TUI BLUE Ephesus

We had an overall lovely stay at TUI Blue Ephesus. The hotel grounds and gardens are stunning, filled with large banana trees and beautiful plants that make strolling around a real pleasure. Our room was very nice, clean, comfortable, and maintained daily by the housekeeping team. **Food & Dining:** The main restaurant buffet was good overall, though it could benefit from a bit more variety between days. A quick note on the ready-mixed salads and cold dishes: many were quite greasy, so going lighter on the oil would be an improvement. Also, while we really appreciated the effort to label calories and macros on the food tags, they don't specify the portion size (is it per 100g, per serving, etc.?), which makes it hard to track. The highlight of lunch was definitely the Gözleme station! Watching Seval make fresh gözleme from scratch right in front of you is incredible—she is one of the friendliest, kindest staff members we met. The grill and pide/pizza stations are also fantastic, complete with an open-flame pizza oven serving fresh, delicious food. As for the à la carte options: the Seafood restaurant was decent but nothing extraordinary (similar to the main buffet), while the Italian restaurant was disappointing—the food felt overcooked and lacked authentic Italian flavors. **Bars & Drinks:** The main bar serves great signature cocktails, and the beach bar is nice with a slightly more concise menu. The Caribbean pool bar was the only letdown—the staff often seemed unsure of the recipes, and drinks were frequently mixed up. Across the board, bar staff weren't overly smiley, but they got the job done. **Activities & Entertainment:** The activity program was fairly standard (aqua gym, darts, volleyball), though the creative sessions felt a bit underwhelming for adults. The quizzes were heavily targeted toward a British audience and a bit disorganized. A special shoutout to Mika from the sports team, who was fun, friendly, and kept the energy up! However, the animation team could use better training on game rules (and basic scoring math for darts). Also, the dartboard itself is ancient and has a massive bump right on the triple 20—definitely time for the hotel to invest in a replacement! The absolute highlight of the daily entertainment was Oleg, the live musician who plays at the main and beach bars. He is an amazingly talented musician and exceptionally friendly—do not miss his performances! **Waterpark & Facilities:** The aquapark is fantastic—large, well-maintained, with plenty of slides for all ages. First impressions could also be improved: the reception area feels dated with old desks and could really use a refresh to match the quality of the rest of the hotel, especially as the "face" of the property. All in all, a wonderful holiday with great highlights, just a few operational tweaks needed to make it exceptional!

Asa an Ancient History fan, I had always wanted to see Ephesus. On a cruise, I organised a trip through the cruise line when we got to Kusadasi. As I had lived in Egypt years ago, I was used to the hassle of the Eastern Mediterranean and the souks of the cities, and Kusadasi was no different. The trip had a comfy bus and a good guide so we arrived at the entry up the hill at Ephesus, well informed about its history. Being a hot day, the walk down the main thorougfare was easy and I was bowled over by the condition and amount of ancient ruins. Wow! Considering that what I saw was only a small part of the whole, it really would take days to get a full impression of the city. However, the Library and the extent of how much has been rebuilt by the archeologists is really impressive. Definitely a must-see if you like history or old cities! Small down point. Why do bus tours always have to end up at another carpet shop, when it is not in the itinerary. Great day out!

We had a great stay. Everybody was so friendly and welcoming. Erden at the reception was really friendly and helpful, made us feel welcome from the first second at Tui Blue. I am coeliac so an safe buffet and gluten free meals are not as easy for me to find. But I was really well taken care of by the head waiter Eren. He helped me with everything, always checking in on me. The food at the hotel was generally very pleasing and really delicious.

A nice weeks stay. Staff all very friendly and give great service, rooms are of good standard, we actually upgraded from 2 bed room to the private pool villa and it was very spacious. They are expensive and I’d say the mini fridge should be re stocked each day at the price they charge for it. As well as pool cleaning every morning and maybe an extra ala carte but they weren’t. The beds are not very comfortable so biggest tip is to ask for a topper at reception! No extra charge for these and definitely helps. Ac was excellent! Food was a little repetitive but as with all ai hotels get there as they open for best choices/hot food. Loved the Turkish so went there twice! Entertainment was fine, but evenings chilly at this time of year. We never stayed for all of it as it was cold and sat on stone steps , There’s also nothing going on when it rains ….. overall it was a nice restful break. Sunset bar is a must for the scenery!

My wife and I have recently returned from a 2 week trip to TUI Blue Ephesus in Turkey. We'd like to give a shout out to all those who made our stay so memorable. The entire hotel staff should be congratulated on their friendliness and professionalism. However special thanks must go to the TUI reps. Busra, Cassie, Elif and Marta (in alphabetical order) who were so welcoming and efficient in their dealings with us. Marta and Yunus were excellent waiters and always had time for a humorous conversation and we thank them for that. The entertainment staff were extremely hard working, providing so many things to do in the daytime and first class shows in the evening. Thanks go to Albin, Berkan, Irfan, Jordan, Lilly, Lyra, Mika, Nicole and Reece (in alphabetical order). Well done everyone, maybe see you next year!