Hotel reviews: Hotel Barut Arum, Side, Turkey

The airport for the south coast of Turkey is Antalya, the Hotel Barut Arum is in Side, a small town 60 km to the east. As the transfer was not included in our arrangement, we had to take a taxi, at the taxi station there’s a long list with destinations in the vicinity with fixed prices in Euro, our fare was 65 Euro. (1 Euro ~ 1,25 $)

The Euro is the second currency in Turkey, so you have to change your money into Turkish Lira as well as Euro, you can do that in the airport while you’re waiting for your luggage. You can also get your visa there.

The Hotel Arum is a five star hotel belonging to the Barut group, it’s situated 3,5 km west of Side built on a slight mound. The entrance hall is pompous, big and rather cold in appearance, from there a flight of stairs leads down to the dining-room, another to the pool area, more about that later. The receptionist was friendly and efficient and it didn’t take long until we were in our room. The man in our travel agency at home had told us that all rooms had twin beds, but ours hadn’t, there was only one big double bed, shock, horror, a sleepless night was waiting for us! Back to the receptionist who told us that the hotel was full and that only the following day there was a chance for us to get a room with twin beds.

The new room was quite spacious with ~ 18 m, with a double bed and a normal one, a comfy armchair and enough light to read a book by (a rare thing in a hotel), a small balcony overlooking the pool area and with a view of the sea, unfortunately slightly obstructed by a tall date palm tree. The bathroom contained the usual amenities and toiletries including terry cloth slippers. The TV set worked well (CNN, BBC, National Geographic), all as it should be in a hotel of this category.

The dining room on the lower ground floor is an enormous hall, some low walls dividing it into sections try to give the guests the feeling not to sit in the waiting area of an airport. A piano player also strives to make the atmosphere a bit intimate. It opens onto a terrace where the guests can also sit and have their meals.

What I enjoyed was that it was possible to eat conventionally, i.e., the international food you get everywhere (some people like this) but also Turkish food which is very tasty (we know this from our Turkish neighbour who once a week sends us something to eat in exchange for helping her daughters with their homework). There’s a great choice for veggies. Every night a different sweet was prepared in the