Vacation with Fantasy

Written: 23 may 2019
Travel time: 21 — 27 april 2019
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For families with children; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
7.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 9.0
Service: 7.0
Cleanliness: 8.0
Food: 5.0
Amenities: 8.0
A trip to Turkey in the middle of spring is a very funny and, to a certain extent, fatalistic event - lucky or unlucky with the weather. Therefore, the hotel for this trip was chosen in such a way that the absence of the possibility of a beach would not affect the impressions of a short vacation, but could be replaced by alternative activities. Simply put, they chose a hotel from which it would be convenient to make trips to the surrounding attractions. And besides, because the trip was supposed to be short (6 nights), then there was no desire to be picky about the quality of the hotel, but at the same time, the birthday falling on this period still timidly asked not to really lower the bar. Out of this confusion of requirements and wishes, the Asteria Hotel Fantasia appeared in the village of Camyuva.
An additional weighty argument in his favor was the significant discount that AnexTour gave him. Moreover, while we were thinking, the discount kept growing and in the end we decided. This situation, as I understand it, is explained by the fact that Anex has now made the Asteria Hotel Fantasia one of his base hotels, becoming its owner and referring it to the Asteria group. And there are clearly certain advantages from this - firstly, a direct express transfer between Antalya Airport and the hotel, without stopping at other hotels. And if on the way there there were about 15-20 people from the flight on this express transfer, then on the way back for our flight only 6 people left the hotel, but Anex sent a VIP class minibus for us and took us six to airport almost by private transfer. Those. everything was fair here. : )) Secondly, in the hotel for days on end there were several representatives of Aneks (this is in addition to the hotel guide Bashir declared to us), who at any time could clarify the information you were interested in. And thirdly, the guides of Anex in the questionnaires that were distributed at the first meeting, asked to provide information about all the breakdowns or "negrace" in your room, which, in my opinion, indicates the desire to control the quality of the room stock. Although, I may be delusional about this issue. : )
So number. We had a Standard Land View booked, but upon check-in we were told that they were giving a room with a partial sea view - I don’t know why we are so happy, but I think the hotel was not fully occupied at the very beginning of the season. However, here we must take into account another feature of the hotel - the architect obviously built it with considerable imagination and the rooms there are simply the most diverse: square, L-shaped, with large balconies, with small balconies, with French windows, with a patio (on the ground floor) and all of them belong to the "standard" category. Those. what kind of “standard” you will get, you can find out only upon check-in. We didn't have a balcony. But the room is spacious, ergonomic, a large closet with a sufficient number of trempels, a separate cabinet at the entrance, where it is convenient to put all sorts of little things like backpacks, baseball caps, beach accessories, etc. , additionally 2 chairs with a small table, we had 2 separate beds, in relation to which we did not show off, but silently moved, having received a wide bed.

Everything stated in the description is there - a free safe, a kettle with a set of tea, coffee, cups, a mini-bar with water, mineral water, cola, fanta and beer, honestly replenished every day. It makes no sense to mention the TV and slippers separately, there were no bathrobes.
The bathroom is spacious, the set of towels is sufficient and the towels are of normal quality (not washed, not torn), changed every day, despite the statements about environmental protection and other ecology. They also constantly supplemented the set of gels, shampoos, balms and brought it as if in advance (there were 15 bottles of any cosmetics). I was a little surprised by the hair dryer - it was not stationary, but such an ordinary hair dryer plugged into a power outlet. But this didn’t make him work worse - it’s just that I haven’t seen this in hotels for a long time.
Because we didn’t have a balcony, we had a separate special rack for drying things (or maybe all rooms have it), which was very convenient to lay out in the corner near the TV stand (I’m all about ergonomics).
Cleaning was, I had no complaints about it. I didn’t climb under the bed and behind the baseboard with a check for dust. ; ))
And, by the way, about our maid (we had room 302) I want to say separately and with gratitude! I hope that the representatives of the hotel, after reading my review, will somehow encourage the person. One day we were in such a hurry to leave for Kemer that we forgot to close the safe. Moreover, not only was the door not blocked, but in reality the safe remained wide open and sparkled with all the insides - our passports, money, etc. in the cabinet door that was open to its full extent. When we returned and saw this picture, at first we were simply shocked from their own slovenliness. And then we were shocked that nothing was missing from the safe - not a single penny! So a separate respect to the hotel staff and, in particular, our maid!
The territory of the hotel is compact, green, well-groomed. But at the same time, there is where to walk, and places for various activities are allocated. Large playground in the shade of pine trees, locations for yoga, archery, darts, etc. All this is located on the back side of the hotel, closer to the exit.

All three a la carte restaurants are located on the left side, with the Turkish restaurant placed in a separate gazebo, and the Fish and Italian restaurants located on both sides of the patio. And if we are already talking about a la carte, then in a nutshell I will say about them - according to the concept of the hotel, for a stay of 7 nights or more, 1 free visit is possible, traditionally recording on guest relations the day before the visit. We only had 6 nights and we were ready to pay, but for some reason the girls said that everything was OK and signed us up for free. Maybe the presence of a birthday served as an argument here, or maybe the start of the season and the vacancy of the hotel. Accordingly, I do not know whether the same benevolence will continue in the season. We were in the Fish Restaurant - a lot, tasty, nice. I can safely recommend. : )
In front of the front of the hotel, there is traditionally a large swimming pool, a pool with slides, a pool bar (it is also a snack bar at lunchtime), a gozleme tent, a terrace bar (it is, in fact, a lobby bar) with a hookah bar. A little aside, which can be considered a plus, a traditional amphitheater has been built for evening shows. And then, for the sake of which we came here - the beach!
The hotel's beach was very pleased: the coastline is wide - sunbeds with umbrellas stand in 4 rows, very spaciously spread out relative to each other, and you can add 2 rows to the water's edge. And long. Accordingly, the water area for swimming is quite sane, limited on both sides by piers, which is also a plus, because. boats will not roll over their heads. On the pier, which was still being completed during our stay, sun loungers-umbrellas will also be placed in the future, which will add "seats". the pursuit of profit you again cheated. ; ))
Of the amenities - there is a bar on the beach (with a limited offer consisting of soft drinks and beer), changing rooms, showers, a volleyball court, etc. In other words, the beach infrastructure is quite sufficient and comfortable for a pleasant seaside pastime and I really hope that even with 100% occupancy of the hotel, this trend will continue.
The only inconvenience is a rather large pebble on the beach strip and very large at the entrance to the water. I think that special shoes will not be superfluous.

Nutrition. But on this point the hotel disappointed us. Perhaps this is the first of the Turkish hotels, after visiting which I understood what tourists mean when they write "there was only chicken from meat. " I won’t lie at all - there was stewed beef, some very dry meatballs or lamb kebabs and... almost everything! This is not the case for a decent hotel at all! There was fish, but again, the quality was not so hot, and if it was, for example, salmon, then it was laid out in very meager quantities, and at the same time there was a queue.
It also somehow didn’t work out with appetizers - a lot of something was served on the racks in a variety of designs, but it just served more to create an entourage than for food - it was tasteless. Side dishes are standard - vegetables, french fries, rice, mashed potatoes, pasta. There were some salads with and without mayonnaise, but we try not to eat this, so I can’t rate it.
Soups here were not bad - traditional Turkish cream soups and other variations on the theme (for example, seafood soup, which really had seafood in normal quantities).
The breakfasts were surprising - the almost complete absence of a meat (sausage) component, represented at best by one kind of unfortunate fried or boiled sausages / sausages. There was not even the notorious sausage cut, shimmering with all shades of a sophisticated pink color. True, this was partially offset by a variety of cheeses. ; )))
Yes, and scrambled eggs for breakfast were fried for some reason strictly dosed - for a long time I don’t remember such that in the midst of breakfast and on a tray in front of the frying surface it was empty, and nothing screeched on the frying surface itself, and even the cook behind this frying surface was not It was!
Another surprise, not to say a shock, was the lack of coffee machines in the restaurant. There was only one type of coffee there (as for me, it looks a lot like instant coffee) and was poured from large metal containers, which, by definition, cannot contain brewed coffee in such quantities. Again, this situation for a 5-star hotel is a shame , while even modest 3s have in their arsenal and often freely available standard coffee machines, coffee from which is not the height of perfection, but at least can bear the title of this drink.

To compensate for such disgrace with coffee in the main restaurant, they just made excellent coffee in a cafe-confectionery. Only there it was necessary to ask to make it in a special coffee machine. Usually strove to do in the standard! All this was served in beautiful cups, with cookies and coffee beans, and you could choose a tasty treat from the assortment of the confectionery. In addition, various cocktails made from freshly squeezed juices, individual juices and other healthy drinks were periodically exhibited in the confectionery. You could taste all these delicacies both in the inner hall and on the open area located in the courtyard (in the evenings there was a fish a la carte) overlooking the babbling fountain. In general, such a mix of invigorating coffee and a relaxed atmosphere. : )
If we return to the question of the restaurant, then another not entirely comfortable nuance is the service. The waiters seem to be there, but they are not distinguished by quickness. And at the same time, they still somehow share the functionality among themselves, which, of course, visitors cannot know about, and should not. For example, you see a waiter and ask to set the table, and he says that this is not for him, but for another - and it’s good if that other one is within sight and you can immediately redirect with your request. Or another example - the restaurant has a small bar with drinks, but if you ask for a glass of wine there, you will be sent to the waiters. And the waiter at this time removes the dishes from the tables, so you will receive your wine when and if he finishes his previous lesson. In general, you won’t be left hungry, without a table and without drinks, but you won’t get 100% comfortable either. Perhaps the beginning of the season again played a role here, but, as I understand it, the staff is already staffed, and no one will pick them up. Just existing would not hurt to organize normally.
In bars with better staff - if there were queues, they quickly dissipated. Might be a little busier in the high season. The choice of drinks, again, is mostly traditional for the average Turkish five - a cocktail menu (moreover, the quality and taste of a cocktail each time depends on which bartender makes it), strong drinks (including Chivas, Zheka and the like), vermouth, liqueurs, wine, beer. In addition, they will always make coffee-tea, give a mix of nuts as a snack. The taste of alcohol is also traditional - connoisseurs of Haute cuisine will not be satisfied with alcohol, but it will do for an evening conversation.
The only negative is that the hotel concept for the current summer, among others, includes campari, 3 types of martinis and their Turkish counterparts, i. е. ALL options are expected to be available. But when you asked for a martini at the bar, the experienced bartender shook his head sternly and showed that only the Turkish counterpart could pour, while the inexperienced one climbed under the counter into the refrigerator and took out a bottle of the original from there. It’s not that they differed greatly in taste, but here, as in an old joke - “You, father, either take off your cross, or put on your pants! ” Remove original drinks from the concept or put them in bars so that unpleasant moments do not arise.

In general, somehow here the question of food for Aneks in his hotel must be clearly tightened up. Or, perhaps, the situation with not very tasty food, a relatively poor assortment and not very worthy drinks is typical for hotels in this region. At least, our experience of recent years forms such a suspicion in me. : )
Well, and from the main thing - WI-FI was best of all in the interior of the hotel such as the lobby, in the rest of the territory and in the rooms it was caught with varying success and braking, it reached the beach in places. But, in any case, he was and worked.
And in conclusion, I would like to praise the location of the hotel. Let it not be their merit. : )) The hotel is very convenient from the point of view of surrounding trips - Phaselis and Tahtali are literally at arm's length (or 5-7 minutes by dolmush), Kemer is also just around the corner or, objectively, behind the neighboring mountain, you need to reach Antalya ride for about an hour. Particularly advanced people can also drive to Olympos - it is also not far away, as it turned out, only for this you need to go not to the village highway that runs along the hotel, but to the central D400 highway, which is really 10 minutes on foot, which is also nice. : )
Summing up all of the above - you can go to the hotel, the price (with a discount) approximately corresponds to the quality, the beach component (which is decisive for a summer holiday) is at the proper level. And if the administration also puts things in order with the service in the restaurant and bar complex and somehow stimulates the chefs to more delicious cooking, then it will be possible to say that each of its 5 stars of the Asteria Hotel Fantasia beach hotel is worthy.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original