Your rating of this hotel:
6.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
8.0
Service:
4.0
Cleanliness:
3.0
Food:
9.0
Amenities:
10.0
So, my second trip to Turkey. As it happens - the budget is limited, the deadlines are burning. We bought a ticket a day before departure from a neighboring city. We chose between 3 hotels, 2 of them - 3 *, 1 - 4 *. Many thanks to the travel agent, they told us everything in detail, read the reviews together. As a result, the choice fell on the Joker Hotel. Reasons: good food reviews, location in Side, sandy beach not far from the hotel (although not our own). Well, the price - for two for 10 days / 9 nights - 77 thousand (I will clarify: from Siberian Tomsk for these dates the price is really one of the lowest).
Now in order:
1. Accommodation. In the reviews, they often wrote that they settled in bad rooms and offered to relocate to a better room for 20-30 dollars. We were really first settled in a room that we did not like. At the reception they offered to move to another one now, or wait until 14.00 (we arrived at 12.00) and see the vacant rooms. We decided to wait, as a result, for free, they moved to a room with two balconies, on the second floor.
2. Number. What we liked: two rooms (a bedroom and something like a living room with 2 sofas, a table, a TV and a kitchen: stove, refrigerator, microwave, air conditioning); everything working, which is especially important for the air conditioner and refrigerator; there was no dampness (guests from the first floor often complained about it); the balcony from the bedroom overlooks the abandoned building of the same hotel, the side is not sunny, which was a plus for us; Everywhere there are blackout curtains that helped to escape the heat. What I didn’t like: the fact that the old shabby furniture, of course, is a minus, but for three stars everything was worthy, but bed linen with holes and curtains burnt by cigarettes could have been got rid of, so here is a minus.
3. Room service. Here is the biggest disadvantage of the hotel. For 10 days we were cleaned 3 times, bed linen was changed 2 times. Yes, and they got away - it's a strong word. Rather just walked with a rag. The corners are dirty, there is always sand in the shower, only after one cleaning it became really clean. In the shower, either shampoo and soap, or shower gel and soap are poured, there has never been anything together.
4. Food + bar. One of the advantages of the hotel. Three meals a day, the bar is open from 10 to 23, then drinks are paid. Pour everything from cola / fanta ending with wine and gin. You need to understand that the local alcohol is weak, similar to diluted, but the bartender opened bottles with us several times, so I can say that he is. And given that some started drinking at 10 am, and not always beer, I think that maybe this is not so bad. The wine is only dry, at first I didn’t really like it, and then nothing. The beer is good, but the degree there is definitely less than usual. Plus, they make cocktails from liqueurs, also delicious, but rather, it’s almost impossible to pamper the receptors, get drunk. Okay, that's not what they came for. Separately, I note the bartender, introduced himself as Yasha - very cool, although already aged, speaks a little Russian, told us to definitely come again =) I was very pleased with the food - before that I was in a 4 * hotel, and so there was only soy meat (I it doesn't matter, but the men complained). There was also chicken and beef, a couple of times they gave fish, plus various semi-finished products such as nuggets. Several salads, though monotonous - tomatoes / cucumbers with something else. For garnish - vegetable casseroles, potatoes, rice. Although vacationers from the very beginning lined up in a large queue for food, there was never a time when something did not get (and we came up somewhere in the middle or even closer to the end). By the way, there is no restaurant premises, the tables are under umbrellas and sometimes it was difficult to find a place in the shade, and I really didn’t want to eat in the sun. But there is such a beautiful view that it did not seem like a minus. From fruits they gave plums, melons and watermelons, to be honest, not very sweet, as if not quite ripe, but I don’t know, maybe it’s not the season in July . . For desserts they gave halva several times, very tasty, but basically nothing It was. Well, it's good, otherwise you can get really fat =)
5. Beach. As already mentioned in many reviews, your beach is 15 minutes away by hotel bus. We never went, but once we walked. We didn’t really like it there - the beach is very narrow, there is some kind of bar, we didn’t understand if it was paid or not for our hotel. The bus brings 2 times in the morning, takes it back around 5 pm, so you skip lunch (well, or you get there on your own). In general, we went to the beach 7 minutes walk from our hotel. Minus - you have to go down and climb back up the hill. On the first day, they didn’t even pay attention (I really wanted to swim), but on the second it was already hard). You pass by an abandoned hotel building, where there are a lot of stray cats (the smell is appropriate). On the beaches there are sun loungers of other hotels, for 2-3 dollars you can stay on them. But we were the old fashioned way - we took a towel (by the way, there were no beach towels in the hotel, so it's better to take it with you) and ran to swim.
6. The territory of the hotel. There are two swimming pools on the territory, one for adults (however, very small - 120 and 140 cm) and a mini-pool for children. There is one slide near the children's pool, but I did not see it turned on. Actually a bar, restaurant tables, sofas. Everything. There is also a room where you can get a massage and go to the Turkish hammam, the visit is paid, I don’t know the price, I wasn’t interested. Reception - a small booth next to the gate. The territory is small, but again, I compare it with the four in which I was in 2011 - the territory is still larger.
7. Internet. Everything here is sad. Internet only at the reception (free, for a fee they will give you a password for Wi-Fi in the rooms, but we didn’t bother). The speed is disgusting, one day the Internet disappeared altogether, so we sat without a connection. By the way, calls and SMS are very expensive (I speak for Beeline), so it was not very good without the Internet. Although whats upp worked most of the time, everything was very sad for me personally with VKontakte. So here's the downside.
8. Location. The hotel is located in the small town of Side. There are several bars around the hotel, a huge center for fur and leather products, as well as all sorts of shops with things for tourists (and prices for tourists). We walked a lot and explored the city. If you go to the right side, you can walk to the ancient city of Side with the amphitheater museum, as well as several clothing stores at affordable prices and good quality. Tip - look for grocery stores for locals, they are small but located on almost every corner outside the hotel areas. Very pleasant prices for fruits and drinks, three times cheaper than near hotels. If you go to the left side of the hotel, you can walk to a large bazaar with all sorts of things (souvenirs, clothes, snacks, etc. ). BUT - it is very, very expensive, and very, very many tourists. Another tip - take the bus to the Kumkoy market, there is almost the same assortment, but much cheaper. Do not forget to bargain, the Turks love it very much =)
In addition, I will tell you about the reviews of vacationers with us at the same time: in one room the air conditioner did not work, we contacted the reception several times, but they did not fix it right away. The rooms on the first floor are very damp. Upon arrival, one woman was told that there were no available rooms, as a result, they were not settled on the first day, and one Russian family offered to stay in her room for the night.
In general, reviews are mixed, even among vacationers with us. Many were very disappointed with the hotel, the condition of the rooms, the lack of internet, etc. Guys, you just need to remember - 3 stars in Turkey is not equal to 3 stars, for example, in Europe (it was strange to hear the phrase "But in Spain there was a smart three-ruble note"). This is not something at all, despite international standards. We had a great rest without overpaying for the hotel. Who needs animation (yes, there is none at all), the first line, chic rooms - welcome to 4-5 *. For the trio, everything was very worthy. By the way, we talked with vacationers from other hotels - even from 5 * they talked about poor cleaning, and from 4 *, seeing photos of our hotel, they said that it was much cooler than theirs. So recharge with positive and good mood, and no little things will spoil your vacation =)
Now in order:
1. Accommodation. In the reviews, they often wrote that they settled in bad rooms and offered to relocate to a better room for 20-30 dollars. We were really first settled in a room that we did not like. At the reception they offered to move to another one now, or wait until 14.00 (we arrived at 12.00) and see the vacant rooms. We decided to wait, as a result, for free, they moved to a room with two balconies, on the second floor.
2. Number. What we liked: two rooms (a bedroom and something like a living room with 2 sofas, a table, a TV and a kitchen: stove, refrigerator, microwave, air conditioning); everything working, which is especially important for the air conditioner and refrigerator; there was no dampness (guests from the first floor often complained about it); the balcony from the bedroom overlooks the abandoned building of the same hotel, the side is not sunny, which was a plus for us; Everywhere there are blackout curtains that helped to escape the heat. What I didn’t like: the fact that the old shabby furniture, of course, is a minus, but for three stars everything was worthy, but bed linen with holes and curtains burnt by cigarettes could have been got rid of, so here is a minus.
3. Room service. Here is the biggest disadvantage of the hotel. For 10 days we were cleaned 3 times, bed linen was changed 2 times. Yes, and they got away - it's a strong word. Rather just walked with a rag. The corners are dirty, there is always sand in the shower, only after one cleaning it became really clean. In the shower, either shampoo and soap, or shower gel and soap are poured, there has never been anything together.
4. Food + bar. One of the advantages of the hotel. Three meals a day, the bar is open from 10 to 23, then drinks are paid. Pour everything from cola / fanta ending with wine and gin. You need to understand that the local alcohol is weak, similar to diluted, but the bartender opened bottles with us several times, so I can say that he is. And given that some started drinking at 10 am, and not always beer, I think that maybe this is not so bad. The wine is only dry, at first I didn’t really like it, and then nothing. The beer is good, but the degree there is definitely less than usual. Plus, they make cocktails from liqueurs, also delicious, but rather, it’s almost impossible to pamper the receptors, get drunk. Okay, that's not what they came for. Separately, I note the bartender, introduced himself as Yasha - very cool, although already aged, speaks a little Russian, told us to definitely come again =) I was very pleased with the food - before that I was in a 4 * hotel, and so there was only soy meat (I it doesn't matter, but the men complained). There was also chicken and beef, a couple of times they gave fish, plus various semi-finished products such as nuggets. Several salads, though monotonous - tomatoes / cucumbers with something else. For garnish - vegetable casseroles, potatoes, rice. Although vacationers from the very beginning lined up in a large queue for food, there was never a time when something did not get (and we came up somewhere in the middle or even closer to the end). By the way, there is no restaurant premises, the tables are under umbrellas and sometimes it was difficult to find a place in the shade, and I really didn’t want to eat in the sun. But there is such a beautiful view that it did not seem like a minus. From fruits they gave plums, melons and watermelons, to be honest, not very sweet, as if not quite ripe, but I don’t know, maybe it’s not the season in July . . For desserts they gave halva several times, very tasty, but basically nothing It was. Well, it's good, otherwise you can get really fat =)
5. Beach. As already mentioned in many reviews, your beach is 15 minutes away by hotel bus. We never went, but once we walked. We didn’t really like it there - the beach is very narrow, there is some kind of bar, we didn’t understand if it was paid or not for our hotel. The bus brings 2 times in the morning, takes it back around 5 pm, so you skip lunch (well, or you get there on your own). In general, we went to the beach 7 minutes walk from our hotel. Minus - you have to go down and climb back up the hill. On the first day, they didn’t even pay attention (I really wanted to swim), but on the second it was already hard). You pass by an abandoned hotel building, where there are a lot of stray cats (the smell is appropriate). On the beaches there are sun loungers of other hotels, for 2-3 dollars you can stay on them. But we were the old fashioned way - we took a towel (by the way, there were no beach towels in the hotel, so it's better to take it with you) and ran to swim.
6. The territory of the hotel. There are two swimming pools on the territory, one for adults (however, very small - 120 and 140 cm) and a mini-pool for children. There is one slide near the children's pool, but I did not see it turned on. Actually a bar, restaurant tables, sofas. Everything. There is also a room where you can get a massage and go to the Turkish hammam, the visit is paid, I don’t know the price, I wasn’t interested. Reception - a small booth next to the gate. The territory is small, but again, I compare it with the four in which I was in 2011 - the territory is still larger.
7. Internet. Everything here is sad. Internet only at the reception (free, for a fee they will give you a password for Wi-Fi in the rooms, but we didn’t bother). The speed is disgusting, one day the Internet disappeared altogether, so we sat without a connection. By the way, calls and SMS are very expensive (I speak for Beeline), so it was not very good without the Internet. Although whats upp worked most of the time, everything was very sad for me personally with VKontakte. So here's the downside.
8. Location. The hotel is located in the small town of Side. There are several bars around the hotel, a huge center for fur and leather products, as well as all sorts of shops with things for tourists (and prices for tourists). We walked a lot and explored the city. If you go to the right side, you can walk to the ancient city of Side with the amphitheater museum, as well as several clothing stores at affordable prices and good quality. Tip - look for grocery stores for locals, they are small but located on almost every corner outside the hotel areas. Very pleasant prices for fruits and drinks, three times cheaper than near hotels. If you go to the left side of the hotel, you can walk to a large bazaar with all sorts of things (souvenirs, clothes, snacks, etc. ). BUT - it is very, very expensive, and very, very many tourists. Another tip - take the bus to the Kumkoy market, there is almost the same assortment, but much cheaper. Do not forget to bargain, the Turks love it very much =)
In addition, I will tell you about the reviews of vacationers with us at the same time: in one room the air conditioner did not work, we contacted the reception several times, but they did not fix it right away. The rooms on the first floor are very damp. Upon arrival, one woman was told that there were no available rooms, as a result, they were not settled on the first day, and one Russian family offered to stay in her room for the night.
In general, reviews are mixed, even among vacationers with us. Many were very disappointed with the hotel, the condition of the rooms, the lack of internet, etc. Guys, you just need to remember - 3 stars in Turkey is not equal to 3 stars, for example, in Europe (it was strange to hear the phrase "But in Spain there was a smart three-ruble note"). This is not something at all, despite international standards. We had a great rest without overpaying for the hotel. Who needs animation (yes, there is none at all), the first line, chic rooms - welcome to 4-5 *. For the trio, everything was very worthy. By the way, we talked with vacationers from other hotels - even from 5 * they talked about poor cleaning, and from 4 *, seeing photos of our hotel, they said that it was much cooler than theirs. So recharge with positive and good mood, and no little things will spoil your vacation =)
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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OTHER REVIEWS ABOUT THE HOTEL
- Horrible!!! Minus 0 stars!
- Review of Joker Side Hill Suite
- Review of Joker Side Hill Suite
- terrible hotel. dirt and unsanitary conditions
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