Bellis Deluxe Hotel

IT IS HARD TO BEAT THE VALUE AND THE QUALITY THAT BELLIS VILLA AT BELLIS DELUXE HOTEL AND ITS HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL AND GRACIOUS PERSONNEL PROVIDE TO THEIR GUESTS! NOTE: THIS IS PART 2 (PARAGRAPHS 10 TO 15) OF OUR 2-PART REVIEW SINCE WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO POST THE FULL REVIEW BECAUSE OF TRIPADVISOR.COM SPACE LIMITATIONS. SEE PART 1 (PARAGRAPHS 1 TO 9) WHICH WE POSTED IN DECEMBER 2024 SEPARATELY AT https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g7380333-d1452197-Reviews-Bellis_Deluxe_Hotel-Kadriye_Belek_Serik_District_Turkish_Mediterranean_Coast.html WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE TO TRIP ADVISOR READERS NOT BEING ABLE TO READ OUR REVIEW FULLY IN ONE LOCATION. 10. THE DRINKS. From what I read, quite a few people complained about the quality of drinks at the main restaurant (and bars accessible to guests staying in the main building). I did not try any drinks from the regular bars, including the Bellis Lounge bar in the main building and the beach bar, and therefore I cannot really comment about them. However, I personally came to the bar at the main restaurant and saw the alcoholic drinks there. Yes, the choice is fairly limited there: 1 kind of any liquor (whiskey, vodka, etc.) which are not the most premium ones. I do not know if they are Turkish or imported, the bottles are original, but I do not know about the content. At the Begonvil restaurant and a la carte restaurants the choice and the quality of drinks gets better (for example, Absolut vodka compared to the Polish one, 12 year old Chivas whiskey compared to regular Ballentine’s, etc.). At Diamond Lounge the choice and quality is even better (I think that they have 6 sorts of whiskey, for instance) and I am sure it is all original. For me the weakest point at all of the restaurants was the quality of RED WINE which is always my drink of choice. House wine at the main restaurant was so so, and therefore I had to switch to other choices. Red wine at all a la carte restaurants is an Italian one, fairly decent, but NOT anything to “write home about”. My biggest disappointment was red wine at my favorite Diamond Lounge since the food and everything else there is excellent and in my opinion the red wine is THE ONLY serious “weak link” there. It is NOT that the Diamond Lounge wines are terrible (for example, Diamond Lounge carries Chilean Frontera brand of Cabernet Sauvignon and this specific brand is usually good). However, the Chilean Frontera brand of Cabernet Sauvignon I tried there was the weirdest one in my life: it was AS IF the wine was diluted with water! Of course, I am sure that this problem was NOT the restaurant’s doing – regardless, something was seriously wrong with the BATCH that Diamond Lounge had. Merlot was somewhat better, but still not on par with the excellent food quality, which is really my point: for a restaurant with such premium food options, the wine list needs and requires SERIOUS IMPROVEMENT. We discussed this matter among ourselves and came to the conclusion that the wine situation might be of low priority for the hotel since the main clientele during high season (i.e., Russians) generally prefers hard liquor to wine. Of course, this is just speculation on our group’s part. Regardless, I highly suggest that hotel management consider improving the wine offerings, at least at the hotel’s otherwise truly FIVE-STAR Diamond Lounge! 11. FITNESS CENTER, SPA, AND INDOOR POOL. I am an avid workout person. I found the hotel gym to be very adequate - it is almost a professional level place and is quite spacious. All of the basic weight machines, free weights, barbell station, pullup station, treadmills, etc. are present. Unless you are training for a Mr., Ms., or Mrs. Universe contest, you will do just fine working out at the Fitness Center. It usually does NOT get crowded (however, I do not know what it is like during morning hours) - after 5 p.m. there were never more than 10-12 people there at once. Twice there were only 3-4 people there. In the SPA area there are 2 saunas (one hotter than the other), steam room, and hammam, plus 2 tranquil rest areas. Saunas and hammam were good. We did not use the steam room much. We also did not use any spa services, so I cannot comment about them. The spa can get really crowded after 5 p.m. when everyone leaves the beach. Before 5 pm, for example, at 3 pm you can use the spa and feel as if you were almost all by yourself because it is usually so peaceful during this time. After 5 pm the spa is still manageable, but there are lots of people, oftentimes with small children, and it can get a bit loud in the spa. We tolerated the crowdedness OK, but I can imagine that some guests might get a bit agitated with crowds inside the spa after 5 pm and therefore visiting the Spa before 4 pm is highly recommended. Overall, the spa is pretty good. We want to note that we made the mistake of using our own slippers (that we had brought from home) in the Spa area and they were exceptionally slippery. However, then we asked at the Spa front desk for the hotel slippers (which are the same ones that we had in our Villa) and they were NOT slippery. Both the Fitness Center and Spa personnel are professional, polite, and helpful. There is also a warm indoor pool which opens after October 20th. My wife and I did not use the warm indoor pool, but other family members used it and liked it. 12. HOTEL GROUNDS/POOLS/AQUAPARK/ZOO/ETC. My wife and I spent our free time at the beach and did not use the pools or other outdoor facilities. We read that some people complained about the water in the pools being cold – this is quite possibly the case since from what we understand the outdoor pools do not get heated until later. Therefore, we recommend going to the beach where the water temperature in October is probably 27 degrees celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) which is very nice and the water is super clear and generally calm (there was some wind, mainly in the afternoon, but it did not produce big waves, except for 1 day). We did not use the water slides, but my niece and her 12 year old son used them a lot and had a lot of fun doing so! Hotel grounds are nicely maintained, and there are lots of trees of all kinds. The hotel has a multipurpose sport court open for guests, and my 12-year-old great nephew used it for his SOCCER PRACTICE. My wife and I visited the hotel’s ZOO, which is a fun spot for kids. The zoo is shady, and the animals are in good condition, EXCEPT FOR THE HORSES. The horses are bothered incessantly by flies (even though there were sticky fly strips in the stables) and simply do NOT look healthy while being kept in the stables (possibly they are not getting sufficient EXERCISE). Hopefully we are wrong about the health and happiness of the horses - we tried to talk with an attendant about our impression of the horses that he and his colleagues are responsible for, but we ran into a language barrier even though he was friendly and tried hard to understand us. 13. PERSONNEL. I state unequivocally that personnel is the hotel’s best asset. The MANY personnel with whom we interacted were professional, helpful, and had a great attitude. ALL of the servers/managers/kitchen personnel, etc. at DIAMOND LOUNGE were professional and excellent. They were always graciously willing to accommodate guests’ requests to the extent possible, and we were EXTREMELY pleased with the level of service at Diamond Lounge. This comment also includes all of the waiters who serve the beach cabanas because they are all part of Diamond Lounge personnel. We intentionally decided not to name specific people because we were afraid that we would forget someone, and there are simply too many to name since we stayed for 11 nights and many people served us as a result. Regardless, we want again to stress that every single person working at Diamond Lounge was SUPERB in fulfilling his or her duties. We had direct access to the GUEST RELATIONS DEPARTMENT via WhatsApp, and each and every request was handled promptly and professionally by guest relations personnel and we have only praise for them and how their daily help made our stay MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE. We had one minor problem at the hotel, which was OUR FAULT: my 12-year-old great nephew accidentally lost his special professional soccer ball which his dad had given to him! We contacted the Guest Relations Department with the exact time and location of the accident and asked them to look at the hotel’s security cameras in that area, and within 2 hours his special professional soccer ball was found! That kid was beyond happy – he was ECSTATIC about finding that special professional soccer ball that his precious dad had given him! Another instance involved extending checkout hours since our flight was late at night. Although the hotel could not accommodate us staying at the villa beyond regular check out time (12 pm), the hotel provided us with a room in the main building for approx. 7 hours, which we really appreciated. 14. MINOR IMPROVEMENTS. Aside from suggestions elsewhere above (e.g., better floor cleaning, more consistent snacks renewal, and better wine list), we suggest that the hotel in the off season provide regular maintenance for the villas. Although at least the villa we stayed at (# 6008) is in generally good condition, since it is an older building it needs some minor repairs: Several electric outlets were loose and therefore could present a danger of shock; one of the faucets in the main bathroom on the 2nd floor is faulty (the hot water does not run properly). There may be similar issues in other villa rooms and bathrooms, and these two problems are quite easy to take care of. However, we did NOT report these problems to the hotel during our stay (but we should have done so, so this is TOTALLY OUR FAULT), and we are sure that IF we had reported these problems they would have been taken care of IMMEDIATELY (HEMEN). Resolving these problems is easy to accomplish and will improve the guests’ overall impression of the villas and make the guests want to return to Bellis Villa again and again, which we DEFINITELY want and plan to do! 15. FINAL ASSESSMENT. I would say that for a party of 4 to 6 people Bellis Villa is an EXCELLENT CHOICE from the standpoint of overall value. I seriously doubt that it is possible to get the same amount and level of benefits for the money elsewhere, even at higher-end hotels. At other hotels, such a large party would need probably 3 average size rooms to be comfortable, and in terms of money in would end up costing at least the same (if not more) than booking a WONDERFUL VILLA at Bellis Deluxe. In addition, if you book a Bellis villa, you get much more in benefits than when you book a regular hotel room at Bellis Deluxe or at any other hotel. However, the calculus may get more complicated when the number of guests declines. For example, I do not know how much it would cost to book a villa for 2 people, but since my wife is eager for JUST THE TWO OF US to go back to Bellis Villa in several months we may soon find out! Regardless, if you want a highly personalized service, then Bellis Villa is DEFINITELY the way to go even for just 2 people, especially when the romantic element is much more intimate because there are only two people! THE BOTTOM LINE – WHEN TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION EVERYTHING, IT IS HARD TO BEAT THE VALUE AND THE QUALITY THAT BELLIS VILLA AT THE BELLIS DELUXE HOTEL AND ITS HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL AND GRACIOUS PERSONNEL PROVIDE TO THEIR GUESTS!