Oludeniz, Karbel Beach Hotel

Karbel Beach Hotel - Arrived at approximately 10.30pm as a family group (3 adults, 1 teenage girl). Our suitcases were taken upstairs and we were given the high, adjacent rooms we requested. So far, so good.

The security man who carried our suitcases to our rooms showed us where the bathroom was, the beds were and how to switch the air conditioning on and then simply stood and waited for his tip. We have never experienced this in Turkey - don't get me wrong we always tip the staff, but its at our discretion and should not be on demand! Maybe this got us off on the wrong foot with the staff, I don't know.

The next day we stayed around the pool. One of the members of staff asked my 16 year old daughter if she wanted to play pool - she said no thank you. He asked the same the next day and again she said no. He seemed to take great offence at being rejected and refused point blank to speak to any of our group again for the whole two weeks. Quite amusingly though, we watched him try the same routine with every girl over the age of 15 and under the age of 30, each time without success!!

We were asked by one of the staff if we wished to go to their Turkish night - however, as this was our 13th trip to the resort we said no. He asked why, so we told him how many times we had been and had therefore been there, done that. He also took great offence at our refusing to attend their Turkish night and did not speak to us again for the rest of the fortnight!

The guy who worked on the reception desk was again very unfriendly - he could barely raise a smile and as time wore on he would not even look us in the eye or even acknowledge our presence.

This meant that we spent less and less time in the hotel, and spent time on the beach which we don't normally do, just to get away from the unfriendly and even hostile behaviour towards us. Myself and my daughter have visited Turkey 13 times and my parents have visited 22 times, and we have never, ever experienced staff like this. They were rude, arrogant and their behaviour was bordering on nasty.

In our second week, we asked if we could retain one of our rooms as we were not being picked up until 5pm on our final day. They informed us that he could not tell us until the morning of the day we were due to leave whether we could do so - surely he would have known whether one of our rooms would be free at least two or three days prior to our departure - yet again another example of their hostility to our party. We therefore had to make alternative arrangements. When we handed our keys in he did not even look up from his reception desk, nor did he ask if we had enjoyed our stay - he did not even acknowledge our presence.

I would never recommend this hotel to anybody - which is a great shame as the hotel itself is lovely - it has a beautiful pool area (even if you do have to be up before the sparrows to put your towels out to ensure a bed), the rooms are very nice and clean and it is in a fantastic position within Oludeniz - near the beach front, but with no noise from any bars in the area.

We also discovered that many of the guests staying in the hotel had actually booked to stay at the Karbel or Karbel Sun, but due to overbooking they had been sent to the Karbel Beach.

Thankfully this wasn't our first stay in Turkey - if it was it would maybe have been our last. It was only the friendliness of every other person we came across in the resort that ensured that our holiday was enjoyable in every other respect.

The overall rating of 3 is purely for the resort - if I could give the hotel a zero I would have done. Would recommend the resort, but not the hotel.