More about Azka Otel Bodrum
Azka---- OK
by TripAdvisor Member tommycrez
After searching numerous websites to find some accommodation for a 2 week holiday for my 2 friends and myself - (three 17 year old boys ) the azka hotel seemed perfect. apparently 5 * , and extremely close to the center of bodrum , on the beach. It Sounded perfect, as we were looking for a partying holiday by night ,.with watersports in the day. The hotels appearance was almost immaculate,. was always clean, and well presented. as were the rooms. but it was not a 5* by mo means by British standards , a 4* at most.The pool was quite small, but was very clean. One negative. was the staff working there, they made the atmosphere very uncomfortably during meal times. with only a few upbeat. talkative and friendly staff working in the bars.
The main negative has to be the outrageous prices or the drinks. charging the equivalent of about £2 for a small soft drink (smaller than a can), and over £1 for a small 500ml bottle of water. Due to this , we rarely drank in the hotel . only buying the big 2L bottles of water which were relatively reasonably priced during meals, as despite being half board they offered no drinks at all for dinner , except the ones you pay for!
So for the evenings, as getting drunk and going clubbing was our main objective we resorted to sneaking in bottles of vodka / and other liqueurs and spirits into the hotel , to get us happy before going into either bodrum town or GUMBET town. But one day after returning from a day of water sports at nearby Torba - as my friend being half Turkish has friends who run the water sports , which i might add were amazing - we were amazed to find a note on out mirror stating that our drink had been confiscated until our departure. As we were keeping it within view of what we thought was the cleaners or mini fridge inspectors. So we used our initiative and for the remainder of the holiday after buying alcohol outside the hotel . hid it in out suitcases, before consuming it.
Overall was an amazing holiday. but the hotel really let us down, as they were to money orientated and didn't focus on customer satisfaction at all.
Favourably impressed by the Azka
by TripAdvisor Member greensimon
Stayed at the Azka for one week HB in mid August with partner and 10 year old female child. Found Hotel to be clean with a high standard of decor. All staff we met were both very friendly and helpful at all times. Food (large buffet) found to be excellent with high attention to detail and lots of choice. Only regret is that we should have booked a room with a sea view, but no complaints about room we had. Ferry boat across to Bodrum is a must, and in my opinion more fun than getting a taxi. Would definitely stay there again.
Simon from Blackburn. Lancs
Small Hill !!! AZKA ok for a three star
by TripAdvisor Member thebluesdude
After reading the other reviews I have to say I agree with them but although the AZKA is not a five star by international standards I think its fair to say it is by turkish ones. We saw very poor sized rooms very dirty and expensive everywhere. What you get with the AZKA is a very well presented excellently run clean hotel with excellent food and pleasant staff. What you also get are very small rooms and an almost prison run system for not bringing in drinks and food. Their pricing is very very expensive and you can save about 70% by walking for about 1 min to the shop across from the hotel but BE WARNED they watch you and will meet you at the hotel boundary to check your bags, if this looks likley... leg it down to the beach alongside the hotel and cross over on the beach to your private one you can dodge them this way!! lol actually it was fun we felt quite naughty. The hill is hell though and its ok to walk down to bodrum center or Gumbet but make sure you get a taki back from the bottom of the hill, they dont mind and its only 5 lira, unless you are really fit it will give you some megga chest pains...
Nice View, Shame about the service and Food.
by TripAdvisor Member Traveller1Leeds
Azka hotel is situated in one of the nicest bays in Turkey. The views from the terrace and the pool area are second to none.
This is not a 5 star Hotel rather more like a 3.
The management need some "Customer care" training as it is none existant, and any complains are met with a shrug of the shoulders.
The food is very basic and very much like school dinners, everyday the same thing.
Some of the Hotel staff are great and gave lots of smiles and the odd bit of banter, while others did not raise a smile and almost shoved you out of their way...( Not good enough really )
We encountered 40 degrees plus during our holiday, the aircon in the hotel is very poor. The Lobby is warm, the restaurant is hot, the room was warm. They have also started charging for the use of the indoor pool. ( this should be free )
All in all I was dissapointed with the Hotel and general service we received.
Also watch out for local guys around the pool area that are not residents of the hotel, They pay a daily charge to use the Gym etc but use the hotel as a way of meeting up with foreign girls.
( If you get my drift )
I will not be going back to this Hotel.
okayish hotel more of a 4* for bodrum
by TripAdvisor Member critic999
returned from our one week stay at azka otel last week. What can i say, its mixed feelings from my self. They say they are a 5* hotel, but very much like 3* - 4*.
Bad Points - Not allowed Drinks/Food into the hotel. The air con struggled to keep room cool. Food/Drinks in hotel were expensive compared to rest of town. The receptionist couldnt understand a word of english. They switch the air con off in your room once you've left. Its located at the bottom of a STEEP hill, so a bit of a bother when you have to walk up the hill to get a bus into town. No evening entertainment. Bar shuts early.
Good Points - Its the only hotel in town with a beach. Others are Bay type beaches. Its clean. It has a Hammam (turkish baths) indoor pool, sauna (you have to pay extra for these). Biggest hotel in bodrum.
You can catch a water taxi into bodrum for 3.5 LIRA pp located at the end of the beach. Next to the water taxi is this magnificent little bar. Its full of people, music, the drinks are reasonablly priced, and theres a chap behind the bar called Chin Chin. What a great guy. His cocktails were v.nice. I was there until 6am one morning, and the sunrise over the horizon was amazing.
I would recommend you visit the hotel next door called the Charm, a 1 min walk down the beach. They have evening entertainment most nights, while i was there, they had 3 turkish belly dancers perform. wow.
I was BB, i wouldnt recommend you have half board, because some of the people we met, said it got boring after a while. I would recommend a restaurant called Saray Zetesh, which is in a town called Gumbet, 5 mins away from Azka. If you go to the reception, and tell them to call Saray Zetesh in Gumbet, the restaurant will send a car to collect you for FREE and then drop you off. My girlfriend and I ended up going to this place 3 times on our stay, and the third time we took some people from the hotel. They wished they had gone to this place earlier in their stay. Avg 17 LIRA PP compared to 25 LIRA at the hotel for dinner. and 20 YTL (£8) gets you full to the rim.
If you catch water taxi into bodrum, and want to go out, i would recommend you go to this bar called Ora Bar, theres a lovely chap called Yufsin, who will just offer you free drinks one after the other. Lovely people. Woulnt recommend Clubs such as Catermaran or Halikanas (a promotor said "This is the biggest european club in the world", whats wrong with this statement), they are just plain boring,
although the boat trip experience on the Catermaran at 1.30am was amazing. Music was meant to be HipHop RnB, but ended up being funky house. To get back to the hotel, a Cab will cost about 10 LIRA, or alternatively, get a bus which goes outside the hotel for 1.70 LIRA and walk down the hill, they come every 5 mins.
Overall, I would say Azka is one of the best hotels for Bodrum, everyone knows it. Not 5*, but it wasnt toooo bad.
Tip: Bottle of Water cost 4 LIRA at the hotel, you can go to this minisupermarket 30 secs from the hotel, and crab the same brand water
for 0.5 YTL and walk back into the hotel, if they say you have to buy
water from hotel, just say you did, as they cannot prove you didnt. Also, have a large handbag, so you can hide the bottles into the hotel.
Pleasantly surprised
by TripAdvisor Member Alisophie
I stayed in this Hotel last month and was pleasantly surprised. I had read some reviews which in some ways put me off the place. The hotel is of high standards. Very clean and tidy and the staff very pleasant.
We didn't expect to get a sea view room but did and it was really an amazing view. Our room itself was not a 5 star, more of a 3 star but clean and tidy. The hotel has 2 pools, several bars and a restaurant. the choice of food was good and always lots of it!
It was about a 15 minute walk into Bodrum or there are buses or water taxis.
The only downside of the holiday was the fact that they would not let you bring in any food or drink purchased from outside the hotel. The drinks were very expensive in the hotel (including water). So we still ended up still buying some and hiding it carefully!
All other facitlities were great: pools, gym, massage so all in all a very pleasant week which I would recommend.
fantastic, will be returning
by TripAdvisor Member jodieEngBirmingham
wow!! i have just arrived back from the gorgeoous 45c heat of turkey,what a holiday.
This hotel is fantastic.... the main thing for me is cleanliness and i give this 5/5 for this.....although the rooms are only furnished to 3* standards i was not dissapointed...the whole hotel was immaculate. I was half board and a very fussy eater...everyday the starter/mains/desert selection was excellent and enjoyed the food although the continenal breakfast was a bit boring and out of 7days only went 3mornings....
Its set in a beautiful cove(bardakci) the views/beach/sea are amazing. Pool is gorgeous, plenty of loungers...beautifull balconys to drink/eat and enjoy the spectacular views.
Bardakci is only 3YTL each on boat ferry to Bodrum town-excelent for nightlife and shopping or 5YTL taxi in gumbet again good food/bars/nightclubs.
i would defonately reccommed the turkish bath...book this through your rep as it only costs 9YTL (inc transport) everywhere else is about 65YTL!!!!
Also enjoyed the boat trip ,this was an excellent day out for only £12 / 30YTL each incl food,great for topping up tan /diving / swimming in sea.(book this with the english girl where you get the boat taxi)
The men here are nowhere near as bad as people make out,they are helpfull,kind,and ALWAYS happy/smiling/jokng about wiith you.
i can honestly say we were very sad to leave...and will return again in the future.
Unfortunately the only thing that spoils this place is like all the other reviews .....the expense of water/icelolls and not being able to take anything into the hotel you havent bought there....a small botle of water £1...a large bottle £1.80..ice lolls £1.60-£2.20....this annoyed us as in gumbet/bodrum only 40p for large bottle of water......!!!!!
like an army camp
by TripAdvisor Member dissapointedlondon
This hotel is easily the worst I have ever stayed in. What was right about it -- nothing. Air conditioning not turned on in public rooms, the temperature was 45c at times. Also very dark.
No drink allowed in from outside, forced to buy water at bar at $3 a bottle. duty free drinks conficated from room, although returned when we checked out.
No proper sheets on bed, took 2 days to get an extra pillow and only when we insisted that they brought it to the reception, where we waited for it.
Gym, no water no air conditioning,room boiling hot and anyway the machines were in a poor state, could not be used properly.
Lifts constantly out of order
Staff checked mini bar like we were thieves.
The whole hotel was very run down and scruffy.
Pool attendant would not give me a towell as he had decided that the pool was now closed. None of the staff really cared about the guests.
Mismanaged Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member John-Vi
Our worst and most expense experience in a Turkish Hotel. Had better service in two and three star Turkish hotels. The attraction is the beach but you couldn't get a lounge chair or beach towel at the hotel's beach or the pool if you arrived in the afternoon. We were told none were available. We had to go back to our room and retrive a beach towel of our own. There were no service personel at either the beach or the pool. The pool closed at 7PM (crazy).
Forum Posts
Hotels in Bodrum
by jicms
Can anyone suggest which hotel would be a good choice. My daughter and I want to be probably in central Bodrum as we enjoy it's nightlife. We know it quite well but not the hotels as we have either stayed in Gumbet or out on the peninsula. We would like a reasonably comfortable hotel with good pool.
I have found good deals for the Azka, Salmakis, Indian Summer and Majesty Marina Vista. Can anyone recommend which of these if any to stay in. The Bardakci beach is a plus but wonder whether these hotels might be a bit too "British" and kiddie orientated. The Indian Summer looks to be north of the main road into Bodrum? I can't find any info. on the location of the Majesty Marina Vista.
My budget is around £250 for the week for our room.
Re: Hotels in Bodrum
by ShOcker
Hello, I just came back from Bodrum (Gumbet actually) .. My girlfriend and I were very satisfied of the Rexene Resort in Gumbet. I don't know if it's good enough for your budget ..
The hotel right next to it (my neighbours went over there last year) : WOW hotel (World Of Wonders hotel) was quite nice too they seid, but it wasn't cheap. Anyway both of these hotels are in Gumbet, 3 kms from Bodrum centre, so I don't know if you're interested to go to Gumbet.
I hope my info was a bit helpfull .. Otherwise, check out my travel page for the website of the hotel I went ..
Greetings,
Nic
Re: Hotels in Bodrum
by jicms
Thanks very much for your reply. We've always stayed in Gumbet before but although it's nice to have the beach we spend all our time in Bodrum as we prefer the cosmopolitan rather than English atmosphere. I think we will choose between the Azka in Bardakci or the Indian Summer if I can find out where it is!
Re: Hotels in Bodrum
by nellykelly
We stayed at the Indian Summer (Sari Yaz) when it first opened. Lovely and quiet and very relaxing. It is away from the very centre of Bodrum up towards the Delphi and Gardenya Hotels if you know where they are, only a five minute walk to the main areas (but uphill on the way back!!)
Have a great time whatever you decide.
Re: Hotels in Bodrum and Recommended Activities?
by jicms
Thanks for your replies.
I ended up booking the Azka as it's on the only beach in the area. I couldn't get any info on The Indian Summer's location but it looked lovely. Sounds like we'll have to argue with the "water police" at the Azka.
Can anyone suggest some nice activities other than the usual boat trips. Bodrum's not so close to the usual tourist sites.
Thanks!
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