Заметки из отпуска о Бодруме и отеле Holiday notes about Bodrum and the hotel

Bought "burning" tours for 7 days / 8 nights, 2 adults. We went with TurTez, UIA charter on Tuesdays and Fridays. I’ll write right away that we ordered a regular double room with a garden view. Met in Turkey girls from TurTeza, distributed by bus. A big plus is that the airport in Bodrum is close to the city itself, 30 min. ride. On the way to the hotel, the girl-guide Christina told a little about the resort, gave information about the hotel guide TourTes, and of course excursions. A big bias on their programs and excursions, which are 1.5-2 times more than others. We took one - a walk on a yacht. But more on that later.
It was somehow intriguing that only my husband and I were in this hotel, and the driver didn’t really know exactly where our hotel was, circled around the city a bit and didn’t drive up to the hotel itself, with the words “I won’t turn around there”, please go on foot. Oh well, go down the hill, 300m. We went into the hotel lobby, at the reception, the staff is not smiling, the ceiling is leaking,
but the floor is clean. The most "interesting" thing began after - they gave a room, but there the refrigerator does not work, there is dirt on the balcony from whitewashing. We ask for another, they gave another, the sink is clogged there. We are already “smiling” and asking for another number and come with us to watch. They already took two keys (two rooms) and the three of us went with the hotel administrator - the third room did not open, the fourth - the water was barely flowing from the shower, the room itself was dirty. On the bulletin board, they found the phone number of the responsible girl from TurTez for this hotel - Lena. We call her and ask her to resolve the issue. She says that there are always problems with this hotel and the company will no longer send tourists here (like this makes us better) not with great desire to visit us at all. We are negotiating with her, then we hand over the phone to the chief administrator. We are in shock, we ask for a number so that everything works and is cleaned, because we are already tired of walking, we are terribly nervous.

They took two more keys and also went to the bride with the girl. Already began to show good rooms with sea views. But then they said that you need to pay extra for 10 at. e. for each night. Naturally, we refused, we realized that people just want to earn extra money, and we just demanded our usual normal number. Well, for the seventh run, we were lucky No. 711. Everything is cleaned, it works, although the toilet bowl wobbles a little  . The room has air conditioning, a small TV (not plasma), a refrigerator, a balcony, a wardrobe, a shower / WC, a hairdryer, a washbasin. None of the staff apologized. Well, okay, what to expect from the Turks. This is not Europe. Then they already found out that they did the same with Russian tourists. Although the hotel was practically empty, I counted only about 50 people at dinner. On the second day, the girl came to guide the hotel, the same Lena. We complained to her and told her in detail about the settlement. She wrote down what and how. Then she quickly switched to excursions, for which she actually came.
She gave us one sea tour of the bays for 50 USD. e. /1 pers. - all inclusive. She, however, tried as much as possible, but we flatly refused. The motivation is that we are insured, that they are responsible for everything and that all the tourists on the boat are ours. Then in the city we found the same tour at half the price. About the tour - we stopped on time, sending from Gumbet. Tourists really, all of us. Gathered three groups and three guides with them. About 70 people in total. As they later asked, these guides are young students, about 20 years old, Ukrainians. They work and practice like this in Turkey. They didn’t really tell anything, followed the tourists (but everything was cultural) and explained where the stop was. Of course, this excursion is not worth the money, even with all inclusive. Brewery, wine - sour, there were local cola, sprite, water. Lunch - chicken, vermicelli and potatoes + salad. My husband was left hungry, they took bread (well, at least he had plenty) and chewed, and did not feed the fish.
Basically,
as I understand it, 80% of the Turks rest in the Mavi Kumsal hotel, 10% are Europeans, the rest are Russians and Ukrainians. Hotel with two meals a day (morning-evening). The food is different, from Turkish salads to fried potatoes, vermicelli, fried fish, kebabs, chicken, and in the morning scrambled eggs or pancakes (which is what we ate the most). We are not very picky eaters, so we were not hungry. Although when compared with other hotels in Turkey, the food is rather poor. And yet, (! ) of the drinks that were included in the price were: in the morning tea, coffee, water, and in the evening only ordinary cold water. They save terribly. The prices in the restaurant are crazy - beer 0.33l costs 8 lira, and in the bar of the room - 5.

Now about something more pleasant - a large pool with umbrellas and sun loungers, the sea is clean, although the bottom is stone (down the stairs), it is not very hot. Since there were very few people, there was no queue for sunbeds. The sandy beach was in the neighboring hotel Aska, 5 * (20m). There are guards constantly grazing the territory,
they are not allowed to sit on their sunbeds, but you can swim there. There are also 2 bars with expensive drinks, fitness equipment.
If you leave the hotel and go to the right up 100 meters you can see the market, there is beer and water and sweets, which is cheaper than in the hotel and in the room in the refrigerator. And if you go uphill 300m. you get to the main road (where we were dropped off on the first day), there for 2.5 lira / 1 person. you can take an orange minibus to the center of the city of Bodrum itself (if you go to the right) or to the Gumbet area (if to the left). You can also walk, 30 minutes to go down there, and back up the hill (mountainous terrain). It was hard for me somehow, and hot. And, also near the hotel on the beach there is a pier, where boats go to the center of Bodrum every 20-30 minutes, though more expensive than 5 lira / 1 person. We mostly went to the city for lunch, walked and dined in cafes. The town itself is not big, clean, with a huge number of yachts on the shore. I advise you to change money in banks, but do not be alarmed if there is a queue.
Nearby there is another bank with the same (or better) rate, but without a queue at all. Paradox. And the system in banks is such that you first need to take a sheet with the number in the queue in the machine (it is in the middle of the bank) and wait to look at the scoreboard when your number comes up (like we have in CSS). And also courses are not posted anywhere. You can find out the course directly from the operator, standing in line. But in principle it is the same everywhere. In the city, in the center, we found a shop and a fruit market. Souvenirs are better to buy not on the main street (expensive), but on the adjacent ones. Also bargain until the last. Although somehow the Turks have not become very accommodating and the prices are not small. Maybe because most vacationers are 90% Europeans, but they don't care. On average, beer is 5 liras, pizza is 10-15 liras, a hamburger with fries is 6-10 liras, fried fish with salad and potatoes is 20 liras. Portions are normal.

In general, rested not quite terribly,
even not bad (with the exception of some moments with the settlement) if you adapt to the terrain. My conclusion is the Mavi Kumsal hotel for a quiet and relaxing holiday (there is no animation) and good nerves.