Sunshine Hotel

We visited this hotel in July 2007 on an All Inclusive basis. We arrived early hours and were shown to our room straight away. When arriving at the room we noticed that the door was all glass and only had one flimsy lock. When entering the room it was obvious that this was NOT a 3* hotel! Although it looked clean the kitchen area was run down and looked like it had been there since the 60's. The fridge was rusty and there were no plugs for the sinks. The shower was disgusting and had mould growing around it. The first day we arrived the electric went and we could not use the shower as the water is pumped by electric apparently. There is no cooker or microwave if you are self catering.

The worst of all is the Roof Bar!! The music is played LOUDLY until 5-30am!! Guests are allowed to do what they like when they like. Many were playing music of their own until very late and running around making noise until 7am one night!! You can't have your window open because the music is too loud so you have to hire the air con at 8 lira a day (only hired by the week not the day).

The food is dire! Its ALL Turkish and German. Don't be fooled by the all inclusive lark! Only local drinks are included (which is normal) no ice creams and no food from the snack bar is included. All food at the snack bar is English and cheese on toast costs about £4!! Meals times are stupid! 7am - 10am for breakfast, 12-30pm - 13-30pm for lunch and dinner is 7-30pm - 9pm. They don't provide lunch if you are out for the day. Leftover lunch was served for dinner, left over dinner served for next days lunch and so on. The food is the same EVERY day!

The air con kept setting off our carbon monoxide detector so we called staff in to check and they opened the door and said that would sort it!! They opened the smoke detector whilst they were there and i noticed there was no battery in it!! I questioned them on this and they tried to fob me off telling me there was, they then tried to sneak one in and again tried to fob me off when I asked what they were doing!

They tell some they have to be out of the rooms by 10-30am and others 12pm. They do provide you with a courtesy room but don't be fooled by this! It was the most disgusting room we have ever seen! It had other peoples 'remains' in the bath and dirty towels and rubbish over the floor. When I complained about this I was told 'it's only a courtesy room'! I informed them I didn't care what it was it should be cleaned!

The girl at reception was rude and condescending and no help whatsoever!

Some guests played constant ball games in the pool and despite the ball hitting our little one they refused to stop. A complaint to staff didn't help.

We booked all inclusive but ended up eating out. We have made a complaint as we feel this hotel ruined our holiday. If you have booked here I'd rethink its in no way suitable for families.

Stayed first 2 weeks of August. Sunshine Hotel is at the top of a hill overlooking both Bodrum and Gumbet bays. The views are spectacular. On first arriving you think you are near nothing, but some exploration quickly dispels this.

A walk down the hill into Gumbet will take 20 minutes, although the Dolmus (price 1.5YTL) goes past every few minutes. You can walk to Bodrum centre in about 30 minutes, again down a steep hill, but you are at the harbour and amongst restaurants and boats far quicker than this. The dolmus is a one-way system, so for the same price (1.5 YTL), you can go to Bodrum via Gumbet and get off at the bus station in Bodrum.

Gumbet is Turkish Blackpool, and not our scene at all. Bodrum on the other hand is very chic, rather like the South of France, and bars and restaurants fringe the extensive harbour, looking towards the sunset.

Be warned however, that compared to other resorts in Turkey, Bodrum and Gumbet are relatively expensive. You will rarely pay less than 4 YTL for a beer (£1.70), and wine by the bottle is seriously expensive. Ask the price first, as they will invariably offer you Pammukale at 35YTL (£15,) when with some resolve you can get a drinkable Doluca for 20YTL (£8.70). Don't let this put you off, as prices are generally lower than the UK, but a good third higher than Fethiye, Side etc...

For a reasonably priced drink overlooking the harbour, we recommend Cafe Ali Baba. For sensibly priced meals, stick to the nearest stretch of the harbour, opposite the yacht club. This again is easily walkable from Sunshine Hotel. Recommend Eski Ev (very good value - Adana Kebab 5YTL), and Mystic Restaurant - very friendly and well priced set meals. Also good Chinese at Hong Kong Rest. Nearest restaurant to Sunshine is half way down the hill into Bodrum, and very good value. Returning at night, we always used the Dolmus to get back up the hill. Just tell the Driver 'Sunshine Hotel' and he will drop you outside.

Highlights of a stay here, have to be a visit to the Castle of St Peter, Bodrum and the Mausoleum (in Bodrum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world). Further afield, a two and a half hour drive gets you to Ephesus, which is absolutely spectacular. Do the boat trips, they are great fun, and if you fancy it, the Jeep Safari. If you're on a package, get the local trip specs from your tour operator, and then book it direct locally, and pay two thirds the price. We recommend Canyon Travel at the bottom of the hill in Bodrum, on Dr Osman Nuri Cadesi.

The hotel itself is very clean and most welcolming. I cannot fault the staff, especially the cleaners, who were so thorough and left flowers for us. The Bar Staff are great fun, Sefik (pro. Shefick) and Mehmet in particular made our stay most enjoyable. For a late night drink, go to the Sun Bar on the roof and enjoy a raki overlooking the lights of Bodrum.

The downside to the hotel is that some drinks prices are on the high side. Beer and raki are reasonable, but a Bacardi and Coke will set you back 11YTL (£5.50). This is because they only seem to have imported spirits, and the Turkish equivalents would of course be fine and cheaper. The lunch time food averages around 6 to 7YTL, if you have omelettes etc... I do not recommend the 'al a carte' evening food, as it is expensive and very average. Eat out - it's more fun anyway. Lastly the mini market onsite is a little pricy. For bulk shopping, go down the hill to the start of the harbour, where you will find a 'Bim' (like an Aldi), and in the marina opposite a 'Gima' (like a small Tesco).

A final note on the rooms. If you book this hotel, absolutely insist on a first floor room. The ground floor rooms are dingy, and have no balcony at all. They also have no outside area, or anywhere to dry towels etc... We were allocated a ground floor room on arrival, which was so depressing we nearly insisted on an immediate accommodation change. I politely complained, and within 30 minutes the manager moved us to a room with wonderful views. This was fortunate, as we ended up having a really good holiday.