hi there - just back from the mirage last night - had a great time - will do a review later - The new mirage world was great -As said before i believe the staff have changed so cannot compare with how it was last year - but this is a well run A/I and even better for us as we booked and paid b+B before the change and when we got there they gave us all inclusive for no extra money - so if anyone has booked B+B or half board you WILL get A/I when you get there - they cannot operate any other way - I will a a look aroud on the internet later but they are still called mirage but all the signs etc outside were for Varlik (i think it was) holiday resort -will see what i cn find - The staff were all lovely , the food good - plenty of salad/cold dishes - enormous sweet selection, lovely fresh bread - the main dishes a little limited -usually a couple of meat choices + veggies - only had chips a couple of times so if your steak and chips people you may be disappointed - my hubby is very fussy and he enjoyed it - even the children didnt bother about the lack of chips as these could always be found at the snack bar in the afternoon , which again was well run - chips, burgers and turkish pizza ready prepared in hot metal dishes with lids - just go and help yourself (no waiting around) - then add your own salad and stuff . - the evening entertainment i think they still need to work on they were having shows i.e michael jackson, break dancers in the downstairs bar which was open to the main st - but people were complaining because you had to pay for drinks there , although there was nothing stopping you getting a a/I drink from the bar upstairs and taking it down -so they have moved it upstairs round the pool but it lacks atmosphere the germans sit there straight faced all night and dont really do "audience participation" They are really tring to keep people happy and any complaints are dealt with immediately . - for a couple of nights a queue started to form at the buffet - next night buffet was rearranged and all sorted. . there are two pools - one with waterslide, more fun and music playing the other quieter. there is an entertainment team around at all times they really get in and mingle with everyone at all times - they are great with children and adults - if you have any questions feel free to ask - I believe this hotel is very differnt now and the english are outnumbered by mddle age german and dutch butt you will have agreat time - As we had plenty of extra spending money we had dinner at the hotel then went out to one of the bars in the evening

lyn

Last minute deals are still being offered by Direct to the Mirage on a b&b basis £275 per person in June, 14 days,good buy if they put you in AI

gENE

thats a very good deal - we paid £390 per adult with a free child place - the first night we got there they said they had a problem and our room was not ready - said it would be ready next morning and put us in the alinda htel up the road but said as we had paid B+B we would get A/I Plus free safety deposit box because of the inconvenience - this appeared to be happening to a few people and the first choice rep said she had a lot of problems with the mirage overbooking - we really thought we were gonna be dumped in this other hotel but true to their word the reception manager came and got us at breakfast time in the morning and gave us two lovely rooms now i wondered if they were doing this to back up the reason for giving you A/I in case they had uproar from other guests but they had no till facilties to do any differnt - you didnt even need to wear wrist bands although there was security at the entrance - even the first choice rep who was turkish said we would have had A/i anyway . There was a direct holidays board up in reception but didnt speak to any guests with Direct - I think they now seem to be going for the Dutch/German clientel. They certainly dont appear to drink as much although my hubby says they tend to drink more shorts rather than beer - there was never a queue at the bar As long as you were sure you would be going to the mirage thats a good deal - . although at £275 its a good enough deal to take a chance anyway

lyn

Ouch!! We returned from the Mirage last week having PAID the hotel for upgrading to AI (£5 pppn) on what they called a special deal. OK, so it appeared great value (and we dont begrudge paying as it covered some mid day and evening snacks/meals/drinks). But the AI set up is a farce. Talking to the few other Brits in the Hotel we found prices varying from £3 to £7 pppn for the upgrade and some who stayed on B&B who offered to pay for drinks & snacks being told "no charge" by the staff.

The First Choice rep never mentioned a free upgrade to us, so a complaint to FC will be in the post. And the safety deposit box cost another £30...

Lyn certainly deserved her free upgrade for the trouble/distress. The Mirage does have problems with double booking. We heard of quite a few Brits who had to spend a night or two elsewhere. I wonder if it also happened to our German/Dutch neighbours?

Agree with Lyn it is quite a good AI hotel although the underfunded Animation team (thanks Erhan) need more support from the Hotel. One major gripe about the food was the lack of choice for (British) kids at main meals. The kids buffet usually had chips/pasta/rice and some nasty looking germanic sausage (that seemed to appear for breakfast too). The occasional burger would have helped. The adult version was limited on the main course but the starters & desserts were very good. We mixed up eating in/out whilst checking to see what the evening offering from the Mirage would bring.

I will post a review about the hotel but am more than a bit miffed about the AI upgrade.

well im really miffed about that upgrade too Tony- maybe we did get the upgrade free because of the night spent elsewhere - It was never given to us by first choice - the reception made sure the first choice rep and coach had departed and we had filled in the usual forms before they told us of "their problem"infact first choice never knew about it until the next day when the first choice rep phoned our room for me to come and help her file her report once we were settled in our rooms at the mirage . she had been told at that point about the over-booking and that they had given us A/I and free safety deposit box (which iincidently was an extra after thought by the hotel while fara was filling in her report in reception)!!! - but the first choice rep agreed with me when i said they wouldnt of been able to give us B+B anyway as the hotel was not geared up for it. so that begs the question if you had turned down their "special deal" what could they have done with no wrisband or anything how would anybody know what you had paid for . . the first choice rep Fara (turkish lady) did say the mirage were causing her a lot of problems with the double booking - sounds like the mirage is trying to recoupe any money they can!! whereever they can!!. We were dealt with by the reception manager - who was it that offered you your upgrade?

ps - i did question fara as to whether is was just first choice guests being messed around or the germans as well and she said Yes it was "all guests " not just first choice - Yeh I bet the germans would put up with that!! i think not!!

I have also done a review this afternoon tony although it appears to have slipped down the list a little .

We were all prepared for this upgrade to be offered to us on arrival and would probably happily jumped at paying what I have worked out to be £350 for the 5 of us - and probably even paid it there and then at check in. Looks like we had a result but I dont think they should have differnt rules for everyone and hadnt realised people were paying for upgrades - but we really didnt speak to many people while there as you just assumed everyone was either German or dutch

lyn

Hi there,
I did hear that the apartments were being pulled down, did you see what,if anything put in their place? Are the rooms away from the eating and drinking area.
I note that Germans are out numbering the Brits. how does that affect the sunbeds?
We are off there in September, hopefully by then all the problems should be sorted. We normally go to Icmeler in June but have opted this year for a later one.

BH

Hi
Just a quick question for those who have returned from the Mirage. Does anyone know the whereabouts of Foxy? I believe he left the Mirage at the end of last season. Is he still in Icmeler or has he moved on to another resort

Thanks
Lewis

hi Lewis - dont know who Foxy was - but a bar guy further down from the mirage thought he knew my hubby from last year and eagerly told him "Foxy has gone to Yorkshire". -

Bh - Yes i believe there are new rooms - not sure how the setup used to be - but there is 1 block next to the downstairs pool - and another block where we were staying that looked new that faced the resturant with the upstairs pool above - no problems with sunbeds - i used to go out before breakfast about 8.30 and put my towels down and there were always plenty of beds - people coming along later in the day always seemed to find somewhere
there really where no problems there -just the over-booking problem where people were being put for a night or 2 elsewhere -This was obviously quite stressful, i never slept a wink wondering whether we were gonna get a room next morning but the hotel kept their promise and the reception manager came and got us himself the next morning . this appeared to have settled down on our 2nd week - everything else is really well run- you will have a great time

lyn

Lewis

We bumped into Foxy's brother Antonio(Serkan) in Icmeler on the 26th May. He was on holiday from England with his wife. He told us that Foxy is now a rep for First Choice based in Marmaris. He also had met up with him the night before so I don't know where the Yorkshire story has come from.

Barbara

Thanks Lyn for the info. You certainly desrved an upgrade for having your holiday disrupted. We met another party who were double booked and got room upgrades and heard about others who also had to spend a night or two at other hotels.

The reception management team do not seem to get involved in the day to day management so I agree it would be very difficult to distinguisj AI from B&B guests. Incidentally HB guests seemed to get a free upgrade to AI as a matter of course.

The AI situation at the Mirage needs to be resolved fairly for all as it is a nice place to stay.

There certainly seemed more German, Dutch and others (and most of them are booked AI) there than Brits. We watched a german rep tearing a strip of the hotel management about the entertainment. Now all entertainment will be up at the pool bar area where the drinks are free.

The best price we heard for an upgrade was £3 pppn. My five year old was free.

Hi all

Hubby and I always stayed at the Mirage, this year we are giving it a miss as they have gone A/I looks like we made the right choice.

The first block right by reception, used to be self catering apartments and the other blocks overlooking what i called the upper pool was the Hotel with the Dining room underneath the pool, and a very small selection of shops running along side that. We always found that the Hotel guests were made up mostly from Germans and dutch and the apartments the English.

In all we found it a very nice hotel, but not so sure it will work as an A/I shame, it was a very popular place to stay. This year we are trying the Navy Hotel, hope we've made the right choice.

TurkishDelight.

hi turkish - yes i agree -i think if you were used to the mirage as it was before - especially the staff - who i would suspect are all now different i think you would find yourself comparing things to as they were and obviously if you dont like all A/I it wouldnt be for you . But for us who enjoy A/is and usually holiday in this way we found it great and for their first season at it are almost "spot on" and any little problems were speadily dealt with as they feel their way. There were a couple of little touches they we didnt expect like fridges in your room that were restocked everyday with 2 bottles of water - not a big thing but appreicated . another example being the buffet at dinner - this was originally along the back wall but as things got busier for a couple of nights a queue started to form - they took one look at it and next day the buffet was moved out from the wall and re-arranged in the center so that it could be got at from both sides ..

I agree the A/I upgrade situation needs to be sorted but in typical turkish style there appears to be no set rule I think that will only be a problem for this season where people had booked last summer for B+B early on - from about christmas i think you could only get bookings for A/I. I also got the feeling that the Mirage may have been bought out by a German/Dutch company - hence the Name "Varlick holiday resort" - i have had a look round on the internet and there is quite a lot coming up in the search for that name but all is in GErman/Dutch
Or has it always gone under the "Varlick holiday resort" as well?

lyn

Hi lyn

Great to hear you and your family enjoyed your holiday in Icmeler .
I Did like the Mirage having used it the last 6 years, but as hubby and I like to eat out in the local restaurants A/I would be a waste for us.

TurkishDelight.

Yes i know the feeling Turkish - we too like to eat out- thats half our holiday eating in different restaurants!

Would anybody be able to give me any infomation on the board basis at the Mirage Hotel (Icmeler)- I booked on bed and breakfast basis for this August, but have heard on a holiday review site that the hotel is now All Inclusive only and that All Inclusive is being provided free to guests that have booked for B&B.

Would anybody be able to confirm this!

Yes this hotel is great and is now A/I - it cannot operate any other way as there are no till facilities . the staff are lovely and will not try to charge you - i heard one confused gentleman who tried to pay and was told "no its all free" which is good news for you . We travelled with first choice and got a "free" upgrade which i assumed everyone who had booked band b had got but on our return another family were saying that they had paid to upgrade at a "special deal" http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=37009&highlight=mirage+hotel

It appears we may have got ours because we were put in another hotel for our first night as our room was not ready. but reading between the lines if they give you the offer of a special deal when you arrive at reception dont take it there and then if you do want it or say your think about it and see what happens becuase once you are settled the reception staff really dont have much to do with the general running of things and nobody will question you as NO wristbands are worn and none of the staff take any notice.

the reception WILL know you have booked B+B but there doesnt appear to be a hard and fast rule which is really not fair as to what your offered. at the worst the special deal stills sounds excellent

lyn

Just wondering if anyone is visiting here this year?

stayed there last year and had a brill time but I didnt think any of the UK tour operaters were doing it this year. The hotel was taken over last year I think by a German or dutch company. did you book direct Hayley.

lyn

no i have not stayed there on a holiday, my husband works there as the DJ, you may know him from last year but wasnt there for the whole season. hes worked there for 6 years though. i have only been there twice this year as he only went at the beginning of may. i did no it had been taken over but didnt know it wasnt going through british tour operaters anymore. i'll find out though.