Твердая четверка Solid four

Everything is relative. If you have been in Turkey in hotels of the Amara, Rixios, Crystal chains and the like, then you can safely classify Marco Polo as 4 *. I got into "Marco Polo" by chance - on the recommendations of friends and in a travel agency. In general, the hotel is not bad: the territory is large and well-groomed, the number of rooms was renovated in 2011, the food was quite normal (true monotonous, but tasty), the pools are clean and large. A club-type hotel, there is no classic main building - only a "bungalow". That is, the entrance to the rooms immediately "from the street" - there are no corridors (I explain for those who have not been to strawberries). The contingent of tourists in the hotel is mostly Russians and Ukrainians, many Poles and Scandinavians (mostly Norwegians and Swedes), but “our brother” is the bulk. It is under the Russian-speaking that animation is completely sharpened. The lobby is very small - literally three sofas with two armchairs and three tables. Because of this, there is nowhere to sit down in the evening - it is full of people.
The entire lobby is considered to be in the open air - such a summer option. The lobby bar only has tea, coffee and soft drinks - not even beer. There is a WiFi signal in the lobby bar (by the way, it is free, but you need to register at the reception to use it), but it takes very badly. As I later found out experimentally, the best reception is at the main pool - apparently there is an antenna nearby.
But I would also like to note the many shortcomings that five-star hotels cannot afford. So, in order. When I checked in, I asked for a room away from the noise. $20 and the type question is solved. As it turned out later, it was my mistake - I asked for trouble. The "quiet" zone turned out to be zone H - the farthest from restaurants, discos and beaches. But in the middle of this area is the pool! Do you know who is attracted to this miracle of civilization at night? ; ) That's right - guests from Tagil (I think everyone knows the image of the eternally drunk Vovan and Gena from Nasha Rashi).

Literally on the second night at 3 o'clock a drunken company raises an op and a grandiose bathing. I think everyone woke up in the neighboring rooms - the children's crying was clearly audible even from the rooms across the road. Calling the guards solved the issue, but not for long - by the morning these freaks returned. This went on almost every night for the entire stay. In the morning, broken dishes by the pool, partially overturned sunbeds, a characteristic smell of vomit. Moreover, attempts to resolve this issue at the reception did not work - like the hotel is full and there are no available rooms.

Further. Allegedly, the new hotel room fund, which was repeatedly mentioned here. Yes, everything seems to be new, but the repairs were apparently done by Ravshan and Jamshud from Dushanbe. For example - the door to the bathroom hangs crooked and therefore closed only with a good push - simply the door frame was crooked. Soundproofing in the bathroom is completely absent - you can hear absolutely all the sounds from the bathroom of the next room.
Well, you understand - everything! : )) On the first day, it turned out that the sink and shower were clogged. Water passed, but not completely, with a delay. The air conditioner was loud enough to be heard outside. Pointed out these problems the next day at the reception - they said that today everything will be OK. We came to the room in the evening - everything is the same - the sink is clogged, the air conditioner rumbles. I went to the reception and submitted another application. The blockage was cleared the next day, but the air conditioner was still roaring. Having figured out a little with its management, I found the optimal quiet mode - I got tired of such service and constantly run to complain. But that's not the biggest hit! On the first day, and the next two, the air conditioner worked only for ventilation : ))) And this was in the heat of +40. The first two nights we slept wet - outside the window op and flopping into the pool, you lie like in a steam room covered in sweat - beauty! And another "feature" of Marco Polo - hot water - according to their understanding, this is about +34 degrees.
She was cold as hell! Again a complaint to the reception - they assured that they would do everything. "We did everything" for three days, that is, for three days we bathed in water at room temperature. I'm fine, but the children were not comfortable. By the way, in the last two days before departure, hot water also disappeared: ))))) Just like in the "best" hotels of the Crimea.

I decided to categorically change the number - on the second day there was a meeting with the guide of the newcomers. After talking with newly arrived tourists, it turned out that this garbage with water and air conditioning was not only in my room and not only in zone H, but throughout the hotel.

Beach. Well, what can I say ...the beach is simply dirty! No, not so much that it is impossible to be there - they have seen worse, but, in my opinion, a five-star hotel should have the Thomas Cook Blue Flag on the beach - a sign of cleanliness and livability of the beach at the highest level. Marco Polo does not have one and apparently will not.
By the way, the neighboring hotel Simena Marine Club has this flag; ) What I want to note: the beach is cleaned, but the cleaners do not notice small garbage - an abundance of cigarette butts, wine corks and other small garbage. From small urns (in the form of amphorae) only large garbage is raked out, but food waste, the same cigarette butts and other trifles have been lying there for more than one week (maybe they are waiting for them to be filled to the brim? ). There are no umbrellas on the beach - the shade is only under the canopies. Therefore, if you haven’t taken a place under a canopy before 9 in the morning, you will roast in the sun. In general, there is not enough space on the beach in the shade. But the beach is quite big and wide. The place under the shade is engaged in spreading a beach towel on a sun lounger, while I heard from vacationers that there were cases of theft of beach towels - so watch out for beach towels - a fine for losing one is $20. The mattresses on the beach are new and clean.
There were enough sun loungers for everyone, but most of the sun loungers are terribly uncomfortable - without an adjustable back. There were several sun loungers (probably from an old batch) with an adjustable back and they were always hunted : )


One restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plus five A-la carte restaurants and one cafe. For some reason they don't give fruit for breakfast. But at lunch there is plenty of fruit - not always ripe, but always a lot. It was very annoying that the waiters were in no hurry to change the cutlery - you always have to ask them. The waiters are friendly, but neither Russian nor English speaking. In the end, I had to learn a few phrases in Turkish in order to somehow explain that a fork or knife is needed : ) The tablecloths were often dirty. But the most annoying thing was that the main restaurant (its large outdoor area) was not divided into smoking and non-smoking places. As a non-smoker, tobacco smoke is disgusting to me and sniffing someone's exhaust at lunch or dinner was unbearable.
The only place where everything was cool was the A-la Carte restaurants - everything is fine.

Cleaning in the rooms is quite decent, but again with jokes. Even without a tip, the room is cleaned well, but our maid sometimes had bouts of sclerosis - she forgot to leave towels as much as necessary when replacing. Once I did not find a towel for my feet, the second time a large towel disappeared altogether. Do not think that this is her reaction to the lack of a tip - I never goofy and leave a tip regardless of the quality of cleaning. As a result, no one accused us of stealing - they said that this happens - the maid forgets to put a complete set. An application is left through the reception and a towel is brought to the room within an hour.

Summary and recommendations. Hotel - four maximum. If you have not been to Turkish hotels (only Egypt and Tunisia), you can safely go. Compared to Egypt, "Marco Polo" is a mega-service.
If you are young and going to hang out - Marco Polo is what you need: discos, alcohol, animation, everything is there for active drinking: ) You will not notice such trifles as the lack of hot water and a non-working air conditioner; )

Fans of a quiet and highly comfortable stay will be greatly disappointed by the hotel. If you have raised the bar by visiting the hotels Rixos, Amara and the like, then "Marco Polo" - for you will be in the ranking next to the Crimean shed on the seashore.
You can go with children - a large territory, a well-groomed garden, animation and all sorts of children's programs will appeal to kids. Just remember where to stay. Or rather, where NOT to settle - these are zones H (where I managed to) and zone F - here are the technical premises of the air conditioning system - very strong round-the-clock noise.