REVIEW: Hotel Ilayda Avantgarde in Kusadasi

We were pleasantly surprised at our hotel here in Kusadasi. The Hotel Ilayda Avantgarde gave us a nice little space to rest our weary heads during this hectic two-day trip. Allegra liked it, and anything that makes her comfortable is okay in my book. But was it everything it promised? Read on to find out.Actually, there are two Hotel Ilaydas in Kusadasi, about a block away from each other. We stayed at the one that had a Starbucks on the ground floor. We didn’t know anything about the hotel, honestly. The tour company chose it for us. There was this whole mix-up about when we were arriving, and they gave us an upgrade to appease us. I suspect there wasn’t really a mix-up, however. You can read that story here.

Location

It was near the coast, the restaurants, the shopping centers too. Allegra had a nice little walk down the beach with her dad, and after dinner we passed by Mado and had dessert!

Design

We arrived at the hotel around 4:00 PM, after a full-day of touring Ephesus and Mt. Koressos. Check-in went well and the staff spoke English. We rested for about half an hour before going out to dinner that night. Don’t laugh, we ate at a Chinese restaurant. Hey, Asian people need Asian food. ?Anyway, so we walk in and were really surprised. We didn't expect the Double Room to be this well-designed space. There’s enough room for two people and a baby to each do their own thing. By the way, my child went directly for the phone on the bedside table.The bathroom was small but also fitted well, like having sliding doors to save space and hanging storage for towels and toiletries.Props to the tour company for handling all this, and especially because they gave Allegra a little travel cot. We didn’t ask for that because we co-sleep anyway, but we appreciated it. She still slept in our bed but the cot kept her busy for a while.There’s a sitting area right by the window facing the coast. I thought this was the best part of the room. It brought a lot of light in making the space look bigger, and it’s calming to watch the sea from the comfort of our room.

Cost

The tour company didn’t tell us how much the hotel was because we paid one sum for the whole trip, but I checked online and one night at the Hotel Ilayda Avantgarde costs USD 60 (TRY 343) on average. Breakfast is included.

Breakfast

Speaking of breakfast, maybe I wasn’t able to appreciate it because we had a ridiculously early call time for the van ride to Pamukkale, but it wasn’t that great.It was open by 6:00 AM and the hot food was a little bizarre. I remember putting slices of pizza on my plate because that’s what my child would like. I was wrong. She did not like unfresh pizza.We ate some of the pastries and the fruits, because we only had half an hour to eat.Paolo had some coffee, I loaded up on water. I regret not bringing my own water bottle on this trip.

Sleeping in the room

Something strange happened as we were getting ready to go to bed. We smelled cigarette smoke. I called Reception to ask about it and even though it was just 9:00 PM, no one was picking up. Funnily enough, there wasn’t any smoke smell out in the hallway. But I suspect someone on the floor was smoking when they shouldn’t have been.We tried opening the window, but for some reason the smell got worse. Anyway, when I finally got a hold of them they said I was in a non-smoking floor, but that there was probably smoke from the other restaurants grilling outside that crept in. They sent someone to fix the smell.That someone was just a guy with a spray bottle of scented cleaning fluid. He went around our room spraying it. It didn’t do much help, if I’m being honest. It just made the room more stuffy smelling.

Bottomline

Honestly, it wasn’t bad. The best things they have is the well-designed spaces and their customer service. They really did their best to make us comfortable, and I appreciated it.Would we stay there again? Maybe. The suite looks good, it sleeps two adults and two children and costs about USD 130 from February to April. The price goes up to USD 170 (TRY 970) from June to August. We like Kusadasi and because it’s close to Izmir,Have you been to Kusadasi? It’s a lovely coastal town that’s worth a visit!