“Would not go back to the Orion Hotel"

Bill/Janet
Stockport.Jun 16, 2008

We .had a great holiday at Bitez,the resort is just what we wanted
the Orion could be a great hotel if someone managed it,the room was the dirtiest we have ever stayed in, not hanging dirty but grubby.The bathroom however was hanging the toilet was stained almost black,the shower was very dirty we had to take off the shower head and clean it before use. Towels were not changed until we demanded them.The staff were trying so hard to help but they were like headless chickens, there is also a problem with the language.
The rooms are basic,but very grubby we would have liked our room cleaned instead of having our beds decorated with flowers.

Breakfast is a Turkish breakfast of Bread, boiled eggs, cold meats, honey, cucumber and tomato, which was fine.

The resort is great, the beach sandy and the water shallow . We used the sunbeds outside the Regal, it was closer,quieter, and was sandier than a bit further along the beach,the lads there were great. The sunbeds are free but they do expect you to buy your drinks which we did,the prices were much the same as every where else.

Eating out we found was excellant, we would recommend the restaurant by the taxi rank, the Black Cat, & CJ,s but we did not have a bad meal any where.

We would go back to Bitez but not to the Orion which is a shame as the location is great the rooms the staff are good it just needs a leader and a good clean.

We booked this holiday online, and after we booked i discovered this site, the reviews weren't great so we were a little dubious.
When we first arrived there didn't seem to be any other holiday makers there and that worried us even more. However we had an amazing 2 week stay at the Orion and will definitely be going back next year.

All the staff are more than helpful, there is a problem with the language, but they are learning, and you have no choice but to learn a bit of Turkish which isn't a bad thing. They are trying to get English speaking staff.

The rooms are basic,but very clean, we came back from the beach most days to find our bed decorated with flowers.

Breakfast is a Turkish breakfast which consists of Bread, boiled eggs, cold meats, honey, cucumber and tomato, which was fine.

They did do a barbeque a couple of nights, which was good value e.g one drink and plate of mixed grill and salad for 15 lira (about 8 quid). The resort is lovely, the beach sandy and shallow water. We tended to stay on the beds outside the Regal, mainly because it was quieter, it was sandier and the staff there were fab. The sun loungers are free but they do expect you to buy a drink at least from the bar, which is only fair enough.
Eating out we found was excellant, but if you stayed off of the main strip and stayed on the back roads prices were about half.

We would recommend the restaurant by the taxi rank, which the locals use, and Mustafa and staff make you more than welcome.
The other one just around the corner is called the Pedasa, which is really cheap, but excellant food.

Tim and Carla from Taunton

Nice Hotel, clean with basic rooms. However it is now under new management and the week we were there was also their first wek as hoteliers. It was a bit like Falty Towers with no English speakers.
Whilst the staff tripped owver themselves to help their inexperience was evident. For example:-

in Turkey hoteliers do not allow you to bring beverages or food into hotels. However four members of staff ganging up on one client for bringing in a bottle of water is taking it a bit far. Bearing in mind the bar was poorly stocked and u couldn't get a drink in the middle of the night cos all the staff had gone home.

We had constant problem with hot water (lack off) For three days we had no hot water then it was fixed but supply stopped again. apparently the manager kept switching off the back up system to 'save the enviroment. More likely to save money!!!!

When we arrived at 5.00am there were 5 staff waiting but none of them had any idea about room allocation and I ended up giving out the keys to new arrivals!!

All in all it was fun and this si a nice quiet clean hotel with attentive staff and no children. I hope our week there was a learning process for the staff cos they may have clients who are not so undertanding of them!!!!!!!!!

Bitez itself is really laid back but if you wlak along the sea front you will be hassled by "fishers" trying to entice you into their restaurant instead of the one next door or next door or next door. Yesy ther are lots of bars and restaurants along the front. It can become quite tiresome after a while with the constant hassle.
however when you consider the staff in restaurants have to survive on 500 Turkish Lira a month you can understand why they are so pushy.
we found a nice restaurant away from the see front by the taxi rank adjacent to the Orion. It did lovely tasty food with large portions at reasonable prices with free bread and the occasional free coffe or tea thrown in. The 'fisher' speaks good english (with a midlands accent!!) and they are eager to please. So if you have any probs with the food tell them and they will put it right. 80% of Bitez population is Kurdish with the menfolk's family back in South East Turkey so do not be suprised at the prominence of male workers in Bitez. By the way the name of the restaurant is Nar Cecegi and the "fishers" name is Mustafa.

Excellent boat trip can be booked at one of the travel agents on sea front for about 10GBP and icludes lunch. Recommend you go to Dalyman and if you interestedin archeology visit Ephisus (but beware of the pressurised sales techniques if you go to the Carpet factory - we wer persuade by the owner and asked why we would not by a woll carpet for 275GBP which measured 1 sq meter!!)

The market in nBodrum an a Tuesday is good with lots of cheap 'real fakes' in clothing and watches. designer lables like DG. Levi, Nike, La costin abundance for about 10GBP for three items!!! remember these are real fakes. You will be hassled by the stall owners.

All in all we had a good time in Turkey despite the small niggles at the Orion. The people are friendly and helpful but their insistance to make a sale can become annoying.
All

The Hotel Orion is a nice place to stay, lets be clear, rooms are basic, but who wants to spend a week in a room when you have the beach a few yards away!!!

The hotel is ok, Eltan and Sonner are a good laugh and although at times Eltan can be a bit loud, his non stop engery levels and willingness to please must be commended! Breakfast is basis, we ate out a twice after a few late nights.

The mosque does take some getting used to, but it's all part of the experience.

The beach itself is great, you have to be firm with the restaraunt owners, just keep walking and smile and say " no" . Us English are too willing to please!!! The Golden Spoon was great, Ai " I love you more than my camels" G was brilliant all week, how these guys remebers every ones name I don't know! But to be fair, all the restaurants are good, with the excception of the chinese, go in to Bodrum or Gumbet, we took a chance and it was not the best Chinese we have had!

Bodrum market, just take stirling! far easier! And haggle, haggle, haggle!!!!

Men,go see Jimmy and get a shave!! The best!!!!

A great place, we liked it so much we are going back in May 2008!!

Merhaba Bitez!!!

Ant n Chelle