The Xanthe Resort & Spa Hotel

We have just returned from 9 nights at the Xanthe hotel as a family of 5. Mixed bag really as some very nice parts but others seriously lacking of anywhere claiming to be a 5 star hotel, even in Turkey. Checked in at 8pm to a very frosty receptionist who chucked a load of civic forms at us and basically said to read the welcome pack to find out anything we wanted to about the hotel. Pretty poor start to be honest. Went for food which is this hotels major weakness. Unless you are Russian/Ukrainian the food is terrible. Not a sausage, bean or bacon in sight for breakfast so prepare to have salad, cheese or rice, even chips on some days?. I get English are in the minority but it was so poor night after night and we ended up eating out 3 nights to have a break. Pizza and burgers by beach were nice at lunch but ice cream only available for 1.5 hours a day which with small kids is not great for a supposed 5 star all inclusive. Gin and tonic was vile and no cocktail menu as it most hotels. The organisation of the canteen is also crazy, que up to get toast then re que on the other side of the hall for butter. Clovis has made it worse than self service but there was no logic to where certain foods were available. Had to hunt down a tea spoon every day for boiled eggs and lucky if you get one drink with any meals. I imagine if it was self service it would be better but as the hotel was only 60% capacity, I expected a more organised service. Staff very hit and miss, a few were lovely, Mahrait was our favourite in the dinner hall and Ali on pool,bar but lots were very rude, through your plate of food at you despite us asking very politely, thanking them which is more than most of the very rude Russian, Turkish guests seemed to do. Pools nice but not many beds around them and Olympic pool was used by the Ukrainian Paralympic swimming team most days. Beach was lovely, food beds, sea nice and warm and good beach bar. Grumpy old man sweeping the patch stopped my daughter building sandcastles which was uncalled for. Rooms ok, air con only set at 25 degrees and goes off in the middle of the night which made sleeping a bit sticky. Balcony tiny, not big enough for 2 adults to sit. All in all it was ok, disappointing aspects and we didn’t feel welcomed at all being English. We asked for am1 hour extension for our room as didn’t get picked up until 2pm but they said no which I thought was poor and no way the hotel was fully booked. Kids entertainment lady was great and kids club very well organised, evening entertainment aside from the Asian dancers was very poor. We wouldn’t go back and any other English guests may find an equally unwelcoming experience.

First hotel I have stayed in where air con is controlled by the hotel. They automatically turn this off part way through the night and not one night were we able to sleep through, very uncomfortable. You cannot turn this lower than 25° and also doesn't turn on until 10 minutes after the balcony door is closed, a very uncomfortable time spent in the rooms. Restaurants and inside areas also not serviced by air con, but this was due to covid-19. Reception staff extremely rude, as are the staff serving food. Only restaurant open was the buffet due to covid-19 and the food was the same every day. The turkey from the grill was raw inside too. WiFi is not available free of charge, we paid 15 euros for one week per room (so we were told by a lady on reception) we confirmed this was 'per room' and offered to pay at the beginning of the stay, however they asked us to pay at check out, then when we checked out they charged us per device. Even after complaining for nearly half an hour they didn't budge and honour what was agreed. Bar staff were great, although if we hadn't of tipped it may have been different? Pools were great, however we were not informed the Olympic pool is 16 years plus before booking and we picked the hotel for the pool sizes so we could social distance. Pool and beach was cleaned of litter regularly, but the beach guy didn't like our children builing sandcastles. Outside of the rooms the hotel and pool areas were very clean and well looked after, the rooms were much less than what you would expect for a 4 star and also small. Our balcony wasn't cleaned once during our stay and was very small.

Stayed here August 2020. Got to hotel late after 12pm. Greeted by unfriendly staff. The bar shuts dead on 12pm after that you can’t get a drink at all they shut the bar and turn the lights off. We were however given bowl of soup and bottle of water then went to bed. Room was tiny for 4 people and balcony could barely fit 2 people at a squeeze. Air con was on and off all the time so was far too hot on a night. The room however was cleaned every day and towels changed too. As a family of 4 we couldn’t relax in room and play cards on balcony like we like to do after coming in on night as was just far too small. Staff in hotel were generally unfriendly there was odd one that now and then cracked a smile but very occasional. The staff also didn’t speak much if any English at all. The food times were very regimented and there were certain times of day you couldn’t get food at all. For example you can get an Ice-cream only between 3pm and 4.30pm then you can not have an ice cream after this. We had a drink in Hotel bar one night and were sat outside after getting last drink before 12pm they then shut bar and turned lights off on us. Member if staff saying to us why are we still up. Very annoying when on holiday was if we had a curfew! Food was mediocre at best. This hotel was not what we were sold and very disappointed with it. Won’t be returning. Only good points were the pools were great. Apart from that not good at all.