Blue Rainbow/Alinda

[babs]

Booked for Blue Rainbow in January, arrived 7 June for 14 nights. Took 2.5 hours for transfer to Icmeler and had to wait over an hour in the reception of the Blue Rainbow before being told that there were now rooms available and we had to go to the Alinda. Was told that if we didnt like the room we could go back to the BR the day after when they hoped to find us 'somewhere'. The room was very nice but it would have been better to have been told when we arrived all hot and bothered and also for the fridge to have been mended when we reported it not working on the first day as with the TV. We had to have our meals and use the pool at the BR because the pool was still being worked on and there was 'no restaurant' at the Alinda. No problem for the first 3 days until hoards of Turkish holiday makers arrived with loads of kids in tow. They apparently had a special offer of 24-hour all inclusive whereas ours stopped at 11pm and paid around £100 for the 2 weeks holidays! The holiday went downhill from there on. The only meat that we could actually eat was chicken so we had chicken for lunch and dinner every day for 14 days, often rehashed as soup the following meal. Constantly being called ignorant English pigs at all hours of day and night is not my idea of fun. Nor apparently fun for the staff - the general manager walked out after the first week sick of the complaints, 3 waiters left, 2 were sacked and for the last three days the hotel ran out of alcohol (unless you were turkish and you could help yourself over the bar!) The reception staff and in particular the one with the blond ponytail was totally ignorant and ignored everyone and the only time we were spoken to without us making the first approach was on the last day to ask us if we had had a good time. Well no we hadn't - thanks!
I have been to the BR before and never had this kind of treatment. Brits in the hotel were constantly having their sun beds taken by the turks who certainly believed they were doing no wrong. If this hotel is not brought back under control there will be serious problems there.
We had to ask for the rooms to be cleaned regularly although the maid showed us where the brush and shovel was!, the balcony which was open to the road up four steps was not mopped the entire time we were there and was full of flowers and pollen that had dropped from the two trees on the roadside. We came home one day to find a decorating table and plank set up directly outside our door. The work was ongoing drilling and grinding from 8am to 11pm every day! There were babies in the hotel heaven only knows how they got to sleep because we couldn't.
The whole experience has put me off Icmeler and I have been going there in excess of 15 years. I know one bad experience should not make me come to this conclusion but when you put all this together and many other instances eg maid using the toilet and not flushing, the return transfer driver not knowing where each hotel was and having to stay on the phone constantly screaming at the person on the other side of the phone the entire way to the airport etc etc etc you can hardly blame us.
Rant over but no thanks NEVER AGAIN