Hotel Baykal

Unless this place has changed radically in the last year, I would not recommend it. We were the only patrons when we stayed there. The room was grim, cold, with worn-out sheets, not enough blankets, poor-to-hostile service. They would not provide breakfast, would not fix us any dinner and could make no suggestions of a place to find food in this tiny town. At night we were left alone in the hotel and informed where we could get out in case of fire. Bizarre. The Hittite ruins nearby were the only reason we stayed there. They were magnificent.

I decided to stay at this hotel despite the mixed reviews mainly because hotel choices were so limited and because it was conveniently located to Hattusa, but I must say, this was a low point in our trip. Ahmet is not only the receptionist, but also housekeeping, and the cook which seems too much for a single person to do. The room was functional but not at all comfortable for several reasons. The room was lighted with dull fluorescent bulbs which gave it a sort of institutional feel. The bathroom was not clean and the mat on the floor was wet. The shower spigot was mineralized so that the spray was weak and sporadic. The bed was covered in a flat sheet so we ended up finding ourselves sleeping directly on the mattress in the middle of the night. But worst of all, the heat was off so we had to wear our coats, hats and shoes in the room just to be tolerably comfortable. After being out all day in the cold, it was frustrating not being able to get warm at the hotel. And then the food was the worst we had in our one month trip in Turkey. We ate dinner there on both nights and I was quite surprised at how much we were charged for a flavorless meal when we had eaten some excellent food at half the cost in other cities.

Come giudichereste voi un albergo il cui proprietario vi chiede con insistenza via whatsapp di annullare la prenotazione fatta tramite un sito specializzato proponendovi uno sconto e al vostro rifiuto, dopo essersi fatto pagare in contanti, dichiara al sito in questione: 1) che la vostra carta di credito non era valida (!), 2) che non vi siete presentato nel suo albergo (!!), e poi, dopo aver letto la recensione critica che avete fatto sul sito di cui sopra - peraltro dandogli 7 -, vi invia un altro whatsapp in cui vi insulta? Io credo che "pessimo" sia l'unico giudizio possibile. Anche perché il personaggio in questione, nei due giorni del soggiorno, avendo saputo che la mia compagna di viaggio beve vino, non ha fatto che ironizzare sulla cosa e fare una martellante propaganda antialcoolica (e cercare di venderci qualunque cosa). Davvero una pessima esperienza.