Syedra Princess Club - Alanya/Mahmutlar

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Having been to the same resort-Belek-on 4 previous occassions we decided to
try further down the coast. Big Mistake!

After a 4 hour flight and a 3 hour transfer we arrived at The Syedra with
controlled excitement. We were greeted by a porter who showed us to our rooms-
they were on the sixth floor directly below the disco, which obviously had no
soundproofing! We asked to be moved and were offered 1 room for all 6 of us.
The room was small and capable of accomodating 3! We decided to stay put.

We were then invited to the restaurant for something to eat and drink-this
consisted of stale bread, cheese and milk! But it was 1 a.m!

That was just the start of things to come. To be concise:

SUNBEDS- the Germans get them all! and there are too few.

BEACH- dirty and mainly pebbles. The sea is unsafe for children.

FOOD- ok but basic with limited choice.

STAFF- can't speak English very well unless it suits them!

ENTERTAINMENT- laughable but not funny. Guests that had been there a few days
stayed away because they knew how bad it was.

HOTEL- basic and dated (use the lift at your own risk). It is next to a busy
main road which can disturb the peace. It is surrounded by hotels on 3 sides
which shade the terracing at certain times of the day. You will be ushered
around the pool at meal times, to make space for a dining area, due to
limited space. The only good point is that the hotel is clean.

If you are considering going to The Syedra Princess, I suggest you look at
other hotels. We stayed 2 days and moved to another hotel in Belek because we
were so disappointed. Even the JMC reps don't have anything good to say about
the hotel and Alanya!

I am not a snob but I expect a certain standard when I am paying over £3000
for a week. I have been to other 3 star hotels that are far superior to The
Syedra. DISAPPIONTING!!!

Mark Buckley - Cheshire

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The hotel is actually in Mahmutlar, 20 mins drive away from the resort of
Alanya. The beach is sandy/shingly. There is quite a strong sea current so we
had to watch our two children aged 8 and 10 constantly.

The hotel pools are 145cms deep at the shallow end with no hand rails thereby
making them quite unsuitable for children who are not good swimmers. Our 8
year old non swimmer couldm't touch the bottom and had to be constantly
supervised. There was a six foot square paddling pool a foot deep. They did
not seem to cater for children under twelve who were not swimmmers. No good
for a family oriented hotel - and in a hot climate!!

The airconditioning in the rooms is controlled centrally despite individual
controls in the rooms and is switched off between 8 am and 3 pm - not good for
new arrivals!

The turks second language is german not english which is quite infuriating
particularly when there is any entertainment as the staff tend to forget to
repeat anything in english,

Also the hotel is overlooked on three sides when you are out by the pools and
dining which becomes claustrophobic after a while.

The balconies are virtually nonexistent and windows in the hallways are
constantly left open for you to bump into!

The meals and the service were excellent.

Overall, not a good hotel for children under 12 particularly toddlers and
particulalrly if you are at all safety conscious!

Dawn Boden - Bristol

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This was our first family holiday ever, and first time all-inc.We enjoyed our
stay at the Syedra Princess very much but there were a few things we were
dissapointed with.Firstly the 1 1/2 hour transfer turned into almost 3 hours,
getting to the hotel early hours of the mornin.The hotel itself was very clean
and well presented.The rooms again were clean but basic and the maid service
was excerllent.The balconie area was very small.

Entertainment wasnt great but the entertainment team did there best.There was a
1/2 hour mini disco for the kids.Various acts from the team, some funny but
again very basic. The main disco which was on until around 1am again was not
great but better than nothing.

The food was ok but very repetative, but you will probably find this at most
all-inc hotels. There was different themed evening meals which some were quite
enjoyabe and a large selection of sweets.There was a daily barbeque down at the
beach from 12-5 servin burgers,hotdogs, chips and other bits which probably was
the nicest food at the hotel.Great for the kids as there was not alot of
selection for them at meal times.

The beach was described as a sandy beach in the brochure but is actually a
shingle beach, and the sea is quite rough making it unsafe for the kids.But
there is a beach bar serving soft drinks as part off the all-inc which is great.

The two swimming pools were very clean but the larger of the two doesnt see
much sun making it very cold.We didnt have a problem with spending our time
round the small pool. There is also a small childrens pool. Dont get excited
about the 2 childrens play areas, as we only managed to find the one and this
consisted of a slide. This was really dissapointing.

Out and around the hotel there is not much. A few shops and a couple of bars,
but the local markets are great for all your named clothes and bargains.(be
prepared to haggle)

Although the brochure says the hotel is in Alanya, it is actually about a 15
min taxi ride away from the heart of Alanya but is well worth a visit or two.
Alanya is packed full of markets,shops,bars,and resturants and is very
interesting and quite an experience.

As the hotel caters for the Germans more than the English there was quite an
atmosphere around the hotel between them. Due to this the english tends to
stick together and we met loads of excellent people and had some great laughs.

Overall we had a great holiday despite being dissapointed with a few things.But
we were'nt prepared to complain for two weeks.Your holiday is what you make it.
I would love to return to Turkey but would definatly try somewhere different.

Jacksons