Rhodes Apartments, Old Village

[Sami]

I just wanted to write a few words about Rhodes Apartments as I stay there so often, thought it would be nice of me to 'big' them up a little. I first saw Rhodes Apartments from my balcony over the road at Daystar. I took my Dad there for a beer on Father's day and we met Tolga who runs the apartments & bar for his parents. We asked to see one of the rooms and liked what we saw.
The pool here is one of the best in Icmeler and has enough sunbeds for everyone staying and anyone else who wishes to use the pool. Tolga is happy to welcome people who are not staying there. The food is excellent from breakfast through to evening meals and a salad inbetween. Beers, spirits and food alike it is all very good value and served with a smile.
Rooms are immaculate and linen, towels etc are all changed or at least made on a daily basis. Usually with a petal designs left on your bed by the cleaner. This young lady works very hard. I have seen her washing and wiping everything down, everyday while I lay there watching her from my comfy sunbed.
Having stayed there a good many years now, over that time I've seen Tolga working very hard as most Turkish people do in the heat of the day. His parents do not help him that much anymore so he had employed a young sidekick. The first time I met this young man, he was rather cocky and I think trying to impress. Instead he gave the wrong impression and had he carried on, I don't think he would have lasted. A year on and he is doing well too, his English is very good and he asks if a word is correct, or what a word might mean if he doesn't understand. He is very attentive during the day and will fetch you a cold drink on request. I have seen him in the mornings helping the cleaner wipe down all the sunbeds ready for use by us holiday makers.
Overall, the Rhodes Apartments are in a great location with a mountain backdrop as you wake up, views out over Icmeler, friendly staff, immaculate rooms and excellent food. What more does one need.

[cassie]

A few years ago we stayed at the rhodes and agree they are lovely apartments nothing is too much trouble .......BUT a few days into the holiday a big party from the daystar came early every morning and put towels on sunbeds which rhodes allowed and much too our dismay we had trouble findind 4 beds together this party were rather rude and loud when we mentioned this to tolga was met with a shrug they spend money. so for the remainder of our holiday we found a empty pool around the corner and gave the owner some money and he let us use it , hotel owners should remember that we have paid to stay at there hotel/appt and should have preferance regarding a sunbed round their pool such a shame cause we did like rhodes but woudnt stay again for this reason .

[dragon]

Hi Cassie
Which pool did you use when you couldn't get sunbeds at the Rhodes? Staying there next year so would be helpful to know just in case we have the same problem. It'll save us the trek of looking for somewhere

[cassie]

Hi Dragon

It was a couple of years ago we stayed here and the pool we used was part of a small complex of apartments directly behind rhodes sort of opp daystar , it was completly empty after asking around in the street we found the owner who was only too happy to let us use his pool it was heaven like having our own, like i said rhodes is a lovely place to stay but when full to capacity ie non residents it became a problem and for that reason i wouldnt stay there again .

[dragon]

Hi Cassie
Thanks for that. We've booked at the Rhodes because of the major problem with disabled access, everywhere seems to have steps and so I always have to have help and can't be independent. Of the apartments we visited, the Rhodes seemed to be the best for me. Unfortunately, the apartments were fully booked when we visited and so we couldn't look at one of the apartments.

The thing that concerns me is that the ground floor apartments may be dark as the pictures show that the level of the pool is higher than the ground floor apartments. It may also mean that as you sit on your terrace you'll have all the sunbathers by the pool towering above you. If this is the case, it's still better than struggling with the steps but at least I can be forewarned. Something else I just thought of as I write this is that, as the apartments are lower is there a ramp as well as steps to go to this level? When we visited we only had a look around the pool area and the restaurant. I just hope that we haven't swapped one problem for another

[jackonews]

We have stayed at the Rhodes on many occasions and is our favourite choice in Icmeler,both for location and Tango and staff.The apartments are clean and bright.
The problem you will have with wheel chair acess is that which ever apartment you stay in either the basement or the first floor you have steps to contend with.
Basement is about 10 steps down and first floor is same up.That is after the 3 steps from the ground level up to the entrance to the apartments.
If you can deal with that ,I suppose the first floor is a better choice than the basement,you will have the best environment to enjoy your holiday.The surrounding area is all flat so no problem round pool or restaurant and the road way is flat.

Hope this helps

[dragon]

Thanks for that jackonews. I think I'd better change my request from a basement apartment to one on the first floor as that will be the lesser of the two evils, either of the options are going to be difficult. You mention that there are three steps from the ground level up to the entrance to the apartments, is there an area near these steps where I can leave my scooter or will we have to carry it up the steps? We don't have to worry about the scooter being moved as we always take the battery to the apartment with us. It's just a case of parking it nearby without it being in anybody's way.

[jackonews]

Yes there is plenty of room near the entrance to park a scooter that would not be in the way.Make sure you email Tango with your request for a certain level and explain your reason ,don't know when you are going or if you are going on a package or with ICR but would be worth ensuring your tour operator has the request as well.The Rhodes is a popular location with many return visitors.
You will be well looked after by Tango who wll go out of his way to help you.You have made the right choice of apartments and location but you would probably come up against a problem at a fair few other places.
Any thing else you need to know then will try to answer

[dragon]

Thanks, we have been going to Icmeler for years and always have the problem with the steps which I find very frustrating as I always need help. For the last four years we've rented private villas as other family members were with us and even then we've had problems with the steps. Before coming home in July we went for a wander and came across the Rhodes which we thought was ideal because of its entrance and the restaurant and pool area and never thought of looking further especially as they said that they were full. We were probably too tired by then as we'd been on quite a trek looking at other apartments and as it was early afternoon and in the 50s it wasn't ideal.

As long as I can park near the three steps it should be ok. This is the first time in years that we've booked a package as it worked out much cheaper than booking flights and accommodation separately. While we were in Icmeler in July we popped in to have a chat with the girls about our problem and they had suggested giving ICR a ring after going home but we thought that we had solved the problem when we saw these apartments. So when we saw the price of the package holiday we booked it, as the prices of the flights had increased so much.

I'm so glad that I know about the steps as I would have been disappointed arriving at silly o'clock in the morning to see a flight of steps that I didn't know existed

[JT]

Hi Dragon

Out of curiosity can you tell me where you flying from, when , for how long and how many people as when I checked last week it was still cheaper with us than Thomson unless from Aberdeen, so I need to know what changes have been made

[dragon]

Hi John
We're flying on 29th June from Bristol for two weeks. It's just the two of us and our intention when we came home was to book through ICR for the accommodation but when we checked the prices of the flights on various days the total price was higher than the package offered by Thomsons. Normally we book everything separately and are now thinking that we should have taken Michelle's advice and given ICR a ring

For the past few years we've been booking private accommodation as my daughters & co were coming with us. Now that there's only two of us we had to make sure that we could access accommodation easily as my OH is disabled as well and thought that the Rhodes would have been ok. We used to book our flights with Aegean.

Just noticed a mistake that we have made in that we were checking the skyscanner prices at the top of the page when we should have gone to your home page and clicked on 'book flights.' On checking the price it works out about the same as we paid and I see that the Thomson price has now increased. In future I'll give ICR a ring before booking as even if your price was more I think that the 'extras' you provide are worth paying for. If I'd booked with you I could possibly have been moved elsewhere if I couldn't cope with the steps, I now wish that I hadn't booked with Thomsons.

[Sami]

Went back to the Rhodes last September and the young lad I spoke about in my first entry had been let go. Seems his cockiness had got the better of him and Tolga had had to sack him. He had also let the night watchman go as he had unfortunately fallen asleep on the job, not great for a night watchman. And so it was back to Tolga to run the place again and his Father having to stay up over night for the evening arrivals.

Took my brother and his girlfriend and they loved the place. Both my friend whom I had taken in July and my brother have booked to come back this year. I myself have also done the same. I shall be arriving on June 13th for 10 days and I cannot wait.