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| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
S. Gosden from Brussels, Belgium travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
Thomas cook
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2008 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: We were a little bit worried going since we had booked via Thomas Cook, who had rated it 4*, before reading any reviews. Some of the reviews (on sites like this one) were quite bad, but it was too late to do anything but go! However, the bad reviews proved unfounded.
We have been to two other club hotels in other Turkish resorts (Bodrum and Kusadasi) and this compared very favourably. There were four of us: my wife and I plus two adult children aged 19 and 22.
The isolated location was not a real drawback though Kusadasi is better, in that Ephesus is right next door, and both Bodrum and Kusadasi are more interesting as seaside resorts than Didim/Atinkum. We took the Dolmus to Atinkum once but didn’t think much of it. In the process we passed Apollo’s temple and decided that the view from the Dolmus was quite enough and the site did not merit a return visit!
What we really liked was the fact that there was plenty of space (perhaps because of the relatively late time in the holiday season and the fact that Ramadan had just begun). We found a jetty over the sea and lay there most mornings and late afternoons; it was quiet and not overcrowded. I also tried a sun bed on the grass one day but was severely bitten (without realising until later) so, if insects like you, do take repellent and anti-itch cream. You can get a good lemon/citronelle repellent locally which is not expensive, works and smells good. After clearing up the bites I had a great time – always applying repellent over the sun cream (the sun can be quite fierce!). We also liked the sea breeze.
We knew what to expect in terms of food and were not disappointed. There was a good variety and plenty of interesting salads as well as “hot” food, which, it is true, was not very hot. But then with temperatures over 30°C we were not after very hot food, so warm was OK for us. There was a chef cooking a “special” each evening which added to the variety. Saturday was “Turkish evening” and there were women in Turkish costume cooking filled (meat or cheese) “Turkish pancakes” on a heated dome. This was interesting to watch as one rolled out the dough while the other did the cooking, and also good to eat!
The lack of evening entertainment did not bother us, but I can see that it could be a problem for some; we played cards together instead! The only English channel on the television was France24 (ironically!), but since we don’t have TV at home this was not a great lack, though one good English channel with films or series would have been appreciated.
The room was bigger than necessary for two people and in excellent condition (as was the whole hotel except for the fitness centre – see below). The floor was tiled, which might be why some reviewers have called the room “spartan”, but in this climate tiles are much better than fitted carpet. The only slight drawbacks to the room were a slightly broken shower head holder (but quite usable) and no shower gel (either separate or in a dispenser). Since the soap was in a dispenser by the basin it would have been difficult to use it in the shower. Fortunately we had brought our own shower gel. We pushed the two twin beds together and after a couple of days the maids started to make it up as a double bed, which was a nice touch even if they used a single sheet sideways to do it! (Again, the heat meant this was not a problem.) By the way, the room’s individual air conditioning worked well.
All the staff were very friendly without overdoing it and made our stay a pleasure. It is true (as others have written) that some guests heaped plates with food and then left some of it, but we’ve seen that before and regret, but ignore, it. I’m not sure it was restricted to a particular nationality however. What was missing in the dining area was any non-smoking section. In Kusadasi there was a separate room for non-smokers which was very nice, but here there was nothing. However, with the hotel not being full we could usually avoid the smoke.
Very few negative points overall. The only major deficiency was in the indoor fitness centre where the only working equipment was one treadmill. The two exercise cycles could not be adjusted and one was completely broken and the other treadmill did not have any power cable. The weights machine was also defective and the room lacked air conditioning so was extremely hot. However, there was a lovely outdoor fitness area with machines that use your own body weight to help you exercise, so this compensated to some extent for the poor indoor room. The archery listed by Thomas Cook, was not available (we asked) though clearly had been at some point as we saw a couple of targets.
On our last day, the coach was only coming for us at 4:40 and so, with normal checkout at 12:00, we paid a very reasonable 30YTL (about 20 euros or 14-15 pounds) to keep one of our two rooms until 4pm, so we could be cool, shower etc.
I guess we can conclude that if a major tour operator rates a hotel as 4* then it probably is at least close to that.
We would go again!
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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Joe Smith from Aberdeen travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
Goldtrail
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2008 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: I can’t believe what I am reading about this place. I don’t even know where to begin explaining the extent of the disappointment I felt from my week away with my girlfriend at the “5 Star” all inclusive that is Club Tarhan.
Let me get out of the way first of all what I thought was good about it. The weather was amazing every single day. The sun was relentless and the sunsets were stunning. The coke you got served at the “free bar” was cold, refreshing and not watered down to my surprise although served in those little cups that could be mistaken for shot glasses. The beer was also quite nice although once again, when they ran out of ¾ pint glasses, you were then also given the wee plastic cups which meant more than anything, you just got bored walking to the bar every 5 minutes and so didn’t make use of what you paid for half as much. That’s about all I can say of what was good about Club Tarhan.
Altikun itself, was every bit the tacky tourist destination I had hoped it wouldn’t be (bars and restaurants catered for moronic bald headed tourists who like to see pictures of the meals before they choose them and want to watch the premiership or Only Fools and Horses reruns in the background while they do it). The bus service from Tarhan to the town centre was without doubt the best thing about the whole region, running every 5 minutes until 3am at a low cost.
So back to Club Tarhan. The name certainly fills you with expectation, but sadly that is as good as it gets. First of all, let me say that as a young couple, when we were told that it was a “couples friendly resort”, to arrive and see what can only be described as a minature water park with an army of infants, was rather alarming. If I had a pound for every couple (without children) that I spotted, I would have just about been able to buy a Jack Daniels and Coke at the bar, which is needless to say, I’d have spotted a total of 8 couples.
So the realisation that any relaxing dip in the pool was not going to happen was made clear early doors and although there was one pool which was more dedicated to attracting children, the rude and selfish clientel of the resort certainly had no intention of baring this in mind for people like me.
The reception area looks really nice and they certainly did it up nice for the picture you see, but this is all a clever ploy to make you think you are in fact getting 5 star quality. The standard of the rooms was more like 2-3 star and although we had a balcony that was big enough for a game of football, they didn’t think it would be an idea to stick a sun lounger or as much as a chair on it to make it worth sitting on. There was a fridge full of ridiculously over priced drinks and air conditioning which was fine, but the TV barely worked and of what did, was only in German.
For me though, the amazing display of human nature to take as much as you can get when its going was what made me and my partner feel particularly alienated in this massive resort. We didn’t hit the pool until 10-11am, but the one couple we did befriend, advised us that even as early as 8am you would not be able to find a sun lounger anywhere. If for a second it seemed that they were all taken up by people who actually used them, that would have been easier to take, but watching rude families stick their towels over up to 8 sun beds only to in fact only need 4, was aggravating to say the least. And that was to say that at least families like this were actually there that day in the sun. Many other families were even more bafflingly rude as to go down, reserve their loungers with towels and then go off into town for the day never actually using them at all. So spending the first 20 minutes of every day anxious that we would not even get a seat somewhere was not fun and it didn’t make you feel any more love for the fellow tourists we had quietly hoped might be worth knowing.
But it was the cuisine that really ruined the holiday for us. Three restaurants on site and the only one that was part of the all inclusive that we had paid for was, surprise surprise, the all you can eat buffet. The first morning we went down to lunch I was almost physically sick at looking in troughs of what looked like bad Turkish school dinners, being pumped out like we were in base camp in Desert Storm. And when you saw one side of the table which had a choice of 4 rank meals, you then had hope that when you walked round the other side it would be a different 4 which might mean by sheer numbers you would find something that suited you, but instead you found the same slop displayed there.
All the side sauces and dishes were funny colours and were never labelled so you never wanted to take any of them cause you just didn’t know what you were getting. The bread was the only thing that was truly fresh and in true all you can eat style, every person took so much that it was almost gone anyway. And the puddings were the worst. By far and they didn’t even look real. The red wine was chilled which is always a tell tale sign of a truly classy place, the white wine was vile and the beer seemed to go down hill throughout the day.
I will say the service around the tables was not bad and ironically, although it seems most people would disagree with all my points from what I have read, a lot of people seem to have a gripe about the service of the staff in general when I felt on the whole, it was the one thing that was fairly consistently ok over the whole week. I do remember when we checked out though, it was like I was returning my hired bowling shoes at the alley and there was no, “so did you enjoy your staff folks?” to make you feel they really cared. At the end of the day, unless you were one of the many Turkish guests, they know you won’t be back.
But the meals were almost the same morning, noon and night. The only differences ever really were that meat dishes changed marginally each day but were equally bland or disgusting and more than anything, off putting by sight. I thought it was a particularly nice touch that at breakfast if you wanted orange juice, you actually had to pay for it. For me, that alone told me all I needed to know about Club Tarhan and what kind of operation they were running. That and that for breakfast you could have as many omelletes as you wanted, but there was not a shred of other protein in sight other than some tinned salami which they disguised by putting on a tray.
The facilities around the complex were very average and anything that was remotely appealing you had to pay for. And they were taking advantage of getting you with whatever was not on the all inclusive deal with interest. Anything from £8 to £13 for a drink after the stroke of 11 at night and a convenience store which charged about £3 for a Twix, £4 for a bottle of coke and God forbid if you needed to buy emergency sun cram, it would have stung you for about £30. I guess however, in comparison to Bodrum airport where they were charging £5 for a can of coke and £13 for the worst burger and chips you have ever had, this doesn’t seem quite such a rip off eh?
Over all, it was just disappointment after disappointment and I just had a bad taste in my mouth from the fact I felt the hotel were just out to make stupid money off you in any area where they could say, “sorry that’s not on the all inclusive” and it just made me angry.
The “private beach” was so dirty and void of all entertainment that I didn’t venture on to it once the whole week. Considering it was 30 yards from the pool that is quite a statement, but in the end, the food was the worst thing about the whole week. When eating becomes such a chore, not only do you realise how much you take for granted good food, but you just feel like you are not on holiday at all.
The other tourists were not friendly at all. About 50% were Turkish, 20% were British and the rest were French or Dutch. On the last day when I went to hand out my lylo to a couple for free as we couldn’t take it with us, the surprise on this woman’s face said it all about how out of the norm this kind of friendliness really was.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone and feel that baring families who have a million kids who wouldn’t care if they were served plastic for dinner as long as there was slides to play on, or unless you are couples who have no expectations what so ever, you are likely to come away from Club Tarhan very disappointed.
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timbon from folkestone travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
holiday click
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: What a disaster holiday! It was booked as a 5 star AI but turned out to be a barely 3 star self catering because we ate out most of the time due to poor, cold food.
The staff wre apathetic at best apart from one member of the bar staff. We asked to be moved after the first 12 hours but had to suffer the whole week. Thank god we had been to Turkey before or this experience would have put us off ever returning to Turkey.
Advice to anybody even considering a bargain holiday at Tarhan, dont bother, it is depressing!!!
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lindsey from brighton travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
goldtrail
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: we stayed all inclusive in club tarhan.
the hotel is very clean and the cleaner comes every day if you do not want the cleaner ( as we didnt one day)just leave the do not disturb door hanger. when we saw the lady cleaner later on that same day she asked us if we needed clean towels ( they leave clean towels when cleaning) and brought us some around. the hotel food is pretty basic with the same meal served for lunch and dinner. one or two nights where really nice though.( chicken kebab meat with salad and chips)
some people complained that the eggs werent cooked properly but i had omelette every day for brekkie and apart from the gooey bit where the cheese had melted they were lovely. the hotel is quite away from anything else but a 30 min ride on the bus for 1.50 lira takes you to altinkum which is where you will find all the normal holiday attractions, entertainment is poor in the hotel but i recommend valentines in altinkum for good food drink and entertainment. hotel staff are friendly and they make a big fuss over children (which my daughter whos 5 didnt like) i would go back again because the hotel is fantastic looking and is very clean and friendly.
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HELEN/MICK from CLEETHORPES travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
GOLDTRAIL TRAVEL
on a singles holiday.
There were 3 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just arrived back from Club Tarhan We booked the holiday as a 5* A/I but dont be fooled it is more a 3*.When i booked the holiday i stated i needed some where that was flat,there were ramps that were very steep,and countless steps.I requested a wheelchair for a friend it was a nightmare to push and should be condemed.No one cared, all the reps,and the staff were not interested in trying to get a replacement.The food was always only luke warm,and alcholic drinks very limited.For what i paid i feel very annoyed drinks had to be paid for after 11pm this is the first time this has happened to us, A/L in the past has meant all drinks were free no matter what time of day.Swimmings were great, and the weather was good but after that i can't give a good report.
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Rebecca Long from Sheffield travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
Thomas Cook
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said:
Club Tarhan looked fantastic in the brochure (how dissapointing!) Had i known it was a fully inclusive Hotel in the middle of no where i wouldn't have gone.
Firstly the cleanliness of the Hotel was to standard,the food was the same everyday and didn't cater for kids.Didn't find the staff over friendly,couldn't help thinking there was an atmosphere.
To top our Holiday off the entertainment it was extremely poor! This was important to me and my Daughter aged 6 we were looking forward to letteing our hair down and having a laugh.Unfortunatley this didn't happen!
Childrens disco lasted approx 30 mins the same 5 songs for 7 nights,adults was entertained by members of staff (well you can imagine!)
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maureen from inverness travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
travel lite
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: very disapointing definetly not 5star more like 3star staff not friendly except only 2 waiters ali and ozan who were great.food was awful same food every day for 2 weeks mainly salads and pasta. when there was meant to be cooked food it was always cold and not cooked properly.lots of complaints.snack bar just as bad spagetti and pizza every day and only one small ice cream per person. mini bar was so exspensive. entertainment was very poor both for adults and children. this hotel was a real let down would definetly not recomend it. there is lots of 5star hotels in turkey that are far superior than this. just glad this wasnt our first trip to turkey at a 5star all inclusive hotel as if it was its enough to put you .
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Family from Unknown travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
Thomas cook
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Have just returned from this hotel which is only the second time we have experienced all inclusive.
We have quite mixed feelings concerning this hotel in that we did read previously that it's location was slightly remote. We, however found it very remote/middle of nowhere.
We found most of the reception staff efficient though slightly aloof. The waiters in general were very friendly, though on our second day our 15 month old baby managed to break 2 plates (no baby plastics)and 1 pepper pot, and as a result was given a telling off by a very miserable waiter.
The snack bar was a complete waste of time as it took half an hour to get our order taken (miserable waiter)and with 3 hungry kids, an hour to get pizza and chips wasn't our idea of fun.
Wasn't allowed in any pools one day as some sand had blown in. (It took some angry people to get the baby pool open).
Only ate in the buffet style canteen after the 1 snack bar visit, which we found okay, though was the same food just about every day. Fresh orange juice was charged extra for (about £1.50)and the only other still alternative available other than water was a juice concoction which stained everything it touched (faces, clothes, tables and floors).
Kids were devastated to find no ice creams available (not even for sale) other than between 5 and 6. Which to most people is no good just before going to eat your evening meal.
Touch the mini bar in your room at your peril as they get you for it on your check out tab. Drinks after 11 are charged at an extortionate rate,and if you try to get a few in before the deadline all the bar staff seem to disappear from view.
The children entertainers tried quite hard to get the kids involved but most didn't like how they went about it as they were quite forceful.(taking the kids hands and walking off with them).
The tunnel slide which looks fantastic on the pics was only slippy on the second half of the chute due to extreme wear and tear and a lack of lubricating water.
As we booked it last minute we were quite grateful to get in anywhere, and at slightly over a thousand pounds for a week for 5 people we were not too disappointed.
All in all we got what we paid for but not quite what we expected.
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Tina from Sittingbourne travelled to Club Tarhan Hotel with
Holiday Click
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 | rated the Club Tarhan Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We booked this hotel as a late deal via teletext and we were a bit worried as we got it so cheap. We had never been to Turkey before so it was all new to us.
We flew with Onur Air who are the Turkish equivalent to Easy Jet, the planes are like USA coach flights with two rows and an aisle. There are 3 seats in a row which was good as there were only 3 of us travelling. There was a bit of confusion at Gatwick, we checked in at point D, but they were checking in two flights from the same desk and only had one check in clerk, but it was all good. As the plane was not big you felt the turbulence a little more than you normally would, and being that Bodrum airport is in between two mountains it can get a little bumpy. The flight crew were not very talkative, you boarded, took of and within half an hour they were feeding you, the food is traditional Turkish food, usually lamb with rice and Turkish rice pudding, it was edible but not to everyones liking.
We landed at Bodrum in the early hours and there was a huge queue for the visa desk, so might be worth getting your visa before hand. We collected our luggage, and made our way to our coach ready for our 1.5hr ride to the hotel, it was very dark which in some ways was a good thing.
It was very very cold when we landed which surprised me a little as I thought it would be warmer than it was, it was a mere 8deg in Bodrum and dropped down to 6deg when we arrived at our hotel. We arrived at the resort at 6.15am we were all very tired.
The hotel looked lavish as you entered, all marble flooring and stairs. We checked in very quickly, the gave us our own wristbands to put on, and took our passports, they stuck stickers on our cases and we made our way to our room.
The hotel is very well laid out, the little villas were ample for us although several people were complaining there was not enough room. I personally really liked them. I have to say this is by far one of the cleanest hotels I have ever stayed at but that could be because it had only opened for the season some 2 days earlier. They usually open on the 1st May and this year they decided to open on 1st April to see how it went. There were 75 people at the hotel including ourselves but by the end of the week there were 150.
There is a property company based at the hotel and they have a lot of English couples there viewing properties locally in Altinkum.
They have several restaurants at the hotel which all open at different times, not all the restaurants were open when we stayed. The food in the main buffet was ok, be sure to check that the BBQ food is cooked through as on several occasions we found our poultry still pink. The rice is very good, and my husband loved the desserts but they were a little too sweet for me. One thing I will say is that Turkish bread is the best bread I have ever eaten and the soup at the hotel was very nice too. The buffet is outside so I often found the food cold but as I said earlier it was very cold that time of year so it would probably be better in the warmer months. The buffet didn't seem to cater much for children. There is the Sunset Snack bar which opens at 11am they serve the best cheese pitta bread ever, they also serve, burgers, fries, freshly made to order pizza etc. They also serve snacks and ice cream at the lobby bar around 4pm. The lobby bar closes for all inclusive at 11pm, so it is worth loading up with drinks before this time. The reception clocks are set 5 minutes fast so go by those times when looking at the bar time.
The hotel is actually in Didim, there are two little stores outside the hotel, and the dolmus stops at the top of the road every 15 minutes.
The hotel has its own private beach, which i should imagine is lovely in peak season. There are plenty of loungers around the resort and there is always somewhere for you to relax. I really liked the layout of the hotel but I am not sure I would like it in peak season when it is full. We found the staff a little unfriendly, especially at reception, but at the same time I think this is just the Turkish way they are not rude just not very good at English.
There is a small shop at hotel everything in price up in Euros and is doubled to convert to YTL. It is very expensive in the shop so be warned. The Hotel has a photographer. This is well worth a visit, we did a photo shoot while we were there and were over the moon with out pictures. You can check them out via the link in my CLUB TARHAN topic in Turkey forum. The photographers Alit and Aaron were very friendly and spoke excellent English. They do have an entertainments team and bless them they do try to get people to take part, but it was hard as there were not a lot of people at the hotel.
There are plenty of things to do at the hotel but most incur a charge, billiards is 4YTL for half an hour and 8YTL for an hour. You are issued with a card when you check in which you use around the hotel for paying for things you can pay if off daily or at the end of your visit its up to you.
Note the mini bar is very expensive we didn't use our card at all while we were there but many others did and were shocked when they got their bills.
There is a Turkish Bath at the hotel, the lady there is very persistent and it is rather expensive, if you see the Travel Lite rep they do an excursion to a local bath for £10.
Its fair to note there are several resident cats at the hotel and they freely roam the restaurant. Also note the indoor pool is very nice but they were using a lot of chlorine and it tended to dry out our skin. Have to note that the TV is not very good it has a lot of German/French but only BBC news for the English guests. One thing I didn't know is that you are not meant to throw tissue down the toilet you were meant to put it in the bin, but to be honest no one did this.
We went on a few excursions which were nice, I highly recommend Ephesus trip. All in all if I ever go back to Turkey I would go there again, but only in the warmer months.
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