Side Crown Serenity

“Turkey well worth a visit.”

Not the best location, but value for money, enjoyed our stay but not many British people there. This reflected on food menus, Germans, tended to rule the roost, would of liked a more British people to mix and mingle with. Definitely not 5 star but very clean, staff helpful 👌

“An average 3 star hotel, but ok value for what you'll pay.”

This hotel is defintitley not 5star. I'd rate it 3 at best. But it a decent 3 given how cheap it is to start here All inclusive. The rooms are spacious and cleaned well, but a little tired. The corridors are also quite tired and during our stay of 5 days, the same empty wine bottle sat in the sam… more

This hotel is defintitley not 5star. I'd rate it 3 at best. But it a decent 3 given how cheap it is to start here All inclusive. The rooms are spacious and cleaned well, but a little tired. The corridors are also quite tired and during our stay of 5 days, the same empty wine bottle sat in the same place. The food is below average but plentiful, so if you like a good buffet, it'll be fine. We headed into Side 2 nights on our 5-night stay as we couldn't take more of the same at the buffet. The loungers are in good order, clean and comfortable and there are plenty of them. The pool is clean albeit quite cold in October. The gym is dire, a few running machines in old condition and very light free weights. Some old kit that badly needs oiled and maintained. Overall it was ok. The staff weren't overly enthusiastic. The spa was ok, a little strange perhaps.

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“First time in Turkiye.”

The Side Crown Serenity hotel has much going in its favour. It has its own private beach with a regular free taxi service to access it every 15 minutes. The beach has loads of sunbeds, both out in the open and under cover too. The food available at the beach is also free and very tasty too. Free Wi… more

The Side Crown Serenity hotel has much going in its favour. It has its own private beach with a regular free taxi service to access it every 15 minutes. The beach has loads of sunbeds, both out in the open and under cover too. The food available at the beach is also free and very tasty too. Free Wi-Fi, free use of the safe in your room, free beach towels, free top-up of soft drinks in your fridge each day and so on. We went as a group of six English people, with four of us enjoying our first trip to Turkiye. We were received very quickly at Reception and despatched to our room with a porter to transport our cases. I asked my wife to give him a tip, and she offered him £4 in change. He refused this and said that he wanted an English five-pound note. We were so surprised that we handed one over, but felt that he had a cheek. One of things that we really like doing is making friends when we are away on holiday. Sadly, as we don’t speak German, Russian or Polish this was almost impossible. We did find one Scottish couple who were at the end of their stay, and later in the holiday a waiter told us that another group of six English people had arrived, whom we met and chatted with, but that was about it. When we went to the nearby market, we were stopped by a couple who were staying in a nearby hotel. They told us that it was lovely to hear English voices as there seemed to be no Brits in their hotel at all! The hotel is graded as five star. When you think of the Hilton, the Bloomsbury, the Grosvenor House and so on you realise that this is no comparison to an English five-star hotel. In fairness, it is a good hotel in many ways but don’t expect too much. The question of mattresses is a moot point. Six of us in the group, four happy with the beds, two of us went home with very achy backs due to the poor quality mattresses. The rooms were adequate, although I was surprised to find that the sinks had no plugs, nor provision for them in the sinks either. If you like cold meats, cheeses, yoghurts, croissants and similar you will love breakfast time. If you expect to get a full English in a hotel that lacks English people, then you will be disappointed. The soups at lunchtime were good, but be advised to go around the start of the session, as too many customers do not embrace the idea of putting the lids back on the tureens. Also, as the mealtime sessions progresses, you will find that many things don’t get topped up, so various foods run out. The choice for children is very limited, although if they are happy to eat the same as the adults then there should be no problem. As in any all-inclusive holiday, the menu can become monotonous. At first site there appears to be a wealth of puddings available but, aside from crème brulee, fresh fruit and thirty-two rows of basically the same sponge but with different colourings, there really isn’t much choice. I had asked for a scoop of iced cream. I was told to go to another on-site restaurant for ice cream from 3pm. It transpired that one portable freezer was set aside to supply choc ices on sticks. The serving staff in the restaurants were excellent. The night time entertainment was pretty dire. Saturday night offering was a tombola. “Anything else?” “No, that’s it!” Same with the bingo night. There was one memorable evening with Chinese acrobats who were excellent, but it seemed that the all-expenses spared entertainment was on a seven-day cycle, meaning that you started to see the same acts again if you stayed for more than a week. Sometimes there was karaoke apparently, but we avoided that. The nearby market was very busy indeed, particularly in the evenings. with stuff from well-known names at great prices. Fakes, of course, but great for presents to take home. Be mindful though, as you will get badgered to hell by the many sales people. Don’t stop to look at any goods, or gaze at anyone for longer than two seconds, as this will be taken as a sign that you have money to spend and you won’t be left alone. The bars are usually busy, and queues can be long. One particular nationality seemed to drink only cocktails that took a while to produce, in preference to a beer or a spirit and mixer. Hence the queues, but the bar staff, usually four strong at busy times, worked their socks off to get everyone served as quickly as possible. The bar staff deserved much praise for their hard work, and for dealing with certain groups of people who failed to display any manners. The area within a mile or so of the hotel was quite barren, so no nice walks to be had, for those of us who like to stretch our legs. I’m glad that I visited Turkiye, but I would be in no rush to return, despite being told that other areas are much better.

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