Fairyland Cave Hotel

TLDR - CONS: unbearable mouldy musty smell due to poor ventilation in the suite room. Inability for management to accept that there was a problem with the room. No sound insulation so can hear conversation of neighbours and dogs barking. PROS: nice location for viewing morning balloons. Stayed here at the king suite room 111 with my wife and two kids for one night before demanding a change of rooms. The ventilation was almost non existent, and the bathtub was set very deep in the room and next to the master bed, which led to a very strong musty smell, so bad that it was difficult to sleep. It was so strong and pervasive that even after an hour or two in the room, de-sensitisation to the smell doesn’t help. The management was dismissive and stated that it’s just the cave smell. I’ve stayed previously at cave rooms and know what is acceptable and what is a health hazard. This was most certainly unacceptable and definitely a health hazard. It was only after complaining separately on two occasions to the owner, and after demanding to either change rooms or I’ll checkout, the management conceded and switched me to a smaller standard non-suite room 108. The bathtub in the room was near the window therefore, there was significantly less musty smell and one could at least sleep. Clearly, not all the rooms have the problem of room 111, although 108 utilised a perfume smell to mask the mustiness. While I appreciate the change in room which at least made it possible to sleep, I was very disappointed by two aspects. Firstly, management’s refusal to concede that there is a problem with the suite I had paid for. And secondly, after changing to a smaller standard room still charged me the full suite room for 3 nights despite the suite not being fit for human stay. It is not about the money, but more the principal of at least accepting responsibility and acknowledging there is a fundamental issue with their hotel room. Ultimately, would not recommend to stay for one’s health. Location is great and fortunately there are many other hotels in the area. Better to stay at a place with a local Cappadocian owner that cares about their guests and the hospitality reputation of the region, rather than this place which is owned by an Ankara man that is appears purely driven by near term profits.