Sunis Efes Royal Palace Resort & Spa

- [ ] I’ve been on many 5 star holidays and this is truly a terrible experience. I read the reviews and took a chance, unfortunately those who give bad reviews are spot on, if you are English you will receive a terrible experience, where do I start........ Service, absolutely shocking, no engagement, no smiles and be prepared to be ignored at the bar over anyone else, especially if female. I literally had to go and kick off with expletives at the pool bar after my wife was ignored at a empty bar repeatedly, then men appeared and served instantly. No acknowledgment of my grievance just smirks and laughter, you only have to look around at the bar to see others receiving the same experience. The drinks are also of a very poor standard, the cocktails are simply not true to type and a waste of time. Food. Distinctly average at best, no organisation and having to try find your own table walking around having to sit at uncleared tables waiting for staff to clean and reset them isn’t what’s expected of a hotel that “claims” a 5 star rating. Everyone running around the restaurant bumping into each other and kids running riot, the hotel has a small contingent on English guests and it appears people from other countries arnt too bothered about eating with their children and prefer to let them run around the restaurant, no intervention from the staff. The only good thing is that there is always some food available from some of the restaurants. Entertainment, if you appreciate the Caberet acts of the 80’s in a Working men’s club the you may appreciate what’s on offer here. Sports bar is closed, nightclub is closed, Irish bar is closed. Basically limiting you to a couple of other bars that you wait endless amounts of time to be served. Staff, very limited English if any at all so asking for any help or direction with anything is fruitless. I asked where the butter was for breakfast and received a glass of peach juice is a example of this, they all seem pissed off and everything is a chore to them, I’ve never been to any hotel where staff seem so miserable and it really does drag the atmosphere down. Summary, we stayed 3 times at poloma pasha a few miles up the road several times before, also 5 star and its chalk and cheese, Pasha is is proper 5 star hotel, this has the facade of a 5 star hotel as looks beautiful, scratch the surface and it’s more 3 star at best. I have never done a hotel review before but after 4 days of a 11 night stay I felt it appropriate to tell any potential English guests a honest assessment. Lots of reviews for citizens of other countries may be right for them, the experience will not be the same for English guests.

We booked this holiday based on facilities and entertainment available. Numerous bars, restaurants and a vast entertainment programme both day and night. Having 2 children aged 6&15 we choose places that will suit us all as a family. Having stayed at the voyage Belek for the past 3 years we decided to have a change so chose this hotel as the description was very similar to our previous holiday, and as it is advertised as a Luxe collection for Jet2 we thought we had chosen well. HOW WRONG WERE WE! We arrived Wednesday 16th October, on arrival the hotel reception quickly checked us in and our bags were taken to our room, the reception area certainly has a wow factor, beautiful decor and plush furnishings, and there was a buzz in the atmosphere. Our room was a family suite with pool and sea view, rooms are nice, not particularly large but enough for us. If you are travelling with 2 older children I would say the room will be a squeeze. Mini bar in both bedrooms filled with water, efes and pop, however as the week went on these were not replenished with the full content and only 2 bottles of water were being left. We went to explore the hotel and it appeared quite busy, loud music was being played by the pool, although this wasn't music we were familiar with. It quickly became apparent we were a minority as we didn't hear one English voice for the first 24 hours! During Our first 3 days the hotel were hosting a concert for 600+ guests from Israel, I can honestly say some of the things witnessed were shocking, food being eaten from the buffet and then returned to the trays, women spitting on the floor, soup being tasted from the ladle, and the majority of them were down right arrogant and rude, one woman barged into my 6 year old entering the lift and then proceeded to shout and wave her arms! I have to say they were not all the same, some were polite and smiled however I would say this was only 5% of the group. Thankfully the group left the hotel on the Saturday and staff were even cheering at their exit, the hotel became quieter and more relaxed however this then became the downward sprial, it was as though the whole hotel was on wind down and they couldn't wait for us to leave. We met 4 other families from the UK and we all felt the same. By now there were only 2 bars open throughout the day, pier bar and pool bar, both bars were running out of drinks, no sprite, no efes on draft, no bailey's on numerous occasions, the evening was reduced to reception bar and the Irish bar, which again both were out of certain drinks. The bar man often had to run between bars looking for certain brands of drinks, which were sold as part of the package.... Many of these not available!even the main restaurant ran out of orange juice on our last day! Many of the restaurants were also closed and the food was so repetitive, chicken, salad, pizza, pasta! We found out on the Saturday we could book more than one al a Carte so booked the Chinese and Italian, both were very nice and the waiter (Freddy Mercury) provided a very good service. Disappointingly our sons struggled to find a variety of food and they're not particularly fussy. Ice-cream was only served in the patisserie and the flavours were reduced daily, resulting in them not liking what was available, I'm guessing this flavour was remaining as no one liked. The last 3 days of our holiday the hotel was swarming with flies, everywhere! Every restaurant, bar, pool area, we asked the bar man if this was unusual, he said the hotel had a big problem with flies! The biggest selling point when we booked this hotel was the entertainment, well it certainly wasn't available during our stay, infact the entertainment was more or less non existent, all outdoor evening entertainment had been moved into the Irish bar as it was "too cold" still 22° on a night time, we didn't think that was cold. The entertainment then consisted of a man with his laptop pressing play and him leaving the room. On our last night, and the hotel being informed of our disappointment, they provided family entertainment which was movie night! Needless to say as the movie began on the projector screen we all vacated the bar. Day time entertainment was poor, the same music was played on loop during our whole stay, there were a few animation team members about and on a couple of occasions came to kick a football about with our sons but that was it. Luckily the slides were a big hit and kept them bust for the few hours they were open. By the Sunday there were only 150 guests remaining in the hotel, which dwindled as the days went on, we understand now that there season ends this Friday, hence why everything was being wound down, however at no point during booking or when checking in to this hotel, were we told this would happen, we were staying during UK half term so had in fact paid more per person than you would have 2 weeks previously, yet we were not receiving the service as expected. There were a few members of staff who were outstanding in this hotel and went above and beyond to make the best of what was available, the bottle flipping barman originally in the lobby bar and then the Irish bar, he was fantastic and a credit to this hotel, he was running between bars to try and find drinks requested, he was entertaining and always had a smile, also mehmet in the reception bar was lovely, very helpful and always quick to replace drinks and crisps for the boys. Having had a fantastic holiday in Belek for the past 3 years and the hotel being so busy, we were expecting similar things from this hotel, the two couldn't be further apart! Luckily we met some lovely people whilst there which helped make the most of a very disappointing situation, we have enjoyed the break but we certainly wouldn't return. I did visit guest relations on numerous occasions to voice our disappointment, however no one was available each time.

Stayed here for 10 days with my partner and 2 kids, the decor is lovely, very clean inside, plenty of furniture. We had a 2 bedroom suite with a sea view, the room was lovely and clean and the sea view was amazing, especially at sunset. The room was provide with tea and coffee and it was stocked up every day in the mini fridge. The food at meal times in the restaurant was lovely if u like eating chips, chicken, and salad, they did however did to some Turkish food and it was really nice, the waiter service is good and was able to bring us drinks. The staff at this hotel were very polite and could speak some English. The hotel grounds are faultless, nice flat grounds and easy access to the beach. The location is situated 30-40 mins from Kusadasi, and u can get there by bus which costs 3TL and taxi with costs about 70 euros there and back. The evening entertainment was by the pool bar area and they had something for the kids and for the adults, though this did move to the Irish bar where they did quizzes and karaoke. The worst part of the holiday was 3 days before we was due to leave, there was about 600 guests arrived they was from the same country and they was very noisy, very rude and didn’t have any respect for the other guests. I was approached by a guest who want me to get her friend a drink from the bar, not being funny but I was a guest of the hotel and was on holiday with my family and I wasn’t going to get drinks to people who I don’t know and can’t speak English. At dinner was a different story, 2 days before we was due to leave me and my family went to the main restaurant and was waiting to select what we was going to eat and I saw one guest pick up a fish with their fingers, and smelled it and put it back into the food tray, then I saw a woman pick up the tongs that was meant for chicken, picked up the meatballs and put the tongs back with the chicken, my partner witnessed one guest picking up the ladle for the soup and tasted the soup and put the ladle back into the soup, after that we decided not to eat in the restaurant on our last night, even the staff was getting abuse from these guests and because there was so many of them, the staff was struggling to cope with them all. They was shouting across the balcony and also outside our room. It ruined our last days of the holiday and I just wanted to come home Although it is a lovely hotel, the staff are lovely and the kids love the hotel, I don’t think we will be returning to this hotel