Tuntas Beach Hotel Altinkum
76. Sokak No 2, Altinkum, Didim 09270 Türkiye
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3.5
#26 of 28 hotels in AltinkumLocation
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The Tuntas Beach Hotel Altinkum Didim welcomes back guests each year with a sandy beach on its doorstep. Tuntas Hotel Altinkum Didim is a well-maintained hotel in lively surrounding. This comfortable and popular hotel is an ideal choice for families and couples wanting a good standard base from the area further. Location : On the beach, Local Shops 50m away, 800m from the town centre.
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Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Free breakfast
Beach
Evening entertainment
Airport transportation
Banquet room
Wifi
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Restaurant
Breakfast buffet
Poolside bar
Concierge
Sun loungers / beach chairs
Sun umbrellas
24-hour front desk
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Room features
Air conditioning
Private balcony
Safe
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Family rooms
Smoking rooms available
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
Great View
Family
Languages Spoken
English, Turkish
Location
76. Sokak No 2, Altinkum, Didim 09270 Türkiye
Name/address in local language
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Grade: 73 out of 100
73
19 Restaurants
within 0.5 kilometers
1,424Review58Q+A100Room tips
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Detailed Reviews
CheslynHayKooch wrote a review Jun 2014
Wolverhampton, United Kingdom244 contributions130 helpful votesI have read other people's comments before starting my review on the Tuntas asking myself am I being harsh with my proposed comments as others are entitled to their views.Yes people do go back to the Tuntas hotel time and time again and that could be the problem. You simply have to visit other hotels to make an honest comparison before giving out five star ratings. Now for an honest assessment on the hotel. On arrival quite late at night greeted and helped most efficiently by Charlie and our cases taken to our room for us. Nice first impression to be honest.Then unfortunately things started to unravel.Bathroom and shower are so small that great difficulty would be had in swinging a cat by it's tail.Photo supplied.Beds are very very comfortable so no complaints at all on that score. The following morning both myself and wife went down to breakfast with an open mind on what to expect. Now you will not get an english breakfast or anything that closely resembles an english breakfast. But what you will get is a varied diet of cereals, fruits, breads,a good scrambled egg and some kind of small sausage. So that's breakfast sorted and not really a problem as one's mind is made up from the first offering so consequently it's eating in the hotel or eat out. Unfortunately the bars around give these breakfast offers that turn out not to be such fantastic bargains as advertised.Several bars are within minutes of the hotel all offering breakfast and it's honestly an hobson's choice on the best one to eat out at. The Pelican bar is fantastic for the evening out but rubbish for breakfast.Our breakfast was cold and over priced. The queens bar was really very good in our opinion. Now lets get back to an honest review of the Tuntas hotel. Chicken is served in one way or another at Lunch and evening meal.If this hotel can think of a way of introducing chicken to it's menu then it will do. I can just imagine other reviewers reading these comments and screaming out. Well why not eat the salad? Because I do not like to eat salad every day.The dining room is swamped with young gentlemen waiting to take away your empty plates. All well and good but not when five waiting staff are stood around your table at any one time.Then you have to run the gauntlet of the head chef and his under chefs all stood around along with the waiting staff.Making for an uncomfortable dining experience. Those who have praised the manager of this hotel needed to speak to other guests before making rash statements about him being a nice man. Because this is the same person who stopped Bingo,Karaoke,and commented that this was an hotel in Turkey an hotel for the Turkish people and not for the English people. A music quiz that was predominantely Turkish music giving british people no chance. Music so loud you could not have a conversation with people on the same table as yourself. Short video's included to try and give some emphasis on the loudness of the music.None stop from 10.00am till 11.45pm. Believe me readers you can enjoy your holiday if you go with an open mind about this hotel and what Didim and it surrounding areas have to offer because it is an absolutely beautiful area.My wife and I had a wonderful week of sunshine and good conversation with lovely people Paul,Lynn from Walsall and Wendy and Eric from Barton and Humber along with other lovely people. I could go on and on for hours about the failings of this hotel.But then this is my experience and not one of others who may have enjoyed themselves. The only thing I say to myself when reading some of the other reviews on this hotel is how many holidays have you been on? How many hotels have you been in to compare this one against another. I like to give an honest review about each holiday I have because people pay good hard earned money to go to these hotels and as such they should get an honest review and not one that glosses over the cracks because the hotel manager smiled at them and gave them the odd little drink that came with your all inclusive holiday. But decided to treat tthe rest of the holiday guests with a complete and utter lack of respect. Get real people this hotel is not a 5,4,or even a 3 star hotel.At best it is not worth more than a 2 star. If it had not been for the nice people the nice weather and the lovely views across the bay i could genuinely have given this hotel a 1 star out of badness. Just a few things to say about when out and about in Didim. Dolmos buses can be stopped simply by putting your hand out and then paying two lira for a journey around Didim. Most street traders will wish you a very good morning or an hello in the hope that you will buy from them. Try not to be rude as a simple no thanks will suffice and you can be on your way.And to the staff at the Tuntas. Try to be a little more polite to the english people as we contribute along wit other nationalities to your employment.And to the General Director or manager we the English people do have manners and will respect you and yours if you would only show us the respect back. This is not a one way street. One last thing before I forget.We did not appreciate drilling and banging from the kitchens at 1.30 am.
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Date of stay: June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed at the Tuntas Hotel in May of this year. I have been to Turkey many times (over 20) to be honest. I normally go half board, it was my 1st time all inclusive(brilliant). The food was lovely, couldn't complain at all, a very varied menu(not chicken every night as previous reviews say). The food varied daily and you could always be sure you'd find something you liked! The meal times were great, they even included a late breakfast for anyone who didn't want to get up early. Soup was available every night at 11.00 o'clock for those that wanted it. The staff and management were brilliant, Nida the manager spoke to al the guests daily asking if everything was ok! Normally you don't even see the manager of the hotel, and they certainly don't take the time to mix with all the guests. Nida was a gentleman, wanting to keep everyone happy, i would say he succeeded in this without a doubt! The same must be said for all the staff, they were so friendly and welcoming! It was just like 1 big happy family between guests, staff and management. I would recommend the Tuntas Hotel to anyone, and tell them not to believe what the bad reviews say. In my opinion Nida will change this to 1 of the best hotels to stay in. When i chose the holiday, my friend said to me, What have you booked us into? But!!! She would agree its the best holiday we've had together, and she had her Autistic son with her. Nothings too much for staff or management! I must also include the entertainment team. They are hilarious to say the least, and work so hard every day, trying to keep all age groups happy. Well done Ali, Eddie, Ferdi and Ozna, miss you all loads!The hotel is very clean and the rooms are massive and cleaned daily. I couldn't find anything to complain about. It was the best holiday I've ever had in Turkey, and i would recommend this Hotel to anyone thinking of travelling to Turkey. I will definately go back, I'm trying for this year again, but failing that i will definately be back next year!!! It's great with only steps between you and the beach, and all other amenities within 5 mins walk. Don't be put off with the bad reviews! You'll be missing out on the best holiday ever!!!! Thanks to everyone at the Tuntas Hotel for making it such a great holiday for me! Sharon x
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Date of stay: May 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
staff extremely friendly could not do enough for you plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas which is good as it got very hot. in june the temperature reached 53 degrees which apparently was very unusual food choice could of been better if you like salads all the time thats fine the hot meals that were available were very well cooked but did repeat them selves but i suppose its very difficult to cook in a multi national hotel and cater for everyone
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Date of stay: June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
amazing hotel wonderful staff good food not a single bad thing to say about this hotel only got back this morning and i am online booking for may next year as soon as the hotel reopens counting the days alreadythankyou to everyone for making it such a special holiday cheeky charlie is wonderful as are all the staff cant do enough for you and a brill manager who really looks after his guests
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Date of stay: September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thankyou once again to Nida, Aysen, Charlie and everyone at the Tuntas for another memorable holiday!!! Everyone staying at the tuntas will feel very relaxed and at home!! We met up with people who had been out in May at the same, and have returned again as they enjoyed it so much, as did we. The hotel is very clean, the food is excellent, you'll always find something u like to eat!!! The Tuntas has a real family atmoshere, everyone i've spoken to intends to return again next year, so do i! Nida and his staff are so friendly and ask daily if you have any problems, which will be sorted straight away. It is suitable for everyone, families, single people etc! I have nothing only praise for the hotel and would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about going there! You can also check the Tuntas hotel page, where u will find messages and comments from people that have been there! We all stay in touch through this page and keep up with what's going on! This may also help in your decision to choose this hotel! Everyone works so hard, from bar staff, reception, cleaners, entertainment, waiters, dining room! Don't think about it, just book it!!!! You won't regret it, i'm sure! Only home yesterday, wish i was back already! Hope this helps you make up your mind whether to go or not! Definately recommended!!!
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Date of stay: September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BecksideBrowns wrote a review Aug 2012
Hibaldstow, Brigg, North Lincolnshire11 contributions18 helpful votesI should start this review by stating that we were originally booked at another hotel and due to its poor reviews, I changed to this hotel-totally due to the fantastic reviews this year. Initially I was a little disappointed as the facilities at this hotel are definitely not what we would usually expect from an All Inclusive. I feel this hotel has earned its Number 2 ranking purely due to the PR campaign by the manager, Nida. He certainly is visible always and is very keen to help and take on board any ideas to improve the hotel-this is to be commended-he even held meetings with guests during our stay to receive ideas for improvement, which in fairness to him, were implemented straight away.
The negatives at the hotel are:
1. The Pool-2m deep all around and very small. No sunloungers due to the limited space. This would be difficult for the manager to improve but is certainly worth mentioning as not everyone likes the beach and the depth of the pool does not make it particularly suitable for children or non swimmers.
2. The food choice-although the food was always well presented, there is not a deal of choice, particularly for a vegetarian like myself. There was always salad, fruit and Turkish desserts. At dinner there is also soup. But as for the hot choices, these are limited to 2 meat options and a couple of accompaniments such as rice/pasta. Only once was there fish available during our fortnight. A children's buffet was introduced (after the guest meeting) which was just chicken nuggets and chips. Initially adults were not permitted to use this but after complaints this was allowed. Breakfast is the same every day-the usual salad, bread (with a toaster available), scrambled egg, boiled eggs, beans, sausages(but obviusly not pork) and jams/yogurts etc. Again, part way through the holiday, a chef also started to cook pancakes to order-again after the guest suggestions.
3. Drinks-As with other All Inclusives, local drinks plus limited soft drinks are available but compared to others we have stayed at, the choice was much more limited-only local Gin,Vodka,Efes beer,Raki. Cola,Sprite and Fanta orange. Also always available are 2 varieties of juice and water. We missed the usual local varieties of other drinks such as Baileys, Malibu etc-although the actual branded drinks could be purchased. Also missed cocktails including childrens cocktails. The All Inc does run until 11.30pm though which is better than some hotels.
4. Cleanliness of beach-Again, this seemed to improve later in the holiday, particularly when important visitors were due! The beach is literally on the doorstep and there are loungers/parasols available free of charge. An attendant patrols the beach clearing up the paper cups etc and ensuring that only hotel guests use the beds but the beach would certainly be improved with a regular rake/tidy up as it is quite untidy.
5. The terrace(5th floor) is where snacks/afternoon tea are served. This is a lovely space but totally wasted-this could be used as an a la carte restaurant as the space is large with an outdoor barbecue. It could also be used as a games room-with table tennis(tables already in the hotel but not used) a pool table etc.
6. Our room-we paid extra for sea view and the room was very spacious. In fact the bed was TOO big-it took up too much of the room. The balcony was TINY. Only wide enough for the chairs on it-you definitely could not sit out. This was room 228-overlooking pool and sea. The lower floor balconies looked ok but floors 2 upwards on this side of hotel have the ridiculous balconies. My children were overlooking the hotel entrance-room 201 and their room was better-large with a double and single and also a good sized balcony.
The positives of the hotel are the location-it is ideally situated at the edge of town and it is a pleasant walk along the front in an evening-just get used to being pestered. Do try the Queens Head across the road-they are fantastic people who really look after you-they made my daughter's 16th birthday TRULY special. Do also visit the British Pub on the main road-next to Linekers-again, a nice place to sit for a change from the hotel occasionally-thanks to Ilhan. The Funky Forest across the road also good for alternative meal/full English. Also to watch sports/quiz nights.
The staff at the hotel could not be faulted. As previously mentioned, Nida is doing a great job. the bar staff are fantastic. Charlie the bellboy is always cheerful and happy to help with anything. The animation team-Sarah,Ricky and Romeo-they did a brilliant job with limited space/resources. As previously mentioned, due to the pool, the usual pool games such as water polo etc are not an option but they do manage to use the pool for some activities. There is also darts regularly. They are also there in an evening for kids disco and a show or karaoke/quiz/bingo.
We went on a boat trip-The Albatros, which we would recommend. Charlie who walked the beach for customers was brilliant-we became friendly with him and had a fantastic day on the boat. £10 each for a full day stopping at several bays for swimming/watersports. Lunch of chicken/pasta and salad included with melon later on. All the boats seem to offer the same but the Albatros was not too crowded and comfy cushions are on deck in either sun or shade for relaxing-really good value.
Other trips we organised through Gordion Travel, who were great although my daughter had an accident on a Quad bike safari and needed stitches in her knee. Despite this incident, we did still visit the Waterpark at Kusadasi and also Ephesus-though beware, this excusrsion includes various stops at a bazaar, leather shop and ceramic shop. Ephesus itself with lunch could have been done in a morning rather than visiting all the other shops etc. They were truly saddened and sorry about the accident and were very keen to ensure my daughter received the best treatment and checked on her several times during our stay.
Overall-due to the staff, people we met-both holiday makers and local people in the resort, we had a fantastic holiday, despite the accident, and all 4 of us enjoyed it enough that we would definitely returm.
The negatives at the hotel are:
1. The Pool-2m deep all around and very small. No sunloungers due to the limited space. This would be difficult for the manager to improve but is certainly worth mentioning as not everyone likes the beach and the depth of the pool does not make it particularly suitable for children or non swimmers.
2. The food choice-although the food was always well presented, there is not a deal of choice, particularly for a vegetarian like myself. There was always salad, fruit and Turkish desserts. At dinner there is also soup. But as for the hot choices, these are limited to 2 meat options and a couple of accompaniments such as rice/pasta. Only once was there fish available during our fortnight. A children's buffet was introduced (after the guest meeting) which was just chicken nuggets and chips. Initially adults were not permitted to use this but after complaints this was allowed. Breakfast is the same every day-the usual salad, bread (with a toaster available), scrambled egg, boiled eggs, beans, sausages(but obviusly not pork) and jams/yogurts etc. Again, part way through the holiday, a chef also started to cook pancakes to order-again after the guest suggestions.
3. Drinks-As with other All Inclusives, local drinks plus limited soft drinks are available but compared to others we have stayed at, the choice was much more limited-only local Gin,Vodka,Efes beer,Raki. Cola,Sprite and Fanta orange. Also always available are 2 varieties of juice and water. We missed the usual local varieties of other drinks such as Baileys, Malibu etc-although the actual branded drinks could be purchased. Also missed cocktails including childrens cocktails. The All Inc does run until 11.30pm though which is better than some hotels.
4. Cleanliness of beach-Again, this seemed to improve later in the holiday, particularly when important visitors were due! The beach is literally on the doorstep and there are loungers/parasols available free of charge. An attendant patrols the beach clearing up the paper cups etc and ensuring that only hotel guests use the beds but the beach would certainly be improved with a regular rake/tidy up as it is quite untidy.
5. The terrace(5th floor) is where snacks/afternoon tea are served. This is a lovely space but totally wasted-this could be used as an a la carte restaurant as the space is large with an outdoor barbecue. It could also be used as a games room-with table tennis(tables already in the hotel but not used) a pool table etc.
6. Our room-we paid extra for sea view and the room was very spacious. In fact the bed was TOO big-it took up too much of the room. The balcony was TINY. Only wide enough for the chairs on it-you definitely could not sit out. This was room 228-overlooking pool and sea. The lower floor balconies looked ok but floors 2 upwards on this side of hotel have the ridiculous balconies. My children were overlooking the hotel entrance-room 201 and their room was better-large with a double and single and also a good sized balcony.
The positives of the hotel are the location-it is ideally situated at the edge of town and it is a pleasant walk along the front in an evening-just get used to being pestered. Do try the Queens Head across the road-they are fantastic people who really look after you-they made my daughter's 16th birthday TRULY special. Do also visit the British Pub on the main road-next to Linekers-again, a nice place to sit for a change from the hotel occasionally-thanks to Ilhan. The Funky Forest across the road also good for alternative meal/full English. Also to watch sports/quiz nights.
The staff at the hotel could not be faulted. As previously mentioned, Nida is doing a great job. the bar staff are fantastic. Charlie the bellboy is always cheerful and happy to help with anything. The animation team-Sarah,Ricky and Romeo-they did a brilliant job with limited space/resources. As previously mentioned, due to the pool, the usual pool games such as water polo etc are not an option but they do manage to use the pool for some activities. There is also darts regularly. They are also there in an evening for kids disco and a show or karaoke/quiz/bingo.
We went on a boat trip-The Albatros, which we would recommend. Charlie who walked the beach for customers was brilliant-we became friendly with him and had a fantastic day on the boat. £10 each for a full day stopping at several bays for swimming/watersports. Lunch of chicken/pasta and salad included with melon later on. All the boats seem to offer the same but the Albatros was not too crowded and comfy cushions are on deck in either sun or shade for relaxing-really good value.
Other trips we organised through Gordion Travel, who were great although my daughter had an accident on a Quad bike safari and needed stitches in her knee. Despite this incident, we did still visit the Waterpark at Kusadasi and also Ephesus-though beware, this excusrsion includes various stops at a bazaar, leather shop and ceramic shop. Ephesus itself with lunch could have been done in a morning rather than visiting all the other shops etc. They were truly saddened and sorry about the accident and were very keen to ensure my daughter received the best treatment and checked on her several times during our stay.
Overall-due to the staff, people we met-both holiday makers and local people in the resort, we had a fantastic holiday, despite the accident, and all 4 of us enjoyed it enough that we would definitely returm.
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Date of stay: July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
+1
At very short notice we recently booked a holiday to visit the Tuntas Hotel in Altinkum as a break after our recent wedding. It was the first time we had been to Turkey and I have decided to do a more comprehensive review than I normally do based on our experiences both on the hotel and town.
Tuntas Hotel
When you first get to the hotel, you are greeted by two photos at reception, one from Airtours praising the hotel which dates back to 1992 and a photo presumably of the hotels original owner, this pictures reminds one of a Turkish version of the image of Big Brother from 1984 by George Orwell, very apt when thinking of the tortures we were about to have inflicted on us over the next seven days.
I will make it very clear at this point that I have tried to be even handed with this review and whilst the hotel and to a lesser extent the resort weren’t really for us, there are definitely attractions at both that some people will find appealing. Another point to mention here is the distance between the resort and Bodrum Airport, we were led to believe that is would be around 30minutes in a taxi, however we found to our dismay that the actual distance is around 110km and would take well over an hour on substandard roads. One tip here is use the agency we managed to find: www.gordiontravel.com who will take you on their shuttle bus for £10 each way which when considered against a taxi charging around 180TL is very reasonable.
Back to the hotel; the hotel itself seems to be around 35-40 years old and has had very little modernisation during this time. The building is typical of the types of resort hotel found on the Spanish Costas in the mid 80’s, the level of service found there is also similar. We had booked the all inclusive option which at the time seemed like a great idea, in hindsight however, I would urge anyone thinking of visiting this resort to consider half board, B&B or even self catering. We arrived mid afternoon and was told they had no record of us, we were then made to wait for around an hour whilst they tried to locate a room and who was paying for our stay. Eventually, we were given a room on the second floor (pictures enclosed), the room consisted of very low end furniture with two single beds pushed together, a TV which only showed Turkish television and a WC/shower room with what can only be described as the worst shower I have ever used. The room also had a ultra small balcony which had the A/C unit vent mounted to it, meaning that when the unit in the room was on, super heated air blew over at you whilst you were on the balcony, our's also backed on to a carpark and was directly underneath the exhaust for the kitchen extraction.
The shower was essentially a tray in the middle of the floor with a curtain that neither went all the way round or sat in the tray which meant that every time you showered, the room would become flooded to an inch deep. This was of course on the odd occasion when you could get hot water. During our stay we had hot water twice, we also experienced no pressure during peak times and also noted that the shower was in fact a hand shower which could be placed in an over head bracket which unfortunately didn’t work. The bathroom itself also came with two glasses, both of which were filthy (see picture), we also noticed that most glasses we used during our stay were dirty.
The bedroom was cleaned usually everyday but we did not get fresh sheets for our entire stay, I also had to bribe the maid 10TL for an extra pillow for my Wife and I. Fresh towels we given twice during our stay and replacement toilet rolls were left if the maid thought to look. The room became very, very warm during the day and due to the high night time temperatures, it remained so after the sun had gone down; unfortunately, the a/c unit took a long time to cool the room, this became intolerable because the hotel operated a system which had the electric controlled by the room key meaning that the unit could only be on when you were in the room, this made the room almost uninhabitable most of the time due to the long time it took to cool.
The room was on the face of it kept relatively clean by the maid service although I returned home with the back of my head covered in bites, having said that, these may have come from the beach.
Staff at the hotel made our stay even worse. The reception staff would ignore you despite you standing there for several minutes and them doing no more than typing or writing on scraps of paper, I would go as far as saying the staff were ignorant and offered a level of service which would not have been accepted in this country. For the first three mornings, we were woken at 6.15am by a call on our room phone, when asked the receptionist told me it was nothing to do with them, only after the third time did I call reception straight back and demand to know what was going on only to be told that there was a problem with the phone system and we should just unplug it; I am unsure as to the reason we weren’t told this from the start. The manager also made us pay £14 for the key to the safe in our room, despite the appearance of a choice here, most people would have to do this to insure there valuable were safe, therefore this fell well outside what I would consider to be all-inclusive.
All-Inclusive
Having stayed at a number of places on an all inclusive basis, I have experienced both very good and very poor versions of this level of accommodation; in my experience the Tuntas is the very worst I have come across. Drinks are available 7am to 11.30pm either from a grotty dirty outside bar or the dining room. Drinks on offer and covered under all inclusive are small plastic glasses of the local beer, vodka, gin and the local brew only. In addition there is wine in a box and soft drinks. These are served in plastic glasses by surly waiters who generally only fill them half way up the glass. The vast majority of these guys would also much prefer to be texting on their phones instead of serving you, indeed they will make you wait regardless of the length of cue or if your dinner or lunch is going cold.
The food was my biggest disappointment during our stay, the meals are served in a large dining room and are buffet type with lots of salad and two hot main dishes and two hot accompaniments. The quality of the hot food is shocking at best and whatever is left over is then turned into a cold dish for the following day or even the day after, for example a hot dish of Donner Kebab served at lunch was turned in to Donner salad and was still being served at dinner two days later. The examples of food on offer are quite bizarre and not at all appetising, examples are: lamb stew and cheap chicken nuggets, dried up rissoles(Kofta) and gumbo(?) which appeared to made up from the previous nights leftovers. It is during lunchtimes that you also experience the different types of guests the hotel attracts; whereas most Brits appear happy to cue around the serving areas, you also get the typical “Brits abroad” who turn up with no shirts on and just push people out of the way. There are also the Turks and Russians who are yet to figure out cueing up and insist on pushing you out of the way so they can get their food before you.
Breakfast is also very poor, selection is mainly continental however there is the option of a hard boiled egg, sloppy scrambled egg and beans, there are also strange little sausages on offer which are particularly bad. Toast is available but you have to toast the bread yourself on a machine which instead of browning the bread appears to make is stale without changing the colour. Tea and coffee is available but the “milk” in the coffee is powdered.
Outside of the set food times, there is apparently snacks served in the afternoon, however not once during our stay did we locate these and any soup left over from dinner is served later in the evening. No drinks whatsoever are available outside the hours of 7am-11.30pm even if you are willing to pay.
The Hotel
One of the things that struck me is the general level of decay visible throughout the hotel, light fittings have uncovered wires, there is mould in the shower areas, the paint looks as though it was applied by blind men and most dangerously is at least on our floor, the lights were controlled by PIR sensor, unfortunately only one of these worked which meant that after dark you had to find your way to the room using touch alone.
The pool is dreadfully small with large amounts of tiles having fallen off and allowed to just sit at the bottom of the pool, interestingly, the pool is either 2m deep meaning that not even me at 6’4” tall can touch the bottom or it is 1’ deep for kids, there are also no loungers round the pool. The terrace leads on to the private beach which has loungers in rows for the guests of the hotel, unfortunately, there is nowhere near enough meaning that you are required to be downstairs at 7.30am to get your towel on one before the Germans get there. The beach itself is filthy and was not cleaned once the whole time we were there if ever, meaning that by the time we left, the beach resembled a building site, covered in stones, trash and cigarette butts which is a huge shame because the sea was stunningly clear and warm.
The entertainment in the evenings generally consisted of a bored looking English rep and her Turkish counterparts doing the birdie song which I’m afraid was enough for me; I quickly made my way to the nearest bar.
In summary, as mentioned before, this hotel will suit some people however for me it was a cross between Pontins and Kirkham prison with the food supplied by the latter. The staff are very, very poor as is the food, the hotel is trying to trade off past glories when it was acceptable to do some of the things they inflicted on us. Don’t let this review however stop you going to Altinkum which is actually pretty good(see below) do please avoid this hotel though, it is a disgrace and I would consider it an uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous place to be.
Altinkum
Altinkum itself was completely unexpected; the town itself has developed over the years from a small fishing village to a decent sized resort. As you enter town, you pass a landfill site next to the road and then drive a few more miles through largely undeveloped land. The first thing you notice is the general scale of the building work going on, it really seems as though the town is going places although you are struck by the fact that the plush apartments being built are somewhat random, being put up in the middle of scrub land and lacking access to roads etc.
The resort itself centres around a bay which I guess is around two miles long and lined throughout with hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. During the heat of the day, this area is largely deserted with people sticking to the beach or shade, however at night the whole bay comes alive with throngs of people both locals and tourists. The town certainly and I suspect the country as a whole is very secular so although a Muslim country, this is never an issue is terms of dress or drinking. You will however not see any women bathing topless or much pork being sold.
The shops offer a wide array of goods, all of which are either poor copies or excellent copies of luxury goods such as Rolex watches or Luis Vitton bags. My major complaint about the place though is the relentless hassle you get from the store holders, it really never stops and you are not free to browse or even walk down the street without aggressive locals badgering you to buy. We bought a few bits and pieces but I suspect we would have bought considerably more if we had been left alone to browse. One tip here is to make sure that if you want something, you just be prepared to barter quite aggressively, we often paid half of what we were asked to by adopting this was of buying.
Drinks are quite expensive, particularly if you want spirits, local beer however is quite affordable. Food is similarly priced, however lunch and breakfast can be bought for a lot less than a fiver, my advise therefore is do not travel on an all-inclusive basis. You can have a lot more choice and variation by using and supporting the hundreds of local bars and restaurants.
We tried the local Turkish bath during our stay and after looking at a few, we chose The Apollo which is around half a mile from The Tuntas Hotel, this was the most expensive but they had women available if you require them. Mud bath, steam and foam bath followed by sauna and a 45minute massage was around 250TL, however I did not follow my own philosophy with this place and didn’t haggle, I suspect you could get this a lot cheaper if you were prepared to barter a little.
The town itself is relatively clean but has the appearance of a few years of neglect although it looks as though they are starting to do something about this now. The Spaniards, Greeks and Portuguese having spent a lot more time doing main stream tourism are a lot more polished at supplying what people want, the Turks however are not, they are still learning but are doing a pretty good job. If you enjoy sunbathing you will have a ball here by aside from the sun, food and drink there is very little to keep you entertained in Altinkum.
One last thing to mention is the weather, the heat is relentless and after 5 days we had had enough and were looking forward to coming home. The sea was lovely and clean and inviting but the temperature never seemed to get any less even at night, therefore I wouldn’t recommend this place for families with young children.
My conclusion would be that for a cheap break, give Altinkum a try, it might surprise you but whatever you do, steer clear of the Tuntas Hotel!!
Tuntas Hotel
When you first get to the hotel, you are greeted by two photos at reception, one from Airtours praising the hotel which dates back to 1992 and a photo presumably of the hotels original owner, this pictures reminds one of a Turkish version of the image of Big Brother from 1984 by George Orwell, very apt when thinking of the tortures we were about to have inflicted on us over the next seven days.
I will make it very clear at this point that I have tried to be even handed with this review and whilst the hotel and to a lesser extent the resort weren’t really for us, there are definitely attractions at both that some people will find appealing. Another point to mention here is the distance between the resort and Bodrum Airport, we were led to believe that is would be around 30minutes in a taxi, however we found to our dismay that the actual distance is around 110km and would take well over an hour on substandard roads. One tip here is use the agency we managed to find: www.gordiontravel.com who will take you on their shuttle bus for £10 each way which when considered against a taxi charging around 180TL is very reasonable.
Back to the hotel; the hotel itself seems to be around 35-40 years old and has had very little modernisation during this time. The building is typical of the types of resort hotel found on the Spanish Costas in the mid 80’s, the level of service found there is also similar. We had booked the all inclusive option which at the time seemed like a great idea, in hindsight however, I would urge anyone thinking of visiting this resort to consider half board, B&B or even self catering. We arrived mid afternoon and was told they had no record of us, we were then made to wait for around an hour whilst they tried to locate a room and who was paying for our stay. Eventually, we were given a room on the second floor (pictures enclosed), the room consisted of very low end furniture with two single beds pushed together, a TV which only showed Turkish television and a WC/shower room with what can only be described as the worst shower I have ever used. The room also had a ultra small balcony which had the A/C unit vent mounted to it, meaning that when the unit in the room was on, super heated air blew over at you whilst you were on the balcony, our's also backed on to a carpark and was directly underneath the exhaust for the kitchen extraction.
The shower was essentially a tray in the middle of the floor with a curtain that neither went all the way round or sat in the tray which meant that every time you showered, the room would become flooded to an inch deep. This was of course on the odd occasion when you could get hot water. During our stay we had hot water twice, we also experienced no pressure during peak times and also noted that the shower was in fact a hand shower which could be placed in an over head bracket which unfortunately didn’t work. The bathroom itself also came with two glasses, both of which were filthy (see picture), we also noticed that most glasses we used during our stay were dirty.
The bedroom was cleaned usually everyday but we did not get fresh sheets for our entire stay, I also had to bribe the maid 10TL for an extra pillow for my Wife and I. Fresh towels we given twice during our stay and replacement toilet rolls were left if the maid thought to look. The room became very, very warm during the day and due to the high night time temperatures, it remained so after the sun had gone down; unfortunately, the a/c unit took a long time to cool the room, this became intolerable because the hotel operated a system which had the electric controlled by the room key meaning that the unit could only be on when you were in the room, this made the room almost uninhabitable most of the time due to the long time it took to cool.
The room was on the face of it kept relatively clean by the maid service although I returned home with the back of my head covered in bites, having said that, these may have come from the beach.
Staff at the hotel made our stay even worse. The reception staff would ignore you despite you standing there for several minutes and them doing no more than typing or writing on scraps of paper, I would go as far as saying the staff were ignorant and offered a level of service which would not have been accepted in this country. For the first three mornings, we were woken at 6.15am by a call on our room phone, when asked the receptionist told me it was nothing to do with them, only after the third time did I call reception straight back and demand to know what was going on only to be told that there was a problem with the phone system and we should just unplug it; I am unsure as to the reason we weren’t told this from the start. The manager also made us pay £14 for the key to the safe in our room, despite the appearance of a choice here, most people would have to do this to insure there valuable were safe, therefore this fell well outside what I would consider to be all-inclusive.
All-Inclusive
Having stayed at a number of places on an all inclusive basis, I have experienced both very good and very poor versions of this level of accommodation; in my experience the Tuntas is the very worst I have come across. Drinks are available 7am to 11.30pm either from a grotty dirty outside bar or the dining room. Drinks on offer and covered under all inclusive are small plastic glasses of the local beer, vodka, gin and the local brew only. In addition there is wine in a box and soft drinks. These are served in plastic glasses by surly waiters who generally only fill them half way up the glass. The vast majority of these guys would also much prefer to be texting on their phones instead of serving you, indeed they will make you wait regardless of the length of cue or if your dinner or lunch is going cold.
The food was my biggest disappointment during our stay, the meals are served in a large dining room and are buffet type with lots of salad and two hot main dishes and two hot accompaniments. The quality of the hot food is shocking at best and whatever is left over is then turned into a cold dish for the following day or even the day after, for example a hot dish of Donner Kebab served at lunch was turned in to Donner salad and was still being served at dinner two days later. The examples of food on offer are quite bizarre and not at all appetising, examples are: lamb stew and cheap chicken nuggets, dried up rissoles(Kofta) and gumbo(?) which appeared to made up from the previous nights leftovers. It is during lunchtimes that you also experience the different types of guests the hotel attracts; whereas most Brits appear happy to cue around the serving areas, you also get the typical “Brits abroad” who turn up with no shirts on and just push people out of the way. There are also the Turks and Russians who are yet to figure out cueing up and insist on pushing you out of the way so they can get their food before you.
Breakfast is also very poor, selection is mainly continental however there is the option of a hard boiled egg, sloppy scrambled egg and beans, there are also strange little sausages on offer which are particularly bad. Toast is available but you have to toast the bread yourself on a machine which instead of browning the bread appears to make is stale without changing the colour. Tea and coffee is available but the “milk” in the coffee is powdered.
Outside of the set food times, there is apparently snacks served in the afternoon, however not once during our stay did we locate these and any soup left over from dinner is served later in the evening. No drinks whatsoever are available outside the hours of 7am-11.30pm even if you are willing to pay.
The Hotel
One of the things that struck me is the general level of decay visible throughout the hotel, light fittings have uncovered wires, there is mould in the shower areas, the paint looks as though it was applied by blind men and most dangerously is at least on our floor, the lights were controlled by PIR sensor, unfortunately only one of these worked which meant that after dark you had to find your way to the room using touch alone.
The pool is dreadfully small with large amounts of tiles having fallen off and allowed to just sit at the bottom of the pool, interestingly, the pool is either 2m deep meaning that not even me at 6’4” tall can touch the bottom or it is 1’ deep for kids, there are also no loungers round the pool. The terrace leads on to the private beach which has loungers in rows for the guests of the hotel, unfortunately, there is nowhere near enough meaning that you are required to be downstairs at 7.30am to get your towel on one before the Germans get there. The beach itself is filthy and was not cleaned once the whole time we were there if ever, meaning that by the time we left, the beach resembled a building site, covered in stones, trash and cigarette butts which is a huge shame because the sea was stunningly clear and warm.
The entertainment in the evenings generally consisted of a bored looking English rep and her Turkish counterparts doing the birdie song which I’m afraid was enough for me; I quickly made my way to the nearest bar.
In summary, as mentioned before, this hotel will suit some people however for me it was a cross between Pontins and Kirkham prison with the food supplied by the latter. The staff are very, very poor as is the food, the hotel is trying to trade off past glories when it was acceptable to do some of the things they inflicted on us. Don’t let this review however stop you going to Altinkum which is actually pretty good(see below) do please avoid this hotel though, it is a disgrace and I would consider it an uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous place to be.
Altinkum
Altinkum itself was completely unexpected; the town itself has developed over the years from a small fishing village to a decent sized resort. As you enter town, you pass a landfill site next to the road and then drive a few more miles through largely undeveloped land. The first thing you notice is the general scale of the building work going on, it really seems as though the town is going places although you are struck by the fact that the plush apartments being built are somewhat random, being put up in the middle of scrub land and lacking access to roads etc.
The resort itself centres around a bay which I guess is around two miles long and lined throughout with hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. During the heat of the day, this area is largely deserted with people sticking to the beach or shade, however at night the whole bay comes alive with throngs of people both locals and tourists. The town certainly and I suspect the country as a whole is very secular so although a Muslim country, this is never an issue is terms of dress or drinking. You will however not see any women bathing topless or much pork being sold.
The shops offer a wide array of goods, all of which are either poor copies or excellent copies of luxury goods such as Rolex watches or Luis Vitton bags. My major complaint about the place though is the relentless hassle you get from the store holders, it really never stops and you are not free to browse or even walk down the street without aggressive locals badgering you to buy. We bought a few bits and pieces but I suspect we would have bought considerably more if we had been left alone to browse. One tip here is to make sure that if you want something, you just be prepared to barter quite aggressively, we often paid half of what we were asked to by adopting this was of buying.
Drinks are quite expensive, particularly if you want spirits, local beer however is quite affordable. Food is similarly priced, however lunch and breakfast can be bought for a lot less than a fiver, my advise therefore is do not travel on an all-inclusive basis. You can have a lot more choice and variation by using and supporting the hundreds of local bars and restaurants.
We tried the local Turkish bath during our stay and after looking at a few, we chose The Apollo which is around half a mile from The Tuntas Hotel, this was the most expensive but they had women available if you require them. Mud bath, steam and foam bath followed by sauna and a 45minute massage was around 250TL, however I did not follow my own philosophy with this place and didn’t haggle, I suspect you could get this a lot cheaper if you were prepared to barter a little.
The town itself is relatively clean but has the appearance of a few years of neglect although it looks as though they are starting to do something about this now. The Spaniards, Greeks and Portuguese having spent a lot more time doing main stream tourism are a lot more polished at supplying what people want, the Turks however are not, they are still learning but are doing a pretty good job. If you enjoy sunbathing you will have a ball here by aside from the sun, food and drink there is very little to keep you entertained in Altinkum.
One last thing to mention is the weather, the heat is relentless and after 5 days we had had enough and were looking forward to coming home. The sea was lovely and clean and inviting but the temperature never seemed to get any less even at night, therefore I wouldn’t recommend this place for families with young children.
My conclusion would be that for a cheap break, give Altinkum a try, it might surprise you but whatever you do, steer clear of the Tuntas Hotel!!
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Date of stay: July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked our friends wedding for them in altinkum and with around 40 guests coming from England nearly all of them booked in to the all inclusive Tuntas hotel .The manager called Nida and his team bent over backwards to make everything run perfectly and we thank him very much for this nothing was to much trouble at all.
All the rooms were spotless as so was the hotel the location of the hotel was actually on the beach with free sun beds and umbrellas.
There was a poolside bar and tea and coffee machines open all day and night until 11, 30 pm.
The dining area was very big and very well decorated with a beautiful water fountain feature.
The selection of Turkish food was second to none with around 5 different main meals and the biggest selection of mixed salads you have ever seen, please don’t expect bacon or pork sausage don’t forget this is a Muslim country and they don’t allow any pig products in there kitchens because there are Turkish customers as well, if you need an English breakfast you can treat your self just over the road for the price of £1,80p,
Well for the price, the service. On the beach location, Great poolside entertainment and the variety of food this hotel takes some beating.
I could not thank the manager NIDA and all the staff for there warm hospitable welcome thank you.
All the rooms were spotless as so was the hotel the location of the hotel was actually on the beach with free sun beds and umbrellas.
There was a poolside bar and tea and coffee machines open all day and night until 11, 30 pm.
The dining area was very big and very well decorated with a beautiful water fountain feature.
The selection of Turkish food was second to none with around 5 different main meals and the biggest selection of mixed salads you have ever seen, please don’t expect bacon or pork sausage don’t forget this is a Muslim country and they don’t allow any pig products in there kitchens because there are Turkish customers as well, if you need an English breakfast you can treat your self just over the road for the price of £1,80p,
Well for the price, the service. On the beach location, Great poolside entertainment and the variety of food this hotel takes some beating.
I could not thank the manager NIDA and all the staff for there warm hospitable welcome thank you.
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Date of stay: June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We didn't have great expectations of this holiday or hotel it was just a "cheap break",but we were very pleasantly surprised. We didn't have a great start, very long journey and our request for a sea view had been ignored, however our first taste of hospitality was "Charlie" the bell boy (Barik) he was so lovely we wanted to adopt him! He works so hard but was always chatty and friendly and couldn't do enough for you.We complained about the room (it overlooked the bins and the bathroom was tiny) initially to our Thomas Cook rep who was brilliant and he spoke to the Manager Nida, he was extremely helpful and said out email for sea view had been overlooked and said he would personally take care of things and we could move rooms in two days, he was good to his word and did provide us with a room with a sea view that was also much larger ( a double and single bed) still quite small bathroom but always clean, good sized balcony and decent air conditioning and fridge , (would have been good to have a kettle) TV rarely worked and couldn't pick up any English channels.The location of the Tuntas was excellent, right on the beach, pool is very small but didn't put us off, the food was very basic but for the money we paid still great value, we ate out for breakfast and dinner a few times, great places we found were Ja Jas best breakfast, Charlie s very friendly staff and great cocktails, The Pelican Bar, Horizon the owner is really friendly but got us so drunk we didn't want to go back for fear of the hangover! lol The Funky Forest have English owners and the food was lovely and great value we also watched the football on the big screen, the queens head had great music and friendly staff, but the food was poor and the alcohol over priced.The weather was very hot around 35c rising to 42c in the second week and the hotel reception had no aircon, this would have been helpful but because its on the sea front most nights you had a good breeze which was such a blessing.Overall we had a great holiday which exceeded expectations the staff work so hard and the hotel is always clean, the manager is hands on and is doing everything he can, he even stepped in and did Karaoke, when the animation team walked out requesting more money such a dedicated man deserves a pat on the back.(New team in place now two lovely Liverpool girls and a Turkish guy,not much experience but they were trying hard. You get what you pay for food and room wise ( if you want 5 star, pay for it) however you do get 5 star service, well done Tuntas.Berylxx
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Date of stay: June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Just returned from a 7 day break at the Tuntas, brilliant hotel, staff, cleanliness, location, food & rooms. Can't wait to return. Thank you Tuntas.
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Date of stay: June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
…
"There were NO WIFI less than one meter from the router, NO WIFI in the room as they offered on their WEBSITE. Food is the same every day."Read full review
"The pool doesn’t have sun beds around it but they have their own beach a metre away. Pool small but adequate "Read full review
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PRICE RANGE
C$92 - C$240 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
altinkum tuntas hotel
LOCATION
TürkiyeTurkish Aegean CoastAydin ProvinceDidimAltinkum
NUMBER OF ROOMS
134
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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