My partner and I have just returned from the Venosa Beach Resort & Spa. I have to say it was our first trip to Turkey and we had a really great time. The hotel is lovely, food was very good and the rooms are just amazing ,all had a sea view which was brilliant. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Lovely people! We will be going back to Turkey next year. Cannot fault this wonderful place. Sue & Paul from London

We stayed here from 6-20 September and had a fantastic holiday. The hotel is not 5-star accommodation but, to be fair, First Choice offer it at 4*+ which I would agree with. The hotel is spotless; everywhere you look somebody’s cleaning something. Although it’s a little way out of Altinkum, the dolmus terminates at the bottom of the drive and we never had to wait longer than 3-4 minutes for one and it’s only a 10 minute drive away.

The food in the restaurant was varied – I have never seen such a vast choice and this was changed for every meal and every day and there’s even a “diet option”. It was well-cooked, always hot and they never ran out of anything. It never became samey or repetitive, unusual in this type of hotel over two weeks. You would have to be very picky indeed not to find something to eat here. The snack bar offered a smaller selection including burgers and chips if that’s what you want, alongside other dishes. Pancakes were available from the tent between midday and 6.00pm and offered both sweet and savoury.

The rooms were large and spacious and the beds very comfortable. All rooms have a spectacular sea view, a free safe using a code you choose yourself and a mini-fridge which is topped up daily with bottles of water. The towels and sheets were changed daily although the shampoo etc weren’t always replenished.

We found the bar service to be very good and never suffered from “nationality discrimination” – but then again, a smile, please and thank you can go a long way. All the bar staff were very friendly and helpful as were the animation team.

The pool is lovely. It’s large and kept extremely clean. The slides are open twice a day and are in a smaller pool away from the main pool so do not dominate the landscape. The terrace and sunbeds are kept very clean and we never had a problem getting a sunbed - in fact there were always several free to choose from. Pool towels are available and can be changed daily from the towel hut.

Our only issues with the hotel were: a) the “couldn’t care less” attitude at Reception, b) on three occasions the room not being cleaned until 6.00 pm and only then after a phone call to Reception and c) the lack of late check-out availability. If you want late check-out you have to ask on the morning of the day of departure to see if it’s available. If it is available (unlikely), it’s only until 4.00 pm and costs 40 euros. This means hanging around for a very long time after check-out at midday (till 9.30pm for us). Bearing in mind, the majority of flights to and from Bodrum are at night, I feel this should be addressed.

These irritations, although minor, have stopped me giving 5 out of 5 but despite them, we had a brilliant time at the Venosa Beach and if we returned to this part of Turkey, we would definitely stay there again. I would have no hesitation in recommending the hotel.