We have previously stayed at several hotels in Turkey, the Sirius Deluxe Hotel in Alanya in 2016, the Karmir Hotel in Kemer in 2019, and the Trendy Lara in Antalya in 2024, so we do have some basis for comparison.
The hotel has several major positives. We really liked the fact that all of the à la carte restaurants can be used during dinner hours and are included in the price. We had never experienced this at any other hotel before, as normally only one à la carte dinner is included in the package, with additional visits available at an extra charge.
There are three à la carte restaurants in total, two in the main building, one Turkish and one Italian, as well as a fish restaurant down by the beach. We ate at all three and were very satisfied with each of them. The food was tasty and well prepared.
Overall, the staff were very friendly, smiling and helpful, and we were also completely satisfied with the housekeeping and daily room cleaning.
The water slides, Kids Club, daytime activities and the beach were all very good. The evening shows were also of a high standard.
We especially liked two of the children's activities, sand art painting and T-shirt painting. These are available for an additional charge, but we think the whole experience is very well organised. The children receive a medal and a certificate together with their finished artwork. After the evening mini disco, they are called onto the stage by name, where they are presented with their artwork, certificate and medal. It was a fantastic experience for our children to go up on stage and receive applause from the audience. We thought this was a very nice and memorable part of the children's entertainment programme.
The surroundings of the hotel are particularly beautiful. It is set in a huge, well maintained garden, with the Taurus Mountains forming an impressive backdrop. The beach is reached by crossing a small bridge, but for those who do not want to walk, golf carts are also available to take guests back and forth.
At the Pool Bar and the food outlets by the beach, we particularly liked the way the food was presented. Instead of simply putting everything into large buffet containers, many of the dishes were attractively portioned onto individual plates in advance. This made the food look much more appealing and appetising. There was salmon, a huge variety of pizzas, wraps, gyros plates, KFC style chicken, pasta, burgers and a salad bar.
It may seem like a small detail, but another plus for us was that the Magnum style ice cream bars could be customised with different sauces and toppings. For example, you could have white chocolate sauce with crunchy mini chocolate balls, which was naturally a huge hit with the children.
The main restaurant also had themed evenings alongside the usual huge selection of Turkish food. Unfortunately, we only happened to be there on one evening when they served prawns, but overall the food selection was very extensive.
Regarding cleanliness, however, I do have one specific comment for the hotel management. I would strongly recommend that a manager checks the orange juice machines used during breakfast. Unfortunately, their external condition was extremely poor. There were dried pieces of orange pulp and other residue stuck to various parts of the machines, including the back, and the red button used to dispense the juice was almost black from accumulated dirt. It gave the impression that these machines had not received a proper deep clean for a very long time. Considering that they are used directly for serving drinks, this created a particularly unpleasant impression and is definitely something that should be checked.
Another major positive is the Sushi Bar. We had never seen anything like this at any of the Turkish hotels we had previously visited. It is open every day from 20:00 until 24:00, with six different types of maki and big rolls to choose from. The sushi chef prepares them fresh and serves them nicely arranged on a plate.
The drinks selection is also impressive, and fortunately imported alcoholic drinks are included in the Ultra All Inclusive package. However, it is worth being specific about which brand you want. For example, if you simply order a Gin and Tonic, they will normally prepare it with their local gin. If you want Gordon's, it is better to specifically ask for Gordon's and tonic.
The cocktail menu can be viewed by scanning a QR code. At the Beach Bar and Pool Bar, however, we eventually stopped ordering cocktails. They are served in plastic cups, and the ingredients were often simply poured together rather randomly, so the result did not always resemble what you would expect based on the menu. We preferred to stick to long drinks in these bars.
The bars inside the main building were a completely different experience. At the Lobby Bar, Piano Bar and especially the Prestige Bar, we received very good cocktails, properly prepared and nicely presented. I would particularly like to mention a bartender called TRÍ at the Prestige Bar, who made genuinely excellent drinks.
The biggest negative for us was clearly the overall condition of the hotel. Several parts of the building are heavily worn. The corridors, elevators, doors and furniture often give a rather tired and dated impression. Walking through the corridors, we noticed water damage on several ceilings, and some room door frames were visibly separating from the walls. Individually, these issues may seem minor, but together they create the strong impression that several parts of the hotel are in need of significant renovation.
We were so dissatisfied with the first room we were given, an outward facing room on the second floor, that we had to request a room change. There were visible signs of water damage on the ceiling, several light bulbs were not working, the furnishings were worn and damaged, and the cosmetic mirror was rusty. Overall, the condition of the room did not reflect what we would expect from a five star hotel.
I requested a room change at reception. On the positive side, the reception staff spoke English well and were helpful. The following day we were eventually moved to a first floor room overlooking the pool. This room was in slightly better condition, but unfortunately we still found several issues that we consider difficult to accept in a five star hotel.
There were broken tiles in the bathroom, visible holes in some of the shower tiles, and mould had become embedded in the silicone around the washbasin. The wall was also damaged around the mounting points of two wall lamps, several pieces of furniture had broken or badly worn corners, and the air conditioning control panel was also in very poor condition.
The air conditioning in the new room barely worked at first. I reported this to reception and maintenance staff were sent to the room shortly afterwards. They did something to it, as it noticeably improved afterwards, but even then it only produced slightly cool air, so the cooling performance was still not really adequate.
Overall, the hotel offers many services that make it a very good choice for a family holiday. Beautiful surroundings, a good beach, a large garden, water slides, children's activities, evening shows, friendly staff, a wide variety of food, an excellent à la carte restaurant system, a Sushi Bar and an impressive drinks selection.
In many respects, the standard of the services genuinely feels five star. However, the building itself, and especially the condition of the rooms, no longer consistently reflects the same standard. Compared with the other five star hotels we have visited in Turkey, the contrast here between the very good services and the worn hotel infrastructure was much more noticeable.
