Portobello Apartments

We are a family of two adults and a 6 year old and we had a great time at these apartments. The rooms were clean and the maids were ever so nice they tidied our room and changed our towels every day!
The food was great at the big fingers restaurant but I must point you in the direction of a place called Pan Pero its just a left out of the apartment up the road and left again you cant miss it, the most we paid at this place was 90 tl and that was for cocktails, juices and a 3 course meal each and I promise the food was delicious and most nights either our drinks were free or our little boy ate free! The hotel staff were all very kind to us and our son and the entertainment was varied, the Turkish bbq is a must, great food and a fun night!
We didn’t take up any of the trips but we did go to the market, we bought some lovely stuff but you must haggle we were offered a bag for 200tl but ended up paying 30 for it!
Turkish people are great with children they try their best to make you feel welcome, some people complain about them trying to get you into their restaurant etc. but you have to understand they work for very little money and can only work for the holiday season, and the competition is fierce so they try their hardest, we always politely said no and were treated nicely back.
So it’s a 9/10 for me as those stairs in my block, H (oohh 4th floor lol), the pools were clean and the staff were great, the food was fantastic, Chinese, traditional Turkish, steaks and the guy who did the Turkish kebab by the pool at dinner time was kept in business by our family!
I must add that if it’s your first time to turkey you must remember you need to pay a visa fee to enter so you must keep a ten pound note for each of your party ready for when your passport is checked in Turkey!
Enjoy here because we did and will be going back!
There are no copyright laws in Turkey so everything from Gameboy games (5 for 15gbp) to prada bags (5 gbp) are on offer on the main street so pack light on the way there!

We were in K block and it was a nice clean apartment, the cleaners came in every day.The bar staff tried to add extra drinks to the bill a couple of times so be careful.
Book your day trips with Papgon Travel, turn left out of the apartments and they are just down on the left, the are a nice couple of guys who do good deals, we saved over £200 booking with them instead of Thomson.
The Piccadilly Restaurant is good cheap food and they are fantastic with kids they also have free internet, the manager is lovely.

Just come back from the Portobello apartments in turkey, stayed for a fortnight and we loved it. The staff a very good the lads are very friendly, there was Billy, Casper, Chef, Gem and not forgetting Apachie and teastor the two dancers, they always made sure you had everything and they always spent time with the kids. The pools where very clean and the slides are fab. If you go you must go on a jeep safari, with your water guns you get very wet and very mucky but it was a laugh from start to finish. Best place to eat was a place near the beach called the Garden food was super and the staff where very nice. The only thing we did not like was the bazaar which was right down near the harbour, lots of shops but ever one pesters you. Would go back again with out about. Just one more thing don’t eat or drink in Dalaman airport unless rice it cost a fortune.

Got back from Turkey last week and have already made plans to return next year. Apartments are lovely and clean and staff are very friendly. The Turkish night at Big Fingers is definitely a must.
The market is a great place to go especially if you love a bargain. The only downside to the apartments is that they have no lifts but the bellboys will carry your luggage up the stairs. Can’t wait to return next year. PS say hello to Casper

Myself and my family arrived at the hotel at around midnight and thought wow the reception area looked lovely, we were booked in and given our keys quickly and couldn’t wait to see our room as the resort looked better than we were expecting.
A porter helped with our cases and showed us to our room in Eblock (oh my god shock horror). when the door was opened we were greeted with a puddle in the middle of the floor and the plug sockets hanging off the wall in the room that our children (6&15) would be sleeping in as we were expecting the double room to have a double bed in it, which it didn’t.
I went straight up to reception to complain and they did send a porter round to the dungeon we felt we were staying in to mop up the puddle that we had discovered was coming from the leaky fridge, luckily enough he had a screwdriver in his pocket to repair the sockets that were hanging off the wall, with the electric still on.
The next day I went over to the reps who were very helpful and did offer us an alternative hotel only problem it wouldn’t have the brilliant facilities we had realised were at the Portobello.
My partner had unpacked and tried to make the best out of the room so we decided to make the most of the other facilities at the resort. I have got to admit this was definitely the best decision we made all holiday. The pools were brilliant the Big Fingers Bar became our second home and the staff there was brilliant. Big hello to DJ Phillip, (best dj in the world) Alex charmer of the year! Yes we have got Sophie safely back at home now ha ha, Carlos you’ve got to be number 1. Not forgetting Lopez and not forgetting okey dokey scooby dooby (everyone’s alarm clock).
the downsides were that my daughter cut her foot on glass and because no one makes u aware that u have to pay for the on site doctor I was swindled out of £50 for a plaster not as bad as another family that had to pay £150 for three stitches also everybody around the big fingers pool had really bad diarrhoea for at least two days if not longer, myself and the rest of my family were still suffering when we got home.
I would love to go back to the Portobello but it would probably be to see the staff again. I wouldn’t want to take the chance of getting one of the rooms in the old blocks although the rooms in the new blocks did look stunning if you were lucky enough to get one on your first visit I’m sure you wouldn’t find too much wrong with this resort.

Never have I been on a complex that had so many accidents, everything was stress. Thomson reps didn’t want to know and just brushed you off all the time.
It was very noisy in the evening and didn’t close. There was no chance of good night’s sleep. Very expensive to eat or drink on complex.
As we were self catering we thought we could take water and sandwiches by the pool, but we were not allowed, you had to go to your room or pay their high prices.
Rooms could have been cleaner too, I had to ask for clean sheets on arrival as they were stained. Sorry I could go on but I am only stressing my self out.
I always had a high opinion of Thomson but have lost it on this holiday!
K Smith

Our stay at the Portobello apartments was an amusing one if you have children then it is a great place to go. During the day there are different activities you can do such as water polo, pool, and tug of war.
The complexes slides and flumes are open most of the day, however, they do open and close at funny time during the day. Also we think that there needs to be more supervision on the slides. At night the entertainment is rather good however after a while it does get quite boring from see the same shows and listening to the same music everyday.
But we did really enjoy our stay. The big fingers restaurant was good and the staff were very friendly.

Today, I am depressed, why? Because it's my first day home after the most amazing 2 weeks in the Portobello apartments, Turkey. We arrived at Turkey on August the 4th 2006, at 2 in the morning, our first impressions were good and straight away we noticed how helpful and polite the staff were; they brought all our 4 cases up 3 flights of stairs to our wonderful room.
We were in H block, on the top floor, which didn’t bother us until the next day when we realised it wasn’t great having to trudge up and down 3 flights of stairs when "nipping to the room"! That wasn’t enough to spoil our holiday at all though!
After receiving our cases and freshening up a little my mum and dad decided they wanted a pint..yes..thats right..at 2 in the morning they wanted a pint! So we walked back down the 3 flights of stairs we came up and were greeted by two of the most friendly bar men around, Lopez (who is going to be leaving soon guys:( ) and Hassan.
They were still working at 2 oclock in the morning and were still friendly enough to have a laugh with us and ask us how our flight was. When we woke on the first morning we were due to go to the welcome meeting, but it wasn’t just your ordinary welcome meeting, it was a full blown boat trip from the beach in the next town, Icmeler. I’m not really a fan of boats but my 11yr old brother was over the moon and so were my mum and dad.
For the rest of the holiday we went on a few trips (The Turkish bath, a daytime boat trip, a midnight cruise, talk of the town, quad biking, the water park and the dalayan check out) That sounds a lot but most of the time we were just chilling at the hotel, which I usually enjoyed more because all of my friends were at the hotel.
Our family made friends wiv 2 other families with kids of the same age so we were always together, on trips, meals, all us kids went to town a few times, which was also mint!
Most of all though I enjoyed our nights at big fingers bar! Me and my mates spent most days (playing bingo, eating...the food was great. I recommend the shepherds pie! or just having a drink) and nights there. I got along with the waiters really well. So a big hello to Carlos! (Missing him and his dancing loadsssss! he was my favourite!)
Alex! (the talkative one who I played bingo for!) Scooby! (I’m his future wife lmao) Alton! (he taught me how to make napkin flowers) Phillip! (How old are you becky..?:P haha you know phillip!!) Aww I’m nearly crying again, at least I’ve got pictures (with me in tears on everyone) with them all and their CD! And from the other bar Tom! (he’s got such a big heart he cried when we left, but he’s leaving soon to go back home) Lopez! (who’s also leaving) Eddie! (woo my man! lol) and Hassan!
Wwhat a worker, one day he did from 4 in the afternoon til 6 in the morning!! no break!!). Missing you all loadssss!! Also, it’s a good idea to make friends with the two lads who work in the shoe shop and little jewellery stall on sight because they can give you a good game of football every night if your bored (which you generally aren’t) at the end of the day, I’m just blabbing on because I miss the place and the people sooo much!! If you don’t like loud music, poolside games, bingo, having a giggle with the waiters, and dancing til midnight at big fingers..don’t go here! If you do..this place will be your second home!

We spent 2 weeks at the Portbello in a 2 bedroom apartment. Both bedrooms were en-suite, great as we had 3 young children with us. The rooms were spacious, sheets and covers for the beds were always clean (changed regularly) and the towels clean, again changed regularly (or if you left the dirty ones to one side in the bathroom the maid would change them for clean). The maid also came in each day to make the beds, sweep the floors and also generally tidy the bathrooms.
The complex itself was great: 4 swimming pools (including children’s pools) and lots of slides & flume tubes for the children. There were 2 restaurants: 'The Happy Chinese' and 'Big Fingers'. All the staff were friendly and the food was good. We stuck to bottled water and not one of us had a dodgy stomach! There was entertainment each evening which meant we didn't have to go outside the complex, which is great if you have children who don't like walking! The quality of the entertainment does vary, but it was always amusing.
The children joined the Kids Clubs which meant we were able to spend some time each day on our own. They all had a really good time - there was plenty for them to do there. All 3 children made friends and the Portobello is a safe environment for them to play and have fun.
The complex was clean and tidy. Each evening the sun beds would get hosed down, the pool cleaned and about 6am each morning someone would clean the ground area around the pool. As with all hotels there's always a little bit of a rush to get a sun bed, but if you were down there by 9am to put your towels down you were generally able to get a couple of beds.
There are little supermarkets just a stone's throw from the hotel, with restaurants and other shops selling clothes etc just a short walk away. The beach is only a 10 minute walk - although the complex was so good we only made it there once.
This is an ideal location for a family with young children to holiday. It is lively with plenty for the children to do. It can be noisy at times, but hey this is a holiday and we all want to have fun!
I understand there can be some discrepancy with quality of the rooms but ours really exceeded our expectations. I believe it was just a couple of years old. Others on the complex are older and the quality can sometimes be disappointing. We had no problem with insects or any other creepy crawlies.
A great holiday was had by all of us and we made some really lovely friends, including the jeweler who even made my husband a birthday cake, you wouldn't get that at home!

My first impressions of the complex were very good. The reception area was very nice and the staff were very helpful in taking your entire luggage up to your room.
The room looked very nice and clean and we had a lovely view of the pools from our balcony. We were in one of the new blocks but apparently the old blocks aren’t so nice.
The complex was like a little village with two very nice restaurants, four pools, six water slides, a little supermarket a jewellery store, hairdressers, a kids club as well as lots of space to sun bathe.
The staff in the bars were very nice and always willing to help. They were all very energetic often dancing around the pool and setting up games like tug of war for anyone to join in, there was also music playing to give a very good atmosphere.
The evening entertainment was very good, there was something going on in the complex every night and if you wanted to go elsewhere it was only a five/ten minute walk before you find lots of fun bars who were advertising what was going on in their bar. It did get a little irritating with everyone wanting you to go in their bar but once you got used to it, it was ok.
All in all I would say that it was a superb holiday and I would definitely go back.