Seher Sun Beach Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

We booked this holiday last October as a cheap deal for myself, partner & my 16month old daughter. Thomas Cook recommended this hotel as a family orientated hotel but this was not the case. I personally believe this hotel caters for children over 5yrs. When we arrived at 11pm after a long day travelling, the hotel was welcoming & clean, so first impressions were good. We had to wait a while to be taken to out room & when we did get there there was no cot which was one of the reqirements we asked for when we booked. The porter arranged a cot to be bought down within 20minutes. The room was clean & tidy & we were placed in a quieter place in the hotel which was good so my daughter could get to sleep. The food was of good selection, but it didn't cater for under 5's so eating was an issue, and this carried out throughout the holiday. :(. The pool area was spacious & it was a 2minute walk to the beach, which was also clean. There were plenty of bars in & around the hotel but not everthing was all-inc. Fresh OJ in the morning had to be paid for & they total everything up in Euro's so be careful if your paying with T.Lira!!! The highchairs in the restaurant didnt have straps so very dangerous for younger children. There were a few shops around the hotel but you had to get a bus ride if you wanted to go into Side or visit any of the markets. The staff were friendly and it was a pleasent holiday. We didn't visit the Sister hotel but everyone said that it was good. Entertainment in the evenings was non-existent, so that was poor. Overall, a good holiday but I wouldn't visit this hotel again.

3 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from the Seher Sun Beach Hotel and it is not a 4 star hotel. We stayed in the older part of the hotel and the rooms are very basic and the hotel is a little shabby. Our room was on the ground floor and faced a childrens' playground and had no outlook at all. The entertainment is geared up mainly for the German, Dutch and Russian guests. The nightly kids disco was mostly in German and was all of the kids club dancing on the stage. The Turkish evening was a group of Turkish dancers and most of the guests walking around in a circle banging a drum for about 20 minutes. Another evening was a man playing a keyboard and singing very badly. So overall the entertainment is either bad or non-existent, so take a pack of cards with you.
I was extremely disappointed with the hotel until I went to the private beach. It was a great area, a large seated area with restaurant and bar. Plenty of free sunbeds all under cover with a wooden walkway down to the sea front (you just then had to run full pelt down to the water because the sand was so hot). They also had water sports on the beach (jet skis, banana and para sailing). Although it was extremely quite on the para sailing because a man was killed in Side when he fell out of the chute - so beware.
The Food was nice, but it got extremely repetitive. The queues at times were long with the Russians especially trying to jump the queues which caused a few arguments.
The swimming pool was a nice area, except for the sunbeds. I have no objection to people getting up early in the morning to reserve their beds, but people were leaving their towels down at the end of the day when the pool closed - so it was impossible to get a bed. I complained to the management and they started to remove the towels in the evening, but as I said if you didn't get up early you stood no chance.
If you went to the main town you will find all the prices are in Euros and if you are paying by Lira you then get a really bad exchange rate. So I would recommend taking Euros.
We booked our trips up in the town and found them just as good as the ones booked with Thomas Cook and a lot cheaper. The white water rafting was great fun. The water park (Water Planet) was ok, but some of the slides were quite dangerous. No toddlers area and you had to be over 10 years old to go on the slides, so I would not recommend it if you have small children. The boat trip to Dolphin Island to see the turtles and dolphins was ok, although we didn't see any dolphins. We also did a boat trip to Managravat market which was ok. You must haggle with them else you will pay over the top. Set a price you want to pay and stick to it.
In the brochure it states that you are allowed to use the sister hotel facilities - you cannot. You can only use the swimming pool and slides which are only open twice a day. You cannot get free drinks or food. You have to pay to use the pool table and the bowling.
Overall I would not return to this hotel and if it hadn't been for the friends we made, it would have been a very boring holiday.

13 readers found this review helpful

Well, what can I say?? Brilliant!
My boyfriend and I went to Side as a last minute cheap deal, we booked 3 days before our holiday out of the blue with Thomas Cook (who were extremely helpful) and ended up having the best holiday. It was our first holiday alone together and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We are both 19 and the age range in the hotel went from babies to people in their 60's, a real good mix. We met some great people there, luckily there were more English people than anyone else, but I think later on in the year the German's take over.
The Seher Sun Beach (the 4* hotel) is in a brilliant location just off the beach and about a 15 minute taxi in to Side town, we got our taxi for 25 Turkish Lira, approximately £12 (shared between six), but we had to barter and haggle for a price. You MUST haggle for everything or you will get ripped off, take them down to a third of the price and work your way up. We often used the "walk away trick", if you stick to a price (has to be reasonable) and are stern about it, when they refuse you just stick to that price and walk away. They often call you back with the price you suggest and agree to the sale.
There are plenty of activities provided by the hotel, volleyball, pool games, darts, water polo etc.
The food is basic, but enjoyable. Drinks are brilliant, but you have to pay for cocktails. The alcoholic drinks included are beer, red and white wine, vodka, gin, cognac, turkish raki, mint, orange, banana and nut liqour. fizzy and soft drinks are included and are available from 10am - 12am.
Go to the Gozleme hut situated on the grass at about 11am and you will meet a lady called Fatha who makes delicious pancakes, both sweet and savoury.
Icecream is available between 3pm and 4pm and it is delicious. Midnight soup is available from about 11pm which is very good if you have late night/early morning flights and also late nights out.
We paid £5 each (10 lira) to go on the banana boat which was such good fun.
The animation team, especially Maitup and Essen were brilliant, however the entertainment was a let down. We occupied ourselves though and had a great time.
Turkish people love English people, they often seem full on but this is just their culture.
Our Thomas Cook rep was called Danni, she was very helpful and was great for recommendations and information about Side and what to do etc.
We went in to Manavgat for the market experience day as an excursion which was good fun, but we found out afterwards that the shops just outside the hotel (5/10 minute walk) were just as good.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect but I suppose it depends on the individual and what you make of the holiday.
Some of the waiter's are rude and the resteraunt manager was too, but we just got on with it. A few of them were good fun, very polite and extremely generous. We didn't get any towels for the first 2 days and had to ask for them but the maid brought them straight away accompanied by a flower as an apology - very sweet.
The walls are paper thin, so thin that you can hear your neighbours break wind and that is no exaggeration. But we were only in the room to get changed and sleep so this wasn't a problem for us.
The biggest bug about the hotel, felt by literally everyone (even the hotel reps, staff and guests) is the German's - horrible, ignorant and arrogant. Even the youngest children were miserable and as they got older became increasingly ignorant. We met one German man who was very pleasant, however that was only 1 person. I had heard this before I went, but went with an open mind as I didn't want to judge, however it became apparent very quickly that the rumours are true. The sunlounger situation was unreal, if you're out later than 8am you will not get a sun lounger eventhough the rules state there is no reserving before 9am.
I would definitely recommend this place to families and couples.
I would not recommend Turkey to groups of girls for a girly holiday as the men will harass you, some are really friendly but others sadly create a negative stereotype.
If you are a very particular person then I wouldn't recommend this place, but we are very easy going people which is why we personally made it so fun. Afterall it is only as fun as YOU make it.

3 readers found this review helpful

I looked on this site to find out what the Seher Sun hotel was like before we booked and I was surprised to only see 2 reviews! But having been, I know why...I think we were the only English couple there and possibly the only ones that had stayed in the hotel for many, many months?! Side and the surrounding hotel seem to attract a lot of Germans (not that there is any problem with that - everyone was very pleasant apart from meeting a reputation for reserving sun beds with towels at an ungodly hour and then not being there all day which was a wee bit annoying), nevertheless, we had a lovely few days if Sun and Sand are all you are looking for.
Location: 5-10 minute taxi ride to centre of Side. Short walk from lovely sandy beach with water sports and hotel sun lounges. All very nice and standard. Bar and food in private area by beach. Nice promenade to walk along by beach in evenings. Side worth a visit but if you don't like shop touts, stay away during the evening!
Rooms: Small but clean and modern-ish.
Staff: Friendly and helpful, mostly German speaking but we got along fine.
Food: Canteen 'help yourself' style...we liked it but we're not shy at trying new foods. Continental breakfasts (hot and cold but no English fry-ups!), wide choice at lunch and similar in evening. Crep-style wraps (sweet and savoury) available through the afternoon and very nice.
Drinks: All ok: local alcohol.
My boyfriend and I wanted a four day holiday simply to relax and unwind, we did get that but a few things that I didn't expect: Loud music (mainly songs I’d never heard of) and occasional 'team' games by the pool was not my sort of thing (and I’m only 27!) but hey ho, it was a package holiday...what else can you expect? Not much entertainment so take a few card or board games too if you like that sort of thing as you can sit by the pool in the evening.
Top tip: Take Euros as well as Turkish Lira and you're less likely to be ripped-off with dodgy exchange rates. Recomend going all-inclusive or SC at the mo as Euro is weak and so everything could have got quite pricey.
Have a fab holiday!

2 readers found this review helpful

Well when i went to Turkey i was quite nervous but as soon as we got into the hotel i felt much better, the hotel was so clean and looked like a 4* hotel. The receptionist did speak german but another spoke english. She was very helpful and friendly. We needed a 3 pin becasue their plug is only 2 pinned. So she kindly ordered one for us.
The food is amazing!!! and the waitors are helpful.
However the outdoor swimming pool is really cold and the indoor one is quite cold but too small. They have like a mini gym and beauty parlour type of thing where you can have a massage etc. A big disadvantage is when you go for the entertainment bit which is after dinner, the people smoked too much and you can actually see al the smoke in the room, and there isnt much too do in the hotel
A lot of the people do speak german and turkish but a few speak english.
But i would definitely reccomend it and go again in the future!