There are faults with this hotel, but since this was such value for money (except for drinks, which i'll get to), it deserves 5 stars. We hired a car, and it was late when we attempted to find the hotel. Driving around a bit trying to locate it (which by the way, Dalyan is easy to find from Dalaman, just not the hotel itself), we decided to stop at a restaurant for a meal. This restaurant (Kings Garden Restaurant, near the Mosque, away from the high street) was excellent and good value - for one thing, they fillet the fish and separate the shrimps - something the high street restaurants didn't do. Out of all the restaurants we tried, I suggest you steer clear of the main promenade and try this one or thereabouts as I think they try a little harder as it's slightly isloated.
One of the waiters was kind enough to drive and let us follow him to the hotel (which i guess secured our future custom). As it turned out, I would have found the hotel if I had seen the sign that was posted on one of the roundabouts I circled before giving up (either that or buy a map!).
We checked in late at night and was given a standard double facing away from the pool. I had booked through expedia expecting a pool view, but didn't bother complaining. The room was reasonable, a little small, but then I wasn't paying much considering it was high season.
The water from the shower heads (there's one fixed and a semi-
detachable) came out at extremely high pressure. The sink tap on the otherhand was pretty feeble. One thing to get used to is their insistence that all (and I mean all whatever it's used for) toilet paper is thrown into the bin, not flushed down the toilet. Pretty gross I think. I won't incriminate myself by saying if I did or did not. The maids did a good job. Laundry, or at least having shirts pressed was extremely cheap - about 60 pence per shirt and returned within the hour. I think that they guarantee within a day, but maybe it was a small job on a quiet day? There's also an aircon for the hotter days (which for us was every day).
The breakfast times of 8-10am was a little tight and also it wasn't always possible to get a table in the shade, although the waiting staff would try their best to accomodate. The buffet choice was adequate. I think they charged freshly squeezed OJ for 2.50 (about a quid), otherwise everything else was complimentary. Tried the room service for breakfast once after a very late night. I don't think they're used to this despite offering it as I was transferred to someone who could understand English properly and even then I had to keep repeating my order although it was quite simple (1 Dalyan breakfast, 1 Turkish breakfast, 2 teas, 2 OJs - how hard can that be? quite hard apparently - I even remember the order as that's how many times I had to repeat it).
We had lunch near the pool nearly everyday. Good value, well prepared, although occasionally my food was brought to me lukewarm as though they were waiting for my wife's order to be made. The jumbo shrimps on one occasion were undercooked and then overcooked when the chef overcompensated because of the complaint. Other than that, excellent. What i didn't know until I learned later on in our stay after they started giving my an itemised bill including the price, was the price of drinks. Half a pint of soda is 5 lira (£2.20 or so). We had ordered a lot of drinks in the previous days, expecting the price to be comparable to the price of the food. Don't be fooled by this little con!
The pool was big, but crowded. I suggest you put your towels on the lounger as not doing so will mean you'll have to get the pool boy to find you some loungers and perhaps put them in an unfavourable spot. It got quieter during the afternoon, perhaps as the guests went to the beach (a free shuttle gets you to the beach at 2pm by boat and picks you up at 5:30pm). It's selfish behaviour I know, but there are a lot of (otherwise pleasant) Germans staying at the hotel if you catch my drift.
Workers were generally very helpful, although I didn't always find the reception staff that friendly, though they did as I requested. Especially upon check out, no "thanks for staying with us", or even "bye" until I said it first. Anyway, minor details which didn't interfere with a lovely and very affordable stay.
