Manzara

Well where do i start, we arrived at 6 am only to be woken at 10am by two phonecalls from reception who deemed it urgent enough to wake us after 4 hours sleep as they had an arrival pack and wanted our passport details. After getting up with little sleep the first morning i set about inspecting the room, well basic is an understatement, this was a bare bones room with shelves half hanging off the shower loose and encrusted with limescale, very very small rooms and were not at all clean on arrival. There was no bin in the room and half a toilet roll. As it turned out our room would only ever go back to this poor standard once in the whole week we stayed there. From sunday to sunday our sheets and towels were only changed once on the wednesday as was the room half cleaned. We then went to the pool for a breakfast that morning and had missed the included one so had to pay 10 lira each for an english, which consisted of ok bacon, cold mushrooms and beans, 2 overcooked eggs on bread and some sort of sausage that i wouldnt even feed to a dog. As stated before the hotel staff are ignorant and unhelpful with not 1 smile insight all week except for the shop owner. We spent as much time away from the hotel as possible because of all this, then when we returned one day to have a clean up after a day at the beach i sat on the balcony to watch one of the workers spraying the plants outside our room with some sort of pestiside which he had deemed toxic enough to wear a full face mask so obviously i quickly retreated back to the room. On the last day while waiting for our transfer we had to spend a few hours round the pool, which had a pungant smell of cat excrement as the stray cats around the hotel had clearly left there mark and it was heating up nicely in the daytime sun. So overall a shocking hotel, i will return as the resorts of olu deniz and hisaronu are idwal family/couples resorts but never again will i set foot on a manzara hotel.

1 reader found this review helpful

We booked a 1 week stay half board at the Hotel Manzara.
To book room only with the hotel direct costs £6 per night and the facilities match this price, the attitude of the staff was disappointing.
The Hotel: it is set half way up a mountain, its good for the views and also means its slightly cooler which meant we didn't need the air-conditioning (extra charge). I liked that it was a small hotel and that they grew their own food. However, we didn't feel our possessions were safe, the cleaning staff were mainly children (young teens and visably poor) and the balcony door was left unlocked by them every other day that they cleaned the room meaning anyone could just walk in as the balcony was low and by a path. The safe deposit boxes were in the form of school lockers by reception so we ended up carrying everything with us all the time...bit of a pain!
The first room we had was small dark and at ground level with only a small window and a tap that wouldn't turn off. We immediately asked to change, first they said no, then we were told tomorrow at midday, we waiting and then were told no tomorrow... We then complained, as this was 2 days out of 7 waiting to change rooms and meaning we had to be at the hotel. We did eventually change rooms but it was not easy. The attitude towards the guests was not one of helpfulness. Most the staff don't speak english.
The pool was nice, but was not cleaned properly (you couldn't see to the bottom), so we only spent one day there. There was also a childrens pool separate to the main pool.
There is a small shop where you can buy drinks, snacks, kids bits.
The food was very basic, there was no variety:
Breakfast was cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, jam, bread, olives, tea, coffee. If you wanted juice you had to pay extra. There was no fruit.
Dinner again was very basic. There was a lack of meat, fish and fruit which was a shame. We love salads but having the same thing every night on holiday is not really what we wanted. (salad, rice/pasta, veg, bread) occasionally there was some melon. We ate at the hotel about 3 times, but you have to be there at the start of dinner as they do not refill dishes...so when we arrived later one evening (about half way though dinner time) there was very little left! When we asked the waiters, they were reluctant to put more food out and said some of it had finished.
When we came to check out, they tried to charge us for a load of bar taps (food and drink) that we hadn't had, and we spent about an hour arguing...seeing as we hadn't spent any time at the pool and had been on a boat trip it was physically impossible. After speaking to other people they said the same happened to them. We refused to pay especially as our half board dinner on the last night was unavailable due to us leaving before dinner time (unlike other hotels they did not provide anything).
The general feeling was the hotel was poorly run and they were clearly trying to scam the guests!
We spent most of our time in Oludeniz which is a short bus ride down the mountain (its not really possible to walk as the road if loose gravel, it is steep and there is no footpath), the dolmus (bus) costs £2.50 return. The beach is gorgeous, it is not sandy but small pebbles...so not very comfy to walk on, but this means the water is very clear. The sunbeds and umbrella cost £3 each (so we were paying £9 on sunbeds, and £5 in buses just to go to the beach and back between 2 of us...over a week this adds up fairly quickly).
There are many restaurants along the beach and a main pedestrians road coming up off the beach. there is a huge variety of food as you would expect of a tourist resort. It is not cheap as they have clearly set prices on par with the euro, so a main dish ranges from £7 to £30. Fish was expensive (we didn't find anything for under £12). Alcohol is UK prices.
Just don't think Turkey is cheap as for most things its equal to Europe.
Shopping: There are tourist shops and imitation everything...sunglasses, handbags (nice leather), trainers etc
Trips: We went on a 6 island boat trip, which was excellent value, we paid £7 each. This included transfer from the hotel to the boat, trip 11am-6pm and lunch (salad, bread + chicken/fish). Was great for sunbathing and swimming. You are not aloud to take drinks onto the boat (as they want you to buy theirs) but we still had water in our bags.
We took the bus to Fethiye one evening, there wasn't much to do but it was nice to walk along the harbour.
I would recommend the area, if you are looking for a hot beach holiday then its definitely the place, there was also a lot of water sports available too.
I definitely would not recommend the hotel, I would rather pay slightly more money for a nicer hotel with better food and a professional attitude, where we got value for money and felt safe.

1 reader found this review helpful

We had a really relaxing time, the room was quite basic and could have done with a kettle and cups, also a blind over the door as we were woken every morning about 6 by the beautiful sun.
On the positives the setting was absolutely beautiful in the hills between Olu Deniz and Hisaranou, the dolmus stopped outside and for 2.5 turkish Lira you could get to Olu Deniz or Hisaranou.
The staff were really friendly hope you like the English T shirt (Eric) as England lost in the world cup whilst we were there.
we would definitely say book trips with Vulcan tours an allday boat trip cost about £7 use English money to pay as cheaper, go on Sunset Trip it was wonderful.
We would definitely go back

1 reader found this review helpful

The worst hotel we have ever stayed at, food left out at least 2 hours no covers open to flys no refridgeration at all, no vegetarian menu, no fish at all, only meat in stews, soap dish filthy, sheets only changed once, only 1 sheet on bed,towels changed once also threadbare, staff poor, only interested in getting your money for poor service,dispite informing them of special diet, stuck on hill couldn't walk anywhere too dangerous, had to use buses all the time. £4 return each time, food prices in restaurants same as UK, Turkey as a country great, trips were good value.

2 readers found this review helpful

bar staff only interested in harassing girls and stealing cigarettes. not so eager to serve anybody who can't provide.
no food available for vegetarians. (only rice and battered veg....)
no fish food during entire stay.... mainly mince meat dishes. no variety. no sweet desserts, mainly fruit.
no entertainment (one night of crap belly dance routine)
steep steps and slopes all around.
bed sheets not changed all week.
pool loungers all torn and old, bed sheets old and repeatedly stitched.
rubbish everywhere.
of towels provided; some just left behind by other guests.
staff barely understand english.
nobody there was happy with accomodation..... many complaints.
the chef was a lovely guy.... and other visitors also very lovely.
was well positioned to travel around from.
will stay elsewhere next time. this hotel is most certainly not recommended but the surrounding areas and people really are lovely.