Hotel Samara

Unfortunately, our experience was far below what we expected from a 5-star Ultra All-Inclusive hotel. From the moment we arrived, we noticed serious cleanliness and hygiene issues, including dirty plates and glasses in the restaurants. The hotel was extremely overcrowded, and the atmosphere was uncomfortable. Desserts were left in the fridge, and the glass containers were covered in condensation. We had to go through four coffee cups before we finally found one that was clean. The staff seemed unhappy, overwhelmed and understaffed. When we raised our concerns with the hotel manager, we did not feel that our complaints were taken seriously. The overall customer service was very disappointing and lacked professionalism. The manager acted as if he had no idea what was going on and as if everything at the hotel was completely normal. Just terrible. We ultimately left the hotel on the day of arrival because the conditions were simply not what we expected from a 5-star property. Overall, a very disappointing experience. The hotel has serious issues with cleanliness, organization, staff attitude and customer service. Definitely not the standard we expected from a 5-star hotel. NOT RECOMMENDED!

What a great holiday we had. 10 days we were there, the staff, the room and food were fantastic. The drinks were good quality and even had freshly made up cocktails 🍸 👌. Please note that you can't walk anywhere outside the hotel grounds but that didn't bother us as we were having such a great time. Lovely small beach and they have even built easy steps to get it. We both had massages which was excellent and reasonably priced. We did go on the boat trip from the beach but unfortunately the places visited were being developed which was a bit of a shame. The boat staff were great and so was the food. The one thing that I can say was negative was the entertainment volume was so load it sounded distorted so we only went once. The serenity pool is for over 16 years old so we found that was the quietest place during the day. Can't wait to return. Thank you to all the staff that made our holiday so relaxing. 😊

very poor for a 5 star hotel this is an honest review positives lovely landscaped gardens efes the bartender by the pool bar he was friendly chatty and was very considerate negatives we originally booked deluxe garden view rooms we were given a so called upgrade by the hotel the rooms were very spacious but that’s where the positive ended , one of the rooms, your view was a brick wall with pipes running along it housekeeping was poor the rooms were never cleaned properly it took 4 days to empty a bin, I ended up doing it myself , the bathroom was exactly the same I ended up Having to clean it , when the floors were mopped it was like they wet the mop and put it on the floor leaving excess water on the floor and a puddle by the door, dangerous considering it was a tiled floor, it left the room feeling very damp. the room had very little natural light and had to have lights on, there was a little patio but was not private at all, we could hear everything that was going on opposite and above the room. the food was mediocre not a lot of variety, and at best was only warm there was not many labels telling you what the desserts were the hotel was extremely busy if you wanted a sunbed then you would have to put a towel out at 6 am entertainment was non existent we went once to a Turkish night it lasted 15 minutes the staff knew very little English so was hard to communicate There are a lot cats which sometimes was very noisy late at night , and would walk all over the counters and curl up on your sunbed, the worst was we actually saw a cat spray and marked its territory on the front of a coffee machine (disgusting) the hotel could not accommodate the amount of guests that was there it was too busy overall not a great place to stay and would not recommend

This was our first experience of 5* and Samara lived up to expectations (almost). The hotel is in a great location, being on the oposite coast to Bodrum on the peninsular and is only a 30 minute journey from the airport. Our arrival was late in the evening and as we found out later, the guy on reception with very limited english, did not tell us about everything, however we had a great stay. We were there in late September/early October and the temperature for us, 25/27 was perfect, also this time of year the hotel is not full, and so we were able to get sunbeds every day, I don't think this would be the case in mid summer, if you look at the photos and realise there are 332 rooms, then you can imagine how many people. The hotel is incredibly clean, there are even staff who just walk around all day with a dustpan and brush, and the rooms are serviced every day. The food is lovely and such a huge choice, breakfast and lunch relaxed and easy to find a seat, dinner, different story and it's a bit of a stampede at 7pm when they open, however the staff are lovely and only too happy to help. One major critisism, and it is one of my pet hates, why are people so rude to just let their room doors slam behind them, as they did, no matter what time of day or night, maybe something for the hotel to look at if they read this, to put slow door closers on the room doors.

Arrived late evening, greeted by reception, no welcome drink offered and the English language was not the best. Not very good for a 5 star. We were taken to our room which was lovely, and very clean. Porter took our cases literally 20 seconds away, £5 tip given, no eye contact and no thank you, just rude. The grounds are lovely, kept spotless and there are plenty of areas for everyone at night to sit, unwind and relax, there is entertainment on at night which is average in the amphitheatre. Animation in the day, the main man that runs it is adorable and very friendly, once he knows your face he always greets you with hello & a smile, your not pestered to take part in the activities but they do the same activities everyday, and the poolside music is the same every day. The bar staff on the beach bar are very busy but do serve you in turn which is good, whereas the large barman at the poolside bar is ignorant, if your a woman he will leave you standing there and serve men before you, even men that have come to the bar after you have been waiting there, he puts as priority, not good, my money is no different to anyone elses, therefore everyone should be treated the same. The Indonesian lady that serves at the indoor bar is also lovely and knows what you want to drink once she recognises you, and gets your drink straight to you, always smiling. Not a chance of you getting a sunbed on the beach at the front, 6.30 everyday my husband was down and there were towels everywhere with no people on them, my husband one day did remove a row of towels, which was funny, that afternoon everyone was given a sheet in the room to say if your not on your towel at 7am then security would remove them, this only lasted 2 days, but there are so many other areas that are beautiful that you can relax and unwind in, we were there 11 nights and never sat in the same area twice, some people are just very selfish. Housekeeping was really good, every day our room was cleaned and kept lovely and the lady if she saw us always managed to make sure she spoke to us. The food, well what can I say, quality is not bad but everything is so repetitive, I know it’s all inclusive but have to say the choice is one of the worst we have ever had and the meat is really fatty, and mainly caters for Russians. The staff that wait on you and clean tables are so polite and accommodating, we did tip the waiter and the lady that cleaned our table daily, our waiters English was not good, so he translated with us through our phones which was really good, in fact the restaurant manager should take note of his staff and follow them, he only ever spoke to a select few, walked around miserable, and never once said hello to us. Lastly the highlight of our stay was the spa, the lovely gentleman that sorts your appointments for you is adorable, even after he knew he had business from us, every day if he saw us would go out of his way to chat to us, we had 8 treatments between us over the course of the 11 nights, the ladies are Indonesian and I can honestly say, the best massages we have had in Turkey, the staff in the spa are absolute fantastic, I highly recommend, and it’s not expensive either, thank you spa team for making us so very welcome. The hotel is a taxi or bus ride right from the front of the hotel which is really good, and the harbour and city are a 10 minute ride away, the harbour at night is beautiful and well worth a visit. We did ask reception if we could extend our room a couple of hours until 2 in the afternoon as we were not due to fly until late that evening, it was offered to us at a cost of £60 which I thought was daylight robbery. We both made the most of our holiday at Samara but would not return unfortunately, it mainly caters for Russians. Thank you to all that made our stay enjoyable and to those that were rude and did not this is our reason for non return.