Labranda TMT Bodrum

“Labranda TMT a tale of two halves”

This rating is based on the staff that turned our holiday around 🙂 We arrived at the labranda TMT in the early hours of the morning after a long day of travelling from Manchester. Our expectations of the hotel was that this was a 5* resort with all of the amenities we have previously experienced … more

This rating is based on the staff that turned our holiday around 🙂 We arrived at the labranda TMT in the early hours of the morning after a long day of travelling from Manchester. Our expectations of the hotel was that this was a 5* resort with all of the amenities we have previously experienced from a 5* hotel. When we arrived the reception staff gave us the quickest check in we have ever received. Key card handed over with a panflet and told to follow the bus boy to our rooms. Our usual experiences have included a lengthy explanation on how to book a la carte, where to get towels for the pool as well as a direction on times for the canteen. None of this was given. We have also come to experience with an early morning check in some form of food on offer, this was not the case at tmt. When we were taken to our room, our hearts sank. The bathroom was sub-standard for a 2* hostel. Immediately we felt grubby and just gutted. This was our main holiday for 2024 and it wasnt off to the best start. The room itself was also poor, there was chips, dirt, and a wall for a view and mattresses which resembled the feeling of sleeping on the floor as well as one quilt for two people. We went to the reception after a short walk around the complex to find the reception manager outside having a cigarette chatting with his pal and we waited over 5 minutes to speak to him. The bus boy tried to resolve our issue, that we weren't happy with the room and that we wanted a swap. The answer was no. The receptionist then came over to tell us he knew of the problem and to speak to him tomorrow at 10am. We slept and went to speak to reception at 10am to be told to return at 12pm to then return and be told to come back again at 2pm. We obviously felt incredibly frustrated at this point, we should have felt settled and well into the holiday spirit instead we spent time back and forth with reception. Finally we secured a room which we originally expected and had booked. In a much better condition and with a better view and beds which were comfortable to sleep in. However we felt so let down by the first 24 hours of the holiday that we just didn't want to stay here. The food is very much catered to the majority of russian and German guests and although we're not fussy eaters we struggled with selection. The waiting staff are slow on the uptake waiting on water and for the tables to be equipped with cutlery. The 'gym' is a mediocre cardio centre. And we just felt like we were not as welcome here. We'd spoken to our jet 2 rep (after waiting an hour to speak with him in reception) who told us he would look into four options to move. He also wasn't much use but that's for another review. It was only when my partner contacted the hotel via email was anything starting to feel like it was going to be fixed. We spoke with Sevcan the customer relations officer who was much more understanding and accommodating. She listened to our frustrations and offered to book us in on 3 a la carte experiences. She also arranged for wine to be sent to the room as well as fruit and a complimentary bottle on the Italian night. She also told us that any problems we had further to contact her directly. Which on the last day she and Sadik (front office manager) extended our rooms a further four hours to help us enjoy our final day of the holiday. From a positive note we want to highlight the Gozleme chef who delivered thee most beautiful savory flat breads which were a firm snack on our holiday. She was always smiley and upbeat despite the endless queues and heat. Firaz was also a great addition to the tmt team, he offered to make us some special cocktails and looked after us while we sunbathed on the jetty. Overall our initial start to the holiday was the worst we have experienced but with thanks to a few key members we managed to make the most of our trip. The grounds are beautiful as is the location, the snack bar was our preferred choice of food and we found a 30 minute walk into bodrum centre allowed us to eat foods we liked and experience more of the Turkish culture. Although we won't be returning to the labranda hotel as there are a lot of improvements to make we want to highlight the staff that have helped to turn around our trip, but any Brits booking through jet 2 don't be fooled that this is a 5* hotel as we looked at the hotel via love holidays and the Instagram page which paints a different picture of what we expected.

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“Lovely holiday just a few tweaks needed”

We arrived very late at night and check in was very quick, they took us to our rooms which were very small with a balcony you couldn’t even sit on, the couple who were with us were on the floor below us and their room was terrible, it absolutely stunk of smoke and there was a cup full of dog ends o… more

We arrived very late at night and check in was very quick, they took us to our rooms which were very small with a balcony you couldn’t even sit on, the couple who were with us were on the floor below us and their room was terrible, it absolutely stunk of smoke and there was a cup full of dog ends on the table, they are both elderly and were extremely tired so decided they would deal with it the next morning. We ourselves went down to reception and said there was no way we were staying in that room, we upgraded at a cost of £160 to a ground floor across from the bar which I have to say was really lovely and worth every penny. The other couple had their room deep cleaned the next day and had no more problems. The mini bars in the rooms were excellent, they were full of water, sparkling water and cans of Coke, Sprite and Fanta and if you needed more you just let reception know. The air conditioner and the safe were free of charge. THE FOOD The food was very good and you could never go hungry, the restaurant was open for breakfast between 07:00 & 10:30, the beach bar and restaurant was open from 12:00 till 17:00 serving fresh food to order. There was a lady making Turkish Gozeme all day every day. The bar in reception was open 24 hours a day, the only problem I had was that the fizzy drinks were sometimes flat as they served from (named) bottles but left the lids off but this wasn’t really a problem as I just went to my room and got a can out of the fridge. Evening meals were served from 19:00 to 21:30 and late night snack from 23:00 to 00:30. We never found it to be repetitive with fresh fish, chicken and kebabs being served fresh to order, breakfast you could have fried eggs or omelette fresh to order too. You definitely couldn’t go hungry! THE ENTERTAINMENT The entertainment was absolutely terrible, they said it was because it was the end of the season but considering the hotel was full up until the last few days I don’t believe it! During the day all they did was a dart game, table tennis and aqua gym ( which was the worst aqua gym I’ve ever seen) and the afternoon a game of water polo sometimes! The evenings were terrible they did a kids disco at 21:00 and then at 21:45 they would either have a singer on which was the same one every time who sang exactly the same songs every time, one of their team playing music which they called a DJ set who played exactly the same music that was playing on loop all day every day around the pool or a game of bingo which was a poor man’s version of bongo bingo that started at 21:45 and finished at 23:45 for one game! And the prizes were terrible considering the ticket cost £10 a time! If you ask me the company are paying them for nothing considering there’s about eight of them and all they seem to do is walk around. CONCLUSION The hotel itself and the service in the bars and restaurants are excellent, all very friendly and helpful and work very hard, after the deep cleaning we never had an issue with cleanliness, the hotel is in prime location and ideal for families with water slides open every day all day, ice cream all day every day and a choice of swimming in the pool or the sea as they have sunbeds down by the sea and their own jetty. It’s just a 10 minute walk to Bodrum centre and a taxi stop outside which was only £5 if you couldn’t walk it. Just needs a few tweaks to be perfect. We would definitely return.

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“Deniz, Kum ve Güneş. İşte Hayat...”

It is possible to reach in a very short time and distance by turning left at the first traffic lights when you drive to Bodrum at the city enterance. It is nice that there is an open parking lot 100 meters ahead. We stayed to celebrate the 41st anniversary of our school graduation and to refresh ou… more

It is possible to reach in a very short time and distance by turning left at the first traffic lights when you drive to Bodrum at the city enterance. It is nice that there is an open parking lot 100 meters ahead. We stayed to celebrate the 41st anniversary of our school graduation and to refresh our memories. My wife and I stayed in room 2142. The room was large and spacious. Access to the pool, sea and other facilities was very practical within the facility. The sea has a blue flag. The pool is clean and the surroundings are spacious. The restaurant is spacious, the food is delicious and diverse. It is possible to taste local flavors: kebab, soups, pita varieties. The animation team is successful. Especially the animation they do before the evening show for children is very entertaining. I would choose it again.

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“Could do better”

Arrived at Labranda around midnight. We were asked to go get some soup and come back to reception in 10min. Only staff member there at that point was the young bell boy with little English, however he was trying to be really helpful and took us to our rooms. Rooms were ok, our safe was the only thi… more

Arrived at Labranda around midnight. We were asked to go get some soup and come back to reception in 10min. Only staff member there at that point was the young bell boy with little English, however he was trying to be really helpful and took us to our rooms. Rooms were ok, our safe was the only thing that didn't work which the bell boy came back and resolved. We got no information regarding, meal times, where to get towels, etc and were pretty much left to our own devices. Pros - pool area, location (20 min walk into centre of Bodrum), view, proximity of water sports Cons - lack of info given on hotel, poor standard of evening meals - food was always cold, lack of interest from waiting staff, missing sports bar that was advertised In general this hotel was advertised as 3* plus by Jet2 and with some minor tweaks could be brought up to standard but the week we were there, there were just too many issues to give it a good review. Bodrum itself is our favourite part of Turkey. There were plenty of people around during the day but the rise in prices for food and drink was noticeable (we were averaging out at £10-£11 per drink) and most bars were empty at night which was sad to see. I hope their government get the rate of inflation sorted out cause if not they'll lose a lot of loyal return customers.

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