Side -Turkey Holiday Review
Submitted by: Karen Barnett
Holiday Date: July 2004
This was our 1st holiday to Turkey and on arrival we thought we were miles away from anywhere. We turned left! However, if we had turned right, we would have found what an excellent resort Side was, straight away!
The hotel was good. The room was clean though a little small and we had no air con! Some rooms did and this just seemed as if it was pot luck!
The hotel had been painted recently and looked a lot nicer than the pictures in the brochure. The pool was gorgeous. Very warm and clean. You had to get up fairly early, as there were a lot of Germans who were up early for the sunbeds!
The hotel staff were generally helpful and friendly and the cleaners were great!
The food was ok at the hotel, the breakfast included was nice, but we didn't really eat there at other times as there were other, nicer places to go. I think they had some entertainment but we didn't really stick round the hotel much.
There are a few bars and restaurants near the hotel but we preferred to go into the town centre (15-20 min walk. Don't try to do it in heels!). Side is a much bigger resort that we thought and we were finding new roads all the time. It is mostly a family and couples resort but there is something for everyone. There are plenty of bars and restaurants, from the traditional to more lively dance bars. There are a couple of clubs, one near the hotel and one called the Apollo in the ruins by the Harbour.
The food was excellent and although cheap it was not as cheap as I had been led to believe Turkey was.
Side is also very historical and you can not help but see many of the ruins as you have to walk through them to get to the town centre.
We were very impressed at the shops. There are tons of them selling all sorts. They are well presented and maintained and it was excellent for all your fake designer gear. The owners were very keen to get you into the shops particularly if you are English, but we never felt harassed or bothered by them and generally smiled and said no thanks. You do have to haggle for everything. Try to halve whatever they say. Just say a price and stick to it and they usually give in!
Generally all the people were extremely friendly and polite. The Turkish have an excellent sense of humour!
We spent most days entertaining ourselves but did hire scooters 1 day. It was very cheap (£10 for 24 hours) We went all over but particularly wanted to go to Manavgat market, however it was not as good as we expected. It was smaller than we thought, although it was extremely cheap. Also it was under a tent which was very hot, especially as we arrived in the midday sun!
We also did 3 of the tour operator's excursions and found them all excellent. The Turkish bath was good and was only £12. The Reps Cabaret night was hilarious and was £10 for all you could drink. On the last day they do a trip called the final delight as you get chucked out of your room at 12 o' clock (you can pay a tenner to keep it till 8) and our flight wasn't till 2am! We didn't go but people who did said it was well worth it. We went to the Aqualand instead. It was £27 and we really enjoyed it. The slides were fantastic, although the pools were cold. The price also includes a dolphin show which was excellent and lunch.
We would recommend all these excisions and thought the costs to be good value.
There are 2 beaches. The nearest, right out of the hotel, is quite busy. The other (over the sand dunes) is about 10-15 mins walk. (You don't have to go over the dunes, there is a road or the bus)This beach is much more beautiful and quieter. Getting a sunbed was no problem and was very cheap, as were the water sports. The Hotel run a bus service to a private beach and although we did not go we heard that you were left there for a long time and there was no access to food or drink at the time!
Anyway, all in all we had a great time. It was much cleaner and friendly than we imagined and we will definitely be going back to Turkey.
Note from Global Holidays - We have great deals to Turkey. Call us on 0870 1999 038 for details.
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