Sundia By Liberty Oludeniz

We stayed at Sundia By Liberty Ölüdeniz and it exceeded all expectations. If you want a mix of comfort, great food, professional entertainment and prime location, this is the place to be."

A great stay for our family of 3. We booked this hotel last minute as the hotel we initially booked did not have great reviews on food as the season commenced. I’m so glad we made the change. Our stay was perfect. It was so refreshing to not have to struggle for sun loungers and no queues at the bar. The whole place was immaculately clean. Food was to a very good standard and drinks good too with lots of variety. Location is fantastic right on the strip in Olu Deniz and despite this no noise complaints from us, it didn’t ever feel to loud or rowdy. Highly recommend and would definitely stay again.

I will start by saying this review is written purely to set expectations so you know what you are actually walking into.

Excluding a couple of specific issues that impacted our party personally, this hotel gets a 3 star rating maximum.

To put things in context, this was our 5th trip to Turkey. We love the country, but we believe the world is too big to stay in the same place twice. Sadly, compared to our previous four Turkish holidays, this one was a distinct disappointment.

The Positives (Credit Where It Is Due) Evening Entertainment was genuinely good on certain nights. They clearly put a decent amount of effort into their White Party, and there were some great live music and dance performances.

The Housekeeping Staff were positive. The cleaners did a fantastic job throughout our stay, keeping things as fresh and tidy as possible given the space they had to work with.

The Staff Generally, Mostly lovely, hardworking people. Some of the waiting staff were particularly friendly. I always keep in mind that any staff member who seems a bit worn down has likely been beaten up by overly demanding guests all day.

The Drinks were reasonable and generous for a 4 star rating, certainly better than what you would get in a similarly rated resort in the Canaries. There are multiple bars to choose from, though keep in mind you will pay for drinks after midnight. You are also free to take snacks and drinks back to your room, with handy drop off points in the corridors for plates and glasses.

The Snack Bar: Hands down the culinary hero of the resort. The chefs here churned out consistently decent food with impressive efficiency. You are honestly better off eating here than in the main restaurant.

Where Things Start Going Downhill The Rooms are dinky. The balconies are barely large enough for two adults to stand on at the same time without initiating an accidental, intimate embrace. Our first room in the main building overlooked the restaurant, felt quite tired, and was graced with a front row view of a roaring air conditioning unit. It was so cramped there was literally nowhere to put our suitcases without partially blocking the entrance hall. To their credit, the hotel relocated us on Day 3 to a fresher room, but it was still decidedly cozy. The aircon worked well and the blackout curtains were great, but expect a micro fridge, micro bathroom, micro TV, and micro dressing table. A bit claustrophobic, to say the least.

The Pools…. Pack a back up plan. On one occasion, the main pool was shut for the entire day because someone decided to bake brownies in it. To make matters worse, the kids pool suffered the exact same fate on multiple occasions. Floating biological hazards really do ruin the holiday vibes on a hot humid day.

The Grounds were average. We are used to the stunning, meticulously manicured gardens typical of Turkish resorts, but here the buildings are crammed close together, leaving very little in the way of actual nature to enjoy.

The Main Restaurant food wise was more on par with a cheap stay in Western Europe, a huge step down from what we have experienced elsewhere in Turkey. Lots of filler, very little substance, and repetitive menus. Worse still was the local fly population, which clearly considered the cold buffet their personal open air resort. To top it off, for the last two days the hotel became extremely busy and felt almost over capacity. This resulted in massive dinner queues just to reach a very underwhelming outcome. Standing in line for 15 minutes for mild culinary disappointment really hits

Why It Dropped Below 3 Stars for Us Unfortunately, our personal experience took a further hit due to a couple of specific incidents

1. Unresolved theft of personal property, seemingly stolen from our pool area. While I cannot definitively say whether a guest or staff member was responsible, management kept their CCTV footage very close to their chest when we asked for help. Other guests also mentioned similar thefts to us during our stay.

2. A Masterclass in Customer Service…. Approaching our way out, I asked reception how to contact the hotel photographer (who was actually a very nice guy) to retrieve photos I had already paid for. The receptionist shrugged, suggested maybe he will be back tomorrow, and casually reminded me he was a receptionist, not a photographer. Unfazed by the fact that we were soon checking out, he left me feeling obligated to give him a brief, impromptu lecture on the basic concept of accountability.

So my verdict (and my opinion)

Would I recommend it? Sadly no. Having stayed at plenty of other resorts across Turkey, I can safely say there are far better options out there for your money. It is an underwhelming 3 star stay at best, made worse by pool contamination, overcrowding, poor security handling, and a couple of indifferent staff members.