Papillon Ayscha

We had an absolutely wonderful stay at this resort, and we would like to say a special thank you to the amazing animation team and all the hotel staff. From the moment we arrived, everyone was incredibly kind, friendly, helpful and welcoming. A special mention goes to the animation team( Merey, Moustapha, olga……..) ! They brought so much energy, fun and positive vibes everyday. They created such a great atmosphere and made sure everyone felt included and had a fantastic time. Thank you for the entire team for making our holiday special.

There aren’t many hotels I wouldn’t return to... but unfortunately, this is one of them.

We kept hearing about the hotel’s “concept”. We’re still not entirely sure what the concept actually is. Having stayed in several 5-star hotels along the Turkish coast, this definitely didn’t feel like a 5-star experience to us.

We booked last minute and had a standard room. It was pleasant, clean and perfectly adequate, but nothing spectacular. We also had the gentle background soundtrack of air-conditioning units and the kitchens below.

The bed and pillows were really comfy, although strangely there was no top sheet, just a waffle-style blanket which felt a bit like sleeping under an exfoliating towel.

Arrival didn’t exactly scream 5-star either. We weren’t shown to our room and our luggage didn’t make it there, so after waiting around 20 minutes my husband went back to retrieve it himself. Not the greatest first impression.

There is LOTS of food. You certainly won’t starve, although after a few days it did start to feel a little repetitive.

There are other restaurants available, but we weren’t prepared to pay an extra €10 each when we’d already paid for an all-inclusive 5-star hotel.

The restaurant staff deserve credit. They work incredibly hard and were attentive throughout our stay.

Then there’s the sunbed situation. Imagine Tetris, but with sunbeds. They are crammed around the pool and across the grass, which gets muddy, and the usual dawn sunbed claiming championships are alive and well. Finding a bed around the pool could be a challenge.

The over 18 areas sounded like a great idea, although the “over 18” part appeared to be more of a suggestion than a rule at times.

We ended up booking a pavilion for two days simply to escape the crowds, which was lovely, but again involved spending extra money to get the relaxing experience we’d hoped for in the first place.

The spa sales approach also became a bit of a running joke. We were approached about massages for three days. By day three, the price had magically dropped by around 50%. It did leave us wondering why there couldn’t just be a clear, transparent price from the start rather than playing Deal or No Deal: Turkish Spa Edition.

We also wanted to visit Land of Legends and were told Uber didn’t come to the hotel. However, conveniently, they could radio a car for us at €25 ONE WAY. We politely decided that Land of Legends could remain a legend.

Despite all this, we did have a pleasant holiday. The weather was beautiful, we enjoyed being away together and there were certainly some positives.

But would we return? No.

There are simply too many genuinely fantastic 5-star hotels along this coast to come back to one that left us wondering where the fifth star had gone.

Clean rooms, good service, nice food and entertainments. Location is good