Guven Cave Hotel in Goereme

AWFUL. A mediocre-at-best hotel in Goreme. I would not recommend anyone stay at this fake-cave hotel. They have some rooms decorated into looking like cave rooms (aka they just don’t have windows) but don’t be tricked by the name—it is not a cave hotel.

In a country driven by Turkish Hospitality, this hotel was an absolute blemish on their record. The town had some nice people but their main office staff member was rude and awful…

We arrived off an overnight bus from Istanbul. And after following maps and directions, we were lost and a lovely employee from a neighboring hotel drove us to it on his way to work. Just then, the desk clerk came out on his motorcycle (20+ minutes after we’d called for directions or pickup).

It wasn’t even 10 am by the time we’d arrived when he declared breakfast wasn’t complimentary this morning despite the fact that we had booked 4 nights. The breakfast, which was raved about in previous online reviews and a weighty reason for choosing this particular hotel, was satisfying on only one of the 4 days with a full spread of Turkish breakfast, cereals, meats, cheeses, eggs, etc and only ok the rest. Additionally, the same desk attendant (he really was the only one we saw operating the hotel besides the cleaning women) stared at you or played loud noises on his computer while trying to enjoy breakfast on the top floor.

All of their add-on excursions were entirely overpriced but he still tried to sell them to us, without even budging on the prices. We walked around quite a bit exploring the Rose Valley, Love Valley and Pigeon Valley. We facilitated our own tours—both a balloon ride and “Turkish Night” with other tour operators, saving quite a hefty amount of money.

The final straw was really our last day. After a less than stellar experience, we checked out on time and stored our luggage before spending the day hiking. As it got cold, we decided to head back to the hotel to sit in the lounge and charge our phones after dinner. Despite having not enjoyed a glass of complimentary tea or coffee (because the main desk attendant insisted on serving it to you and had a horrible attitude about serving people), we asked for a glass to enjoy in our last hour. Then he insisted on charging us for it, which made me quite annoyed and then insisted on emphasizing and reemphasizing even on our way down the street leaving the hotel that we checked out so the tea is no longer complimentary.

Needless to say, we were disappointed with just about everything in the hotel. The breakfast was ordinary, the service was terrible and the amenities were hardly available.

The hot air balloon ride, though, was quite fantastic and definitely worth a trip to Cappadocia just to see! Just don’t stay here!