Arrived approx' midnight Sat July 5th 2008--Departed approx 8pm Sunday July 6th 2008..............

Arriving at almost midnight, tired, in need of sleep, we expected to be put in a first floor room with a view over the pool, which we had booked eight months earlier.

We were guided into a reception building to fill in our details. No-one spoke English, and all they seemed interested in was getting our £4 per night payment 'up front' for the air-con, and ditto for the safe. (£112). When I refused and told them I'd 'sort it out' tomorrow, we we're taken to a ground floor room, (not first floor). I told them "first floor", but due to their lack of understanding, and my tiredness, I decided t leave until tomorrow.

The room was very small, (no room for a chair), the bed linen was stained and dirty and appeared to have not been washed since the last occupants. We were 'greeted' by a number of inch long beetles, which were coming and going from a great gap behind the toilet. The cupboard doors were falling off, the toilet seat hinges had rusted and the seat was 'hanging on' by one hinge.

The shower cubicle was filthy, and the bin for soiled toilet paper had no lid, (and was left all day unemptied). Discarded crisps were in the bedside drawer from the previous occupant. The air-con sounded like a clapped out Ford Fiesta and the bathroom mirror looked to have been cleaned with an oily rag !. In a nutshell, the room was filthy.

In the morning, I opened the curtains for my view of the pool, to be greeted with another room's balcony approx ten feet away.

We obviously let our 'concerns' be known to our rep, and it later transpired that two other couples who had also arrived around the same time as ourselves had also registered very similar complaints.

Full marks to our travel agents' management who 'bust a gut' to get all three couples moved elsewhere that day as they totally agreed with us that the rooms were well below the standard required.

It may be that the 'situation' has now inproved, (as we were told that work was due to be carried out), but I can only say that the night we spent in the Orion is an experience I never wish to repeat and one my wife and I will never forget.

As for Bitez, nice place but a little quiet !.

Just back from a weeks stay at the hotel orion, Bitez. What can I say? The hotel is like Fawlty Towers - dodgy decor/bathrooms, lightbulbs missing, lack of toilet paper, toilets dont flush (or flush continually....) air conditioning banging against the wall all night......!!!

BUT - the staff were so funny and helpful and the hotel small enough that all us holidaymakers got to know each other and make friends (all ages!!!) We had the best holiday in a long time.

Bitez is stunning. Sunbeds galore (all free) and loads of cushions, hammocks, bean bags etc on the beach. Plenty of shade if required. Lots of brilliant restaurants and bars and close to Gumbet and Bodrum. Food at the Hotel was really good, too. Hotel does a couple of barbecue nights which were good value.

Will definitely go back to the Orion and Bitez - just dont expext the standards of hotels in spain or portugal, they are a bit basic to say the least! Only real downside of Turkey was the extremely hot weather (they were experiencing a mini heatwave) Too hot to sunbathe at times. Will visit earlier or later in the year next time.

Keep smiling Antonio, Hasan, Smail and Ramon - you were brilliant!!!

“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