Sealife Family Resort Hotel

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CHECK IN
Immediately pressured into a room upgrade which we were told could only be paid for in cash (£20.00 per night for a Family Room). We then paid a price in Lira that bore no resemblance to the Sterling price quoted. The following day we requested a receipt and again each day we stayed at the hotel and got fobbed off by their surly reception staff most of whom struggle with basic English. On our last day we asked a new receptionist for a receipt who checked the system and told us we hadn't paid for an upgrade. We finally got a receipt, as we were on our way out to our return taxi transfer, on non-headed paper that had obviously just been typed-up to keep us quiet. Other guests were told they had no record of their room reservations on arrival so could not have a room unless they paid £200.
ROOMS
The rooms are basic and fairly drab with non-existent air conditioning and double glazing (to block out the noise of the dual carriageway that runs between the hotel and the beach) making them very hot. I went down to reception to ask for a fan and was told to go away and open a window. I requested a fan a second time and, to the hotel's credit, was given a different room on the 6th floor with independent air conditioning. The bath in the room on the 6th floor leaked whether you showered or bathed but we got bored of complaining and being fobbed off so if you get Room 640 you will need to use the hand towels to stem the flow of water out of the side of the bath.
POOLS
There are four pools at the hotel. An indoor (non-heated) pool which we used on our first day but were told to leave because or three year old was laughing too loud. There are two outdoor pools which don't have shallow ends so they are both 1.4 meteres deep at both ends. There is also a small pool with two slides which are turned on sporadically. Be very careful on the smaller slide because you get on the slide after climbing onto an asphalt roof which is incredibly slippy. The bigger slide seems safer until you reach the last bend which catapults you back into the base of the slide rather than the pool.
Each of the pools is surrounded by marble tiling which is absolutely lethal when wet. One woman broke her leg walking back to her sunbed and another smashed her face on the steps after slipping on the floor and trying to grab the non-existent hand rails ont he stairs. Another young girl was nearly blinded by the parasols which all have protruding metal supports at face height. Injuries are a daily occurence at this hotel and the bar staff are well versed in providing bags of ice for injured guests.
FOOD
The A-la-Carte restaurants were all closed when we were at the hotel so all the guests and daily coach trips fought it out for seats in the buffet restaurant. However, coach trippers are given preferential treatment with reserved tables so All-Inclusive guests queue up outside before 7PM so they can have warm food and don't have to sit at tables in the lobby next to the toilets. The food itself is repetitive with little choice for children and the menus appear to be on a two day rotation. One evening we complained about stray cats in the buffet restaurant climbing onto the tables to eat leftovers and were laughed at by the restaurant manager. We then complained to the Duty Manager in Reception at which point the Restuarant Manager (Tuncil Cetin) sprinted out of the restaurant to scream at me which astonished the packed reception and scared my wife and son. We escalated this complaint to the hotel manager but no apology was offered, nor was anything done to resolve the problems. Each day after that we were glared at by the Restaurant staff and complaining to the Hotel Manager made no difference whatsoever.
DRINK
All-Inclusive drinks choices are very limited with Lager, Gin, Vodka and Raiki being the only choices. The soft drinks are dispensed from branded (Cocal-Cola, Fanta, Srpite) taps but are cheap copies. The spirits are diluted with new bottles being retrieved from cupboards with broken seals. All sorts of drinks regularly ran out and would not be replenished until the following day.
ENTERTAINMENT
The advertised entertainment is non-existent. None of the advertised facilities are open/available including the kids club which is opened unsupervised for an hour each day. There are lots of staff walking around in "We Love To Entertain You" T-Shirts but no entertainment is forthcoming apart from a couple of hours of someone playing Turkish dance music each afternoon. Most guests resorted to entertaining children with DVD Players or laptops they had brought showing films for the kids or playing music for the adults.
STAFF
The majority of the staff are dismissive and/or rude until you start tipping them and be aware that very few of the staff speak English so it can be very hard to make yourself understood. Our queries always went unanswered an we just got the overriding impression that unless you were handing over cash they weren't interested.
OVERALL
Please be very careful when booking this hotel. The only thing that made our 7 days bearable was the weather and the other guests (of all nationalities) who seemed to adopt a siege mentality in attempting to enjoy their holidays, despite the best efforts of the Sealife Resort staff to make guests stays as unpleasant as possible. This is nowhere near a 5 Star hotel with staff dismissive of any complaints and Manager (Suleyman Gurpinar) unwilling to take any action. This is definitely not the place to go if you are female, under 18, black or disabled.