KIRMAN CALYPTUS RESORT & SPA

We booked a holiday for a family of four travelling with 2 children under 3. Initial communication when booking with the hotel directly was great. When we arrived however the experience was far from what we expected. Do not visit this hotel if you are hoping to communicate even in basic English with staff. No staff in this hotel aside from the Guest Relations team speak English. This made even the most simplest of requests very challenging. This hotel is fully geared for German speaking guests. Food- a good variety however if you are not seated when the restaurants open do not expect fresh and a good quantity of food to be left. The ‘night restaurant’ which is from 10.30pm -7.30pm has the leftover uneaten food from the dinner sitting. Unsure when or how fresh that food would have been especially any meat based food. If you have any form of allergies/intolerances you should not eat any of the food here. Nothing is labelled to advise any ingredients or potential allergens. Most foods have some form of nut based products either in them or sprinkled on top. On the website it states the restaurant cater for variety of dietary needs including gluten-free there was nothing to show this only some of the foods were labelled what they were for example, roast chicken, rice etc. If you are not first seated the tables are not cleaned in the restaurant nor fresh linen/napkins/cutlery provided Pools - outdoor kids pool, we tried to use this a few times. The water was so cold as an adult it took my breath away and made my legs numb. The kids were crying from how cold it was. Considering this is a fairly new hotel one would have thought they would have had heated outdoor pools considering they are open so late in the year when the water is cool. It was dirty and had food in it. Our kids also had some form of skin reaction after the first time in the pool. I cannot confirm medically it was from the dirty water but it was the only thing they had done that day before the skin became irritated. Towels - these are provided however no one navigates you as to where to get these from which is actually the spa area. If you are visiting the beach you have to take the towels from the hotel with you as they do not provide them there. This can be tricky when navigating children also. Beach - the trip to the beach was fun with a short train ride underground to the beachfront. The food served is very basic either a burger or a wrap again no one speaks English so hard to communicate any requests. The sand is filthy with cigarette butts and ants crawling. On the plus side the sun loungers do not go down to the waters edge so plenty of room to play etc. Kids outdoor play area- nice looking play area took our toddler over to play and the place is littered with empty drinks cartons and food packets. Lots of red ants and not a safe play area for children to play. Kids evening entertainment - we took the kids to the Mini Disco. Again pointless if you are hoping to understand what they are doing. Only played 1 song - baby shark which was in English everything else was in German even the dances were not universal. Not very entertaining the person leading it looked like he had just rolled out of bed and his energy was as upbeat as a tin of paint! Not what I expect for kids entertainment. Bar - don’t bother asking for a mock tail as they advertise you can order the same drink twice and they taste completely differently the staff are not professional bar staff and just follow ingredients lists where they can understand them. On the website Kirman state expert mixologists they didn’t have a clue! Room services - arrived and checked into room. The room looked like it hadn’t really been cleaned properly and the mini fridge had all half consumed food and drink from the previous people in the room. We had to continuously ask for water and drinks as they would only give 2 small bottles of water for a family of 4 in a room. Do not expect an option to be able to iron your clothes as the hotel do not offer the guests an iron and ironing board. You have to provide your clothes to the hotel pre 4pm they then return it the following day for an additional cost. None of this is mentioned/ told to you. When challenged on this basic amenity they have no way to assist. The shower was also broken. Spa - a sales tactic. They advertise packages for example 90 min package majority of this is spent in relaxation rooms and only 45 mins is a treatment. Cafes- they only serve food that is starters from the restaurant and the staff do not know the ingredients in the food. All coffees /teas are done via machine the staff have no clue what they are serving/making. A la carte restaurant - you have a complimentary meal prebookable at one of 2 a la carte onsite restaurant. We opted for the Turkish restaurant. Do not be fooled this is NOT a la carte. They pre pick all the food for you. The starters are already on the table along with water etc. We did not know if the water was bottled or tap, no idea of what some of the starters were. Only after we sat down and started to eat did the waiter advise us to scans QR code on the table which gave an ingredients/menu breakdown. Very disappointing as most of the things already on the table had nut shavings on. Having small children of which have not and do not have nuts this could be very dangerous for someone with a severe allergy. You have no idea what you are eating unless you scan the code. For mains you have a choice of 6 things all of which would be on a Turkish mix grill so in essence you order 1 choice a mixed grill. This is very misleading as this is not A la carte. Games room - basically a room with one working pool table. All the other ‘games’ in the room like air hockey and another for younger children either didn’t work or were so filthy dirty you wouldn’t want to touch them. When attempting to address our concerns on the weekend we were leaving there was absolutely no manager available on weekends and the best I could get was someone from Guest relations who started to write my list of issues as we were leaving the next day he said if we were to leave later he would have a chance to have a meeting with the manager. I asked him to contact me via email to discuss this even though we are leaving we want to be able to discuss and understand why we have had such a poor experience. This isn’t a cheap hotel to stay at all inclusive you expect a certain level of care and service which we did not get. Even when talking with staff at the hotel they did not have anything good to say about the hotel. This should not be advertised as a 5 star hotel. This is also not suitable for anyone who does not speak English. Everything on Kirman’s website is with ‘an experience’ there is no experience offered. This is also not recommended if you do not drink alcohol as other drink options are minimal

Just returned from a family trip to this resort and although by my own admission, a 3 star review is harsh, but in this case fair. The property itself is stunning. Very striking aesthetically from the outside and ultra modern from the outset. The rooms were fantastic, clean, modern and functional. Beds are very comfortable and even in a standard room, the resort is generally quiet after around 10pm, so you will get peace. The pool area is wonderful and well set out around the pool bar and snack bar. The snack bar is probably better than the main restaurant in fairness, but I will get to that. Plenty of choice, particularly for the younger guest. Further to the snack bar, there are other options in the shape of cabins on the periphery of the property where you can choose from fried chicken, wraps, burgers, hot dogs etc. Something for most. No doubt exacerbated by the time of year, the pool was the coldest I have ever known! which surprised me given the temperature in the day was between 25-30 degrees. The resort does have an indoor pool which is slightly warmer which is located next to the gym and spa. You do have use of the hotel spa, however treatments and massages are expensive, which is a shame because the facilities are good. If you like a Hamam, there are better value packages outside of the hotel. There is a drink for everyone at the many bars around the hotel. Spirits are a mixture of premium brands and budget, maybe linked to tips although I'm not too sure about that. I found most staff to be miserable bordering on rude, although there were exceptions to this. Only a handful were familiar with English, so if you are British, keep a look out for Mehmet, he will look after you. Our biggest issue with the hotel was the food in the main dining room. Salad area was fine, however after that we were struggling with the choice and repetition. Lots of stew type dishes and not a great deal of imagination compared to other 5 star resorts I have stayed at. I would have expected to see some type of theme each evening to break up the repetition, however this was not the case. This led us seek out places to eat outside of the hotel, absolutely our choice but still disappointing when you book a 5 star hotel. Perhaps the hotel caters for the tastes for the majority of the nationalities that are generally populate the resort? There is a courtesy tram that will take you to the beach, which only takes 3 or 4 minutes. There is a very small section reserved for the Kirman Calyptus but the beach is not the cleanest or particularly appealing. The hotel do have a facility at the beach to supply you with drinks and snacks within your package. The beach is very busy and heavily populated. Water sports are available but very expensive and also be aware of someone trying to sell you something every time you move! The local area surrounding the hotel has lots of shops selling counterfeit clothing, perfume etc but a real lack of restaurants or bars. However a short bus ride will take you to the old town of Side, which is definitely worth a visit. A beautiful property but with limitations. We enjoyed our stay but wouldn't return.

The staff was incredibly welcoming and attentive, making sure every need was met. Check-in was seamless, and I was pleasantly surprised with an upgrade to a sea-view room, which was spacious and elegantly decorated. It was family vacation and we enjoyed all the amenities and food is just above and beyond!

Let me start with the positives. The hotel is beautiful and it is so clean. My bedroom was beautiful. Amazing shower and water pressure and good aircon. The food was also fab. Negatives though. The beach is awful. It’s cramped and just a bit dingy. The staff were all friendly but didn’t speak much English. The staff in the bar by the theatre were particularly good. Sunbeds - you had to, without fail, get a sunbed by 8am. Otherwise there were just none. And do not leave it. You will lose it. They are very cramped all together. But the one thing I was not prepared for. This hotel is loud. Really loud. Loads of thumping music all day. Every day. It just wasn’t the chilled vibe I was expecting. Overall nice stay. Just not the relaxed vibes I was looking for.

Best hotel we have stayed at for food and drinks stayed in a sea view room which is a mile away and though the gaps of other hotels so if anyone books this dont expect a sea view as such. We had a problem with our room door not closing properly and not locking reported this to reception i was told thats impossible all door lock automatically and i am mistaken the door had been unlocked all day while we were out of the room reported it again and was called a liar a technician was called and the door was faulty and would not lock. The staff here are lovely and spoke perfect english the lobby bar staff and pool bar staff are exceptional we were looked after by Asli as were all guests these guys work very hard as do all staff here the restaurant work so hard through every service with a smile. I cant understand bad reviews about the staff here the hotel is 5 star but the staff here are 6 star in my opinion the only thing i would advise is the guests here are 99.9% other nationalities i think we were the only english guests the week we were there but dont let this put you off going here.