Originally Posted by escape4

Introduction We stayed a few nights at Reges Luxury Collection and had a so-so stay. There are some positive features of this property which is good value when booking with points in the summer and the rooms look quite nice. However in terms of destination I significantly prefer Bodrum over Cesme and service at Reges was not stellar by any means and definitely fell short of luxury standards. I would not recommend staying here at high cash rates in the summer – might as well spend a bit more for Bodrum. But for people on a budget and looking to burn points, you can do so at a fraction of Bodrum so that would be the segment of travelers to whom I would recommend this property. Location Bodrum is a hotbed of luxury hotel from many international chains including top end properties such as Mandarin Oriental and Aman, plus Marriott has EDITION and Caresse (Luxury Collection). By contrast Cesme does not have much to offer for luxury. There is a Sheraton and a Radisson Blu in addition to Reges, but not a whole lot more so people looking for a top hotel specifically in Cesme will probably pick Reges by default. The hotel is about a one-hour drive from Izmir airport and had free valet parking. It is also only a few minutes’ drive from the Cesme castle and town center. The resort itself is set on a beautiful quiet bay with all rooms looking towards the sea. Those on the ground floor have pool views and other rooms all have sea views. Room Most rooms at Reges are considered entry level, regardless if they have sea views or if they are by the pool, so the advantage is that it’s quite easy to book a room with points unlike properties which only have a handful of basic rooms making points redemptions very difficult. At 25k points per night given cash rates of 400-500 EUR, booking with points is as good as it gets: it is better than 2 cents per point especially with 5th night free.The downside of having lots of rooms available with points is that the property does not have a lot of suites. The hotel was full during our stay so as expected we did not receive an upgrade. We did receive a room on a fairly high floor which was nice to have better views, however at check-in they said we had a room a bit larger than others and looking at the floor plan it was actually the opposite, some rooms were bigger than ours but none were smaller. In fact in terms of privacy because we were in the bottom of the V-shape of the building, we had a worse room as we could more easily see our neighbor from our balcony, in fact we could see our neighbor even from inside our room if standing close to the patio door.The hotel opened last year so it’s still new and the hardware looks great. In terms of entry level rooms it’s hard to beat thanks to the fantastic sea views and quality floor tiles. The bathroom was nice as well with a rain shower separate from the bathtub. There was a glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom so if you left the blinds up you would have views from there as well. I would have designed the toilet enclosure differently however because it was a partially and gradually frosted glass door such that you could not see through at the bottom of the door but it was more clear higher up. Thankfully the blinds were electric and not manual which made it easier to frequently move them up and down, and it was the same for curtains and sheers in front of the patio door. Bottom line the technological features of the hotel were up to par. However one negative aspect which was somewhat surprising for a recently built hotel in this price range is that soundproofing was average at best. The noise was mostly during the day or evening and not during the night so thankfully we could enjoy good nights of sleep especially with well-functioning air conditioning and the pillow menu for special orders to match guest preferences.The patio itself was a good place to relax for a drink although as mentioned above not the most private. There were plants on each side for partial visual privacy but the neighbors were sitting very close so we were pretty much part of their conversation. Dining Breakfast was on the floor below reception which is not very close to the sea and from there not much views either so for a beachfront resort the breakfast venue left to be desired. Also another problem is that they did not have enough tables outside so they would get full – most seating was indoors which was disappointing in the summer. The main luxury aspect of breakfast was sparkling wine but in terms of food it was ok but not great. There was no a la carte menu other than the ability to order eggs from our table; everything else was the buffet. The covid set-up for the buffet was odd because you had to stand in line and wait for staff to escort us and they would pick the food we wanted for us. Unfortuantely some guests were sometimes impatient and I saw some pick bread bare-handed which is not ideal with covid to say the least. All food offerings were fairly standard, whether fruits, veggies, and nothing stood out. For hot dishes they had menemen and sucuk like most hotels in Turkey and food quality was decent. Service The main drawback of this property was service. If it was a Westin, Le Meridien, or Renaissance, I would not mind much but service was definitely not luxury standards. Breakfast was a bit chaotic with staff missing orders or not serving guests efficiently due to the design, but also they just let guests pick a table themselves rather than take responsibility for ensuring there was actually a clean table for guests to sit at. On some mornings if occupancy was high, we had nowhere to sit and nobody helping us to find a table (or clean a table) – it felt more like a Four Points. In addition, housekeeping was also subpar and often cursory: one morning they clearly did not clean the floor which was still wet from our shower a couple hours before as water had partially gotten out of the shower. They also failed to replenish many articles on several occasions such as tissues, soap, drinking glasses, and they took away bathrobes without giving new ones. One day I called reception to ask for housekeeping to come for missing items, but they did not even bother.About two weeks before our stay my Ambassador reached out to me to discuss our needs for this stay and I told her that it would be our anniversary during the stay and she said she would organize something for us. Then a few days before the stay I asked her specifically if the hotel was notified and she said yes. Once we arrived at Reges for check-in there was no recognition at all, no note, no welcome amenity, etc. On the exact day of our anniversary same thing: nothing at all. They just dropped the ball, which a luxury hotel should not do especially when an ambassador goes out of their way to organize something – twice.We also had false fire alarms on consecutive days which was annoying, one of the two days it even happened twice.To conclude with service, staff also came knocking on our door twice despite the do not disturb light being turned on.Bottom line, this hotel was poor in terms of service for any hotel brand, let alone a Luxury Collection. Beach The beach and surrounding grounds of the hotel were both very nice and I would say it’s a strength of the property. Pool There were two pools, one in front of each building of the hotel. They were quite small but not very occupied because most guests preferred the beach area. Wifi Wifi worked well with speeds of about 15 Mbps. Overall Overall the value if booking with points is excellent because many sea side resorts in Turkey are very expensive in July-August; I cannot imagine that this property will remain 25k points for very long. The problem is more for guests booking with cash who expect luxury level of service – this will be a major disappointment. I significantly preferred Bodrum over Cesme so I don’t think I will rush back to Reges but it would be hard to find a hotel with the quality of Reges’ hardware in Bodrum for the same number of points required. For cash bookings I would question whether Cesme is the best destination however because Turkey has lots to offer.