Duja Didim

Great family experience. Variety of foods. Polite friendly staff. Really enjoyed the aqua park lots for kids to do. Last night at their Asian experience great food loved the dessert. Finished off my experience at the wellness spa with a lovely Hamam. 10 stars

Unfortunately, our experience at Duja Didim was extremely disappointing and, for several members of our group, completely ruined the holiday.

We travelled as a group of 12. During our stay, two members of our party became so unwell with sickness and diarrhoea that they required hospital treatment. A further three members of our group also suffered from sickness and diarrhoea, although thankfully they did not require hospitalisation. In total, 5 out of our group of 12 became ill.

I can only describe what happened to our group and cannot say what caused the illness, but having almost half of our party affected was obviously extremely concerning.

Problems started from check-in. We had booked as a group, with my mother-in-law added to the booking later, and we had all paid for sea-view rooms. Despite this, my mother-in-law was placed in a completely different building from the rest of our group and her room did not have the sea view she had paid for.

We raised this with the Jet2 representative and were advised that the error had been made by the hotel rather than Jet2. Initially the hotel disputed that my mother-in-law was entitled to a sea-view room, before eventually recognising that a mistake had been made. She was moved to the correct standard of room the following day. It was resolved, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place and was a poor start to the holiday.

Unfortunately, the food and drink experience wasn't much better. The restaurant was manic at meal times and frequently felt more like a busy airport terminal than a relaxing hotel restaurant. The food itself was below average.

Standards around some of the bar areas also left a lot to be desired. On one occasion, a piña colada was simply poured from a plastic cereal-style container in which it appeared to have been premixed. A bottle of water taken from a bar fridge had a noticeable smell of food from the bottle/fridge. We also regularly saw dirty plates and glasses left sitting around tables, including while people were still eating. Overall, some of the bar and dining areas simply did not feel particularly clean or well managed.

There were also serious safety concerns around the resort. The poolside surfaces were extremely slippery. We also witnessed bellboys driving buggies at what we considered ridiculous speeds along walkways being used by guests, including elderly people and young children. It felt unnecessarily dangerous and was something we noticed repeatedly.

However, what disappointed me most was the hotel's response on our final day.

We had a late flight home and the normal checkout was 12 noon. I explained to reception that two members of our party had only recently returned from hospital and needed to remain close to a toilet. By this point another member of our group was also very unwell with the same symptoms. Checking out at noon and spending the remainder of the day without access to a room simply wasn't realistic.

Despite explaining all of this, there appeared to be very little concern or compassion whatsoever. I was charged €45 to keep the room on.

I wasn't expecting special treatment simply because we complained, but when two of your guests have required hospital treatment and another is currently very unwell, I would expect a hotel to show some basic concern for their welfare. Instead, the attitude from reception felt completely indifferent.

We went to Duja Didim expecting an enjoyable family holiday. Instead:

• 5 of our group of 12 suffered sickness and diarrhoea
• 2 required hospital treatment
• We were initially given the wrong room despite paying for a sea view
• Food was below average and the restaurant was chaotic
• Cleanliness around some bar/dining areas was disappointing
• Poolside surfaces were extremely slippery
• Buggies were driven far too quickly around pedestrian areas
• When members of our party had been seriously unwell, we experienced very little empathy or concern from reception

I appreciate that people's experiences of a hotel can differ, and I can only review what happened during our stay. Unfortunately, based on our experience, I could not recommend Duja Didim and would certainly not return.

For a holiday involving 12 family members, what should have been a great week away instead became memorable for all the wrong reasons.