ERCIYES HILL

Our family stay was largely positive, but there are issues which I just have to highlight with this review for fairness and consistency reasons.
Advantages:
- great location, around 10 minutes to the slopes, and transfer was provided both ways for those with own equipment, renting at the hotel or lazy enough to use it otherwise :-)
- the breakfast and dinner were provided timely and with some variety to choose from (although read further in disadvantages). Soups were almost always good, so were desserts;
- SPA was open despite Covid limitations - its friendly personnel and reasonable pricing ($40 for an hour of massage) made it our top choice for 5 consecutive evenings. 5-star highlights: Ita and a Turkish lady for great massage, Inna for communication/sales skills, Emir - for great Russian and excellent service.
- on-site ski rental was there - although it was small, always crowded and with limited options available, I was able to rent reasonably-looking Dynastar skis there which lasted me ok for 4 days;
- animation provided by chef Burhan was a yet another 5-star part of our evenings - my kids loved Bingo, his discos and grilled chestnuts. The rules for winning prizes were odd and often self-contradictory though. The most useful of the discount vouchers he was giving out was undoubtedly 10% off on-prem ski rental and that in Zirve rental close to Tekir Gate;
- reception service was mostly deviating around ok, sometimes being more helpful, sometimes less. There was a graying gentleman there who spoke good Russian - most helpful. We also booked our airport transfer with them - great service, car and driver - much safer than taxi we used on our way from the airport;
- price - it was hard to beat Family Room including both Christmas and New Year's eve with HB for 5 people for just 5950 Turkish liras (booked via Etstur website - all in Turkish, but Google translate helps);
- our family room was spacious with enough place for 5 beds and several large suitcases we brought. It had a reasonably-sized wardrobe and several cupboards to store all of our belongings. Bathroom was basic yet ok for 1 week. Elevator was ok, but we almost never used it, preferring to walk the stairs.
Disadvantages:
- breakfasts were lacking in variety, also, first dinner (on 25th December) was of tragic quality/taste. The food was moderately warm at most. Kids got bored of the food due to poor variety and ended up only eating mildly warm fries, spaghetti (when available) and occasional rice. The limitation of 1 serving of a dish per person (e.g. 1 egg only) from the server was ridiculous and doesn't really reflect the Turkish hospitality that I've become so used too. Food quality, variety and serving temperature could be hugely improved;
- the hotel is not new as some websites are claiming, but refurbished in 2019, actually built around 2009. This is clear from inside, and sound-proofing is very poor - we could hear everything that was going on in the corridor, adjacent rooms and those above/below us. The shower had a leak for 2 days which took 3 reminders to fix. Our door lock broke, the replacement one as well, causing us discomfort while it was being fixed;
- sleep quality was terrible for my family throughout the entire stay - mostly due to poor soundproofing, loud neighbours, uncomfortable pillows and beds - also confirmed by multiple other guests from Poland and Ukraine;
- as a further improvement suggestion, hotel management could be more proactive in communicating important updates like slope closure for weekend, re-opening of ski lifts (e.g. Hacilar and Hisarcik) and transfer options there. New Year's eve - I can understand that legal ban on gatherings was something unavoidable, but the expectation is that hotel management does more for its guests than merely capitalizes on food and drinks via room service that night. I feel that we have been overcharged around 2 times on drinks that night as there was no menu/price-list. All orders were priced ah-hoc by the hotel personnel.

As a summary, we were considering prolonging our stay, but did not.