Trendy Verbena Beach

We visited this hotel in September, just out of the school holidays but still in time for everything to still be open and working. 5 of us travelled together and all commented that this is one of the cleanest hotels we have ever stayed in. On arrival in the small hours we were given rooms on different floors despite asking to be close. This was sorted the following day though, when a room for us was found close by the other room on the same floor. The beds were a bit hard so we asked for toppers, this was sorted on the same day, making the beds much more comfortable for us. The food was very good quality. Not as many themed nights as there have been in the many other Turkish hotels we have stayed in over the years but lots of different choices every night. The dining room was sometimes crowded and a bit of a free for all regarding tables which sometimes made it difficult for us to find a table for 5, due to couples often sitting on the nearest table, set for 6 rather than being on a table for 2. A little organisation of seating people would have helped with this. We were a little concerned about some of the previous reviews that said that the hotel was very Russian focused and that the staff did not speak English. Thankfully we did not have an issue with this. Our waiter explained that this was the first year that the hotel has secured a contract with an English company so the staff have not had chance to practice the language. Most of them have reasonable English already but they all seemed keen to learn too. The beach was very clean with more than enough beds to go around and a beach bar that provided lunch every day. There was not masses of choice but something different on the BBQ each day alongside the usual staples of pizza, freshly cooked flat breads and salads. The animation team provided activities during the day and shows every 2 or 3 nights. The shows consisted of different acts that were obviously contracted in and not as professional as we have seen in previous hotels in Side and Belek but still entertaining. There are quite a few bars on the complex for evening drinks. The roof top bar seemed the best as the pool bar was full of smokers each night making it very uncomfortable for non smokers. The hotels on this stretch of beach are quite close together and seem very compact compared to those in Belek, but the hotel still has everything we needed. The shops in the hotel were handy and the shopkeepers very nice and fair. We bought an air bed that burst and they were happy to replace it without issue. We arranged private transfers from and to the airport, mainly due to the very late flight times. This was worth every penny as we did not have to call at other hotels for drop offs and pick ups and it was a very swish limousine that picked us up. We booked the whole trip with Thomas Cook and were blissfully unaware of the issues. Luckily we flew home 2 days before the company collapsed so did not have any problems. So thankfully we had a lovely holiday. Thank you to the hotel staff especially our waiter who is doing so well with his English.

Beautiful hotel. Rooms are stunning. Restaurants are very nice with a wide variety of high quality food to choose from. The rooms are very clean and the pool area is clean also. The entertainment is amazing. Dance shows out of this world. Would go here again and I highly recommend it