- Turkey Holidays
- Didim
- Laur Hotels Experience and Elegance
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Laur Hotels Experience and Elegance
Turkey, Europe
Didim
Enjoying a great location above the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea and next to 3rd Beach in the popular resort of Altinkum, this extended hotel offers 385 spacious rooms and an impressive range of facilities to suit even the most discerning traveller, including an outdoor swimming pool, a spa area and a gym. The property features several restaurants and bars and offers numerous activities and sports for guests of all ages. The centre of the resort is approximately a 20-minute walk and guests can find numerous restaurants and café bars closeby. Public transport runs in front of the hotel providing easy access to the resort centre and local places of interest such as the magnificent Apollo Temple, situated just 5km away.
Facilities
- Darts
- Tennis
- Billiards
- Volleyball
- Beauty salon*
- Spa treatments*
- Massage*
- Steam bath
- Sauna
- TV lounge
- Please note some facilities may incur an additional fee
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.5 Excellent1,868 reviews
Excellent
81%
Very Good
7%
Average
5%
Poor
3%
Terrible
4%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Elegance in name only, definitely an experience
In summary, avoid this hotel. It may have 'elegance' in it's name but there was very little on show during our stay. It's not clear who this resort of catering to and in an effort to try and please everyone, it misses the spot. It is marketed as a 5-star hotel but is far from it.
After arriving in the early hours of the morning, we were checked in with very little enthusiasm or information, which set the scene for our stay. We were given most of our information by the very keen luggage porter.
The room we were allocated was shabby, with peeling wallpaper, wonky toilet roll holder, gaps around the flush fitting & loose toilet seat that wasn't fixed throughout our stay. The room itself was not adequate for a family of four. While the main bedroom was spacious, the children slept in beds that were too small for the size of the beds, making it difficult to get to the balcony and for them to use the wardrobes. In addition, it offered them no privacy as we had to walk through it to get to the bathroom. Rather bizarrely, despite being a family of 2 adults and 2 children it proved difficult to get 4 bath towels (we were only ever allocated 3) and my wife had to keep asking a maid in the corridor for an extra one. Come on, Laur Hotels - this isn't difficult.
Other reviews have mentioned the sunbeds, which is the same in most other resorts. Who goes on holiday to get up at 6am to 'reserve' a sunbed? The hotel asks guests not do this but does not carry out any enforcement, so what is the point in having this rule? In other hotels, we have been able to snaffle one or two sunbeds/loungers after breakfast but here there was no chance of anything after 8am. Clearly more guests than sunbeds.
There is music by the pool but, like the food (see below), it is repetitive and doesn't change. It is also loud making it difficult to listen to your own playlist, listen to a podcast or read a book. And, if you fancy some peace and quiet at the Beach bar/Poseidon bar, good luck after lunch when as DJ turns up to play 'tunes' that are far too loud and spoils the ambience. We booked an infinity pool cabana one day and were caught in the middle of the pool music and beach DJ, meaning you couldn't focus on either! If any of the management team walked around the resort, they would witness this for themselves but we didn't see anyone.
For an all-inclusive restaurant, the food left a lot to be desired. It was bland and repetitive with little variety. We holidayed in Türkiye last year and most nights were themed, with the Türkiye-themed night the most celebrated. Here, it was the same stewed and stodgy dishes for lunch and dinner (in a country as hot as Türkiye?), and even these dishes weren't always kept warm. Breakfast was better, although the diced potatoes were cold and hard in the middle suggesting they were under-cooked. The hot grill insisted in churning out fried eggs and omelettes - even when there were no guests - meaning they ended up uneaten and wasted because who wants cold and rubbery eggs? Surely the answer here is to cook on demand, so guests get hot food (with omelette fillings of their choice, maybe) and the hotel reduces waste.
Given the length of our stay we were able to book the Turkish and Italian a la carte restaurants. The Turkish a la carte was excellent, with tasty dishes and a well-cooked main course of chicken and lamb in flatbread with a side of rice/cous cous. However, the Italian was a disappointment - watery soup, under-cooked garlic bread, 'pizza' that was covered in bland barely melted cheese; the main course wasn't much better, with COLD mash and creamed spinach served as an accompaniment to a cut of meat that was supposed to be steak but tasted like a slice of stewing beef. This summed up the holiday, where everything gave the impression of being done in a half-hearted manner.
Some of the staff we interacted with really tried their best but you got the impression there was a lack of motivation and proactivity. A handful of bar staff are friendly and appreciated my basic Turkish to say 'please' and 'thank you'. There was a lady in the 24hour lobby bar (afternoon-early evening) and a young chap at the pool bar who were always smiling and helpful.
Review by Greg F London, United Kingdom
Horrible front desk
The front desk is very rude and was letting Turkish people go infront of us in the queue his name was berke
I'm not sure if this is a 5-star hotel...
I don't know how old this hotel is, but it's clearly a bit rundown. The rooms aren't exactly up to par. The air conditioning isn't entirely efficient, you could say it's almost nonexistent. The windows are dirty and leaky. The food is okay.
Well worth it
We looked at quite a few hotels before we decided on the Laur Hotel. It had mixed reviews online but we loved it. We stayed in the larger part of the hotel on the 7th floor. Lifts were always free and it was nice to be able to look out of the lift and see the pool and the sea from the hotel. Room We stayed in a family room. There were some bits of wallpaper which were peeling off and some bits looked a bit tired but we didn't spend much time in the room anyways. Only other improvement would be more space to hang clothes. We only had one wardrobe between 2 adults and 2 children so we just loved our if the suitcases mostly. Huge TVs in both our room and the kids alcove bit with netflix , Disney , prime etc etc. just sign into your account. Hotel WiFi worked really well too. We had a massive balcony as we were on the corner plot which we loved too.
Pool and beach I saw lots of people had written in reviews moaning about having to put towels down early. I went down and put towels down just before breakfast around 745/8 each day and there were no issues at all. There are plenty of spaces. The beach doesn't get as busy as the pool. The beach is sandy and the water is shallow which is Greta for kids. We didn't go along the pier bit with the cabanas as we didn't feel the need. Music is played by the pool and beach which some times got a bit repetitive like it was one playlist on repeat. Some might not enjoy it but it was ok for us. The main pool is one depth all along and is great for kids so we just stuck to that one. The slides round the side were an added bonus and the kids loved them although it got quite busy at times.
Entertainment We watched the Mongolian circus show which was amazing. Really enjoyed it. The amphitheatre is a nice touch and we watched a few shows which normally start around 9 or 10pm after the kids disco. The animation team are all lovely and aren't pushy . They all speak English despite what some people moaned about.
Food and drink Breakfast was nice . The usual stuff available plus pancakes and loads of fresh salad and fruit and pastries. Lunch we are once in the Turkish restaurant and had burgers Couple times in the pizza place which was lovely. The main restaurant gets a bit repetitive if you go there for lunch and dinner which is why lunchtime we ate elsewhere normally. Dinner we ate at the main restaurant apart from one night at the Turkish place and one night we went into the local town. Food at dinner is ok. It was a bit confusing as not much was actually labelled so it's a bit of a lucky dip. It would be nice if there was more use of the BBQ area rather than just for pide and grilled fish. Snacks we had waffles 5-7pm by the beach bar , ice cream at the same place. The beach bar does stuffed bread things with veg or potatoes in them which were ok. The hotdogs from the snack bar were nice but the buns a bit stale. Bars We used the pool bar the most and the two young guys working there were great. Always friendly and made us off menu cocktails to try. The drinks were lovely although they did run out of ice s couple times. The bar has proper pepsi and 7 up which is a bonus. The lounge bar was ok too but got very busy. Iced coffees were available at times too. The beach bar was my favourite for an evening drink. We didn't use the spa or the gym as it's not really our thing but we had a shower there after we checked out and before our flight home and it looked nice.
Lots of people.were.complaining in reviews that staff don't speak English. The majority of them do but just ask yourself how much Turkish do you speak?! Give them a break. Some of them speak English , Czech , polish , russian and other languages too.
The only thing I didn't really like was the photographers constantly wandering around. It became a bit intrusive at times and I didn't like when they brought out a random guy in a spiderman costume with a macaw parrot that looked worse for wear to take photos with.
Overall it was a lovely week and the staff were friendly. Well worth a visit.
We went in a boat trip from didim which we booked via Facebook which was good, visited a few different bays , lunch was included but you paid for drinks. It was about 6/7 euros for a beer but not bad.
Shopping wise don't bother with didim market. The local night market is about 10 minutes away and is literally half the price of didim.
Review by SoloDad83 Maidstone, United Kingdom
Change hotels - do not go here
We are here now and the hotel is terrible. Day 2 and tried to get hold of on the beach who we booked through but no luck. If we’d have got through to them we’d have changed hotels. Asked the rep. No help either. Hotel is 3 star at a push. Food is disgusting. Same for lunch and dinner. Lots around the hotel which is an extra charge even though you are all inclusive including the mini bar in the room. We have been to turkey many times and this is beyond disappointing. We would never go back. If you are English it’s even worse as no one speaks English and they don’t even attempt too. Do not go here. Change hotels. Don’t risk it.
Review by Roam53271362686 Kent, United Kingdom
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