Aydinbey Queens Palace and Spa

Definitely not a 5 star. I have no idea how this is rated as such.

The good parts: the animation team and ground staff work really hard. An evening walk to the legends mall and watch the light show is great. The bedrooms decor is neat.

The rest…. Beds are uncomfortable, pillows are horrible- solid and the stairwells, carpets are grotty and dirty. There are mouldy mattresses stored on the stairwells?? The lifts are unclean and grubby. The smoking around the pool is prolific, sunbathers are packed in like sardines around the pool, the slides close for hours each day for some unknown reason. The pool is large and absolutely packed out constantly (as there isn’t anything else to do). It’s actually a very boring resort, no pleasant lounge, books, sports (outside of the pool) or decent lobby with entertainment. There are a couple of basic shops and the ‘nightclub’ is a room with house music and opens for 90mins at 11:30pm? Just very odd. Who this is catering for, I am unclear.

It’s too hot in the shade and not enough to do, you can’t relax here - it’s chaotic, wired and the evening noise is relentless, no air conditioned luxury lounges to sit and read in or take in any views. The chairs in the inside bars are all terribly stained, with people sat with their feet up on them on an evening and the smell of cigarette smoke permeates everywhere. The worst part is the food hall- buffet- where there are flies all over the salads and puddings at every ‘meal time’ we stuck to the basic foods which were covered over. Food is repetitive, basic and canteen style, rather than a 5 star all inclusive. The flies were evident every single meal time and therefore it’s endemic- not a one off. There is a really unpleasant smell near the kitchen in the food hall- so much so you can’t sit at that end of the room. The en-suite in one of the rooms we had has the most unpleasant smell (drains we suspect) Really very disappointed and won’t return to Turkey.
The cleaning staff are present in public areas and work hard sweeping up and washing down the pool seats each evening.

Management must address these noise, cleanliness, occupation and noise issues. The dining food needs to be in fridges and covered up at the very least. Self serve drinks for the pool and again the hygiene needs to be considered- wasps and flies all over the bottles.

Such a disappointing holiday.

So this is my honest review. I'm on day 5 of my week stay here. I'll start with the positives. The lobby is nice and clean and welcoming. The lounge bar is chilled and relaxing as is the downstairs coffee bar. Good bus service to the beach. Watersports at the beach are crazy prices. The jetski is €100 for 15 mins and the jetcar is €300 for 15 minutes. The slides by pool are good fun. The room is a good size and clean with everythingyou need. Now for the not so good bits. The rest of the hotel is fairly grubby. The corridors have rubbish left out woth plates or food left on the floor. The staircases have not been cleaned for at least the duration of our stay but I would say a few weeks or more. The main restaurant is the usual free for all chaos. Lots of food on the floor. 3 times in 5 days I have cut into my meat from the show cooking station to find it's not cooked properly. You won't go hungry but meal times are not enjoyable. The drinks are poor. Either to weak or way too strong. It's hit and miss depending on who serves you. Again not a deal breaker but just not enjoyable. We end up asking for extra mixers to adjust the strength ourselves. The pool bar has a good selection but nothing is chilled. The beer is warm so not really an option. The pool is very crowded, especially in the afternoon, although saying that today seems much quieter. The indoor pool is closed as they doing some repairs. Everyday they tell us it will be open tomorrow. But it never is. The evening entertainment is so loud. If you have a young family don't expect to get any sleep before 23:30 as the rooms do nothing to keep the noise out. You honestly struggle to here the TV over the entertainment (we use the firestick). Land of legends is great. Some big queues for a maybe 2 to 3 hours for some slides in the waterpark. Taxis are a rip off. Some ok little shops not too far from the hotel. Kadriye market on Tuesday was good and worth a visit. We used a dolmus bus which is cheap and easy. Overall I would rate it about 6 out of 10. Definitely not a 5 star hotel. It is more in keeping with a standard 3 star. I wouldn't recommend it friends or family and wouldn't return. We have made the most of it and it has not been awful. From the other guests I have spoken to, it appears to be a mixed bag. Some can't fault it and others agree with me. The main complaint from everyone is the food and drink.