Yalihan Aspendos Hotel

Our stay at Yalihan Aspendos was unfortunately overshadowed by a serious illness that completely ruined the last two days of our holiday. From the moment we arrived, our first impression wasn’t the best. The gentleman on reception struggled to understand us (we are English) and came across as quite rude. It was very different from the warm welcomes we have received at other hotels in the past. A member of staff kindly took our suitcases to our room, which we appreciated. However, after showing us into the room, he stood there silently for around three minutes, simply staring at us without saying anything. It felt very awkward, and it seemed as though he was expecting a tip. We found this quite uncomfortable, as in our experience at other hotels, taking luggage to your room is simply part of the standard service. Before travelling, we had seen several reviews mentioning a language barrier for English-speaking guests. The hotel had replied to many of those reviews stating that all staff are trained to speak good English, but unfortunately that was not our experience. On numerous occasions in both the restaurant and the bars, staff struggled to understand what we were asking for and simply gave us what they thought we wanted. While we appreciate that English is not everyone’s first language, the hotel’s responses to previous reviews gave us different expectations. We also found that, at times, it felt as though we were treated differently because we were English. When ordering drinks from the pool bars, interactions with us often felt rushed and dismissive, whereas we regularly saw staff smiling, laughing and chatting with guests who spoke their language. It made us feel like we were a nuisance rather than valued guests. On one occasion, a blonde lady working behind the pool bar misunderstood what I had asked for, rolled her eyes at me, and then abruptly passed me over to another member of staff to deal with. It was an unpleasant experience and made me feel quite uncomfortable. One of our biggest frustrations throughout the holiday was the ridiculous “sunbed wars” around the pool. For the first four days, we didn’t even get the opportunity to sit by the pool because every sunbed had already been reserved, so we spent our time on the beach instead. While the beach was nice, we had paid for the holiday just like everyone else and wanted the chance to enjoy both the beach and the pool during our stay. After realising we had no chance of getting a sunbed at a normal time, I ended up setting my alarm for 5:45am just to secure two beds. Even then, many sunbeds already had towels on them before 6:00am. What made it even more frustrating was that many people would reserve beds early in the morning and then disappear for most of the day, sometimes only using them for around 20 minutes. This was incredibly selfish and meant other guests had no chance of finding somewhere to sit. The hotel’s own policy states that sunbeds cannot be reserved before 6:00am and that belongings left unattended for more than two hours may be removed. Unfortunately, from what we experienced, neither of these rules was enforced. We witnessed several heated arguments between guests over sunbeds, with hotel management having to step in and calm situations down. This clearly shows how much of an issue it had become, and we feel the hotel could easily improve the experience by properly enforcing its own rules. Although we spent several days on the beach instead, there was another issue there too. Around the same time each day, there was a very unpleasant sewage smell that spread across the beach area, which wasn’t particularly enjoyable when trying to relax. That being said, there were some lovely members of staff who deserve recognition. The lady who cleaned our room each day was always friendly and did an excellent job. We’d also like to give a special mention to the hotel’s on-site photographer. He was one of the only members of staff who consistently made us feel welcome, always stopping to chat with us each day. He took some beautiful photos of us and, unlike photographers at some resorts, he was never pushy when it came to selling them. He was a real credit to the hotel. Unfortunately, some other members of staff let the hotel down. There were several occasions where I smiled at cleaners or other staff members as I walked back to my room, only to be met with unpleasant looks or no acknowledgement at all, which made me feel quite uncomfortable. The biggest issue, however, was what happened towards the end of our holiday. Both my partner and I became extremely unwell with severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Our symptoms were so severe that we required medical treatment, including IV fluids at the local hospital. We were still so ill after returning home that we both had to take additional time off work to recover. During the night, while we were waiting for the nurse to arrive, we could hear other guests in nearby rooms being sick as well. Another guest also told us that his children had become ill. Since returning home, we have also come across many videos and posts on social media from other guests describing very similar experiences at this hotel, which is deeply concerning. Before we became ill, we had been enjoying our holiday, but the final two days were spent confined to our room and in hospital instead of making the most of our trip. It was heartbreaking to end what should have been a lovely holiday in such distress. We sincerely hope the hotel takes these reports seriously and carries out a thorough investigation so that future guests do not have to go through the same experience. Based on our experience, we personally would not recommend this hotel to English-speaking guests. If you’re happy staying somewhere where many staff members have limited English, it may not be an issue for you. However, communication was a recurring problem throughout our stay and it had a significant impact on our overall experience. Sadly, despite some hardworking and genuinely kind members of staff, our overall experience was extremely disappointing. We will not be returning to Yalihan Aspendos, and unfortunately we cannot recommend it.