Saphir Hotel and Villa

We stayed at Saphir Hotel & Villas for one week with a group of eight people. And honestly, this is one of those hotels where you leave thinking: “This could have been such a great experience… if only the staff actually cared.”

Let’s start with the good things, because there are definitely some.

The hotel territory is spacious, well maintained and there is plenty to do. The food was surprisingly good and varied — meat, fish, seafood, pasta, salads, fruit, desserts and plenty of snacks throughout the day. We never had a problem finding something tasty to eat. There were also themed evenings, including a Turkish night with traditional food and a sweets evening for children. The sushi evening, however, deserves a special mention — mostly because I am still wondering what exactly it was supposed to be. Calling it sushi would be extremely optimistic.

During the day, there was no shortage of food either: good pizza, gözleme, fruit and various snacks. We also tried the Mexican à la carte restaurant, which was genuinely very good. Delicious food, nice atmosphere and everything was well organised.

The hotel has two pool areas — one lively pool with activities and a bar, and another quieter one closer to the sea. The beach is beautiful, the location is convenient, and there is a town right next to the hotel with shops, markets and plenty of places to walk around in the evening. There are also lots of daytime activities, games, shows and evening entertainment, so boredom definitely isn't a problem here.

The water slides, however, are another story. If you are specifically coming for the slides, don't. They were closed for large parts of the day and seemed to open whenever they felt like it. There was no clear schedule, and when they were open, the slides were clearly designed more for younger children anyway.

Now comes the part that unfortunately changed our overall impression of the hotel: the staff.

On our FIRST DAY, our room key cards stopped working.

And they continued not working for the ENTIRE WEEK.

Yes, an entire week.

We ended up with a small collection of replacement cards because we had to go to reception several times a day just to get into our own room. And instead of someone actually investigating why the problem kept happening, we were repeatedly told that it was our fault because we supposedly kept the cards next to our phones.

We didn't.

We explained this repeatedly.

The response? Basically the same thing again.

At some point, we stopped wondering whether the key cards were broken and started wondering whether we were apparently the first eight people in history who didn't know how to carry a hotel key card.

Technical problems happen. That's life. But when a guest comes to reception for the fifth, sixth or seventh time because they literally cannot enter their room, the normal response would probably be to investigate and FIX the problem.

Here, the solution seemed to be: give them another card and blame them again.

We also had a very unpleasant experience at the shisha bar with one of the employees. Since employees rotate between different areas, unfortunately we came across one who was extremely rude, vulgar and clearly angry about something. She managed to turn what should have been a relaxed evening into an uncomfortable one. Not exactly the kind of hospitality you expect on holiday.

And then there was our experience from a BUSINESS perspective.

I work in a travel agency, so this trip was not only a family holiday for me. It was also an opportunity to get to know the hotel professionally and potentially discuss cooperation.

Before arriving, I contacted the hotel by email and requested a meeting. The meeting was agreed in advance, and the communication sounded very positive. They were apparently happy about the possibility of attracting new clients through our agency.

Great.

Except… when we arrived, apparently nobody had any idea who I was.

Nobody knew about the email.

Nobody knew about the meeting.

Nobody seemed to know anything.

When I asked about the previously agreed meeting, I was basically told:

“This is the first time we're hearing about it.”

At that moment I honestly wasn't sure whether I had contacted the hotel or accidentally contacted a completely different universe.

If communication between departments is this poor, it raises a pretty obvious question: what happens when an actual guest has a serious problem?

Oh, wait.

We already know.

So, would we return?

This is the frustrating part: probably yes — if we only considered the hotel itself.

The food is good. The location is good. The beach is beautiful. The pools are nice. There are plenty of activities. The territory is pleasant. The Mexican à la carte restaurant was genuinely great.

But a hotel is not just its pools, food and beach.

The people working there ARE part of the experience.

And when everything goes well, almost any hotel can look great. The real test is what happens when something goes wrong.

At Saphir, our experience was that problems were not really solved, communication was poor, and somehow the guest ended up being blamed instead.

So if you are looking for a hotel where you can relax, eat well, enjoy the beach and stay away from the reception desk — you may have a great holiday here.

But if something goes wrong?

Good luck finding someone who actually wants to solve it.

For us, the hotel itself was good enough that we would have happily considered coming back.

The service, communication and attitude of some employees, however, made the decision much easier: next holiday, we'll probably try somewhere else.

I stayed here for 12 days, and it was honestly one of the best hotel experiences I’ve ever had! The place is clean, well-maintained, and the food is absolutely amazing. The beach is also easily accessible, which makes everything even better.

A special shoutout to the animation team. They’re truly the best! Everyone is so friendly, energetic, and fun, and there are always activities going on, so you never get bored.

I had an amazing time here and would 100% recommend this hotel. I’d definitely come back!

The hotel is very nice. I was really enjoying our stay. It was sad to comeback yesterday to home. And my kids are very happy too. They really enjoyed the activities in the kids club. First time they was everyday asking to go to kids club. The activities there amazing. I will back next year☺️