Kiris Diamond Garden Hotel 3*-4* - Kemer, Kiris, Turkey

Written: 3 july 2008
Travel time: 4 — 11 may 2008
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For families with children
Your rating of this hotel:
7.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 8.0
Service: 8.0
Cleanliness: 10.0
Food: 8.0
Amenities: 9.0
So, a month later, I'm ripe for a big and comprehensive report on my first trip abroad. Characters: me and my mother, hotel manager, waiters, masha at the reception, guide, merchants and cleaners.

It all started tritely, I called my mother and said that I would come to her for her birthday on May 10, since I had taken a vacation in advance. Calling back a few days later, my mother asked me not to come home, but to take us both abroad, explaining this by similar costs, but more colorful impressions and relaxation. Here I did not begin to think, since there is no need to compare the outback and abroad. By this time, my mother was only 1 time abroad in Montenegro (last year), and I was not abroad at all.

To be honest, I was looking for a cheaper ticket, because I had to pay for two, I had big expenses planned for May, and I didn’t know how much more I need to take for pocket expenses, and how much I might need in a non-native country.

A colleague advised the XXX office (they don’t need advertising), which deals with hot trips (we decided to go abroad a week before the trip, because we realized it late, and on May 10 we should have been there already).

The office of this tour operator in St. Petersburg was closed, so a friend helped with the purchase in Moscow. We decided on the phone which visa-free page we were going to. Tickets were also booked over the phone. It turned out that we were flying to Turkey, but we didn't care, we hadn't been there yet. And I went abroad for the first time. Thank God at least we got foreign passports on time 

The flight was from Moscow, so tickets to Moscow and back were also ordered via the Internet.

Well, that's all about preparation.

2 days before departure, my mother arrived in Moscow, and we managed to buy panama hats and sunglasses. The rest was all ready.
With panama hats, by the way, things turned out to be not so simple, May 8 is not the season for such hats, but we did not retreat and found only 2 panama hats in a sports store. But now they are even in the feed!

We arrived in Moscow early in the morning, we were met by my Moscow friends. We sat a little in a cafe, had breakfast in French: croissants, orange juice, scrambled eggs and cheese, jam and tea. The location is excellent close to some train station. We took the express train to Domodedovo. There it was very easy to find the counter of our operator Sunmar (he hid there under a different brand, but the language will bring him to Kyiv), received his tickets and conveniently tripled in anticipation of departure. Despite the huge airport, it is very cozy there, with many shops, places to sit and huge windows for contemplating planes taking off and landing.

Photo of me tired at the airport.

The flight was announced very soon and we went to the execution. How else can you call it?
Not only do you need to take off your belt, pull out and turn off your mobile phones, you need to take off your shoes and put it all in boxes, go through the scanner, and then put it back on. To be honest, it seems to me that if someone needs it, he will still carry anything on the plane.


After checking, I saw the real “Duty Free” for the first time, we tied a bottle of Chivas Regal to Turkey there. As I later found out, cognac is not included in all inclusive. It's good that you brought it with you 

The flight was great, as there were almost no clouds, and all the splendor of Turkey was visible: the sea and mountains, snow in the mountains, rectangular farmlands. The food was much better than on flights across Russia, hot and snacks. The nature from the plane looked simply mysterious, and the beauty of the Ural Mountains cannot be compared there.

Lots of photos from the plane.

Landed perfectly, the passengers clapped their hands. This is the way it is on international flights. I have never seen it in Russian.
The first time I got off the plane up the sleeve, the Turks are attentive in this sense. Trampling in the heat or riding a bus is like medieval torture.
Visas were also received quickly for 20 bucks.

We were met from the plane at the airport, but not by our tour operator, but by a neighbor, so don't be scared when instead of your Sunmar sign, you see Coral, or something else. Come and ask. Everyone was put on buses. Our escort's name was Lisa. She welcomed us to Turkey, congratulated us on May 9 and asked if there were any Germans among those present. The drunks at the end of the bus liked the joke.

By the way, we flew to Turkey when it was already getting dark, and arrived at the hotel already in the dark. Another 15 people came to the hotel with us, and these are all who were with us for the first few days at the hotel. Because the season just started.

We were given booklets about excursions and the names of the Guides, the time of meeting with the Guides at the hotel.
Driving to Antalya there are 2 tunnels, one I don’t remember the name, the second tunnel of sleeping angels. Lisa said that in the first tunnel you need to hold your breath and close your eyes to make a wish, and in the second one you need to make a lot of noise to wake up the angels so that they fulfill this wish. On the way, tourists were thrown into hotels, our hotel was the 5th on the list. All hotels are very beautifully illuminated, ours looked more than modest against this background.


We handed over the documents at the reception and we were offered to have dinner so as not to go to bed hungry. We naturally agreed. The head of the entire kitchen came out to greet us. Then, at any meal, he was nearby and watched what we ate. He was basically invisible, I'm just too attentive.

After dinner, we were settled in rooms, but in the dark we could not even assess the situation. Although the illuminated alleys and pools still looked awesome.
And in the morning we were in for a surprise.

Photos of the hotel in the morning.

Our hotel was located between the mountains and the sea. Corner room on the second floor overlooking both the pool and the mountains. The hotel area is very well maintained. During our stay, the workers quietly planted palm trees and cacti. Everything looked somehow at home, despite the fact that we were in another country.

Photo from the hotel balcony.

On the first morning in a foreign country at the appointed time, we met with our guide. She told about the excursions and the return flight. The day before departure, there will be a schedule posted on the wall in the reception area so that we are ready for the arrival of the bus. There were few excursions offered (Mira-Demre-Kekova and Pamukkale), they are diluted with all sorts of rafting, yachts, water parks and jeeps.

Breakfasts-lunches-dinners:
Since all inclusive, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner look like a buffet.
You just come to the dining room-restaurant (there are plastic tables and chairs, but there are tablecloths and cutlery on the tables).

Menu: The dishes are mostly Turkish, which is understandable. You can try to choose something similar to Russian, I successfully checked it) Today we tried to make Olivier) It didn’t work out. The ingredients are all there, but the taste is not the same at all. I plucked out the potatoes, the rest I could not eat.


In the morning, salads, chopped vegetables, olives, bread, boiled eggs and scrambled eggs, as well as cereals and milk, warm and cold. They will even make an omelette in front of your eyes (photo). At lunch, they always give some soup, salads, hot dishes, there were some troubles with meat, but I'm not a meat soul, so it didn't annoy me. There is an afternoon snack - cookies and shortbread. Just salty for some reason. I kept forgetting to ask why salty at the reception. Dinner meat and salads. And necessarily sweet and fruit for any meal except for an afternoon snack. Fruit local. Sweet too.
Although there were also Russian-like cakes. They don't give strawberries) they said that even in 5 * there is none. And watermelons were promised, but we did not have time for them.

Delicious: apple tea, scrambled eggs with sausage, cheese and turkey, alucha, lamb, my mother liked the eggplant, she says that everything that is salty and pickled will be awesome. The rice was very tasty cooked. The cakes and pastries here are strange. If the cake is, of course, it is sweet, but if it is a bun or a cookie, then it is not a fact that it will be sweet. If you love olives, you will love this place. There are even dried olives. Various compotes are on the sweet table. There will be a lot of sweet cakes for lunch, I don’t know what they are called. Here the perverts will rejoice like children.

So for drinking, beer, wine, Raki, cola drinks, frozen ice, water, tea and coffee - without restrictions until 23.30, then for a fee. I do not appreciate beer, but the guys said that it was normal. I didn't like the wine.
But crayfish with cola tastes very similar to our Russian potion.

Waiters run around, watching everything, picking up plates and wishing you bon appetit all the time. The waiters are all in white shirts and black trousers, almost all of them are tall and muscular. I don’t know, maybe they are chosen by their appearance. Always ready to say a kind Russian word or make fun. And also to serve, pour a drink or take away a dirty plate. The waiters also try to talk and play with the children all the time. They have a tip box, which we noticed on the 4th day (we were not at the hotel at all for 2 days). Today they gave a tip in the morning, 5 bucks, as a result, the faces of our waiters began to shine brighter.

It is obligatory during any meal that the Head of all cooks and waiters walks around the hall. Makes sure everything is beautiful and what you eat. I don't know why 

And more about the tip. They can be given anywhere.

If you want the cleaner to clean your room more often, leave a tip on the bed. If you want a towel under your feet in the shower, “gild” the handle.

Naked facts:
1. Drinks and food are not allowed in the rooms. Except for the sick, and everyone uses it.
2. In a restaurant under a canopy, you cannot appear in swimsuits with towels.
3. The bar is open until 22.30 or until 23.30, I don’t remember, after a fee.
4. Breakfast from 8 to 12, lunch from 12.30 to 14.00, afternoon tea from 16 to 17, and dinner from 19 to 21. Further entertainment.
5. Tennis 4 euros per hour.
6. Billiards 3 euros per hour.
7. Table tennis for free.
8. All emerging questions should not be asked at the reception. So, for example, they made mayonnaise for breakfast for me (for some reason it was not there, the Turks do not associate eggs and mayonnaise).
9. Slides are open from 10 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 4 pm. If there are few people, they can close earlier.
10. TV has only 2 Russian channels, RTR and ORT. If you don't have one, tell the receptionist.
11. You can not take out hotel things from the room, including blankets))
12.
Tap water cannot be drunk. Sensitive skin should not be washed.
13. Swimming in the pool at night is not allowed. There is a cleanup going on.

Do not believe anyone who says that Turks are not beautiful. Beautiful! For every taste. There are even semi-Russian or Europeanized Turks, this is when one of the parents is Russian or European. These look more like Europeans. Naturally they speak Russian and try to make friends, sell you something or just joke. By the way, they are all jokers. even I almost never could guess where the truth is and where the joke is. Once I was seduced by the fact that somewhere there is a skating rink) By the way, I was seduced by this because last year there was a conference in Turkey, and there was a skating rink in the hotel. And then we were just bred like children.
Any Turkish hotel staff will compliment you, wish you good morning or bon appetit, and also try to remember your crooked names, if you do not forget to leave them for tea in a box on the chef's table or in a glass at the bar.


In the evening, cicadas chirp here, music from a nearby disco bar sings, it smells of freshness and the sea, as well as greenery, which is so lacking in St. Petersburg in the spring. I’m writing under a glass of whiskey with cola) naturally I don’t want to leave, although it freezes, I sit wrapped in a blanket. And the frogs in the background are croaking) in general, heaven on earth.

Today they tried to buy a beech from me for 450 bucks, I didn’t give it back, I said where you can buy the same) about the Amazon, that is. Boy, very cute, mom from St. Petersburg, dad is not clear. The accent is excellent. I generally like their accents)) Cheerful and again a joker)

Cars have everything) as well as in Russia.
There are a lot of Volkswagens, Opels, Renaults, and Suzuki pickups too))) there are still a lot of different jeeps. However, there are even more mopeds, stools in Russian. And it’s safer to drive them, since there are, in principle, few cars here and everyone drives carefully.

For several days I ate an omelet in the morning, today I can’t look at it, I ate cereal with milk. And in general, this overeating is over, I want to eat less and less. I will eat grass for lunch. There are many different ones here.

Entertainment:
The entertainment program is probably just very sophisticated. Parents really like children's animation, I probably could not appreciate it because there are no children yet.

A group of animators 7-9 people, of which kazhetstso 2 girls. The entertainer boy showed tricks, made flowers from napkins. Another played table tennis and water polo with me. The girl entertained the children.

And my mother and I went to Hamam or hamam, in short, this is a Turkish bath.
Be sure to go there, but not at the end as we did, but at the very beginning. I didn't take any pictures or I'd ruin all the fun. However, I will say a few words. This hammam is right in the hotel. Hammam: like Turkish sauna, steam room, then foam massage and peeling. The second is very nice, then a massage with oils, and between that a face mask) all the pleasure for $ 25. And they will also treat you to tea.

I want to warn you right away: as soon as you enter and you are offered to undress - undress, in what form you will be - in this they will do the massage. The less clothes, the better. All in all, an unforgettable experience. Especially peeling.

About our Russians:

Russian tourists are this walking horror. They are rude and yell at each other, revel in the trash and pester the waiters, eat everything on the buffet and leave a bunch of everything on the plates, because they thought it was delicious and took a lot. Look scary and disgusting.
At the end of the booze, they sit down to the owner of the hotel and try to talk, of course, in a semi-foul language. Personally, I was shocked by his patience, although if you think about it, how else could he behave? He smiled and talked as if everything was ok : ) I bow, I can't talk to people like that.

Turkish TV:

Today in Turkey Thunderstorm and rain, so we sit in the room, watch TV and wait for dinner)
We watch how some Turkish singer (Ismail YK'NIN Yepteni) sings on a talk show, a very pretty blonde Turkish girl who does not know how to dance (compared to ours) and constantly straightens her hair, trousers, bracelets, beads and all what hangs on it. The music is very appealing to me personally. Euro 2008 advertisements will appeal to men, where 4 buxom girls hit the ball with different parts of the body.
They have an advertisement for Mr. Muscle, exactly the same.
Gum is advertised with big bubbles and breakfast cereal with a good figure.
McDonald's also advertise, there are dudes dressed up with hamburger costumes.
Our danone is Danette, there is also Activia and Rastishka, Mentos, and Ephesus beer. There is another lion - ice cream from Algida. Advertising of this algida is hung all around. We had a long time ago, but apparently it did not take root. And they erase with Domestos)))
And ads for diapers are just amazing. There are painted babies dancing.

Naturally, I went there after reading bad reviews and could not help but ask the owner of the hotel and the animators a question about such a change. Here's what they said:
2006 A manager was hired at the hotel, but his hands were crooked.
2007 The hotel was rented out and was almost completely destroyed.
2008 - The hotel was restored and a new manager was hired, the hotel is being revived.

That's how lucky I am.

Bonus from me: the hotel has video surveillance 
Translated automatically from Russian. View original