Karbel Beach Hotel – Olu Deniz – Turkey

Arrived at the Karbel Beachhotel in Olu Deniz at approximately 10.30pm as a family group (3 adults, one teenage girl). Our suitcases were taken upstairs & we were given the high, adjacent rooms we requested. So far, so good.

The security man who carried our suitcases to our rooms showed us where the bathroom was, the beds were & how to switch the air conditioning on & then simply stood & waited for his tip. We have never experienced this in Turkey – don’t get me wrong we always tip the staff, but it’s at our discretion & should not be on demand! Maybe this got us off on the wrong foot with the staff, I don’t know.

The next day we stayed around the pool. One of the members of staff (Onder) asked my 16 year old daughter if she wanted to play pool – she said “no thank you”. He asked the same the next day & again she said no. He seemed to take great offence at being rejected & refused point blank to speak to any of our group again for the whole two weeks. Quite amusingly though, we watched him try the same routine with every girl over the age of 15 & under the age of 30, each time without success!

We were asked by one of the staff (Oner) if we wished to go to their Turkish night – however, as this was our 13th trip to the resort we said no. He asked why, so we told him how many times we had been & had therefore been there, done that. He too took offence at our refusing to attend their Turkish night & did not speak to us again for the rest of the fortnight!

Ozzy who worked on the reception desk was, again, very unfriendly. He could barely raise a smile & as time wore on he would not even look us in the eye or even acknowledge our presence. This meant that we spent less & less time in the hotel, & more time on the beach, which we don’t normally do, just to get away from the unfriendly behaviour towards us. Myself & my daughter have visited Turkey 13 times & my parents have visited 22 times, & we have never, ever experienced staff like this. They were rude, arrogant & their behaviour was bordering on nasty.

In our second week, we asked if we could retain one of our rooms as we were not being picked up until 5pm on our final day. Ozzy informed us that he could not tell us until the morning of the day we were due to leave whether we could do so. We therefore had to make alternative arrangements. When we handed our keys in he did not even look up from his reception desk, nor did he ask if we had enjoyed our stay – he did not even acknowledge our presence.

I could never recommend this hotel to anybody – which is a great shame as the hotel itself is lovely – it has a beautiful pool area (even if you do have to be up before the sparrows to put your towels out), the rooms are very nice & clean & it is in a great position within Oludeniz – near the beach front, but with no noise from any bars in the area.

We also discovered that many of the guests staying in the hotel had actually booked to stay at the Karbel or Karbel Sun, but due to overbooking they had been sent to the Karbel Beach.

Thankfully this wasn’t our first stay in Turkey – if it was it would maybe have been our last. It was only the friendliness of every other person we came across in the resort that ensured that our holiday was enjoyable in every other respect.