I got a great bargain package deal to this hotel/apt and prepared myself for the worse as I thought the price is just too good to be true... however I was plesantly surprised the cleaniness standard was excellent & room was a decent size. Sheets and towels, toilet paper bin (cant flush paper in turkey in case its your first visit) changed almost every day and only a couple of times it was left till the next day. Bathroom was very clean and looked newly tiled and had good sized shower. The only problem with the room was there was a filthy old toilet that had been stashed in the balcony and was left there for the first week of our holiday which meant it wasnt an inviting place to sit first thing in the morning or at all really. They did eventually did remove it. This didnt bother us too much but the staff attitude did.

They probably didnt like the fact that we are the type that only sleep and wash in the room and spend all day and night out of the hotel and dont sit around the pool all day buying drinks and food at their bar. It being our first time in turkey there was so much to do, white water rafting, jet skies, trips to other resorts, water sports and going into Bodrum. As we did exurcusions and trips sumtimes we missed bfast in the hotel and think they resented this, they seemed to notice every time and did comment on it.

Then if you do eat bfast in hotel the onsite massage/turkish bath person tries to talk you into having a turkish bath with his hard sell. (we didnt use the on site T bath so cant comment on that as we got a free one in a different location when we purchased an excursion) The receptionist also gave us a hard time for eating out and not drinking enough in the bar he even tried to guilt us into it in quite a menacing tone. He was generally very pass remarkable which sum people may find friendly (i think this is what he was going for but didnt always pull it off!!)

This is only reason why I gave it 4 instead of 5 outa 5. I wouldnt let this put you off tho I just ignored it or made light of it and on the whole it became a running joke for us as to what would happen next.

It seems to be the turkish way to hussle people to come in to restuarants, shops etc and I was fine with that it can even be good crack but not in your hotel when you are trying to chill out after a long day.

I hope my experiece with the staff does not put anyone off this hotel as I really was happy with it and would recomended it, I just want to give an honest review. I would go back to the Ayra the staff were only a minor annoyance it is in a good location in Gumbet very near the beach and all the shops and bars.

Gumbet is a lot of fun and Bodrum is a very short mini bus trip away and worth visiting for very good restaurants and more up market shopping. Turkish people are very friendly and welcoming in Gumbet and everywhere else we visited in Turkey. I would def holiday here again.

Was a bit sceptical about late deal we got for Gumbet but overall it was worth the money. Arya hotel was a bit basic but food was nice despite dirty tablecloths which never got changed. Local beer was around 1.20 a pint. Pool area was kept spotless and there were enough sunbeds to go around. Hotels which looked better class include the magnifique hotel along the seafront which had 4 poster sunbeds and was spotless.The resort itself has something for everyone with Bar street suitable for the clubbing mob and along the seafront for a more saner type of holidaymaker. Chinatown on the Strip was brilliant to eat in and food was delicious although just a bit more expensive than elsewhere.Highlight of the trip was the boat trip around the 5 bays. we booked it from Tweety travel right on the beach for a tenner while the rep tried to take 22 quid from us. we met Captain Jack who made the day very special with his patter. A tasty meal was served and a bar was available. I would go back but to another hotel. Area was beautiful.

We booked our stay as a cancellation and were to be honest turkey sceptics on the whole.
Not really suited to the club scene, given that we had three of our children aged from 4 to 13 with us, we decided that given the price and the reviews on this hotel, we would go ahead and book it.

We all loved the place, both the Hotel especially, Martin, Cash, Abdul (fabulous massage with aromatherapy oils) and ali (turkish bath on site was heaven), and the resort of Gumbet was wonderful. So hot, almost too hot, but so friendly, we ate at the Arya restaurant an three of our 7 nights and spread our wings the remaining 4 nights.

Dinner on the beach at Dennys Bar was special, and the food at the windy bay was also very good.

Just off Windy Bay was a little Bar called the Jolly Jug Beach Bar, run by a man named Zeki, possibly the nicest man I have ever met!! If you go to Gumbet you absolutely MUST visit his bar, you get real chat, a wide variety of music, Cocktails to make your head spin and such fantastically friendly service. When you visit, tell him Jiif sent you, and that Holly and Claudia say hello and send love!!!

Anyway, back to the Arya, The pool was kept maticulously clean and was always so very very inviting after walking the sun drenched streets, and the rooms were cleaned daily, with towels and sheets changed daily too, we even got to retain our room at a supplement of £10 or 24 ytl so that we didnt have to sit in hotel reception til 8 o' colck at night on our last day guarding luggage!! although I feel sure the accomodating Martin would happily have stored it for us had we asked. We also got a weeks worth of very welcoming air conditioning for a very reasonable £28.

We found the rooms to be sufficient, but unspectacular and be warned, if you intend to self cater on your holiday, you can't given that your cooking facilities are a two ringed plug in "hob" and a kettle!! You will need to eat out, but the array of choice of restaurants and cafes is so large and the menus so diverse and well priced, that you wouldn't really want to cook anyway!!

The other thing worth a mention is the Hairdressers next door (IBOS), I got a turkish shave (cutthroat razor) and massage, whilst i waited for my sons highlights to settle in his hair and my daughter getting her hair braided...altogether cost around £18-£20

Generally, a fantastic holiday...will definately be going back there, hopefully later this year when I am convinced we will be welcomed with open arms...

Well what can I say but only that we loved the whole holiday and the staff made it so special for us that we have booked to go back next year to the arya. A big hello to Bayram, Martin, Cash, Abdul, Sedat, Ali, Abduman Hassein.Mosey, Alan and everyone who we have forgot to mention - we miss you all so much and thankyou for a great time. Don't worry Ali we have that t-shirt for you when we come back.
On arrival to the Arya in Jul 06, I was a bit disappointed as we thought the rooms were very small and dingy - but after a few days we didn't care as lovely Maria the maid gave us clean towels and sheets every day. The food in the restaurant was that good that we only ate out 4 other nights. What we liked about the restaurant staff was when the kids wanted to try an adults meal it was not problem - Alan allowed them to order what we were having in a smaller portion - I think they had the sizzling beef and chicken the whole holiday. As for Cash he was so funny that the kids loved him and Abdul always kept them amused to let us finish our meal. The pool was always spotless with Martin always checking the water to make sure it was ok - the bar at night was great fun with the staff livening things up if they thought it was too quiet. We thought everything was reasonably priced and for the 10 of us we couldn't have ate any cheaper and enjoyed it as much anywhere else in Turkey . We have never went back to the same place and to be honest we have stayed in far better hotels - but nothing in any of the other places we have stayed in compares to the friendliness in the Arya and all the people we have met who will be going back next year too.