Royal Atlantis Icon

We stayed here for 10 nights and unfortunately, there were several aspects of our stay that left us disappointed. On our first night, we barely slept due to the constant noise from the road outside. We had booked a standard promo room and the soundproofing was extremely poor. The traffic was so loud that we even checked to make sure the balcony door was properly closed—which it was. We went to reception to ask about upgrading our roof and that we were happy to pay, we were told to come back the following morning. That same night, we were then woken at around 4:30am by the nearby mosque. The call to prayer was incredibly loud and genuinely sounded as though it was coming from inside our room. As we were staying for 10 nights and had come away to relax, the thought of being woken at that time every morning wasn’t ideal. The next morning, we returned to reception as instructed but were told to come back again later in the day. By this point, we hadn’t even unpacked because we didn’t want to settle in only to have to pack everything up again if we moved rooms. When we returned later, we were initially told there were no rooms available. However, after explaining how disappointed we were, we were eventually offered a swim-up room for an additional £420, which we paid simply to get a better night’s sleep. The swim-up room was lovely, and we were much happier there. It also came with the added benefit of having two sunbeds outside the room, which meant we didn’t have to compete for loungers around the main pool. Guests were reserving sunbeds from around 7am, and by 9am it was almost impossible to find two together despite them being empty but reserved with towels. The food was generally good, although meal times were extremely busy and chaotic. Unfortunately, many guests had little regard for queuing, with people frequently pushing past others to get food. On a couple of occasions, my plate was nearly knocked out of my hand. I appreciate this isn’t the hotel’s fault, but it was the worst dining experience I’ve encountered at an all-inclusive resort. We found many guests to be unfriendly with very little courtesy shown. The drinks were acceptable, although some of the bar staff struggled to understand English. For example, when I ordered a Pornstar Martini, I was served what appeared to be a mix of vodka and gin instead. The rooms themselves are lovely and modern, comfortable, and cleaned to a very high standard every day. The housekeeping team do an excellent job. The beach is also lovely and easily accessible via a short shuttle bus ride. One main disappointment for us as an English couple was that much of the daytime entertainment and music catered primarily to Russian-speaking guests, so we didn’t really feel included or engaged by the entertainment programme. Overall, we don’t feel this hotel lives up to its 5-star rating and would rate it closer to a 3-star experience based on our stay. Looking back, we do wish we’d chosen a different hotel. That said, a holiday is ultimately what you make of it, and we still managed to enjoy our time away despite the disappointments.

I don’t really know where to start, the food in the buffet restaurant is really repetitive and possibly the worst choice of foods in an all inclusive hotel we have ever stayed in. They do have a 24/7 outdoor restaurant which operate a QR code service, there isn’t much choice here and is the same foods all day and night but is better than the main restaurant. However some of what you order often never arrives at your table and you could be waiting a long time, even during quiet periods, this could be due to not enough staff - I wonder how they would cope if more of the tables available were occupied. The tables at the buffet restaurant weren’t cleared in the evenings leaving us to do this ourselves as it was really overcrowded there. Our room had a horrible sewerage smell on many occasions. Despite the hotel being new it’s already showing signs of wear and tear. It’s not very well noise insulated as until the early hours of the morning you can hear the tv from both rooms either side of us word for word like we have it on in our room. The entertainment is outside in the evenings too loud if you have any children or wanting to stay in your room early it’s just not possible. The pool area is really overcrowded for the size of the hotel and hard to find a lounger if you’re not out at 6-7am to secure one. There is a huge language barrier for English and many requests are so difficult to get across to staff. Some are friendly but this is few and far between. The hotel seems more biased towards other foreign countries, especially Russia. Nothing is explained upon arrival as you’d expect from a hotel, such as how to book the al a Carte restaurants, where to find the main restaurants, what activities are on and where to find the timetable for these. Where the beach shuttle is found etc. The hotel says it’s ultra all inclusive yet next to the ice cream and waffle bar is a vitamin bar where you have to pay for the drinks, there is a shisha bar next door which you pay for as well and there is a popcorn machine there too and tubs of candy floss but again you pay for this. And have to pay for room service, some nights with a baby unable to get out for food we had to take it in turns to eat on our own as nothing takeaway was available and they charge for room service if ever required. Sometimes our room hadn’t had towels replaced when the dirty ones were taken. We requested towels as we had none and only one was put in our room for a family of 3 so we all had to share that towel. Pillows were requested as we didn’t like the ones in the room but then the second day one of them was taken from the room. There was hand prints on the mirror in the bedroom and stayed there the whole time. The air con makes a awful noise a while after it’s turned off. The spa - take is as you will - it’s hit and miss we found. We definitely won’t be coming back which is a shame because upon arrival we were happy with how impressive the decor and styling of the hotel is.

I’m not quite sure where to begin with this review. I’ve visited Turkey six times in the past, and many of the issues I have experienced during my stay at Royal Atlantis Icon are things I have not encountered on previous trips. I am currently on day 3 of a 10-day stay, and unfortunately there have already been several disappointments. Firstly, our room frequently has a noticeable sewage smell whenever we return after being out for a few hours. This is obviously unpleasant and detracts from the overall comfort of the accommodation. Secondly, the bar areas appear to be significantly understaffed. There is typically only one member of staff serving drinks, resulting in long queues of 10–12 people at a time. Unlike many similar hotels, there are no staff members circulating around the pool area taking drink orders, which would help alleviate the queues. In addition, there does not seem to be any organised queuing system. On several occasions, other guests have been able to step ahead in the queue and receive service first, despite bar staff being aware that I had been waiting longer. At lunchtime, we have visited one of the restaurants that operates a QR code ordering system, which is a great idea in principle. However, the execution has been disappointing. We have experienced multiple occasions where orders have taken over 30 minutes to arrive, only to discover that the order had been lost and needed to be placed again. The restaurant also frequently has tables left uncleared due to a lack of waiting staff. On one occasion, we ordered chips and waited more than 30 minutes before asking about the delay, only to be informed that they had run out. It would have been far better to mark the item as unavailable on the menu or proactively inform guests rather than leaving them waiting. The evening dining experience has also been below expectations. Many tables remain uncleared for extended periods, and while dining, finished plates are rarely collected from the table. This often results in a buildup of dirty dishes remaining in front of guests for 45 minutes or more while they are still eating. Additionally, no waiters come to the table to take drink orders, meaning guests must leave their meals, queue at the bar, and return with drinks while their food becomes cold. Another challenge has been communication. While most staff have been polite, a large proportion appear to have limited English proficiency, which can make it difficult to ask for drinks, directions, or general information when needed.

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was very disappointing. First of all, we were given a room with a view directly facing a religious building, and every morning around 5 AM we were woken up by loud prayers. It made it almost impossible to get proper rest. The atmosphere in the hotel also felt uncomfortable. Russian music was playing almost everywhere, including patriotic Russian songs, which created a very specific and not very welcoming environment for guests from other countries. Another issue was communication. Most of the staff barely spoke English, so even simple questions or requests were difficult to sort out. The food was also below expectations. It was repetitive, with almost the same dishes every day, and after a few days it became really tiring. We also had constant problems with sunbeds by the pool. We would leave our towels and belongings on the loungers, go for a swim, and when we came back, everything had been moved or thrown onto other loungers by other guests. This happened several times, but neither the reception nor the staff near the pool helped in any way. It felt like nobody cared about the situation. The worst part, however, was the overall attitude. The hotel felt clearly oriented toward Russian guests, and it seemed like Russian visitors were treated much better than people of other nationalities. As a guest, this made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. Overall, I would not recommend this hotel unless you are specifically looking for that kind of environment. For international guests, there are much better options in Turkey.

We had an amazing experience at the hotel! I’m already hoping to bring my family next year. A big shoutout to the bartender, Batuhan who truly went above and beyond for us!