Sundia by Liberty Oludeniz

I will start by saying this review is written purely to set expectations so you know what you are actually walking into. Excluding a couple of specific issues that impacted our party personally, this hotel gets a 3 star rating maximum. To put things in context, this was our 5th trip to Turkey. We love the country, but we believe the world is too big to stay in the same place twice. Sadly, compared to our previous four Turkish holidays, this one was a distinct disappointment. The Positives (Credit Where It Is Due) Evening Entertainment was genuinely good on certain nights. They clearly put a decent amount of effort into their White Party, and there were some great live music and dance performances. The Housekeeping Staff were positive. The cleaners did a fantastic job throughout our stay, keeping things as fresh and tidy as possible given the space they had to work with. The Staff Generally, Mostly lovely, hardworking people. Some of the waiting staff were particularly friendly. I always keep in mind that any staff member who seems a bit worn down has likely been beaten up by overly demanding guests all day. The Drinks were reasonable and generous for a 4 star rating, certainly better than what you would get in a similarly rated resort in the Canaries. There are multiple bars to choose from, though keep in mind you will pay for drinks after midnight. You are also free to take snacks and drinks back to your room, with handy drop off points in the corridors for plates and glasses. The Snack Bar: Hands down the culinary hero of the resort. The chefs here churned out consistently decent food with impressive efficiency. You are honestly better off eating here than in the main restaurant. Where Things Start Going Downhill The Rooms are dinky. The balconies are barely large enough for two adults to stand on at the same time without initiating an accidental, intimate embrace. Our first room in the main building overlooked the restaurant, felt quite tired, and was graced with a front row view of a roaring air conditioning unit. It was so cramped there was literally nowhere to put our suitcases without partially blocking the entrance hall. To their credit, the hotel relocated us on Day 3 to a fresher room, but it was still decidedly cozy. The aircon worked well and the blackout curtains were great, but expect a micro fridge, micro bathroom, micro TV, and micro dressing table. A bit claustrophobic, to say the least. The Pools…. Pack a back up plan. On one occasion, the main pool was shut for the entire day because someone decided to bake brownies in it. To make matters worse, the kids pool suffered the exact same fate on multiple occasions. Floating biological hazards really do ruin the holiday vibes on a hot humid day. The Grounds were average. We are used to the stunning, meticulously manicured gardens typical of Turkish resorts, but here the buildings are crammed close together, leaving very little in the way of actual nature to enjoy. The Main Restaurant food wise was more on par with a cheap stay in Western Europe, a huge step down from what we have experienced elsewhere in Turkey. Lots of filler, very little substance, and repetitive menus. Worse still was the local fly population, which clearly considered the cold buffet their personal open air resort. To top it off, for the last two days the hotel became extremely busy and felt almost over capacity. This resulted in massive dinner queues just to reach a very underwhelming outcome. Standing in line for 15 minutes for mild culinary disappointment really hits Why It Dropped Below 3 Stars for Us Unfortunately, our personal experience took a further hit due to a couple of specific incidents 1. Unresolved theft of personal property, seemingly stolen from our pool area. While I cannot definitively say whether a guest or staff member was responsible, management kept their CCTV footage very close to their chest when we asked for help. Other guests also mentioned similar thefts to us during our stay. 2. A Masterclass in Customer Service…. Approaching our way out, I asked reception how to contact the hotel photographer (who was actually a very nice guy) to retrieve photos I had already paid for. The receptionist shrugged, suggested maybe he will be back tomorrow, and casually reminded me he was a receptionist, not a photographer. Unfazed by the fact that we were soon checking out, he left me feeling obligated to give him a brief, impromptu lecture on the basic concept of accountability. So my verdict (and my opinion) Would I recommend it? Sadly no. Having stayed at plenty of other resorts across Turkey, I can safely say there are far better options out there for your money. It is an underwhelming 3 star stay at best, made worse by pool contamination, overcrowding, poor security handling, and a couple of indifferent staff members.

The best staff ever , especially Sukma ," susie Sue"and her husband Cenk ... I will return 100%... Just need a few chicken nuggets burgers pizza and hotdogs for kiddies evening meal... All staff amazing , the best staff anywhere, food amazing and service excellent, one of the best, definitely 10 stars 🌟...xxx

An honest review. But just my opinion . Hotel beautiful , staff incredible, location to main town is 30 seconds away (this could be a negative as there is a lot of noise at night). Entertainment team are fabulous. Not pushing you to do stuff all the time All the staff in the whole hotel work incredibly hard . Rooms are cleaned daily. Fridge stocked up with 1 can of coke , sprite and Fanta (just 1 of each daily) Rooms , i think, are really small , much smaller than other hotels we have stayed in. Food is ok as always in Turkey, a bit samey samey. Overall a fabulous hotel, would we return ? we very much would !

Disappointing stay. We pay a lot of money for a week, and expected the best! Food not great and often had to stand around waiting for food to be topped up. Beer was terrible, flat. This was my honeymoon and I contacted the hotel prior to going out to see what they could offer complimentary to surprise my wife. Very disappointing some dried fruit which was inedible and a small bottle of red wine which we don’t drink. It was particularly upsetting to hear that people who had a birthday whilst there for a complimentary cake and swans and hearts on their bed. I I’ll definitely not return as other hotels much cheaper which means we can go out for some meals. Sundia need to improve. Can’t fault the staff they work so hard!

We arrived to a warm welcome from lovely Hatice and Yelde on reception and Yucel an Egenen the bell boys always smiling. This being our 26th time over 29 years to what started as The Assena Beach hotel and now Sundia by Liberty Oludeniz. Our holiday was as always, excellent celebrating my 70th birthday The location is perfect for the beach and The Blue Lagoon. Shops and bars/ restaurants are in every street and it’s a no hassle atmosphere. Plenty of excursions to book locally just outside the hotel. The hotel is in a lively part of the strip and this is made clear in the brochures and travel agents, also people should read the reviews from other guests. The hotel itself is spotlessly clean, the bar/restaurant staff, cleaners and maintenance staff are constantly cleaning. Rooms are clean and tidy bedding is crisp and fresh with decorative swans and hearts with flowers. The food is beautifully presented ,tasty and plenty full. There’s plenty of choice and only repetitive if you load your plate every everything every meal time. There’s chicken, lamb beef, kebab meat meatballs etc various fish large variety of vegetables cold salads, so if you can’t make 14 different meals out of that lot there’s no satisfying people. Snacks at the pool restaurant was also excellent with large choice on the menu. Breakfast again very good with a good choice. Ummy and the animation team work tirelessly in extreme heat to entertain guests always happy and smiling. The restaurant and bar staff always happy to help, smiling and chatting. A special thanks to Sita, Sukma and J , Grace and Buska. Serdar and Ibrahim and everyone who know us. And of course Mr Bullent (GM) and the fantastic management team. We had as always a fantastic Holliday making great memories. We will see you all again soon