Wow Topkapi Palace Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

October 2007 was the second trip i took to topkapi palace
one word "AMAZING"
great for the whole family
met alot of people
always had somthing to do
never got bored
food was lovely so were the drinks
i found this hotel experience so good i might be going back here for my 3rd time in october 2008

this hotel is crap noise every where dont go there

1 reader found this review helpful

The best holiday ever, the hotel was a resort in itself with everything you could possibly need for all ages.
We had 28 people in our part with ages ranging from 3 to 63 and there was something to keep us all happy.
There were 5 swimming pools; we were on the beach which had water sports.
There were 7 restaurants all of which were in with the all inclusive and all the food was excellent.
You could eat and drink 24 hours a day, the staff were friendly and helpful, and the room and room service were very good.
There was a disco each night for the teenagers and cabaret for the adults.
There was pool, volley ball, football, tennis, archery, jet skis, all that you could want.

Hi just back from the Topkapi- a little let down with the 5 star rating given to the hotel more like a 3 star. Rooms were tired and old with a stain on the carpet- poor quality of room fitments also. Food was average, we survived for a week on fruit and pasta. Excellent pool area/ flumes etc great for kids.
Restaurants were poor, avoid the Turkish and book the Italian. Buffet was a battle with no one bothering to queue but preferred to simply push in, ignorant attitudes were very common.
Digital tv only in Turkish except CNN. I feel quite let down and would not recommend for the money we paid, I know we could have got a lot higher rating accommodation.
Book else where if you want 4/5 star.

We entered the reception area - complete mayhem. Russians/Egyptians/other eastern Europeans all seemed to be shouting at the top of their voices. This was also the main bar. Our rooms were very very tired. Dark, chipped furniture, faded carpets. Lovely crisp sheets but that was the only positive point. Mouldy air conditioning unit, mouldy grouting in the bathroom which was also about 10 years out of date.
Not the five star finesse rating given by Thomas Cook.
The buffet has a wide selection of food (again mostly orientated towards E. Europeans) but is a bit of a cattle market. There are 3 a la carte restaurants. The Italian is superb. The Marina rubbish. Didn't bother with the Turkish although I heard lunch was good there.
Lots of sporting facilities and activities but all tired and tacky. The poolside’s were dirty which in part was due to some guests leaving dirty nappies on the poolside! A rat was also spotted in one of the pools.
We did have some good times I admit but it is not a finesse rated hotel and we were very disappointed. Avoid this hotel unless you want to pay five star prices for a 3 star hotel.
We stayed at the Titanic hotel just 5 minutes drive away 2 years ago and it was superb. The Royal Wings is also supposed to be good. Avoid Topkapi and apparently Kremlin also.
Turkey is a lovely place just let down by rubbish hotels like this one.

1 reader found this review helpful

Hi just returned from the Topkapi Palace. This hotel surpassed all my expectations.
The brochure pictures do not do it justice. I have never stayed in a complex like this. This is not just a hotel but a self contained holiday complex. The facilities, pool area, beach, everything really is just WOW.
The rooms were large and comfortable and clean, mini bar filled every day. Pool area massive with small wave pool and aqua park with own lazy river, great for cooling off in! Free pool/beach towels all day.
Anyone with small children couldn’t wish for better facilities to keep them entertained, all new and in shaded areas and well thought out. Plenty to do for older kids too.
Lovely beach with shaded swinging hammocks and loungers and a pier you could jump off to swim to inflatable’s in the sea. Even the banana boat was included and came throughout the day (ask the banana boat man at the pier end for a ride in the speedboat!).
The food was lovely and loads of it, too much really. You can eat all day. Ice creams and Turkish pastries/cakes in the coffee house all day free. It`s worth booking into the al a carte restaurants to be waited on as they can`t do enough for you, and the food is lovely.
But you do have to play the fastest finger first on the telephones each morning to get a place. This is about my only moan. We did get in 2 of them but not the Italian as most popular for families, but I think we would have got in had we been for 2 weeks.
The entertainment is very cheesy but geared for families and there is nothing else near to go to, quite out of the way but you have paid for all inclusive. The beach party was good.
We would definitely go back and have already looked for July next year and would also go to another W O W Hotel for the experience.

To be honest, I am speechless. It was the worst "holiday" my husband and I have ever had. My husband had just returned from 4 months in Afghanistan and we were both really looking forward to our 5* luxury holiday at Wow Topkapi Palace. If Thomas Cook rate this hotel as a 5* then we will certainly not be booking any more holidays with them!
On our arrival (0300 hrs) we queued to check in and to get our room key, and then had to queue for the one porter to show us to our room. The hotel was so large and because it was dark, everything was quite disorientating but eventually we had had enough of waiting and we teamed up with another family and found our block.
The Room
Air conditioning? Hardly! The hotel's idea of air con was a central "cooling fan" like one in a car. It lowered the temperature slightly but nothing like proper air con. In fact there was not any real air conditioning anywhere in the hotel. The room was tired looking and the bathroom was tiny. The pillows were incredibly lumpy and the sheets had the occasional old stain.
Service
This was probably the worst aspect of the hotel. No matter what time you wanted to eat, unless you were the first to arrive (and then have to run to get a table), it was extremely hard to find a clean, re-laid table, and then if you were lucky enough to get a table, someone would have to remain behind while the others went for food in order to guard the table from waiters or other guests.
The tables were re-laid with the previous diners water bottles which you were expected to finish off before having a fresh one. Okay in principle but hardly suiting a 5* hotel. My husband and I were only able to eat at the same time when we went to the 3 a la carte restaurants where we felt reassured that our table wouldn't get nabbed by anyone else, but, even then, you were only allowed to visit these restaurants once a week. Twice, we were offered a drink with our evening meal but otherwise we would have to wait until we got to the bar. The staff worked quite hard but regularly there were disputes between the waiters and guests.
Food.
The food was okay, rather monotonous in the main restaurant but the a la carte restaurants were good. Queues were horrendous in the main restaurant, we counted 24 people waiting for pitta bread!
Hotel Complex.
A wide range of facilities from a wave pool to water slides. I can imagine that the kids love it! The relaxing pool, unfortunately, is far from relaxing! It just acts as an overfill from the heaving main pools. You need to get up early if you want a sun lounger! There is a terrific health spa where my husband and I spent most of our time playing squash. The squash courts have plaster coming off the walls but we gave it a go and it was better than fighting the crowds outside. We had a couple of massages which were wonderful, but of course at extra expense. There is a free sauna and shock pool (icy cold water) which were great.
Summary.
We had all our money stolen in reception on our first day (as we were waiting to get our safe key!) so we didn't go outside the hotel grounds as we didn't want to spend any more money. The hotel rep wasn't very supportive and the hotel staff were very reluctant in getting the police involved. Overall, I think my husband would prefer to go back to Afghan than go to Turkey again. We were bitterly disappointed and can only hope that it was so awful owing to the time of year. As for Thomas Cook, if they can call this hotel a 5* then I dread to think what their 3* hotels are like. Sorry, but we really can't find anything positive about this hotel.

TopKapi palace definitely exceeds expectations, it is clean and tidy everywhere and looks spectacular. When I walked in I was in shock it was so beautiful. We were given traditional Turkish drinks and our suitcases taken from us immediately by polite, English speaking porters.
We went straight to the pool on our first day there, it was magnificent. There is a quiet pool for anybody who does not wants to have a relaxing peaceful holiday. There is a wave pool which is amazing but the floor is quite scratchy on your feet. The water park blows you away, it has loads of great slides!
The food is great however not always labeled. There is a dieter’s corner as well. It is a great place for children, teenagers and adults. There are loads of hammocks along the beach were you can just chill out as well as watching Vollyball, tennis or football.
There is a Champagne tower looks over the whole complex. Overall this hotel is one of the best hotels I have ever been to. It definitely deserved 5 stars.

The Topkapi Palace is the most over-rated hotel I have ever been fooled into paying for. My wife and I usually book 5 Star hotels with a view of getting a good 4/4.5 star holiday. Topkapi Palace is about 3 stars in my opinion.
The Room
We arrived at stupid O’clock in the morning to find a small cheaply decorated and finished room with a small balcony overlooking The Kremlin Palace. The bathroom was tiny and also cheaply decorated, moldy and had a naff shower curtain. No twin sinks, wall to floor tiles, walk in showers to be seen. To its credit it was reasonably clean and comfortable. I have stopped in better Travel inns in the UK though.
The Food
The main buffet was the biggest disappointment. My wife and I know a little bit about good food and cooking hence dining is an important feature of our holiday. No prawns or smoked salmon, limited fruit and cereal choices, same salads every day, bland hot dishes, cheap ingredients and cuts of meat or fish. I could go on! This was like a works canteen. Good points were the fresh pitas, pasta dishes, omlettes and some of the grill bar items. The Turkish a la carte restaurant was excellent as is the Turkish bread-maker in the café, but the Italian was also average.
The Service
The Turkish are really friendly and helpful if they think they are going to get cash out of you, other than that they would rather stand around chatting. Plates were slow to be cleared; I had to get my own wine on more than one occasion. Regularly in the morning they would put the breakfast stuff away 10 minutes before breakfast ends. Glasses and plates were left lying round the complex for several days.
Other notes
The “Champagne Tower” is now known as “The Tower, in fact I don’t actually remember seeing champagne any where on the complex”. Every where seems to be a “smoking area” you can’t get away from it. Outside the complex is nothing like a holiday resort or area of tourism, more like downtown Baghdad but not as clean.
Don’t even attempt to shop in the local Bazaars, within 20 seconds some creep appears that does not understand the phrase “I’m just looking.” Children are allowed to freely run about the restaurant and ride trikes etc. The dress code for the restaurant is largely ignored and not enforced. The flight times with Thomas Cook are awful and it is 67 euros to late check out of the room. Thomas Cooks “priority transfers” involve sitting on a bus for over an hour watching 6 other hotel’s guests get on and off. Despite folklore there was no problem being in a resort frequented by Germans, Russians. Israelis etc. If anyone’s conduct was to be criticized they were usually British.
Good points
Once out of you’re room the complex is quite a pleasant place to be, the beach is nice and the pier is a very relaxing place to enjoy the glorious weather. The All Inclusive package is good. Piano Bar is very swish. The elevators are quick, and the electronic towel dispensers in the toilets are neat. That is about it.
Summary
You may be reading this and thinking “so what” to a lot of my comments but this is rated a 5 sun complex by Thomas Cook and is officially 5 stars. I expect better service, a better room and better food for my money. This is one of the top hotels in the region; I would dread to see the rest. We will never go back to Turkey again. If this is 5 stars then 5 stars in Turkey isn’t good enough. I doubt I will ever use Thomas Cook again as I don’t want another 5 suns holiday that average. I don’t want “All Inclusive”, I want exclusive!