A Decent Budget Getaway, But Not for Long

Hello there!

I recently stayed at the Sun Vera Hotel, which is also listed as the Fun Point Hotel on maps. Some folks say it doesn't quite live up to its 3-star rating, but I'm still trying to figure out how to rate it. It was a decent spot to crash after a day at the beach. We booked through a travel agency.

When we arrived late at night, our initial impression wasn't great: the room was worn out, the plumbing was faulty, and the doors were scratched. But wow, the view from our balcony was stunning!

View from the balcony at nightHowever, if you take a closer look, there were leftovers and trash on the tables after dinner. And nobody cleaned it up at night. The cleaning happens early in the morning, before breakfast.

In the morning, our opinion did shift a bit, as it turned out the room was actually quite spacious - a four-person room with two separate rooms and a balcony. I even fixed the leaky faucet myself, and it stopped bothering us.

Exterior

The hotel greets guests with its sign.

Hotel signThe sign is followed by stone stairs with a red pathway (the pathway is heavily worn out). Pathway to the entranceWhen we arrived at night, the reception was empty, and you rarely see anyone there during the day. The staff work at the counter, the bar, and take care of cleaning and maintaining the pool - all with just 2-3 people. The kitchen staff are different people, I've seen them.The building is high, there's a lift, but you have to wait a long time for it.

ElevatorI was lucky, we were put on the 3rd floor and we walked up the stairs.

Hall on the same floorCorridors are free, quiet, and clean. There are paintings on the walls, and some floors have couches. Each floor has trash cans next to the elevator.Hall on another floorAnd, of course, like everywhere in Alanya, there are cats in the hall.

Cats on the couch...

Cats...

I wanted to take this beauty home)

Our temporary accommodation was a two-room apartment with a combined bathroom and a balcony. Unfortunately, I don't have full photos of the rooms, just a few shots. A simple TV with one Russian channel and a few Turkish ones, but all in low quality. The bedding was clean and ironed. I really liked the mattresses. The kid was thrilled with them. He said they were firm and soft enough. Sleeping on them was a pleasure.

The room is spacious, with plenty of space to move around.I was a bit disappointed with the state of the bathroom. The shower cubicle was a real challenge to use, thanks to the constant sand from the beach that made it hard to drain the water. It's clear that it's not cleaned often. The plumbing is in a sorry state, but it's still functional. As I mentioned earlier, the faucet in the sink was leaking, but I managed to tighten it myself.

The entrance to the bathroomThe air conditioner in the room with the double bed worked perfectly, without making any noise. In the same room, there was a wardrobe with a wonky door and an old safe that you could take out with its contents. There was also a bathroom vanity (with a clean mirror). Everything was in a blue and white color scheme, although the paint on the doors was peeling off in some places, and the wardrobe and vanity looked like they hadn't been repainted in ages. A simple room without any frills. We were there for a week, and during that time, we only had one knock on the door, but since it was on the second day after our arrival, we didn't need to clean the room yet. When we did need it, we didn't bother to ask the cleaning staff.The Wi-Fi in the rooms is paid, but we used our own, figuring it would be better that way.

The balcony is small and open. It has a clothesline, a table, and 4 plastic chairs.

The balconyFrom there, you can see the pool. The pool is accessed by a slide, but it's not regularly watered and gets dry. The staff did hose it down once, but quickly took it away, probably to prevent the pool from overflowing.

View from the balcony during the day I was surprised by how crowded the pool was, especially in the middle of the day. It seemed like the hotel was populated mostly by locals, often with entire families in tow. There's a kiddie pool with a depth of around 10-15 cm, maybe a bit more. The adult pool is deeper, with a section near the bar that's around 2 meters deep, and a shallower section near the stairs that's around 1.2 meters deep. The pool itself is clean, and the water doesn't have any weird odors. The surrounding area is well-maintained, with staff regularly sweeping away sand and water. Kiddie pool The food situation is a bit of a mixed bag. They have a 'buffet-style' setup, but don't expect any gourmet meals. It's mostly soy-based meat, and a variety of veggie salads. The meal schedule is posted near the elevator and on the reception desk. Lunch and dinner are basically the same thing. They often served pasta, fries, and boiled beans as sides. They'd also reuse leftovers from breakfast, which isn't exactly the most appetizing thing. Some people have reported cases of food poisoning, which might be due to the fact that food is stored in open containers and reused multiple times. It's pretty obvious when the veggies have been sitting out for a while. Breakfast features boiled eggs, plenty of eggs, and portioned-out jam, butter, and nut paste. There's also ultra-pasteurized milk (packaged, possibly non-dairy since I don't speak Turkish) and various dry breakfast cereals like flakes and rings. Fresh bread was available at every meal, and I really enjoyed it - it was tasty and aromatic. They'd also offer watermelon and cantaloupe for dinner, but the watermelon would get gobbled up pretty quickly. The bar was open until 10 PM, offering tea, coffee, water, and cold fizzy drinks, as well as some alcoholic beverages in a small bar area.When the water bottles ran out, and they didn't arrive for ages. When they finally did, the water looked like it had been drawn from a questionable source. We bought our own water anyway, as the local bottled water is actually really tasty.

During peak meal times, there's a queue. Your chance of snagging a comfy stool is either to arrive early and join the queue at the front, or wait 30 minutes. There aren't any queues per se, but you might struggle to find an empty table. There are tables under the canopy where they serve food, as well as scattered around the pool area, but if you're sitting outside in the morning or evening, it's not too hot, but in the middle of the day, it's absolutely sweltering (we were there in late August).

The hotel grounds have a small kids' play area and a designated smoking area, but people smoke everywhere, including at the tables. The beach at Cleopatra is about a 10-minute walk away, but the return journey takes longer (you have to climb a hill). The hotel doesn't have its own beach, but you're not kicked off the public beach - you can just find a spot and lie down. However, you'll need to pay for the sunbeds, and they usually belong to a different hotel on the beach.

My verdict on the Sun Vera Hotel: it's fine for a short stay, but not ideal for a longer visit. There are too many questions about cleanliness, the food, and in some areas, the dirt is almost ingrained. The outdated, gloomy room was a letdown, but it did have a functioning air conditioner and decent mattresses. As we later found out, this hotel is used as a temporary stopover: people stay for 2-3 days and then move on to another hotel, and it's also a popular spot for locals (I won't mention the state of the food they leave behind).