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Holiday Reviews > Med Beach Resorts > Turkey > Side > Side Hotels > Saray Regency Hotel > Read Reviews
Saray Regency Hotel ReviewsPage 1 2
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs M Everton |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
We were in a party of 4 adults and 4 childen, the youngest 4 months old, 2 x 2 year olds and a 6 year old, all of which had a fabulous holiday.
Firstly, if you’re a spirit drinker, get your favourite tipple in duty free at the airport! Although this is all inclusive, it only includes all your soft drinks, beer, wine (which are both OK), vodka (not the best), raki, peach & orange schnapps and a few of their local liqueurs, everything else is imported, and they were charging 8 euro for a whiskey, my husband ended up buying a bottle at a local store, but still paid the equivalent of £26.00 for a bottle of famous grouse.
Secondly, ignore any comments about not being understood by the staff, a few of the girls on reception speak very good English, as do a number of the waiting staff. All the animation team speak excellent English, as well as being fluent in several other languages. Brits are in the minority, the hotel caters for mostly German guests, but there were also French, Italians, Russians, Czechs, so this is truly an International hotel. Bingo takes a while as it is called in 6 different languages!!
We arrived early hours of Saturday morning, concierge were outside waiting to greet us, and took our bags straight to our room. Check-in was very prompt and we were in our rooms within 10 minutes of arriving at the hotel. The family rooms are large with a double bed, and room for a futher single bed and Z bed. We didn’t have a great view so we asked if we could move, which they did on our 2nd day. The room we were moved to was smaller with 2 single beds which we pushed together and the kids were on a sofa bed - we were much happier though as we had a much better view directly over the main pool. The air conditioning was on constantly in our room, which was a relief as the heat outside was almost unbearable on some days.
There are 3 pools at the hotel, the large main pool which is also used for water polo, volleyball and water aerobics, the small childrens pool which was covered and excellent for toddlers, then there was the pool with the slides - if you have any children over the age of 5 - don’t expect to see them all day, if they are not on the slides, they have been involved in one of the several activities being run throughout the day.
Beach towels are free, you have to leave a deposit of 40 euro per towel, however, you can change them as often as you like, then get your deposit back at the end of the holiday. We never had any problem getting a sunbed, although some of the beds were taken from early hours of the morning, these were directly next to the main pool, which gets a bit hectic anyway. The beach is a 5 minute walk away. The hotel has its own area of the beach reserved so no need to pay for sunbeds or parasols, the saray also has its own beach bar so you can still get all your all inclusive drinks and lunch at the beach.
You have 3 choices for lunch, the main restaurant which is a buffet, the outdoor café, which serves burgers chips, pizzas, or between 1300 - 1600hrs a womens sits outside and makes Turkish pancakes with various fillings - these are really good, so please try them. The food on the whole is to a very high standard - you can’t get your full English breakfast, but they do fried eggs, omelettes and pancakes to order which are good.
The evening entertainment is very good, they have a few acts from outside come in to the hotel, but the majority of the shows are done by the hotels animation team, the shows are excellent, I must recommend their Celtic night - watching an Italian, 3 Tunisians, a German and a Czech doing Lord of the Dance and doing it very well is something you don’t see very often. Nino also does a fire eating act - they are all very talented.
Nino, and the rest of the entertainment team are there from breakfast through to midnight every day and without a doubt they make this holiday. I’ve been on numerous holidays and these people far exceed anything you get with First choice, JMC, Thomson etc. amazingly, from the first day of our holiday they were remembering the childrens names, and all the children adored them.
We had a wonderful holiday, and would definitely go back, however, we would wait until a more reliable airline flew from Birmingham. We had booked with Onur Air to fly from Birmingham, but they cancelled our flights and we had to go with them from Manchester instead. The planes look quite old and they are cramped with not much leg room, we were delayed 20 minutes going out, and about the same coming back, however, when we taxied up to the terminal on arrival home, there was a complete power failure, we were left completely in the dark on the plane for about 30 minutes while they tried to get the doors open - not once were we told what was happening - and not one of the cabin crew made any kind of apology as we were disembarking. We then had to wait over an hour for our baggage because they couldn’t get the cargo doors open .
One last thing, they prefer to take Euro everywhere, so all prices are quoted in euro’s, however, you get much better value for money if you take Turkish Lira - some of them don’t even work out the conversion properly so you could get some real bargains!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotelsthomas cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms B McArdle |
| Overall
Rating: |
3/10 |
| Comments: |
Just got home from the Saray Regency and was never so glad to be home from a holiday. I do not understand all the positive reviews from Brits about this hotel, we found that the staff either could not or would not speak English, and appeared not to understand anything we said. This was supposed to be an all inclusive holiday, of which I have had many, but have never before felt that I was begging for a drink, no wine was served with meals and when requested was given out in the smallest glass and warm, never were glasses replenished, even with water. On an afternoon when it was around 90 degrees we witnessed one bottle of water being shared between 11 people who were waiting to be served a sandwich in the gardens.
When we arrived in the early hours of the morning after a terrible transfer from the airport being left sitting on the coach for 55 mins. before the driver decided to deliver people to their hotels, we were told that they had no room for us and we would have to share a double bed, we were two women travelling together, and only friends!!. We accepted because we were very tired and then had to be moved again in the morning after speaking to several people who did not speak english, we spoke to many guests who had the same start to their holiday, they were all english guests by the way.
The only people happy with this hotel could be families with children as the animation team were superb to our knowledge, and seem to really enjoy the children, but the rest of the staff did not care less, were very ignorant and unhelpful.
We would suggest binning the transport company you are using, namely Yesil Dalyan travel, they are useless and caused lots of people a lot of grief on what should have been a lovely holiday, we spent most of our last day trying to find out about our transport, and after speaking to the so called rep. who hung up on us bacause he said "it is nothing to do with me, phone them direct", we got the hotel manager involved and thanks to him (the only person we saw in the whole week with any interest in the hotel guests) we got back to the airport.
If you are not german please do not patronise this hotel and its really bad staff, save your money and go somewhere else. It is such a pity because the hotel itself is truly lovely and in nice grounds, one last thing to mention about this area of Side is that it is very limited to facilities and shops etc, resulting in everything being much more expensive than other parts of Turkey, we also found the beach to be very bad to walk on as it is covered with shingle near the water. All in all I will never return to Turkey as a result of this holiday
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs B HEYES |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
My sister and I have just had a fabulous 2 weeks here and it was one of the best holidays we have had. we had a large twin room which was both spotless and very nicely furnished. maid service was great and evey day we came in she had done something special with our beds. Food was good always something you could eat. staff were fab so friendly and how they knew what everyone drank amazed me. special mentions to our maid cant remember her name. waiters Ali Ergut in fact all of them. The guy who put the mattresses on the beds at the pool, he called us the shandy ladies. The entertainment was as good as a cruise ship some nights the Irish night the cabaret show I never thought I was going to stop laughing at Nino and Sam doing the orchestra scene. and Rene and Renato was just to funny all of the animation team Nino the chief Tanya, Sam, Ali Baba, Bebeb and little tiny Zanep.We would recommend this hotel for any age tiny's to the elderly my sister is on crutches following a knee op and we were fine. staff couldnt do enough for us. We went to Manavgat and Side on the local bus for 1 euro each way, they pick you up and drop you off anywhere. We used Babba boats for a great day out at sea dolphin spotting including a meal for £10.00 sterling each. We met some lovely people and will definatly be coming back. From Brenda and Denise 6 - 20th June 2008
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Goldtrail |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss LJ Summerhayes |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
This was our 6th holiday at the Saray Regency Hotel.
My boyfriend & I having been five times together, and myself & best friend on another occasion.
Every holiday here has been fabulous. The hotel is beautifully clean with modern facilities. Rooms are lovely, and bathrooms great with both shower & bath. Hot water in constant supply, with great water pressure.
The staff are friendly and helpful, most of them speaking a degree of English, together with lots of German speaking staff.
Standard of food is consistently very good, with loads of choice. The hotel has recently added two a'la Carte evenings - 1 with their fish restaurant al Fresco, and another barbecue evening for approx. 20 guests. Both evenings excellent.
The highlight of the holiday has to be the Gala evening where the evening meal is laid up around the main pool, with tables and chairs dressed fit for any wedding. Choice of food for this evening is nothing short of gourmet. Too much choice, by far, encouraging you to sample so many different dishes. The staff are attentive to say the least - they work so hard!
The Saray consistently combines excellent value for money, without cutting corners. We'll be back next year, and have recommended many friends, who share our sentiments.
It's all too easy to spend the whole week lazing by the pool, eating and enjoying the local wines, but there are excellent trips of offer at very reasonable cost, and local transport into Side and Manavgat is both excellent service and cheap.
Highly recommend the local Hamman, and the white river rafting, plus boat trip along river - I could go on - this is a fab holiday.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
global travel group plc |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs D Day |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
really really enjoyed our stay here. the hotel was immaculate, really friendly aniamation team especially, nemo, sam and Tanya. loved the gala meal on monday nights. The rooms were lovely, the food was gorjus also, highly recommend it, whatever your age you'll really enjoy it. I recommend going into Side for the day, the ruins are fabulous and also the shopping in Side is great, loads of shops and the quality is great, fat better than the shops just outside the regency hotel. The beach is also very nice .
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Goldtrail |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss S Hirani |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Wow! What can I say!!! That holiday was the best one ever from the food to the entertainment and the hotel facilities!!!
I went all inclusive and we didn't know it would e that great! There was great variety of food and plenty of things to do for children! The entertainment was fantastic! The best entertainer there I would say Fabio!!! He really looks after people there...
The hotel rooms where very nice and was kept clean and was also big! The room views were absolutely fantastic...to be honest I couldn't complain about the holiday...hopefully next year I will be going back.
I would rate this hotel and holiday all together out of 10 its brilliant!
Anyways if your wishing to go there, have a wonderful time! And look out for Fabio!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Goldtrail |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr S Hirani |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Best hotel you could go to. Food was amazing, beach was nice and entertainers were brilliant and kind as well, especially Fabio.
Bedrooms were big. There was alot of activities to do for kids and adults, no problems at all.
Booked my ticket there for August, can’t wait.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
On The Beach |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr T Sweetman |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
The hotel was one of the nicest we have stayed in. The pool area was very well maintained with pretty gardens and surroundings. Food was also of a very high quality. We were very lucky to have booked our week away on the first of the season and the staff put on the biggest out door feast we had ever seen!
The Animation team we're also first class, always something to do around the pool during the day and some great shows of an evening.
No holiday is ever 100% perfect and there were a few areas that let the Saray Regency down a little. This is mainly a hotel for Germans so all of the staff spoke German but very little English. Saying that the Animation team all spoke English so were happy to help when they were needed. But there are pleanty of sunbeds .....
Outside the hotel grounds did look a little like a back street in Kabul with not much to do and we did feel slightly unsettled with the way the locals conducted themselves. We are a young couple and I would not feel happy with my other half walking around on her own.
It's a good job the hotel had everything we needed within the grounds.
Verdict....
Hotel A+
Area F
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Lastminute |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr J Hawkins-Walvin |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
I have travelled all around the world and have stayed at many hotels, (although I am only a teenager), and this hotel makes even the big name hotels look like nothing.
We arrived tired and grouchy, as you do the booking in was completed in good time by the staff, who were friendly from the start.
As an angler I was itching to get to the lake, but the sun was setting and I had no time, so instead I took my sister for a walk.
As we were trying to find the polo bar we met Nino, the animation manager, without Nino this holiday would have been boring, although the hotel was full with many elderly Germans, Nino made them feel young and fun once more.
The food was ok, and cooked to a high standard, although towards the end of the holiday it did get boring, as hotel food does.
The night time entertainment was great, and the belly dancer was amazing, if you’re wondering whether to come or not, come just for the belly dancer, and Nino.
Nino was on his own, but still made it fun, getting us to dance and mix. I can’t tell you how much fun I had.
The only down side of the hotel was the health spa, miserable and only interested in money grabbing.
The bar staff were friendly, and in the Mavi (restaurant) fast and cheerful, Ali and Mustafa were the best waiters I have ever experienced in all the hotels I have stayed in.
I plan on coming back to this hotel in the future, on my own or with a partner, as it was just fun, and in the perfect location for anyone, the beach not too far away, and the lake just next to the hotel, packed with crucian carp, and common carp, which fall to bread like I have never seen before.
If you're not to sure about coming to the hotel, I advise you to come. If you're old and miserable, this is the place to come. If you like to relax, come, if you want to get drunk and have fun, this is the place, if you're a family, this is the place.
You would have to be crazy not to come here, and crazy to say bad things about the hotel. The best hotel I have visited and the most fun I have had abroad.
Jordan.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Travel Republic |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs P Hillebrandt |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
After reading all these positive reports, we were really looking forward to our trip to the Saray Regency. So much so, that only a couple of days before travel, we tried to book a second week. Well, all I can say, it was a good job that there was no more available, as we were glad to return home after just 1 week.
The bad:
Turkey is not the most picturesque country and we found the people money hungry and greedy. This was reflected when we wanted to pay in Turkish lira and they refused the sale because they wanted currency instead ??!!
The hotel itself looks all pretty impressive, however I would never rate this as a 5*, more like a 3*. We didn’t think the hotel was up to safety standards according to European guidelines. The balconies went just about up to my thigh and we were constantly worried about the kids getting anywhere near them. There were no signs out anywhere, warning of slippery floors (and they were slippery alright). Many people fell including us, sending my son to hospital on the first day.
I thought the hotel was very unorganised. When we arrived (4am) I spent an hour sorting out our sleeping arrangements. They allocated a room with 2 single beds for 4 people. I spent my last day organising our transfer to the airport as they had no record, as well as making them realise we already paid for an extra night before travel, again what they had no record of. The staff spoke very little or no English. Luckily I speak German as well and I managed, just about as their German was not brill either.
The food appeared to be tasty, however, all food was recycled (something I wouldn’t expect from a 5* hotel). If there was roast chicken in the evening, we had roast chicken in gravy the next day for lunch. And this was the case for most dishes. 2 out of our party had terrible stomachs (I was ill for 4 days). When speaking to other guest, they also had at least one, if not more, of their party ill.
The good
The rooms, pool area, lobby and restaurant were very clean and I had no complaints there, though rooms were on the small side.
The animation team were lovely. Nino, Sabo, Ada and Aliffa were so into the kids and totally on their level. They were great. They were the happiest and the friendliest bunch. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the rest of the hotel staff. The Animation was great and was always received with great enthusiasm. Most evenings the show started at 9.30 pm which was a little late I thought.
All in all, we were all glad to come home and sadly this was a holiday to remember for the wrong reasons. We never had a bad holiday, but then there is a first for everything I guess.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss Usher & Darkin |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Well what can we say... what an absolutely FANTASTIC week! Even though we would say it is very much a family orientated hotel, as two 20 and 21 year olds, we still had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were actually quite surprised at the variety in ages of the people there, but everyone seemed to be having a great time so it worked well.
The hotel was spotless and the room was more than comfortable with excellent room service each day. The staff cannot do enough for you and are willing to help with your every need. In particular, the waiters' English may not be perfect but is more than adequate and is easy to get by with. They're so friendly anyway and it's so true what they say - a smile does go a long way!
Each day there was a great variety of food; there's so much choice and the restaurant was always bustling with a good atmosphere. You could get as many drinks as you wanted at the pool bars throughout the day, which was especially handy in the very hot weather! The atmosphere round the pool was absolutely fantastic. There was so much choice of activities that you could do but none were in your face - if you simply wanted to relax and sunbathe, you were left to it. Brilliant!
The market is situated right outside the hotel which was very convenient, as it meant that there was no need to go into town for anything. The locals are extremely friendly and going into the market was always a laugh! As the hotel is all inclusive, there really is absolutely no need to spend any money unless you want added extras e.g. a Turkish Bath (which we both had and would definitely recommend)!!!! Different trips can be organised for you and at fantastic prices as well. They take both Turkish Lira and Euros out there and they're really not fussed which, so it’s fantastic.
However, the holiday would definitely not have been the same without the animation team there, headed up by Nino. With their ability to speak 7 languages, there literally was very little that they couldn't do! Each day they would talk to EVERYONE by the pool and put on sports activities throughout the afternoon. In the evenings, they would put on varied and extremely entertaining shows and then dance the night away with you at the hotel disco. They worked extremely long hours but never once complained about anything and kept their enthusiasm and buzz going. We really did meet some great people that week!
We would recommend this holiday to absolutely anyone. It's the best holiday we've ever been on and are already looking to book to go back!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr S Gee |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
We had a very nice holiday at the Saray Regency. Whether or not a 5 star it is certainly a good hotel. We are a family of four with two boys aged 10 and 8 and they loved it. The Pools were nice and there was always something for them to do. There is a separate pool with slides and they had a great time in there with all the other kids. There is a kids club but you can take it or leave it's all very relaxed. There is a security guarded gate so we were happy to give them a good deal of freedom. If they are happy then that makes a good holiday for us.
The food was good and plentiful and there was a good variety as well. The room was comfortable. We had a junior suite which was quite spacious even for four of us. Not the best room we have had but very nearly
Entertainment wise the hotel was excellent. The Animation staff worked hard to provide a good stream of distractions around the pool for anyone that wanted them. Water aerobics, aerobics, football, water volleyball, water polo, darts, bowling all very relaxed and good fun. Each evening there was a different entertainment theme all pretty much by the same team. At first you think that it will be rubbish but whether it is riverdance, or the blues brothers or comedy it is always done pretty professionally. It might not be Las Vegas but everyone seemed to enjoy it.
You may need to make a little bit of effort with the language but the staff were all working very hard on their English. I have the impression that it was an exclusively German Hotel and the Turks learn German at school but not English but they are making an effort. In any case a smile and a pleasant sunny attitude works well anywhere and the staff respond better to that than raised voices.
The only gripes we would have (and that's only because we want to be realistic) are the toyshop in the lobby which rips the kids off if it can with flat batteries in toys etc and they are a bit pricey as well. They only sell what you can get in the street just outside the hotel in any case so you can always go there instead. We won a free sunset family photo in the weekly bingo. This bought us into contact with the photography concession in the lobby that appears are a hard sell outfit for dodgy pictures. We had a set done but most of the shots weren't good. They wouldn't let us have just the ones we wanted on a CD. We could have everything for €200 or nothing at all. A bit shabby and the hotel should get this sorted but it's not part of the Hotel as such.
Overall we would book this again and we're not ones for going to the same place twice.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr D Vyas |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
This is by no means an international 5 star hotel. Granted it may have the facilities however the service and food very diabolical.
I booked a five star resort and was given a max 3 star. The staff looked disinterested especially the bar staff, who feel that you asking for a drink is them doing you a favour by serving it.
The lack of helpfulness at reception is also an issue. The food was one dimensional with there being only one restaurant. In my way it may be best to steer clear of such a hotel.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Teletext |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs E Dobson Bell |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
A lovely hotel very clean although not British 5 star may be 4 if you know what i mean.
A great safe hotel, the kids can run around till their hearts content. The water slides are good I’m not sure however if the warmer water in the water slide pool didn’t cause a few ear infections for some. We didn’t go on them much so didn’t suffer. But do take some pool shoes the marble when wet is lethal. The beach was very stony and the water was a bit rough. My husband went on the jet skis which was good it was 40 euros for 15 mins which is a little expensive.
The food choice is excellent and very tasty (especially the barbecued meat available as part of the buffet every night). There is something for everyone I recommend the Turkish pancakes a lunch time. The only thing we had to pay for was ice creams for our little one between 1 and 2 euros. Tip:- Take a larger plastic cup for drinks c if u can use it because it can be a long slippery way to the pool bar.
The entertainment team are excellent but I felt for them when they were doing the evening shows there didn’t seem to be enough of them. They worked very hard. Our daughter is 3 and I felt that there could have been some more organised things for her to go and do to give us a bit of a rest. There was t shirt painting and things like that but only very early on a morning before we got up for an hour or so.
The hotel is geared predominantly for German guests and most of the staff couldn’t speak English. Nino and his entertainment team were the best people to go to. The reception staff were not much good.
Also the waiters could be a bit funny when ordering a drink if you tipped them or they liked you drinks where there before you’d finished your last, however they seemed to ignore the odd person
Overall had a great time my daughter loved the pools, the mini disco, Nino and staff. Which made our holiday easy and relaxing. One week was just enough for us.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Med Hotels |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr C Blake |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
The hotel in all is spectacular, you can’t fault the food in all the restaurants including the beach bar. When they say its a 5 star hotel they are not lying, its amazing. The animation team; Nino, Sabo, Kanul, Eifa. Are amazing nobody could think bad of them, they know a lot of languages so they can speak to anyone. They put on superb shows so u will always be entertained in the evening and during the day because they do lots of activities for everyone.
But there is one downside, there are lots of Germans, but in the second week a lot more English turned up. But its not just Germans there it French, Dutch, Turkish. But I definitely recommend this to anyone, its a great family holiday I would definitely go again. If you do want to go on a boat trip go on the Baba boat. Oh yeah, the animation team love the English, so let them know you are.
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Saray Regency Hotel ReviewsPage 1 2
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