Arabella World Hotel

My experience at Hotel Arabella was extremely disappointing from start to finish.

The food was absolutely terrible, and the Customer Service was even worse. When you have a problem, you expect someone to listen, take responsibility and actually try to help. Unfortunately, that was not my experience at all.

I also want to give a VERY BIG WARNING about an agent called Murat from MTS.

⚠️ BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL when dealing with him or booking any excursions through him.

My experience with him was extremely negative, and I felt that I was given misleading information about the excursions. I strongly recommend that anyone considering booking a trip through him double-check EVERYTHING, ask exactly what is included, and get all details in writing before paying anything.

My advice: DO NOT BOOK ANY EXCURSION WITHOUT CHECKING EVERY DETAIL FIRST.

Personally, after my experience, I would never do business with Murat again.

Overall, Hotel Arabella was a huge disappointment. Poor food, poor customer service and a very unpleasant experience with the excursion arrangements.

Think twice before booking. I certainly would not recommend it.

Very disappointing experience – serious concerns about safety and service We stayed at this hotel for 14 days, and unfortunately, there were several things that made our stay very disappointing. The hotel has a rather unusual layout, with two separate buildings, which can be inconvenient and difficult to navigate. It is also not particularly accessible or universally designed. In the building where the buffet restaurant and main pool are located, getting an elevator is a constant struggle. At busy times, you can easily wait several minutes for an elevator, which is especially inconvenient when travelling with small children. The food was almost exactly the same every day. There was very little variety, especially when it came to protein and cold cuts/toppings. There were also many things that required additional payment, including ice cream. Considering the heat, it was particularly disappointing that drinking water was not readily available throughout the hotel. Water was mainly available by the pool, but it was always warm. Around 10–11 PM, there was no more water available. The service was also poor. When we had problems or complaints, we were repeatedly told to come back to reception the following day. When we did, we were simply given the same answer again. There was very little sense that anyone actually wanted to solve the problems. The biggest concern, however, was the pool safety. There appeared to be very few, if any, clear rules regarding children wearing swim nappies, and we saw many children swimming without appropriate swimwear. During our 14-day stay, we saw lifeguards walking around the hotel a couple of times during the first week, but we never saw one actively supervising the pool. During the second week, there was a new female lifeguard who was more frequently present around the pool. However, she also took frequent breaks away from the pool, and we often saw her standing by a wall smoking. On day 13 of our stay, a child nearly drowned in the pool. The child's mother managed to get the child out of the pool. The lifeguards came over, but appeared not to know what to do. Other guests were crying and desperately shouting for help. The lifeguard then left to get a doctor/medical staff member. Medical staff arrived slowly, but by then other hotel guests had already started performing lifesaving measures. What was particularly shocking was that both the lifeguard and the medical staff member appeared to stand by and watch while guests performed CPR and attempted to save the child's life. The child eventually regained consciousness. The medical staff member then left to find a wheelchair. This was an extremely distressing and frightening situation for everyone who witnessed it. Thankfully, the child survived, but it could have ended very differently. What was perhaps even more disappointing was the hotel's response afterwards. Nobody from the hotel came to speak to the guests who had witnessed the incident. There was no explanation, no apology and no attempt to address what had happened. The only noticeable action was that the lifeguards who had apparently been unable to handle the emergency were moved to other duties, such as working at the entrance desk. The lifeguard we had seen during the first week was placed on a chair under a parasol directly next to the pool entrance. A lifeguard should have been positioned there and actively supervising the pool throughout the day from the beginning. It is deeply concerning that it seemingly took a near-fatal accident for the hotel to take basic pool safety measures seriously. With so many children using this pool, we find this completely unacceptable and, frankly, shameful. We also had a persistent sewage smell in our room (room 2017). It took several complaints and 11 days before we were finally given another room. The hotel's attempts to solve the problem consisted mainly of pouring chlorine into the toilet and drains and spraying strong perfume onto the curtains. This did not properly solve the problem. Housekeeping was also disappointing. Cleaning appeared to be mostly superficial, with little attention to detail. There were also far too few sun loungers and parasols for a hotel of this size, and the main pool felt very small considering the number of guests. Overall, we cannot recommend this hotel. The combination of poor service, repetitive food, limited access to drinking water, inadequate cleaning, maintenance problems and, most importantly, very serious concerns about pool safety made this a very disappointing holiday.

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was a major disappointment. Although the hotel is advertised as a 4-star property, the condition of the room, bathroom, cleanliness and maintenance were far below what we expected. The biggest problem was the air conditioning, which stopped working several times a day. We reported the problem to reception multiple times, but the staff were unable to fix it properly. With high temperatures outside, this made it very difficult to relax and get a good night's sleep. The condition of the bathroom was also unacceptable. There was visible mould and fungus, rotten and damaged parts of the door frame and door, peeling plaster, and significant dirt. The ventilation fan was covered in dust, dirt and greasy deposits, as clearly shown in the photos. This suggests that it had not been properly cleaned or maintained for a long time. These were not minor cosmetic issues. They concerned basic hygiene, maintenance and the safety and comfort of guests. The mould and extremely dirty ventilation and air-conditioning elements were particularly concerning. The problems with the air conditioning were reported during our stay, but unfortunately they were not effectively resolved. I would definitely not recommend this hotel to anyone who values cleanliness, proper maintenance, working air conditioning and a genuine 4-star standard.