Dream Of Side

I’ve stayed in plenty of hotels all over the world—3-star hotels included—and Dream of Side is by far the worst of them all. We’ve travelled on similar budgets to places like France, Germany, Mexico, Antalya, Marmaris, Italy, Egypt, Maldives, Croatia, Crete, Zante, and Bali, and not once have we had an experience as poor as this. For the price we paid—around £3.5k for 4 adults and 1 toddler—we expected at least the basics, but sadly this hotel doesn’t even meet the lowest of standards.

I initially dismissed the bad reviews thinking people were exaggerating, but they weren’t. If anything, they were being kind. The glowing reviews are fake/paid for because they in no way reflect the reality of this place. The photos online are clearly outdated and do not show the hotel as it is now. We ended up spending a fortune eating out just to avoid the awful food provided. If you're considering this hotel—don’t. Spend a little more for a better neighbouring hotel, or better yet, go somewhere else entirely.

Positives: The cleaners are absolutely lovely and deserve credit—they do a great job.

Fantastic location with good access to nearby shops and restaurants.

Clean pool with a toddler-friendly slide and shaded baby pool.

A nice park for kids to enjoy once it cools down in the evenings.

Plenty of sunbeds and a nice beach-shame about the transfer.

Rooms are kept clean.

Surrounding restaurants are excellent (and essential to survive the stay).

Negatives: NO ICE CREAM at an all-inclusive in 40°C heat—unbelievable. Isn’t Turkey famous for its ice cream?

The beach transfer is a joke. I was stranded with a toddler in the blazing sun at 6pm and had to queue for an hour to get a 5-seater car back to the hotel, while pushy tourists cut in front of us. No staff, no organisation, no apology. Spent time on the beach feeling anxious about getting home. The bus is ancient, stinks and was always full with people standing.

The food is truly awful: Same five trays daily—chips, plain pasta, plain rice, and two random stews with questionable meat. No variety, no taste. Snacks are limited to a one-hour window and consist of soggy wafers and dry biscuits. Breakfast is no better—no croissants, poor selection, and no signage or effort.

Bar service is slow and unfriendly. Often only one bar is open with no staff present. Asking for a cocktail or omelette feels like you’re bothering them. They also get drink orders wrong.

Toilets by the pool are filthy and often out of soap or toilet paper. Dispensers don’t even work.

If your room has more than 2 people, someone will be stuck on a rock-hard sofa—not even a sofa bed. It’s like sleeping on concrete.

No lift for top floors—completely inaccessible and outdated.

Most staff are generally unfriendly, rarely smile, and make you feel like a burden. No greetings, no warmth, no service culture.

The lifeguard blows a whistle every time someone goes down the slide, which is constant and drives everyone mad. Why not just supervise from the top instead of creating a headache?

The entire hotel feels run-down and neglected, which is a shame because it could be so much better given its location.

Recommended Places (where we salvaged our trip): Side Town – charming with historical sites.

Surf Bar – fantastic live music every night.

Sky Sarfan – a proper English breakfast with great service.

Ancient Restaurant – excellent pizzas and warm, attentive staff.

Final Thoughts: Avoid at all costs. The name says "Dream of Side", but the reality is a complete nightmare. Spend a little more and protect your holiday.

This hotel should no way be called ‘Dream of Side’ we called it ‘Nightmare of Side’. I don’t usually write reviews but feel it is important to let people know the truth about this hotel as we paid a considerable amount of money for all inclusive and couldn’t eat in the hotel most nights and found eating out quite expensive on top of what we had already paid for. We arrived early hours and greeted by a non English receptionist which was very old fashioned and dated. Offering no refreshments on arrival. Went to our room for 4 people to find 3 beds made up and a hard sofa for my son to sleep on. It had no sheets, cover or pillow. We waited for the bedding to arrive which eventually it did. Our first impressions was a very run down hotel and our expectations the next day did not change.

The room - not suitable for 4 people, minimal storage, uncomfortable beds, stained covers and the smelliest bathroom, yellow mould in shower and no hot water for our 8 day stay. The shelf for bathroom bits was so wonky things fell off, towels not changed daily. Floor unclean and little room to move around. Only one card issued per room.

The food - all traditional Turkish serving about 5 dishes per day, plus salads and bread. The cakes/biscuits were tasteless and soft. A example of a dish one evening was liver so had to eat out as my family do not eat liver and were sick of pasta and vegetable dishes. I realise this is a 3 star hotel but it shouldn’t offer an all inclusive option, it is very basic canteen food. It needs to improved massively. The floors were filthy and never cleaned. The waiting staff/bar staff spoke no English and looked disinterested in the guests. There were no fans in the eating areas so was uncomfortably hot. The other guests were Turkish or Russian for our stay and we were the only English family staying here. Pool area - unclean, tables never washed Slip hazard around pool we saw at least 5 children slip over banging their heads. The lifeguard continually blew his whistle at children. Entertainment team tried their best to engage with guests but the hotel didn’t really need them there to play water polo or darts. His English was good but know one else understood us. They did have a smaller toddler pool and you could get a sun bed around the pool if the main pool was full. The pool always emptied at 12 for lunch so it was perfect for a swim at this time. A plus was the beach shuttle that ran every hour and was free with loungers and umbrellas. No food was served here but you could get cold water, juices and hot drinks. The beach man kept it clean and tidy. We feel very disappointed with our stay and would definitely not recommend this hotel to anyone. I am surprised Love Holidays are advertising this hotel as it’s not up to their usual standards.

We stayed for one week with Dream of Side in the end of June, and I enjoyed a lot this experience. There are some very negative reviews, but let's keep in mind this is a 3-star reasonable price hotel! Below you can find my detailed review:

1. Location - great location in the city center, so in the evening you can walk around, do some local shopping, visit cafes and not simply stay in the resort, as it open happens in Turkey.
2. Territory. Very cozy and green! It's very nice to sit in the garden enjoying your drink in the evening. Not very big, but enough. There is a swimming pool with a waterslide, kids pool, playground, relax zone with rocking chairs and table tennis. As for the pool - seems there might not be enough sunbeds if the hotel is fully booked, but during our stayt it was fine. The pool closes at 19, which is a bit early, would be great to have a chance to use it at least till 20.
3. Beach. It's about 6 minutes bus trip and 20 minutes on foot. We tried walking, but it was extremely hot. There are hourly transfers to the beach, the driver is very kind and nice and he goes back if there are not enough places in the bus for someone. The only disappointment is that the last transfer from the beach is 18 15, which is TOO EARLY. Would be amazing to have it around 20. The beach itself is nice, there are many sunbeds. Would be also great to have a chance to buy some drinks and snacks on the beach, for now they only offer free water.
4. Rooms. We had 2-room apartment with 2 balconies. Simple yet clean and nice, everything functioned well.
5. Food and drinks. We went on All-inclusive package. Food is simple, but fine, always enough for all guests. Local drinks are fine. I absolutely enjoyed local sweets!
6. WiFI. Free Wifi is available only in the reception and restaurant zones, for rooms they suggest paid options, but we didn't use them.
7. Staff. The hotel team really feels like family. They are very friendly and attentive! Some team members speak very limited English, but we always managed to understand each other.
8. Animation. I am not a big fan of day animation, still there was some (water polo, gymnastics). For evenings they turn on music, and on some nights you can enjoy live music or play bingo. Kids disco is organized as well. Music plays till 23 strictly, which is nice, as you can sleep well.

All in all it was a lovely experience, and I can definitely recommend the hotel for those looking for a reasonably priced place to stay in Side.