Best Holiday Yet
Jan 2023
| bbU7939TI
We have been coming to Turkey, specifically Antalya/Belek area for almost 10 years. This was our first time staying at Ela Excellence and we can definitely say, we will be back next year. I have no idea what all of the bad reviews were about (I have a feeling this is because they visited soon after the refurb, and now the issues have been ironed out).
We stayed at the end of September 2022. The weather was still incredibly hot (between 30-35 degrees in the day) and cooled down in the evenings. Just an FYI, some evenings I would suggest bringing a cardigan but they do hand out blankets/towels.
Arrival: We arrived around 11pm and were welcomed by a lady who sat us down and just had to fill out a form. It was very quick. We would have been taken straight to our room, however the bell-boys were busy, so she showed us to the 24h restaurant for food first.
Room: We originally booked a sea-view room in the main building, however on arrival we were told we had been upgraded to a swim-up garden room which was a great surprise! The bell-boys took us in a buggy to this room. It is about 5 minute walk to the main building, which isn’t great when you’re going up-hill in heels but the surroundings are beautiful so you can’t complain and it was nice to walk through each evening. The room itself is gorgeous, very clean looking. There is plenty of wardrobe and storage space. There is the usual TV, safe, hairdryer, fridge which was re-filled everyday (with water, beer, iced tea, fanta, cola, sprite, prosecco and toblerone, crisps etc). The swim up room has a private jetty section over the water, with 2 sunbeds, an umbrella, 2 chairs and a table. This room was stunning, and lovely to sit out on in the evenings. There was a couple of issues. When we first entered the room, there was a plate of fruit and cakes by the fridge which was covered in ants. We called up reception (1000) and they sent two boys straight away to clean all of this up. The shower in the room could do with some touching up. We do like a bath too, which aren’t available in these rooms unfortunately. The lighting isn’t great either for getting ready, and the light switches didn’t work on one side of the bed. Other than this, the room was perfect for us, had enough space and was clean. The cleaning lady was incredibly friendly, but we didn’t catch her name!
Food/Restaurants: This was the best food we have had in all of our times visiting Turkey as there were so many options and all of the food was lovely. For Breakfast, we always stuck with the main buffet Hayat restaurant which had the usual omelettes, pancakes, cereal, toast, eggs etc. As we had a swim-up room, I believe we could have had breakfast in one of the al a carte restaurants, however we were never too fussed about breakfast on holiday so we didn’t visit anywhere else for breakfast. There were always spaces in the main buffet restaurant as it is so big. Sometimes service could be slow but we never had a problem getting drinks and cutlery. For lunch there were also a variety of options. We mainly stuck with the Galata restaurant (12pm-4pm) which looked out onto the beach. This was our favourite place in the whole hotel. It is adults only, has a DJ playing at all times, is a gorgeous set up and service cannot be faulted. It was table service, and there was plenty of food to choose from including salads, soups, pasta, pizza, steak etc. You could always get a seat. We also ate a couple of times in the La Sofa lounge & grill (also on the beachfront) which had kebabs, chicken tikka, burgers, salads etc. This was also a beautiful restaurant, quite big so you could always find a seat and service was great here too. I’m sure there were other places for lunch (including the buffet restaurant) but these were our two favourites so stuck with these. In the Meydan, there is a little fruit stall which also has corn on the cob. There is a patisserie there that has sandwiches, other rolls, cakes and ice cream. The sandwiches here were lovely. There is also another patisserie on the ground floor of the hotel which has chocolates, macaroons and ice-cream. For dinner, there is a huge variety of options. There are a bunch of al a cartes, some free of charge and some which are paid for. We wanted to visit these but just never got the chance! We visited the buffet restaurant once, but didn’t enjoy the food at all as it was incredibly cold (had the usual Russian style stews, noodles, vegetables, fish etc). The rest of the nights we used the 24h al a carte which is Ela Anatolian (12pm-7am). It’s a beautiful setting, very quiet and you were always able to get a seat. Again, this is sit down service and had spaghetti bolognaise, tagliatelle, pizza, burgers, club sandwiches, chips etc. Food here was stunning. Service was immaculate too.
Bars/Drinks: Cocktails were the best we have ever had, there was so much variety. Gin/vodka measures are basically a 80% of the glasses so you have to make sure they ease up!!!! We mostly spent our time at the pool bar, lounge bar (and the other side of it, I don’t know what it’s called but it stays open much later) and the oxford lounge. The Oxford Lounge is also a nice touch, it basically is a pub vibe that plays sports on TV and has pool tables etc. Pretty dark in there. There were various other bars, such as on the pier and by La Sofa grill.
Entertainment: There is plenty of entertainment at this hotel, but I do think it should be better advertised. We don’t really get involved with any of the activities, but only saw the animation team walk around a couple of times inviting people to join. There is the usual darts, jenga, water polo, beach volley, aqua bikes, yoga, boxing etc. There was also a bike tour which I have never seen in other hotels before. Everyone seemed to be getting involved and enjoying it. 5 days of the week there are evening shows starting at 9:45pm and ending at 10:45pm. Again, we never saw these but other people we met said that they were amazing. At 10:45pm the entertainment around the pool bar started. Every single one of these was amazing. There was a DJ, a band from South Africa singing, another singer. Usually these are pretty cheesy, but we thought they were amazing at Ela. Beautiful voices and music that everyone would enjoy. Everyone was up and dancing. 2 nights of the week (Friday and Monday) they have themed parties round the pool bar that start at 9:45pm instead of the shows in the amphitheatre. These are the Medusa (gold) party and Retro party. Both were amazing. The ‘mini disco’/’nightclub’ in the night zone would start at 12 and I believe finished at 2am. We went most nights, it’s a lovely setting in there. Some nights there were only a few other people, but a couple of nights it was pretty busy. The DJ played all kinds of music.
Staff: We have never had a problem with staff in Turkey, and they were probably the best this year! Every single person was so friendly. Specifically, EVERYONE that worked in the pool bar (obviously didn’t catch all the names) but we noted Ferhat (on the skates), Kadircan (on the skates, however no longer works there), Tahircan (no longer works there), the twins Murat & Haci. Habib in the Galata restaurant. Servet the pool boy (no longer works there). Yalcin the photographer (not employed directly by the hotel but a huge asset). Entertainment/animation staff were the only ones who weren’t as friendly, however Kenan is AMAZING and the DJ’s were also great and super friendly. All of their English was great, always smiling and happy to talk.
Hotel: Hotel reception is stunning. The whole entire hotel is beautiful. It is on quite a large plot, gardens are beautiful. In the main hotel there are a variety of shops including a souvenir shop, sunglasses, jewellery, coat, shoes etc. In the Meydan, there are also a bunch of shops. We looked in the swimwear shop which has some beautiful bikinis, but prices are ridiculous (£170 for a bikini). We also went into the market shop in the Meydan, also ridiculously expensive. We paid £40 for a vape which would cost £5 in UK! So definitely buy outside of the hotel. The pool bar area and the Meydan are STUNNING. Lots of places to sit out and have a drink or food. Wi-Fi was the best we have had in Turkey. The first 2 days we were there, there was absolutely no wifi around the pool however this was fine afterwards. The only places we had an issue and could not get any wifi was in the ‘adults’ part of the pool with the comfy sunbeds, and in the lounge bar outside on the balcony. Everywhere else, the wifi was perfect.
Guests: In all of our time in Turkey, we have never seen so many Brits. I would say the hotel was 60/70% guests from the UK. We did not have an issue with guests from other countries and met so many lovely people from all over the world including Russia, Germany, etc. We had no issue with pushing in/rudeness etc. At the end of September, there is still a lot of young children/babies however the hotel is so big there is never really a problem.
Beach/Pier: We don’t normally spend much time on the beach or pier, but we did walk down there. The pier is gorgeous, and the boys that work on the pier bar were always so happy. Beach is beautiful and clean. However, we were told that the beach and the pier was the worst place to try and get a sunbed and people were getting up at 6am/7am in the morning to get a bed. It was always really busy. Sea wasn’t particularly warm but not cold at this time of year.
Pools: There are a bunch of pools. You can ALWAYS find a sunbed without having to get up early. Even at 1-3pm you can find a sunbed. If there are towels left on beds for hours, the pool boys will take them away. There is the main pool and smaller pool where the waterpark is. We stayed by two other pools. The first was nearest to the beach/amphitheatre, it was relatively quiet but in a prime spot near to the pool bar! It was always clean. The other was nearest to the hotel, and had comfy padded sunbeds which was mostly an adults area and incredibly quiet. This was also very clean, but the only issue was that the floors were slippy here (like a wooden flooring). The pools were so cold at this time of year so be warned!
Check out: This was a pain for many of us that had late flights. Check out is at 12pm. You cannot book a late-checkout. You have to Whatsapp them/go to reception the morning you are due to fly and see whether they can accommodate a late checkout room for you (which I believe is 60 or 80 euros). They didn’t have a room for any of us that were flying home. They told us we could use the facilities in either the Spa or Oxford Lounge. We didn’t visit the spa, but wish we did, as the facilities in the Oxford Lounge were horrible. The showers had no hangers in them, and felt like swimming pool changing rooms. Check out took seconds, just by handing the room card back.
Overall, it was our best holiday yet and we have already booked to come back in September. The hotel was amazing, and the staff and guests (and food!!) made our holiday. Thank you so much Ela and we can’t wait to be back again soon.
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