Barut Hotels Arum

It was the second time i went to Arum for a vacation with my family. Arum was a wonderful place to spend my vacation with my family the first time. Now? ... below average. Im dissapointed about their language skills. They did so many misstakes according sevice and they didnt try to understand us. There were only to servants who handle english in a medium level. The others were below 0 zero. We ended up seaching for them when we entered the wonderful buffets. Its a hotel for germans and now even russians. I dont understand why they dont put more effort to train their staff in english. You have scandinavian, french, englishmen as well. I realy dont understand it. The surroundings at Arum are wonderful. But the personal service is below zero. Im sorry. We will not return for another hollyday....

we stayed arum for 1 week hotel is fantastic nice near the beach .we was looking for properties and we like the turkozhomes very nice service we just put deposit on apartment in side we love side we wiil be in side very soon we miss beach allready

First visit to Turkey - Hotel was exactly as described. Excellent location - beachfront, which is sandy with warm, shallow waters ideal for young children. Lots of watersports nearby too. Hotel itself was very clean, grounds extremely well maintained - everyday we saw maintenance staff cutting grass, tending to shrubs etc. Lot of German and Russian visitors, but a few Brits and English is widely spoken in the Hotel and the resort. Plenty of grass areas to move sunbeds to, with natural shade from trees. Evening entertainment is okay but would recommend a short cab drive into Side itself - although food there is more expensive than in the bars & restaurants nearby. We favoured The Brothers restaurant, just over the road from the Hotel. We stayed in a 2 bed apartment, there were 5 of us - 3 young children ages ranging from 2 to 9 years. Apartment plenty big enough - downside no toaster in there! Buffet breakfast and evening meal can be paid for as and when you want to, but the on-site Bonsai Snack Bar overlooking the sea was perfect for lunch. It's a shame they don't open that bar for the evening too, as it overlooks the Ampitheatre, where all the entertainment takes place. Aqualand is an hour's coach trip away - back towards the airport. Not the best of waterparks, extremely noisy with the music non-stop and cramped sunbed areas, but okay if you have active kids and can stand the cold water - none of it heated! Don't forget cash for the visa's at the airport and Euro's are widely accepted so don't take lots of Turkish lira - most items are quoted in Euro's and they then convert to Lira, meaning you can get ripped off with an exchange rate for cash in bars etc.

We as a family spent two weeks in this hotel last summer. We wasn't quite sure what to expect from hotels in Turkey, being used to holidaying in 4 stars + on the Spanish islands, however, it exceeded our expectations. The hotel facilities are very good, bedrooms are large and well equipped, however, it is worth ensuring that you pay the supplement for a pool view room, as the others look out onto the residents car park and kitchen/delivery entrance which can be noisy with the generators. Another down point is that the air conditioning with in the entire hotel is very poor. The food within the main restaurant is very good but not excellent. The food is all labelled and a large variety, but ensure you look around carefully as the buffet is not set out as a standard affair. Plenty of meat and fish choices as well as vegetarian. Recommend that you eat out on the terrace in the evenings where it is slightly cooler than inside, and a more intimate setting. The bars are good and drinks well priced for the type of accommodation. The lounge bar which looks over the restaurant is 24hrs, and has a large pool table and internet, which isn't highlighted within the hotel. The main pool bar makes lovely cocktails and has a live band within the evenings, much the same as any other European hotel. Also you can drink at the amphitheatre where there's entertainment 6 days a week. Lunch time snacks next to the theatre are very good. The swimming pools are excellent, very warm and with swim up bar. You are always able to find a space to sunbath around the pool, within the gardens or on the beach, and the pool staff always come round and serve you your drinks, usually remembering what you want. Overall we had a great holiday, especially because of the friendliness of all the staff, yes there are a lot of Germans within the hotel as it is German run, and the staff will most likely speak to you in German first, however, they will gladly speak English. Enjoy your holiday.

This is a beautiful looking hotel which is clean and well presented but it is owned by Germans and run for Germans especially retired ones who wish to spend each and every day wearing a swimming costume and basking on their sunbeds. If you like nothing else but doing this then this is the place for you. The staff speak English although trying to get requests actioned was impossible. We were Thomas Cook guests and asked for bath robes to go swimming in the indoor pool and were told ok by the receptionist. After 10 minutes stood at reception the receptionist came back to us again and said “sorry what do you want”. We said bath robes please – she said they would come to our room as if we should know that. Mind readers of course!! We waited for an hour in our room and in the end we gave up – no robes ever arrived. Nurse/Doctor service – The hotel has a service between varying hours each day. I went down to find out the hours and found a nurse sitting in a room. I explained my little girl was ill and she asked me if I would like to call the doctor. Told her that I would nip upstairs to check with my husband and I would be straight back down. We went back with our daughter and she had locked up and left knowing full well we were coming back. It was 3 minutes past her home time!! Beach Life and Swimming in the sea - The sea is full of rocks and it looks like the sand was imported. As soon as you reach the sea it drops off into rocks where I would say swimming is impossible and dangerous. I would not let a child in the sea at all. However there are other activities such as a banana boat and jet skiing beyond some of the buoys. A set number of canopies and sun beds and put on the beach every day in a regimented pattern. One English man asked for a canopy over his frame as the sun was getting hot and he was told know that he couldn’t have it because the allotted pattern had been done. He explained that there were no more sunbeds on the beach under covered canopies and he was told tough but they might do the others ones tomorrow While we were there a Turkish man on horseback picked up a young girl and rode down the beach with her and her parents were frantic. After 300 yards they caught up with him and he said 50 lire please. Luckily the girl loved horses but that’s not the point. Eating - The food in the Bonsai Snack Bar at lunchtime is perfect. Authentic turkish pizza – wonderful. This is the meal you don’t get as part of the half board package. The food which you get for half board in the restaurant is bland and very processed. Breakfast consists of various forms of bread rolls/croissants, processed meat and cheese. I actually identified cheese strings there. The evening meal is also buffet style and is served from 7pm which we found too late especially with a small child. The Germans were queueing well before outside the entrance – pushing and shoving us. Meals were spread out in various hot plates and servers around the room with things like fried wheat balls, spinach stuffed pastry, quail casserole and lots of rice. A chef carved something each night and one night proudly carved a processed chicken roll (a long anaemic looking sausage) and the following night a similar beef roll. The cuisine can only be described as 70’s style. The puddings are dreadful and never labelled. Things like blancmange with pistachios, cold rice pudding, Angel Delight type of mousse and synthetic cream which all look like and taste like they are from a powder. Sponges soaked in alcohol like Rum Babas, cold poached pears in a red sauce. My husband suggested getting Gordon Ramsay in to make them cook proper food. The children have a Kinderbuffet which had pasta, bolognaise and french fries every night and one type of veg and one other dish such as burgers. I was told off by a German man for taking French Fries and peas from the Kinderbuffet for my 13 month old daughter. I was using her bowl rather than theirs so he thought it was for me. Naughty me!! Staff - The turkish staff were polite but over friendly with my daughter and kept poking her whilst she was eating and sleeping in her pram. I don’t think kissing her is appropriate and pinching her nose whilst she is eating isn’t nice. It says it is a family friendly hotel but apart from the Kids club I don’t see any fun at all. No slides in the pool and if your baby gurgles or coos during your meal you will get harsh looks from the Germans. They actually pushed us out of the way at the buffet and we were holding our daughter at the time. Mini Market - The hotel was fully booked yet the Mini Market had bare shelves. If you are happy with eating crisps, fizzy drinks, biscuits and milk then fine but if you expect cheese, eggs, fruit and veg then forget it. Towel Allowance - The joke about the towels is very true. We saw a German woman throwing a hissy fit as she wanted her outdoor towels replaced when the hotel specify only one towel a day as it costs a lot to continually wash them for everyone and they are very environmentally conscious. Side - I would say that there isn’t much to do at Side itself. If you visit the shops outside the hotel they hassle you to buy from them so much you wish you were back safe in the hotel grounds. There is some areas of wasteland which aren’t attractive. If you haven’t got children then there are coach trips. The Animation team – They people keep the guests occupied with boules, table tennis etc but need medals for their patience. I feel very sorry for the poor chap who was running the Mini Club (kids club) and trying to control unruly children of various ages in German and English whilst their parents led by the pool with a drink. The good points are it is clean, the grounds are beautiful, the indoor pool lovely. Using a hotel card to pay for everything is an excellent system. Just remember not to ask for anything extra and you will be ok. They have a set regime and they don’t like it broken. Would I go back to the Arum – when I’m 65 maybe. Would I visit Turkey again – probably not.

Have just had a great 2 weeks in the Hotel Arum in December 2005. Weather was mixed but overall not bad as well as you can expect in late December. As most of the reports say this hotel is a great place to stay, with most of the staff being very friendly and the food is of a very high standard with plenty of choice at all meals. The Christmas Gala meal included in the price we paid, was waiter served but all other meals are from the buffet. The hard working animation team put on a show every few days that is good entertainment, and they also arranged the daytime activities; archery and boules etc. The music in the lobby bar at night tends to be a bit tired as it’s the same 3 guys every night. Hotel room was kept very clean with a change of towels etc most days and the cleaners make an effort with flowers set out on the bed some days when we got back to the room, a nice touch. Grounds of hotel are kept in top class condition but the Turkish baths were out of action for the time of our stay. Hotel is set up mainly for German guests with only a few Brits at the time of our holiday, many people including Brits are on repeat visits and or long stays We did a 3 day trip to Cappadocia with 2 nights half board for 40€ and this included entrance fees etc you just have to pay for midday meals, drinks etc. You are taken to a carpet factory and pottery, leather and onyx places but this helps keep the tour cost down as the tour company gets a small commission on any sales. (some pressure to buy mainly at carpet factory – leather and pottery good quality and not bad prices ) The under ground city is well worth a look at, as is the formations called the fairy chimneys. We would like to go back and spend more time in Cappadocia as in the time allowed we only visited a small amount of this incredible place. On the way we called in at Konya to see the Whirling Dervishes museum (Meviana Museum ) again well worth seeing, would have liked to see the dance but the annual festival is from 12th – 17th December and so we missed it by a few days. This trip is excellent value but a long way. Only down side to this holiday is the way the shop keepers, mainly in Side, try much too hard to get you into their shops, and also look out for the men around the ruins in Side as they act as guides without you asking for one, and then demand payment. Some gypsy kids around street Markets so keep your eyes on them as they try to give or sell you Turkish flags and bracelets as a pretence like the well known flower sellers (pick pockets) in Spain ??. Drinks in hotel are a bit pricey, but you expect to pay this in a 5 star hotel.

First class hotel and holiday. You will not be disappointed. Two bed apartments are superb for a family of 5, take the half board option, choice and quality of food will not be beaten. Take a jacket for the evenings in October, you'll need it for the open air shows. Clear skies bring a chill at night. Staff will pamper you, enjoy.......

Wow what can I say I had an apartment the rooms where VERY VERY CLEAN there was plenty of room and the hotel staff were so accomodating it was a DREAM WORLD. I would reccomend to ANYONE to visit this place I went with my partner and 2 kids aged 8 and 2 years and they catered for our every need and beyond.... The Buffet "OPTIONAL" was so good we only went out twice in the whole duration of our stay to eat the buffet was about 26 lire about 9 quid and half for the eldest child kids under 5 eat for free. THIS FOOD was 5*****'s all the way there were chefs all over the place.... It was EAT AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE....Not like the dull boring eaqt as you like places around here this food was SECOND TO NONE.... GOURMET all the way There were at least 8 different MAIN dishes EVERY DAY and a salad kart a bread kart a desert kart and even a kart just for the kids to select what they want there was also a Ice cream kart that whipped up "CARTE DOUR and WALLS" as much as you like......... ENOUGH SAID ABOUT THAT GREAT VALUE GREAT SERVICE AND MOST OF ALL GREAT FOOD... The complex itself is VERY VERY CLEAN and there is never ever a dirty ashtray around as soon as someone stubs there fag out there will be a maid to quickly clear it away its crazy. You will recieve a card when your there BE CARFULL you have to charge everything to the room as they do NOT ACCEPT cash for what you want you put it all on the card and pay at the end of your stay so be careful as we clocked up £550 just on food inc lunches snooker table and drinks at the bar so not bad but there is a £4000 limit which could get out of control if you dont keep tabs on what your spending.. So the best thing to do is to keep the recipts and put the money aside so you know how much you have left we paid by cash at the end of our stay and recieved 7% discount for paying by cash.... The GYM there is the only crap thing its not very good but everything else is great there is live entertainment every night there is a swimming pool to die for and a great turkish bath with lovely ladies and men to massage you for about 25 EUROS you get a turkish bath and a 30 min massage the ladie that done me was great not sure about her standing on my back but great... The complex itself is rich in olive trees lemon trees bananna trees and loads more... REMEMBER TURKEY IS A POOR COUNTRY And outside the complex is not great the local shops and paths are terrible bad acces for pushchairs and loads of idiots trying to ghet you onto there shops to buy stuff Just say a clear NO THANX and you should be alright . ALWAYS BANTER FOR THE PRICE OF THINGS my brother asked the price for a FAKE louis vuitton bag and he said 25 lire he ended up getting 2 for that price about £12 for " leather Louis Vuitton bags" GREAT PRICE.. And remember there is no law out there about copyrights so its perfectly legal to suppy and buyt them out there. The staff are very good we had fresh towels every day and the room was hoovered and moped the bathroom was always cleaned and the toilet and the beds were always made for us they even did the washing up and drying up for us. I can only speak HIGHLY for this hotel nothing at all was bad I would LOVE to go back ANYTIME..... You will not be disapointed...

5 STARS... All the way, The Arum is very clean and relaxing, the staff are very frendly and are always avalible to help. We stayed in the hotel for 2 weeks in mid september , weather was in the early 90s, the room was fantastic, food was superb, beach was also excellent...cannot fault hotel at all ...WELL DONE ARUM

this has to be the best hotel i have ever stayed in!!!! i stayed in the apartments with my friend and her parents. the animation team were exelent and very friendly and helpful. the beach was lovely, the pool was really nice and i loved the pool bar it was great. i liked playing bingo by the pool at 4 oclock. the best was the night. at the end of the drive to the hotel there was a nice little restaraunt and some shops where me and my friend ate evrey night. we would go back to the hotel and go to the ganzania disco. it was really good in there. the beach was really nice on the night afta been in the disco it was really relaxing. the hnotel had lots to offer to all different types of people theres are things for children and things for teenagers and adults it really is a wonderful hotel and i would recomend it to anyone.