i stayed in the altinkaya villa for 3 weeks with my two children..we booked a bungalow but upon arrival did not like the hygine and layoutof the bungalows.they were cramped conditions and the bath was small.i called the receptionist(murat)and told him that i was no way going to accept the bungalow.but the quality was very poor.i was offered a villa but since the villas were booked we were offered a hotel room for six days until the villa was available.the hotel was really nice and i accepted it.the only murat said i had to pay the difference which was

We returned here for the sixth time and if anything this hotel gets better each year with regards to food and staff.

At present the terrace restaurant, pool and apartments opposite the main hotel are still closed for refurbishment, although the indoor pool, sauna and gym are still available for use.

All meals are now served outside the main bar area overlooking the main swimming pool.

We travelled independently and flew into Larnaca where the hotel taxi met us. We crossed the border with no problems and arrived at the hotel approximately an hour after landing.

We had booked to stay in one of the apartments and on arrival Murat (receptionist) advised that he needed the apartment for a family who were arriving. He then gave us a free upgrade to the hotel, a bottle of wine and a free Cyprus night (not a bad deal I thought)!!!

All the staff here are fantastic, nothing is too much trouble.

Rooms are cleaned and towels replaced daily with bed linen changed every other day.

At the moment due to the building work Cyprus night and barbecue night have been combined. In my opinion this means a very expensive barbecue, but most people seemed to enjoy.

This hotel was far more than my partner and I expected. Although on a road leading to the beautiful and popular tourist area of Bellapais with its Abbey, the resort was suprisingly quiet. The swimming pool despite it being somewhat chilly, taking me 15 mins to get in waist high, was well designed and looked fabulous in the days sun.

Our plane into Ercan was also later than planned but when we arrived at the resort the bar was throbbing and despite being tired we thought a few beers would go down well. 3 beers later and an incredibly strong G&T for me we went to our room. The staff were so friendly and were happy to chat and tell us about themselves.

We were only on a B&B basis and I cannot grumble about the range of food on offer. Hot and cold items were available, with all the English extras! Tea and toast (with jams)! It set us up for the day ahead.

Sandra greeted us in the morning and helped us make some decisions about where to visit and advised on the local issues which came in very handy. Her customer care was brilliant. We took her up on the free bus into Girne and decided to leave the car for the day at the resort!

Every Saturday they have a Turkish Night, but she advised my partner that there was no belly dancers, so we decided to go into town!

Altinkaya belies its offical two-star, tourist-board rating, and I reckon will richly deserve the extra star it aspires to this year.

It is situated on the road out of Kyrenia that leads to the lovely Bellapais, with little around it apart from a souvenir shop, a petrol station and, very handily, a well-stocked Lemar supermarket.

The Altinkaya complex is split both sides of the road - the main hotel area, a few studios overlooking the pool and six terraced villas on the right going out of town, and further villas about 50 yards up the road, left, in a complex that also included the main restaurant.

I arrived at reception in the early hours of the morning, after the maiden AtlasJet flight from Stansted to Ercan via Istanbul touched down in North Cyprus almost two hours late.

It was not the start to the holiday I had hoped for, but the gloom lightened when the young man at reception offered to open the bar to allow myself and others on the same plane to partake of a much-needed refreshment.
The ice-cool Efes hit the spot, and soon the memory of the tardy arrival was behind me.

On handed my room key 519, and noticing there was no lift, I feared a long climb to my accommodation, but two floors later I was there, and far from disappointed by my two-star abode for the next week.

The twin-bedded room was well appointed, with air conditioning (never needed it on), TV (never needed it on) a "pay" fridge (often needed it opened), satellite TV, telephone, tea/coffee maker, hairdryer, safety deposit box and a good-sized balcony.

So no worries then as I hit the hay belatedly for the first time. Dawn (well, maybe a bit later) revealed that my room was south-facing (morning sun), with a nice view of the sea.

The pool area below me sparkled in the sun, and the hotel gardens appeared well kept, with many flowers in bloom. I was positively blooming, too, by this stage!

Once I had established where breakfast was being served, a two-minute walk took me there. The repast was no more, nor less, than expected, this being my third visit to the north of the island.

Orange/lemon juice, cereal, scrambled egg, hash browns (of a sort), fresh fruit, coffee, tea...you don't need chapter and verse. But it was a decent enough choice to get the day under way.

Although I had been "upgraded" to full board over my stay, I only ate there at night twice, opting instead to sample the burgeoning choice of restaurants in Kyrenia itself. Both meals were perfectly adequate - although Gordon Ramsay no doubt would have had a bone to pick with the chef. No matter, they did for me.

The Altinkaya hotel bar was the hub late at night, given that the "bright lights " of the village were a 20-minute walk away, and it was a pleasure to be served there by the cheery staff.

I know there are lots of moans about hotel drinks tariff, but I did not think that paying four Turkish lira (less than

This was our fourth holiday at the Altinkaya and we have booked with them to return in August 2006. Previously we have booked with travel operators but decided to fly in to Larnaca this year as the flight times and duration were better having a four year old with us. We booked the hotel and arranged for a taxi to collect us from Larnaca direct with the hotel and on arrival at Larnaca the taxi was waiting.

The hotel lived up to our memories. Great staff (although sadly for the hotel Sehmus has left) however the remaining staff are all fantastic.

Having stayed in the main hotel previously we had booked to stay in an appartment as this gave us more room. The appartments are basic but have everything you need in them and are more than comfortable.

The cleaning staff are friendly and efficient, with cleaning being done daily and towels and linen changed every other day.

Cyprus night is a great night, although our bill came in very expensive (maybe I shouldn't have had that 3rd bottle of wine!!!). Can't wait to return again in August.