Port River Hotel and Spa

We came here as a family of 7. We booked 3 rooms. First time in Turkey. Leaving tonight after a reasonable 7 night stay.

Arrival at reception on our first day was interesting.

Guy who carried bags was brilliant, receptionist appeared a tad disinterested.

The rooms are ok but not well maintained. We couldnt get into our room to begin with as the key card didnt work. After a long feeling 20 mins it was solved, once inside, the reading lights didn't work and some exposed 12v wiring was visible. Shower head was loose, toilet seat also loose. Aircon good though. Bed was ok, Pillows are horrible lumpy foam things. Only one sheet to begin with so you would be expected to sleep under a single blanket ! housekeeping team helped out.

Is there a reason why you gave me an electric card for our room but reception refused one for my son and also my daughter's room?

Yes we got them one each eventually, but why the palaver and then this requiring me to visit reception to ask for them?

Fridge was filled daily with beer, water, and soft drinks, which might have kept them colder had the fridge not been in a boxy little cupboard where it built up heat, but as I say it was replenished.

Now, back in Blighty a no star Travelodge will have a kettle in the room, I know this may just be me being english but it would have been lovely to sit on one of the cheap discoloured plastic chairs on the balcony of the room, boil the kettle and have a quiet relax and drink tea (or coffee for that matter) and watch the world go by, but no, when I enquired if a kettle was possible I was greeted by incredulous looks and mild sniggering at reception.

There is a reception theme here, I promise a crescendo

More seriously.

Having to revisit reception for a second time to ask that the non working lock on the room occupied by my daughter and grandchildren could be fixed was not good, this was about their security and safety. To leave a room occupied by a single woman and 2 kids under 12 unlockable overnight is not acceptable.

The housekeeping team are great by the way. Ask and they really do try to help as much as they can. I cannot say enough to praise them.

Drinks were good and plentiful from all the bars but on the one day I decide I want a bloody mary, no tomato juice! No ones fault just annoying.

Now the food. I like a disorganised scrum as much as the next man, family not so keen. Fighting past, or being elbowed out of the way by the many Russian guests eager to build scale models of Everest with beef burgers, potatoes, vegetables, and other assorted foodstuff, in what at times felt literally like a running buffet is not really my bag.

When a woman in a rush to finish off her spectacular almost life size K2 model based around pasta and meat tried to physically remove a serving spoon from my wife's hand it probably went a little far. Perhaps it was cultural?

Does turkey not use mayo? Is all ketchup only available in sachets? Are other sauces available? Could sauces and rudimentary condiments not be placed on the tables? Mysteries I will never solve.

Quick tip; do your toast in the morning in the one available toaster (put it round twice or you have hot white bread) but DO NOT walk away or it will, as mine did disappear, presumably to help perfect that intricate Hindu Kush foothills diorama that was being made with scrambled egg snow topping.

Having your hand trapped in a freezer door whilst going for a cornetto, because someone else has to have 10 ice creams that instant is an experience not to be missed, nor apparently apologised for.

Perhaps it was cultural, I cant say,but a little decorum and basic politeness from other guests does go a long way.

The pool was great, kids loved it, slides and everything brilliant. But the early towel issue does raise its ugly head. No point in unenforced rules.

Now reception, most of the folks there were helpful, others, well not so much. The blonde lady i dealt with at check in and another couple of occasions as mentioned above seemed to give off the impression that my questions, such as why our room card stopped working for no reason on weds, were a basic irrelevance to her, it appeared that she felt the only reason I asked anything was to interrupt her telephone calls on her (?) mobile phone, and this got me and others in our party very short shrift indeed. To the point that any of our party avoided reception when she was there. All we wanted was either basic information or help. Neither were very forthcoming.

All in all, does the Port Rivet get 5 stars?

No not really, some 5 star staff (housekeeping, bars)but some 1 star staff. The room,3 stars, the pool, 4 on a good day if towel gate was avoided , the beach 5 stars. Yes we had a nice holiday but not a great holiday. Would we come back? Honestly no, we felt a little ignored, a lot outnumbered (probably cultural) but mostly underwhelmed. Back to Greece next year methinks

Average accommodation. Good pool. Pool bar and snack bar adequate. Dining hall like the absolute pits of hell. Other guests behaved like they were never going to eat again and had left any semblance of basic manners at home. I have never stayed anywhere and experienced another guest trying to take a serving spoon from my hand whilst I was still putting food on my plate. My biggest issue with this hotel however were the incredibly rude reception staff. The worst offender being the blonde young lady who visibly eye rolled my husband when he enquired about transport to a local attraction and ignored my daughter’s request for someone to look at her room door when it wouldn’t lock. This is not acceptable in any instance but especially not when staying in a room with 2 young children. It took my husband asking a second time the following day to have the problem rectified. This particular young lady treated everyone in our party with absolute disdain and contempt. We weren’t informed at check in that the towel cards needed to be handed back in at checkout. We returned all of our towels to the spa on our last evening and erroneously didn’t pick up new cards. Our check out was at 1am and the gentleman on reception was incensed that we didn’t have the towel cards. We tried to explain that we had returned our towels but this was met with yet more disdain and we were told that we would have to pay a penalty for this. My husband refused as we had returned the towels. We were made to feel like international towel smugglers and at 1 am with young children in our party not really the ending to our holiday that we wanted. We found the constant badgering from the tattoo man whilst at the pool is off putting and very annoying. I appreciate that it’s his livelihood but 1 No Thanks should suffice. My daughters took advantage of the free massage in the spa and were disappointed that that the two therapists were giggling and talking in Turkish throughout their treatment. Turkey is a beautiful country but unfortunately our experience at this hotel means that we won’t be returning.

This is a really good hotel. The food is nice with a decent selection to choose from. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The Dj is very good, who plays a selection of English and Turkish music. Would definitely come back to this hotel again