Aria Claros Beach and Spa Resort

"Very good resort especially for families. Amazing facilities and entertainment staff go out of their way to keep kids and adults entertained. Difficult to get bored highly recommended. The food is good too with good options. The staff are always helpful."

"Location, very secluded. 40 mins coach ride from airport. Okay. Atmosphere, Not great! staff never smiling. Would say other guests were mainly Polish or Russian and no please and thanks you's ,which is fine but not where I come from. Buggy guys and our cleaner were nice and approachable. Rooms, very small and ours was away from the main building, so a 10 minute very hilly walk if you didn't get a buggy. Rooms need some TLC, light wouldn't turn off in hallway. Shower holder hanging off wall. Beds have a very weird toweling cover on them and our 12 year old son had a bed that doubled up as a seat. He is an average sized 12 year old and he couldn't stretch out. Plus we had ants in our room one day that came out of hole in wall where our wet clothes were hanging. ( they did sort this). Pool areas were okay. Clean. You had to get up at 7am to get sunbeds around the pool. They had lifeguards, but hardly present around main pool. Kids pool looked nice. Slides were fun but starting to look old...steps, slide mats etc Food was decent, for a large hotel the salad areas and choices of main's were okay. it was very busy and chaotic at breakfast and dinner. We preferred to eat outside, however, there were no non designated 'Non Smoking 'areas, so sadly my family including children we constantly surrounded by smoke. The hotel offers 3 Al a carte restaurants that you could book, Turkish, Seafood & Italian. The Turkish was at a small restaurant near the beach and was okay and the service decent. The Seafood and Italian were in main hotel and the service was the worse I have had. Bringing main courses before we had finished our starters, bringing desert when we were still having our main. I did tell them on one occasion to bring the mains later whilst we finished our starter and it was taken very badly and I was told that our food would be cold, causing a very awkward atmosphere between my family an staff. This is definitely not a 5 star hotel. We have stayed in Turkey many times before and sadly this has been our worst experience."

"My family and I recently stayed at Aria Claros Beach & Spa Resort, we stayed for 11 nights, and are two parents, two young boys, and a 3 month old baby. In the right light, the right angle, the right shade, and the right lens, this place looks pretty fantastic, and the holiday websites really use that to the resort’s advantage. However, this resort has many negatives you should consider before booking… Room We booked a garden view club room, and ‘garden view’ was really milking it, instead we had a small unfenced patio area, with an overgrown bush in front of it (see photo). Cleaner Our cleaner was good, bringing us everything we needed, fresh towels and bottled water everyday, and kept our room clean and tidy, whenever we asked it to be. However, on at least two occasions we noticed, he left the garden view sliding doors unlocked (again this led to a unfenced patio, that anyone could’ve gained access to). On one of these days, we had taken an all day day-trip to the nearby island of Samos. Our valuables were either with us, or in the safe provided, but still, anyone could have accessed our room, our suitcases, clothes, possessions, toiletries etc. This was always checked to be locked and secure before we left, so we are in no doubt about this, and I feel this lack of security, is wholly unacceptable. Wifi Absolutely terrible, I haven’t experienced Wifi as bad as this, since a resort I stayed in, in northern Cyprus in 2012. We could only get a good connection in reception, or by the kiddy pool. Then suddenly after about 4 days, the Wifi began working in our room, so obviously a router nearby was fixed or switched on, but after that it was still unreliable at times. Swimming Pools The kiddy pool, water park, and other pools are nice to have. However, the lifeguards are seldom ever seen, except in the water park on the slides. Occasionally one will bother to police the kiddy pool, which can get quite rowdy at times, kids climbing up the slides, preventing others from getting down, but eventually they seem to get bored of it, and move on elsewhere. Leaving the kiddy pool unattended. Additionally, the kid’s pool is signposted as a no smoking area, but many pay no attention to this, and no member of staff enforces this. We often used the smaller pool, between the big pool and beach, which was far more relaxing, and had a shallow section that the kids liked. We never once saw a single lifeguard while using this pool. Also, many of the lifeguards will be seen with their faces in their mobile phones while on duty. Food The main restaurant is a bit of a battle zone when it’s busy, you may have to wait some time, for what you want, but it does the job. If you have a kid that just wants to eat nuggets and chips all week, this is catered for. The all night restaurant (22:00-07:00) is also a nice addition, if you arrive late like we did, there isn’t much on offer, but at least there is something. The two lunch stations along the beach are excellent, again you may have to join a rather long queue, but you can get fresh pizzas, flat breads, and have them by the pool or on the beach. Of the Ala carte restaurants, of which there are 3 (Seafood/Italian/Turkish), we only tried the Turkish, and I’m sorry to say it was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. We booked the restaurant in reception, selected our menu options, and were told there would be a kids menu for the children later on. This kids menu in fact, turned out to be a plate of half chips, half plain pasta, and two measly bits of friend chicken (see photo). On arrival to the restaurant, I noticed all the salads, sauces, and cold foods, were already on the table, excellent for saving the staff time, but in this climate with the flies, is a ‘really’ bad idea, and so unprofessional not to even have these covered. Then nothing happened for around 45mins, several people left frustrated, the kids food then arrived, our mains finally arrived after about an hour (which were actually reasonably good). We weren’t offered any drinks, we had to prompt for these, and then the day after, I had food poisoning and lost one day of our holiday lying in bed, feeling awful. More Sickness I got sickness from the Turkish ala carte restaurant, and both my young boys also got sick throughout our stay. My eldest son, quite violently, to the point that we became alarmed, and called the hotel doctor for assistance. I rushed him to the doctor’s office, but they wouldn’t pay him any attention whatsoever, until I handed over my travel insurance documents. They paid him so little attention, he said he was going to be sick, I told them this, and asked for a bin or bucket, they didn’t really react, and he threw up on their floor. They didn’t clean it up that well (no cleaning agents used, that I saw), which had me questioning how clean the facility really was. The doctor then said he wanted to give my son an IV drip. Not wanting to give my son needless injections abroad, I asked if we could instead try oral medication first. We were given this, and I was most appreciative. He recovered after a day or so. A few days later my other son threw up in the restaurant at dinner, which was quite upsetting and embarrassing for him, and also obviously a pain for the cleaning staff to attend to. Again, he recovered after a day or so. But why, this is most abnormal for us? Golf Buggies Golf Buggies and other vehicles can be used to get around the grounds, which others I’m sure have mentioned, are very-very hilly and very-very steep. These are essential when arriving and leaving your room with your suitcases, and the kids enjoyed riding around in these from time to time immensely, some have seatbelts, some do not. One of my sons became good friends with one of the drivers. However, you often see these guys driving around, at speed in these buggies, day and night, whilst using their phones, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a serious accident will be caused because of this. One night, when we were at the top of the amphitheatre, which is where my kids liked to view the kids disco (it was too loud for them at the bottom), a maintenance truck-buggy flew past us, probably doing around 30mph, minutes before there were families everywhere in that location, and we had our 3 month old in the buggy, just to the side of the path, as that was the only place to put him. This is again wholly unacceptable, staggeringly dangerous considering the consequences, and so unprofessional. Lifts The main building is 10 stories high, and there are only 4 lifts, 1 lift was out of action the whole time we stayed, and there appeared no effort whatsoever, while we were there, to have this lift repaired. You have to use the lift or stairs, arriving from our external room to the main building you arrive on level -3, the restaurant is on level -2, reception and the main bar is level 0, it’s poor architectural design and you simply can’t get around this. No vehicle has access to the restaurant on level -2. If we had used the lift every time we went to the main restaurant or reception, we would have spent a considerable portion of the holiday waiting for lifts. In the end, we merely resorted to carrying the buggy and new-born up and down the stairs, essentially forcing us to be unsafe. If you can’t do stairs, avoid this hotel at all costs!! Other guests You will see lots of nationalities here, but it is the Polish quite clearly, who are in the majority. My partner is Polish and we have been to Poland many times, however even we were shocked by their rudeness and severe lack of manners while abroad. They will happily push in front of you in any queue, even when you have a new-born baby in hand, and it is overwhelmingly trying at times. Obviously the hotel can’t be held accountable for this, but it is a fact while staying here. Staff discipline As mentioned before, buggy drivers, lifeguards, and restaurant managers will often be seen with their faces in their mobile phones. Staff driving the resort vehicles irresponsibly and even dangerously. This is not what you expect from a premium resort. In conclusion, this resort sells itself as being premium, and we certainly paid a premium price to stay here, however, from what I’ve listed above… Garden view room, with no view Room being left insecure multiple times, by the cleaner Terrible Wifi Lifeguards who seem to come and go as they please Food that made not just one of us sick, but three of us Staff acting irresponsibly, and even dangerously while using resort vehicles Lifts being left out of use, so that we had to carry a buggy with a new-born in, up and down stairs for the whole of our stay This resort is not in any way shape or form premium, and I really think a partial refund should be in order here. As standards are shockingly below, what we expected, when booking this holiday!"