a sea view room. Hair dryers are provided in the room and there is a tv but it only has about 2 english channels. Air Conditioning and shower were very good. Pool area: Gets busy very early, people put their towels down before 8am! Swimming pool is kept clean and its a nice temperature. Beach towels are provided every day Beach: This is where we spent most of our time and the Diamond has its own private beach area and there are plenty of sunbeds there, we never struggled to get a sunbed on the beach. The sea is very cold but its welcomed in such hot weather. The beach is kept clean and tidy. Food and Drink: Breakfast is served up until 10.30 and there is a wide variety of things to chose from. Pancakes and Omlettes are cooked daily infront of you. There is also cereal, toast, fruits and yoghurts and fry up things like eggs, sausgages etc. Lunch and Dinner are the same kind of set up, buffet style with a selction of salads, meats, rice, chips etc. there is a different meat/fish grilled fresh infront of you every day and also pasta is cooked infront of you every day also and you can chose your pasta and chose what sause you want on it. Alcoholic drinks are weak and Beer is not great. Rose wine is nice but ask for it with ice. Entertainment: There really is no entertainment in this hotel, we had a turkish belly dancer one night and a 3 man band on another occasion but this was it. Shopping: There is a market on Monday by the bus station (just pop on the bus for 2lira and get there, HAGGLE and you can get things really very cheap! What the vendors tend to do is say a price and then if you half it and they will meet you in the middle. There are also lots of shops down by all the bars and this is where you will get better quality bags, clothes and sunglasses. Again make sure you haggle and get yourself a good price. Trips: We did a boat trip which we booked with Thomas Cook and paid around £35 but to be honest it wasnt that great. The boat leaves at 10 and you dont get back until around 5 and its a bit boring as you just stop at random locations in the sea and cant do much. The food was nice on the boat though. We also did the Aqua Park. It is OK but thats about it. There are 2 brilliant rides and then a few ok ones, again here we were dropped off at 11 and picked up at 4.30 and this was far too long, 2 hours would have been enough. It was only £14 each though and the food in the park was reasonably priced. I will say though that DO NOT pack any food and drink to take with you because this gets conviscated when you go into the park and you cannot get this back. The Strip: Just about a 7 minute walk from the hotel is a long strip of bars, clubs and shops. Shops are open until late around 11.30 and bars are open till about 3am and dont get busy until late. We walked past about 12 anad they are not busy. There is also a big club called Halikarnis and this is open every night until around 5am. Weather: We were there for 2 weeks and had 14 days of glorious sunshine with not a single cloud in the sky. It gets very hot and one day we were told it was 50 degrees so do take some high factor sun cream with you. Photos: Definatly get some of the proffesional photos done at the hotel. we got some done and there are really lovely and the men do you a brilliant deal. Overall: Overall i would not hesitate to recommend this hotel. It is clean, tidy and in a excellent location. My only complaint would be the bar staff and waitors. They were VERY slow. For example we would order our drinks as we sat down to eat and then wouldnt get them until we had finshed our dinner. Service was extreamly slow at the bar, there would be 5 barmen serving noone anad would take about 5 minutes for them to serve you! Also the hotel didnt have many English guests, the majority of guests were Dutch. All in all this was a fabulous holiday and i would definalty return to Turkey. Any questions please ask

What can i say apart from perfect. You could not want for a better location. Yes this hotel is not a 5* more like a 4* but this is made for by the great staff who do all they can to make your stay perfect. There are only two things i would say they need to improve on is the pool area & sun deck area and they need to enforce their rule of not saving sun beds. We got there at 05:30am and there were towels out then, not going to say where the people come from. They need more Brit's at this hotel, as we say please and thank you instead of barking oders. and we did get better service from the staff. If you go look out for Mizam and Omer in the restuarant and the main man,Himmet at the pool bar.

We've been to this as it is called "5 stars" hotel last end of August-beginning of September. By we I mean my lovely mom, my husband and me. First of all, believe me it's not 5 stars,it's not even 3. Yes,there is always splendid view and nothing else.Territory is very small, and by small I mean incredibly small,especially the beach part .And if you dont want to spend your holidays in the company of over drunk 24/7, non-educated, strange looking ,and over-agressive Dutch people ,who can't stop eating even when the official dinner time is closed and restaurant should be closed and the concert (at least that's what they call the amusing program) then better go somewhere else. ADVISE : GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Before we went to the Diamond we were a bit worried by some of the reviews we read on here wondering whether we had made a bit of a mistake in booking to go there. Thankfully, our fears proved to be unfounded and we had a great holiday at the hotel, both being really impressed with what was on offer. The previous two holidays we had were both in Egypt and both hotels were also 5* and All Inclusive so it's not as if we aren't used to staying in nice places, that isn't meant to sound snobby but just to allay the fears of people who are thinking the same as what we were thinking before we got there! We aren't the fussiest of people but the standards we'd expect were comfortably met. The rooms seem to be coming in for a bit of stick on this site, well we found ours to be fine but I guess it depends on different people's expectations. The room was clean, a decent size, had two comfortable beds, a TV with some English channels (plus they show all the English Premiership football live!) and a bathroom which although small was adequate enough. Our room unfortunately didn't have a good view from the balcony, had we known about the great view we were missing out on (looking out across the bay) before booking we would probably have upgraded to a seaview room - I think it would have been worth the money. There are a number of bars and seating areas within the hotel which added the variety that we enjoy, the food was also very good. There is free internet which I know isn't exactly what you go on holiday for but it's good that it's free. The location is great not only for the view but the fact that it is near enough to Bodrum centre but far enough away not to be affected by the noise of nightclubs and bars - literally five minutes walk and you are in Bodrum. One gripe is the size of the pool area, the pool itself is fine (although quite cold even when it was 36C in the sun) but as someone else pointed out on here, sun loungers are at a premium! It is true that the German and Russian guests WILL put out their towels very early each morning which meant all were taken up quickly. This meant that we had to go down a level (the hotel is on 7 levels - don't panic, there are lifts!) to a sun terrace which had large mattresses and huge cushions - these were great and very comfortable so we weren't overly bothered. There is a note up by the pool that says loungers cannot be reserved - this rule seems only to be applied when, as on our last day all beds are taken and people are strugggling to find anywhere to lie - in this case, a member of staff was alerted and apparently moved some towels from the beds that had no one on them (the towels belong to the hotel so they're not technically moving your belongings). With this in mind, do what we did and always leave not just a towel but also a book or sunglasses on your beds - less likely to get moved then. At 9am we found we could manage to get two of the large towel-covered mattresses together but I wouldn't leave it much later and would recommend in high season to be down there much earlier. There is also a beach area for the hotel which looked okay but we didn't end up going down there to sunbathe. Unfortunately, the staff weren't as friendly as we found them to be in Egypt, they seemed to be a bit aloof and sometimes could come across as quite rude, perhaps unintentionally. They are also one pace and won't rush themselves to get you served at the bar, probably a bit more laid back then us English! Don't worry, you won't be queuing but they just lack any sort of real urgency which proved frustrating at times. All in all, we were very pleased with our stay at the hotel. We met some other English couples and they also echoed our feelings so to anyone worried about the quality of this hotel, I would say 'don't be.' To be safe, I will say it is certainly worthy of 4 stars. On our last day we went on a cruise which involved us being transferred to a different hotel (the Delik) until the end of our stay in Turkey - that quickly put into perspective what a great hotel the Diamond is, believe me, the other hotel was abysmal! Any questions then ask away.

Note: rating given based on 3 stars, not five! We stayed at this hotel for two weeks during August 2007 and really enjoyed it. The hotel is comparable to a 3 star hotel in the UK, so bare that in mind when you book and you will get what you pay for. Our room was basic but modern and clean. I would recommend a balcony over looking Bodrum bay because the view is beautiful. The food was pretty good and there was enough variety. Of course Bodrum has many restaurants which are a short walk so you are not confined to the hotel. The pool is small but clean. It is a very short walk to the beach, which is also small, but convenient. Camel beach near Bitez is apparently far nicer but a bus ride away. The bar on the beach, is a great place to relax in the evening for a cold beer before heading out, further into Bodrum. The hotel has a gym but it is in desperate need of a clean and new equipment. There are two computers at the hotel offering free access to the Internet. Lastly it takes less than 10 minutes to get into Bodrum town by local bus.

We stayed at this hotel one week in September, tried to change a hotel, but our agency could not provide this. I don't know how can this hotel have 5 stars?? To reach a very small beach you have to go across the street (!!) or use a tunnel. The beach is so small you have to reserve a place early in the morning. There is no beach bar, so you have to walk or use an elevator to get a drink! Try doing it every day and you will stop drinking or use only water. Don't try to sleep in the afternoon, because the start collecting sun beds around 4pm. That makes so much noise!! Sun beds beside the pool are impossible to get - only if you wake up very early. Not a singe sport activity, nothing at all!! They say there are joga classes, but I couldn't find it during my stay, and I really tried to. Rooms are ok, but the bathroom is to small. In our bathroom the toilet shell was not fixed, we had to sit on it very carefully (imagine that in a 5 stars hotel!!). The walls are so thin, we could hear every voice during the night and could not sleep. I suggest finding some other hotel that really deserves 5 stars, there are plenty of the in and around Bodrum.

This resort is not a diamond at all, although the location is very good. The staff was okay, the food okay (plentiful and variety). The location is very nice, right on the water. the pool and restaurant have water views. Our complaint was the room. NOT a 5 star resort by anyones stretch of imagination. The room was basically bare. We booked a suite. 1 room had two double beds and a lamp on the floor. Yep thats all, no pictures on the wall and no furniture, beds were hard and uncomfortable. The main bedroom wasnt much better. It had furniture but only 1 lamp to light the entire room. the bathroom was very small and looked worn. A couple of small bottles of shampoo and stuff, thats it. The AC barely worked at all. As with a lot of Turkish hotels, your room key must be inserted to turn on the lights and AC. Everytime we returned to the room it was HOT and took forever to cool off, we could barely sleep on those uncomfortable beds in the heat. Im sorry but for the price there are much better places to stay in Bodrum. The beach in front of the hotel is nice I guess but you had only a few feet of clear water then the bottom was covered with grass. If you have been to Bodrum you know not to expect a sandy beach, but the hotel beach was covered with small sharp rocky stuff that you couldnt walk on with bare feet. We went to some the of nice beach clubs instead of the hotels beach. On the plus side we stayed here as an all inclusive so food and drinks were included (up until midnight, after that you pay). No room service.

As I write this we are being compensated for the most mis-represented hotel description (Thomas Cook) that I have seen. The hotel facilities are 3* at best food and service non rateable. We stayed with out 1 year old daughter and were woken every night by the gangs of turkish lads that represent 50% of the guests. The desserts are uncovered and swarming with flies. We were moved room (to one that was covered in mould) and moved again were we could not allow the balcony to be open as our daughter would clearly have fallen off. We have stayed at Hillside Beach, Fethiye before and would recommend this to anyone. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

This was a four day stay for our 15th wedding anniversary in October 2006. The Diamond is situated at the Ichmeler side of Bodrum bay and possesses superb views over St Peters Castle. It also has its' own small private beach in front of the hotel. Reception is a very modern area with a bar and comfortable seating, again with beautiful views. The rooms are large, modern and well equipped - ask in advance for a sea view. The hotel is only about 500 metres from the Halikarnoss disco, supposidly the largest open air disco in europe and a few yards more takes you onto Bar Street, where there are literally hundreds of beach side bars and restaurants. However, it is sufficiently far away to opt for the quiet life also by staying in the hotel. When we arrived in our room, we discovered a bottle of champagne in ice and a beautiful banana chocolate dessert! We had not requested this and it was obviously provided by management due to our wedding anniversary - an extremely nice gesture. There is an excellent spa, indoor pool and gymnasium, even if it is a little difficult to find. One of the only problems about the hotel is the lack of lounging space around the pool due to the hotel being built on a slope overlooking the bay. This meant that loungers were booked with towels from early in the morning. However, I suppose this is the norm for many hotels these days and there is always the private beach option. Internet access was also included in the all inclusive tariff. The food was served in a large buffet dining room with each area being served by a drinks waiter. These would usually supply you with a full bottle of wine if requested. There was penty of variety in the menu with many main courses and a good choice of salads. The staff were attentive, professional and friendly, all that you would expect from a 5 star outlet. We stayed on an all inclusive basis for 100 euros per night, a rate negotiated directly with the hotel. At this rate, I would highly recommend it.

A little disappointed, but not a disaster. Hotel claims to be 5* but I'd say it was the equivalent of a Travelodge - compact rooms, tiny balconies, but clean and comfortable. The buffet gets a bit repetitious, but does cater for all tastes. One big negative - the hotel do have a policy that everything you eat or drink in the hotel should have been bought from the hotel - we even saw one guy get some bottles of water he'd bought in a local supermarket at a quarter of the hotel price "confiscated" by the reception staff. Would I stay there again - no, but only because I've done Bodrum and a week was overlong for the amount of things to do there - but this hotel probably is as good as you can get in Bodrum town.