Alaiye Resort and Spa Hotel

The best hotel staff and food , recomand !!!!

Although we had a lovely holiday, it was not the 5* ‘luxury’ we are used to. First impressions of the hotel is that it is quite built up and enclosed, so some sunbeds only get a few hours of sun. The first day we got there (16th August) there were plenty of sun beds available into the mid-morning, but by day 10, people were reserving with blankets and hotel towels but not using them. We were getting up at 7am to secure a sun bed, as quite a few available were in constant shade throughout the day.

There is a separate smaller pool by the slides which looked nice, but next to a smaller separate building part of the hotel. So not sure if this was for that side?

There are 4 slides next to the main pool, queues weren’t long at all, but no lifeguard at the top. Look out for the large blue slide, I did nearly get a concussion at the end turn! Very fun, though.

The hotel itself was hard to navigate for the first couple days as things are not signposted very well. We did take a tour to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything. The patisserie and ice cream/waffle restaurant were situated on the first floor, which was quite inconvenient if you want to pop along whilst in and out of the pool. However, both very well-stocked with ice lolly’s, ice creams, waffles, slushes, cakes and nice coffee. The ‘Frappuccinos’ were flavoured milk, I don’t think they had any actual coffee in. There is a small market shop, clothes shop and ‘games’ bar tucked away on the first floor also.

We hadn’t realised until day 7 that under the middle ‘island’ is a small arcade style game room, although signposted we assumed this was kids club!

Rooms - Our family room was great and spacious, plenty of storage. We had a family room which consisted of a living/bedroom area with 2 single beds and a separate bedroom with double bed and bathroom. Complete with complimentary slippers, shoe horn and shoe polish and fresh towels daily. The mini fridge is stocked on the first day only with 1 can of each Fanta, sprite and coke. Water is topped up. Tea/coffee cups are never washed and the kettle still had dirty water in when we arrived. If you like English breakfast tea, bring your own tea bags, they provide a wide variety of other tea bags. We bought milk from the shop on the first floor, but the mini fridge was stocked with small cartons after the first day. There are not many plug sockets in the rooms, so suggest to bring an extension. The bathroom is very dated but stocked with shampoo, conditioner, shower caps and soap. Beds are made daily, changed (I think) maybe 3 times in 10 days. We did have to ask for extra pillows and the double bed was HUGE! TVs didn’t work (no sound on either, despite trying numerous times).

If you are a light sleeper, I suggest you bring ear plugs. There is a minaret over the road next to the water park and the outdoor speakers sound five times a day for ezan, starting at 5am (mid-August) for around 5 minutes. The evening entertainment starts late and ends around 12pm, again very loud.

Drinks- There are plenty of areas around the pool and on the first floor for drinks. Although bottled water is only situated on the first floor bar fridge. Cocktails are VERY strong. Beer is only Efes.

Food - The main restaurant had ‘theme’ nights occasionally. Our favourite being the Italian night. Always a good choice of protein, vegetables and deserts. Breakfast had a huge range of cheeses, meats, pastries, bread, fresh omelettes/toasties/pancakes.. even chips and salad!!

The snack bar at lunch had pizza, chips, chicken doner and jacket potatoes. A firm favourite.

À la carte restaurants - Mediterranean, Ottoman and Chinese. We didn’t like the look of the other menus, but opted for the Chinese and it did not disappoint!! 5 courses for €10 each, complete with drinks and the service was excellent! Highly recommend.

Beach - The beach is around the back of the hotel, through the carpark and under a short tunnel. It is very very busy and only a very small section marked off for the hotel. Neighbouring hotel backs onto the beach and is shared.

Waterpark - We only went to the water park once as we thought it was further away than it actually was. We were pleasantly surprised it was only through the carpark right outside the front entrance and through an underground tunnel. The pool and restaurant area here was very chilled. Slides are not too busy and lifeguards do a great job. A great day had here! Brilliant for small children, too.

Outside the hotel - Right around the hotel is a shopping centre with clothes, jewellery, a mini market etc.

Just outside the hotel there is a long strip of shops, pharmacies and a couple of bars. Right at the end is a restaurant called Havana Restaurant Cafe & Bar, Steak House. The food here was exceptional!! Great sports bar vibe, service was fantastic and the food was phenomenal! Prices very much in line with an English Steakhouse. Well worth the short walk outside.

Our rep recommended a free taxi service to the local shops/market. We were advised it was much cheaper here. When we arrived, we were escorted into the first shop and followed around with a shopping trolley having things we looked at put into. At the end is when we were given a ‘price’ for it all… very pushy! It wasn’t until we got back and shopped in the local shops, we realised how much cheaper these local ones were. Don’t bother with the trip via taxi, it’s much cheaper around the hotel and especially inside the hotel itself. 3 T-shirts for €12. Lovely staff also!

Overall, the hotel was wonderful: the food was always fresh, the beach was pristine, and before this incident, I had only positive impressions of our vacation. Unfortunately, the incident that occurred the day before we left completely changed my impression. On the last day of our vacation, I was on the slides, on the hotel grounds, with my three children. Shortly before the water park closed, an employee announced that access to the slides would soon be closed. And he went to close the slides! My older son, who is 14 years old, was just on the slides, and I was waiting for him to slide down so we could go to the hotel. I was already alone by the pool with my two little daughters — aged two and four. I never leave my little children unattended. Both girls were with me and within my sight; the little one was sleeping in the stroller, and Alice was standing nearby, and we were waiting for my son to slide down. Everything happened in just a few seconds while I was waiting for my son to slide down the slide and for us to all go to the hotel together.(By the way… that day I noticed that this employee of the slide was constantly paying close attention to my little children.) When my son slid down the slide, he looked at me and asked: “Mom, where is Alice?” I turned around and realized that my four‑year‑old daughter wasn’t nearby. I immediately started calling her name and looking for her. I understood that she couldn’t have left on her own. We started searching the area and calling for Alice. At some point, I just started screaming Alice’s name at the top of my lungs and heard a quiet child’s cry coming from the second floor, from the entrance to the slides, which was already closed. She was standing there on the second floor, even though she hadn’t been on the slides and was afraid of them! At first, I couldn’t even believe that it could be my child, since the employee had already announced that the slides were closed and had locked them! But I moved closer and called out loudly, “Alice!”, and I heard my daughter’s crying. I was in shock! My four-year-old daughter was alone on the second floor behind the closed door of the water park. Next to the entrance was this employee who was responsible for the slides, and after the slides closed, for some reason he did not leave- as in previous days, the employees closed the slides and left, but stood next to the entrance and talked to someone, I started shouting to him that my child was there and that he immediately opened the door. He ran over and opened it, and there was indeed my daughter behind the door. After Alice calmed down, she told me something even more disturbing. According to her, this employee approached her, grabbed her firmly by the hand, and led her towards the water park. She also said that he took her inside to the second floor, kissed her on the cheek, and closed the door behind her. According to my daughter, she was crying and didn’t want to stay there, but he was pushing her up to the second floor! I fully trust my child. However, I also understood the seriousness of such claims, so I didn’t want to base my conclusions solely on my daughter’s words. I immediately contacted the hotel staff and asked them to look into the situation and check the CCTV footage. We reviewed the recordings. The video showed an employee approaching my four‑year‑old daughter, taking her by the hand, and walking away with her! Further on in the video, you can see the employee locking the door, while the child is standing by the door, sees him locking the door, and is crying nearby; he still closes the door in front of her, leaves, and comes back alone — without my child. After that, he stays not far from the entrance and talks to the visitors who, thank God, haven’t left yet and asked him something. I can’t say what this man’s intentions were or why he did it. But for me, as a mother, the very fact that an adult employee took my four‑year‑old daughter by the hand without my permission, led her away from me, and then she ended up alone behind a closed door is absolutely unacceptable and frightening. After the hotel staff figured out what had happened, they themselves suggested that I call the police. At that moment, I was in a foreign country, my English wasn’t good enough for such a stressful situation, and we had to leave the next day. I was emotionally shaken and decided not to call the police. The next day, we left the hotel. I’m really sorry to write such a review, because before this incident, we really liked this hotel. I’ve been flying to Turkey with my children for 15 years, but I’m shocked that this happened on the hotel premises and that something like this can even happen!!! What happened to my four‑year‑old daughter ruined all the positive impressions from the holiday. I believe that parents of young children should be aware of this incident. Regardless of the employee’s intentions, an adult should not take a four‑year‑old child away from their mother without the parent’s permission, and under no circumstances should a child be left alone and cry behind a closed door. For our family, this was an extremely frightening experience, which, unfortunately, will forever remain one of the main memories of this hotel.