I have never had a bad holiday to Turkey, I have loved all of them

Kedi

Holidays are what you make them. I've always enjoyed my trips to Turkey as well, especially those to Side (dear old Hotel Arum) and the odd sailing holiday around the coast.

Sorry if this upsets anyone, but the week we spent in Hisaronu, after a wonderful week on a gulet, was the worst week we've ever spent in Turkey. Just too many British pubs and full English breakfasts! Never again.

Thankfully, we've never had a bad Turkish holiday. I guess good planning & research as with all holiday destinations is the key.

We just tried the Bodrum Peninsula this year for the first time as oppose to all our previous trips to the Fethiye region, it was a good choice and we had a wonderful holiday. So much so we're about to book up for twice in 2010

My worse holiday was spent in Marmaris, the hotel was nice but I hated it everytime I left the hotel. You can only say "No thank you, so many times".
At the time I was looking to buy a property but all the hassle when passing the bars initialy put me off from buying in Turkey altogether.
I have friends who love it but more and more are calling it Blackpool and vowing never to visit Turkey again.

love turkey but holiday village was our worst holiday in July this year just too busy and too far from anywhere you learn by your mistakes !!!!
will be back next year hopefully to marmaris

2 weeks AI at Club Bodrum in Turgutreis in 1997. A true holiday from hell.

The buffet was served on a large balcony which was open on 2 sides. The food was supposed to be kept warm by CANDLES under the tureens, but they kept being blown out and relit only when it was pointed out. As a result the food would go cold, then lukewarm. This explained the amount of food poisoning at the hotel.

There was absolutely no entertainment, not even background music. They played CD's for the kids one night for half an hour and that was it, nothing after it and nothing the other 13 nights.

The poolside was so slippery they eventually painted it with blue supposedly non-slip paint. Problem was they didn't close the pool to do it and the pain didn't dry so there were blue footprints everywhere and people's towels were covered in paint.

When that didn't work they tried to remove the paint using Nitormors paint stripper without closing hte pool and with people still in the pool.

The "sand and shingle beach" was rocks and a jetty. After all the complaints they actually had a guy barrowing sand from the next door hotel to ours!

Apparently we were supposed to go to the hotel "next door" for entertainment. However this was a half mile walk along a broken and uneven path which was pitch black as there were no lights and it wasn't suitable for kids' buggies or anyone with difficulty walking. It was hard enough if you were able bodied.

They were welding in the kids' play area when the kids were there.

We videoed everything and contacted Holiday Watchdog who flew out to see for themselves. We appeared on Watchdog 2 days after coming home and it was so serious that the MD of Airtours appeared on the programme.

This happened long before there were sites like HT, but we heard about Ros Fernihough from another couple who were there and she managed to get us refunded.

However no amount of money could make up for wasting 2 weeks of our life and the stress of those 2 weeks.

luci

All of them...espeically staying at the Arum in Side. Be back there again next july for the 3rd time (4th time in Side).

Hi Clo Clo,

All of them...espeically staying at the Arum in Side. Be back there again next july for the 3rd time (4th time in Side).

am I missing something here Why would you be going back time and again to somewhere you didn't enjoy?

Oh dear...that goes to show that I need more sleep

Only got back last night...think I'll get a good nights sleep before posting again...either that was meant for the best holiday topic, or I meant to add never had a bad holiday.

You're forgiven, Clo Clo. I wondered if it was meant to go into the 'best holiday' thread

I too have never had a bad holiday in Turkey. This year I went 5 times and managed to squeeze in trips to Switzerland and Spain, I'm having my gap year or two - 30 years too late! lol.
One thing that could put people off though are the Turkish airports, Dalaman in particular although Bodrum can be poor especially if like me you have a 12 hour delay. Everything is very expensive there and when they turned off the aircon and started to charge for loo paper there was almost a riot!! We always take a picnic to the airport in case of delay, prices for food and drink in Dalaman airport are very high.

shirley h wrote:

:rofl You're forgiven, Clo Clo. I wondered if it was meant to go into the 'best holiday' thread ;)

can't believe I posted in the wrong thread...will re-post in the other thread again.

Just to make it clear...NEVER had a bad holiday in turkey.

For me it was the first and only time i have been toTurkey and that was to Hisaronu. I had heard of the other resorts Marmaris , Gumbet , Bodrum but not Hisaronu, so when i found a forum singing its praises from people that return year after year and for some 2 or 3 times a year i thought we had found a hidden litte gem and couldn't wait to go . Only to find what i would say was a purpose built resort for british people . Nearly everywhere was priced in either £'s or turkish lira. We like a laugh ad joke and usually go with the flow , but when we saw adults and children plus barmen dancing on bars no way was that for us , i actually found it quite embarrassing , but each to their own , as they were having fun . i will return to Turkey one day but not to Hisaronu.

the worst for me was Turgetries, we arrived at Dalaman airport and were told that the whole plan's luggage had gone to Tenerife by mistake, but the air hostesses knew this all through the flight (there was no luggage on the flight at all) we were only there for 1 week and had tp wait 2 days for our luggage, once we had settled in and had our clothes back we had food poisoning for the rest of the week

I hate to knock anywhere as there is always someone who likes it and we all have different needs and tastes. However I can understand anyone who visits Hisaronu for their first Turkish holiday saying they will never return. It is a purpose built town for holiday makers. I drove through it about 10 years ago when it was a small place and thought it was awful. I drove through it again this year and was amazed at how much it had grown and I thought it was even more awful. However it is near some very lovely places so if you do end up there please venture out. Hire a car or hop on a dolmus or even negotiate a price with a taxi driver for the day and explore the mountains and coastline.
I think as with any country it is very important to do your homework. There is something to suit everybody in Turkey but you can easily end up somewhere that doesn't suit your tastes and that must be awful.

totally agree with you , we caught the dolmus to Fethiye, walked to Olu deniz, and yes the country side and mountain vires were wonderful , i wont let my first experience put me off going to Turkey .

walked from Fethiye to Olu Deniz,WOW!thats quite some walk,must have taken most of a day,and all those hills,in the heat,are you superman by any chance

LOL i wish , i meant we caught the bus from Hisaronu into Fethiye, and we walked from Hisaronu to Olu , that was quiet scary because of the traffic so i wouldn't recommend it