Stayed 3 nights at the new Rixos after my usual business hotel was oversold in mid-October. Overall I was pleasantly surprised. In terms of ambience, the general impression was more of a high-end Las Vegas-style hotel--which may, or may not appeal to some. Rixos is on a very busy street across from the Turkish Parliament, and I imagine there is a lot of business there related to the government building's proximity. The lobby is very large and expansive, and its design does very little to suggest you are in Turkey--it could be anywhere. A large, floor to high ceiling water sculpture dominates one side of the lobby, and there is extensive use of hanging silver beads to separate spaces. It will be interesting to see if this design "ages well" over the years.

My room was arranged in way I had never seen before: nice king bed, but a curved, glass wall separates the bathroom with an enormous modern shaped tub from the rest of the room. Neon blue light circling over the tub adds a little glitz (or cheeziness, depending on your preference), and a floor to ceiling hanging fringe lines the curved glass wall. There is a separate small shower and WC, each enclosed with frosted glass doors. The shower has a nice overhead waterfall type shower head. So, though the room size was not large, it felt larger due to the see-through glass wall. Nice electronic controls of the many lights and the room black-out shade--but you have to insert your room card into the slot upon entering to make it work (remember to take the card with you when you leave!). A large sliding mirrorred door to a fairly small closet also makes the room feel larger. Free wireless internet (a plus). One complaint--there is no clock in the room other than that on the bottom of the wide-screen TV--and is not visible when the TV is off. I used the TV to set up wake up calls, and it worked well.

The restaurant just down a ramp off of the lobby floor is large, open, appealing and excellent for breakfast: buffet setup with several different sweet and savory offerings, and a separate omelete station. One evening I found the in-house spa (a little difficult to find, 2 floors down from the lobby) and was very pleasantly surprised--much more elaborate that the usual hotel spa. It is an upscale, full facility with multiple well appointed massage rooms, a large sauna, a steam room, and private locker facilities for both men and women. Appointments are taken, but I had a classic massage on a walk-in basis around 8PM (closes at 10pm). They offer Thai, Bali and aromatherapy massages with advance appointment. I do not think there is a charge if you want to just use the sauna and steam room for hotel guests. The indoor pool is also in the same area, but is not attached to the spa. It looked very nice, but I did not use it.

I usually stay in the Executive floors of business hotels, but it was overbooked (must have been something big going on in Ankara that week!), so I cannot comment. I did look into the lounge for my next visit, and it was well appointed. I understand that drinks and snacks are served from 6-9pm daily.

Overall, a very nice business hotel that is modern, spacious, uses design in innovative ways. Located across from the Turkish parliament on a busy main thoroughfare. I would definitely go back.