Parkim Ayaz Hotel – Bodrum – Turkey

I really was not looking forward to this holiday as I love Icmeler & decided to try Gumbet mainly because of this hotel & the very good reviews. I can honestly say this is the best hotel I have stayed in in Turkey over the last 20 years. It was formerly separate hotels, the  Parkim Palace and Ayaz, now combined.

We arrived about 2am after a very quick flight from the UK (3hrs 50mins). Check-in was swift & we were given AI-type bracelets to wear. This is because the hotel is situated on the beach & anyone could enter the dining room & eat. The room we were allocated was beautiful, everything was brand new & we were the first occupants this year.

We were tired but could hear a noise that we thought was the fridge. Next morning after a sleepless night we opened the curtains & realised the noise was coming from the massive extractor fan on the roof of the kitchens a few feet away from the window. Reluctantly we asked to be moved even though the room had a garden, pool & sea view. This original room had a double bed,TV & a shower room with hair dryer.There were complimentary toiletries. The balconies were small but had enough room for 2 chairs & a table.

We were given a ground floor room overlooking the beautiful gardens which were like a botanical garden, complete with a family of tortoises!

The dining room was large but was in sections so it did not feel like a canteen. There was also a large outdoor dining area overlooking the sea. There were cereals, yoghurt, fruit, cheeses, tomatoes & cucumber along with omelettes, fried eggs, sausages & lovely bread. Dinner was served at 7pm when we first arrived & was moved to 7.30pm then 8pm the second week.This is too late for families with small children & adults like us who are not used to eating this late, but this is the only fault.

There was soup, a vast salad bar & 2 stations serving meat & vegetables which we were told were grown in the hotels own organic farm. The desserts were to-die-for & the highlight for a lot of people was that there were 2 massive bowls of fresh strawberries every night! We certainly ate our share & maybe thats why we did not put on any weight as Slimming World says strawberries are a slimming food!!

Drinks had to be bought in the dining room & we bought a large bottle of water ,1.5lt,for 4 TL. every night.
There are 4 bars on site, the Cozzy bar which holds the entertainment on an evening in a large round building with large white sofas around the edge. There is Denny’s Steak House where guests are offered a 20% discount. The Ladybird bar did lunches, as did the Carmedia bar. All these are situated on the edge of the beach.

There are 2 super pools,one with a large jacuzzi area & the other with slides. Next to the jacuzzi pool was a decked area under the palm trees with 120 large bean bag cushions.This is were we spent our mornings. There were also plenty of sunbeds around this pool. The area was surrounded by beautiful trees & plants.
We went to the shingle beach after lunch as there was a lovely breeze. There were always plenty of sunbeds & sun shades. The sea is very shallow & you could go out a fair bit & the water was only about 3ft deep.

The other pool had plenty of sunbeds & a cushioned area with about 80 cushions. The entertainment is varied from Brazilian dancers to a snake dancer! We went out every night but plenty of guests enjoyed the shows. The guests were from the UK, Turkey, Holland & Belgium which was a lovely mix. Everyone was friendly & there was no queue jumping!

The Parkim Ayaz hotel staff are the best I have encountered in Turkey & nothing was an issue for them.
Our friends came 2 days after us & were allocated a room overlooking a wall,they were shown 3 rooms before they were happy with the room. Their daughter & son-in-law came 1 week later & I asked the desk staff if they could have a room near their parents so they could use their room when leaving. They were given a pool view & 2 doors away from their parents. I was the only person who knew they were coming so it was quite a surprise for our friends.

I would go back to this hotel tomorrow as the grounds are amazing & although the hotel was full there was plenty of space & you could get a sun bed or cushion any time of day. The whole complex was very similar to large AI hotels & I hope it stays HB as it really is a great hotel. It is in the centre of the resort & has very noisy bars opposite. This could be a issue for some rooms but luckily we did not hear any noise from our room. Take wax earplugs just in case your room is allocated near the bars.