LykiaWorld Oludeniz

I'm sitting down writing this review looking out at the lovely grey Manchester summer sky and wanting nothing more than to rewind 24hours to be back at Lykia World!
I have to say I am extremely surprised at the recent reviews on here as myself (19years old), my 16yr old brother, mum, and dad all had a fantastic two weeks! The staff were extremely friendly at all times.
A lovely touch was being personally greeted with complimentary food and drink when we checked in at 4am! Whilst it is true that English wasn't perfect, I was extremely impressed as the staff at the hotel have to deal with multiple nationalities throughout the day and their ability to switch between languages effortlessly was admirable and really does put the majority of our country to shame!
The food was fantastic as was the cleanliness of the three restaurants. As meal times are busy it was unavoidable that a table could be found lacking in cutlery but the staff were always two steps behind us to provide everything, and always with a smile!
The village restaurant seemed to be more suited with families to young children whilst the residence has a quieter atmosphere. The marina was our favourite with fantastic sunset views but be prepared to get there early as tables are popular and kept for a longer amount of time due to people watching the sunset! (We usually arrived at 7.15 to be guaranteed a table).
The best thing about Lykia world has to be the Animation team! They are all extremely talented dancers which can be witnessed at the nightly 9.30pm shows and evidently work very hard as they become familiar faces as you see them doing practically everything from the teenage and children’s clubs, decorating the show areas, to pool side entertainment! The latter is something you come to look forward to throughout the day, often heard before he is seen; sisqo's taglines of 'yo yo yo yo yo yo' and 'bye bye ciao ciao' will become treasured as will the lykia world clap dance! The brilliant 'Jonny from Romania', Oulash, and the gorgeous 'mr jay jay' cannot go unmentioned either!
Our trip to Lykia World was the first traditional sun, sea, sand and hotel entertainment type holiday we have been on in almost a decade as we have favoured sight seeing holidays in the far east and America so we were wary about the possibility of being bored but Lykia World far exceeded our expectations and I can see why so many people choose to return year after year! Definitely recommend it for people of all ages!

*Do not book with cosmos though...the three reps we came in contact with were absolutely useless! Luckily the hotel is good enough that this did not matter too much. But book your excursions with Lykia (prices seemed to be the same) and you are practically guaranteed to have a better time!

1 reader found this review helpful

Returned from Turkey in early July and immediately sat down to write this review
The hotel was superb in many ways, and certainly beautiful in design. My wife and I stayed in The Residence, which proved to be quieter, and of a somewhat higher standard and more suitable to couples than the Village, the latter being definitely a family oriented site.
The public areas of the hotel were cleverly designed, modern and well maintained, including an excellent Quiet Room (no mobile phones allowed!) with huge comfy sofas and more than adequate air conditioning. I also used the Internet Room to send a message home at very little cost.
Unfortunately, The Residence offers only one washing machine and one spin dryer to it’s hundreds of guests (my wife hates taking dirty clothes home) so there is sometimes a bit of a queue, but there is a hotel laundry service, which we also used, and found to be very efficient. Costs were reasonable, about three and a half lire (approximately £1.40) for a gents shirt, laundered, ironed, and delivered back to your room on the same day, on a hanger.
The only drawback was that, on returning home we found the lovely Turkish shirts and other items we had bought, had been laundered down at least two sizes, and no longer fit us!
A guest library is available, with numerous English paperbacks for you to borrow. (You sign for each one, and are not permitted to take them home…)
In general terms, we could not fault the facilities we used, although there were many we did not use, like the full sized bowling alley, the various gyms, and the snooker room. My wife did have a pedicure and a massage which together cost about sixty two pounds, but… you pays your money…
We would advise against using the on site shops, unless in dire emergency. My wife, having finished her library book, bought a Woman’s Own magazine and a small tube of fizzy sweets from the shop in the Residence, the cost of the two items being about six pounds! Mars bars and items like packets of Treats were priced at 10 Lire, the equivalent of about £4 each.
Apart from the shops, you don’t really need money within the complex, in fact they won’t allow you to use it. We tried, as we like to keep abreast of what we’re spending, but were told there was no facility for staff to handle money. Everything you may need is billed to your room on presentation of your room card key. But beware! The currency used in the complex is Euros not Lire, (unless you’re in the shops, in which case they use a mixture of currencies) so whilst you may think that your small Bacardi and bottle of Diet Coke at 7.50 is reasonable, it’s NOT Lire you’re spending, it’s Euros, and when you come to pay your bill on leaving, they add VAT at 18% as well! Over a two week period, this bill can really mount up…
The rooms in The Residence were spacious and modern, ours containing two large single beds, and a three seater settee, which could have been converted to a bed for a third guest. A large television with numerous stations provided the in room entertainment, and we found at least four English speaking channels, including CNN, BBC World, Eurosport and one which showed almost continuous American movies.
The room included a good sized dressing area, with a wash hand basin and a large work surface for storing toiletries etc, as part of the main bedroom. Huge, well lit mirrors were a feature of the whole bedroom. This dressing area also contained built in wardrobes with plenty of shelf space, (no drawers in the room at all) and an excellent safe, which you set with your own personal number. The toilet, with bath and overhead shower were in a separate bathroom. Loads of hot water on demand. As with most Greek and Turkish hotels you are not permitted to dispose of any toilet paper in the toilet itself, a small open bin being provided in the bathroom for this purpose. Naturally, this is emptied daily by the maid, who, in our case was polite, friendly and efficient. Whilst this practice is somewhat unsavoury if you’re not used to it, the Thomas Cook Transfer Rep went to great pains to describe how important this is, bearing in mind the state of the Turkish sewerage system. Just what we needed to hear on the bus ride from the airport…
Our room was unfortunately a very long journey from the hotel’s Reception area, up three floors in the lift and then a lengthy walk, some of which was up steeply sloping corridors. (The Hotel is, after all, on the side of a mountain) Being past retirement age, we found this to be something of a trek, but there was little point in complaining, as we did not specify a room near reception, (our fault) and, granted, we had asked for a room on a high floor, to try and ensure some peace and quiet.
What we did specify (and paid Thomas Cook £112 for the privilege…) was a room with a side sea view. On arrival, late at night, finding that the entire view from our room consisted of the branches of a large tree, growing some twelve to fifteen feet from our balcony, and totally blocking any supposed view whatsoever, I immediately went down to reception (a long, long way…) and complained to a bored and obviously disinterested Receptionist who was finally persuaded to offer us two alternative rooms, both of which suffered from exactly the same problem! It turned out the two alternatives were on the same corridor as the original, and only a few yards from the room we had been allocated. I am currently pursuing Thomas Cook for the return of my £112, with the full support of their Resident Representative who was excellent, but of whom more later.
N.B. – As I write, I have now received a cheque from Thomas Cook for £112, the full amount noted in my complaint. Very satisfied.
The vast majority of the staff on the complex were bright, young and as helpful as possible, within the constraints of the obvious language restrictions. They consisted mainly of Turkish (naturally) Russian, and German youngsters who, in the main, were eager to earn tips. Unfortunately, the people who spoke very little English (the room cleaners, restaurant staff etc) were the friendliest ones, whilst the ones you would have expected to be fluent (Reception staff etc) were the monosyllabic unhelpful ones, unless of course you were Russian or German.
At any time, you could stand at the large Reception Desk in the Residence and hear long and animated conversations in the latter two languages, but when it came to asking questions in English, more often than not you got one word (usually very unhelpful) answers.
The Guest Relations staff were, almost without exception, fluent in English and extremely helpful when we had problems. These were a separate department, employed to make the guest’s stay enjoyable, and clearly this did this very well. Equally clearly, the Reception staff had abrogated their responsibility to help English guests, and left it all to the Guest Relations people. Of the latter group we would pick out Stephanie, a tall elegant German girl with English as good as my own, as being perhaps the most helpful and friendly staff member we met.
The only English member of staff in the entire complex my wife and I came across in the two weeks of our holiday was a young dancer, who had originally come on holiday, and decided to stay.
I have no figures to prove my assertions, but my guesstimate would be that, during our stay, 60 – 70% of the guests were Russian, about 20% German, and the rest mainly English.
Largely speaking, the Russians were good looking (men and women) clearly wealthy, (from the ostentatious display of bling) and arrogant to the point of rudeness. They do not believe in waiting in line, will quite happily push in front of you in the food queue, and must all rise before dawn, bearing in mind their dominance of the poolside beds. N.B. – There is a hotel rule forbidding pre-booking beds by using towels, but everybody ignores it, and it becomes first come, first served… I would say that the Brits are now just as good as the Russians and Germans at this…
Unfortunately, I would simply say that, as a general observation, the Germans were typically German, and the Brits were typical holidaying Brits. In this strong Muslim country, it was usually a few Brits who were the first to insist on their rights to go topless round the pool. The staff of course were far too polite to attempt to dissuade them.
Thomas Cook, I know we can all suffer delays at airports, but I would never, ever travel with Thomas Cook Airlines again.
Arriving three hours before our flight, we stood in the Thomas Cook check-in line at Manchester Airport Terminal 1, for nearly two hours. (Apparently a broken printer) Eventually seated on the plane twenty minutes before the due take-off time, we then sat without moving for two and a quarter hours, whilst the loading crew tried to find some bags which had gone missing in the terminal.
In the end, after grumbling over the PA system about Manchester Airport the Captain took off, without ever finding the bags and we landed at Dalaman two hours late, and minus sixty suitcases.
Naturally, all the aggrieved passengers had to fill in claims forms, which meant that the rest of us had to sit on a stationary bus in the car park for a further hour and a half whilst they did so. We eventually arrived at Lykia World about nine o’clock at night (having been at Manchester Airport from 6.30am) to find that all the restaurants were in the process of closing!
Just as an aside, the pitch of the seats was one of the narrowest I have ever come across in thirty years of flying, and as a six foot twenty stone man, I was most uncomfortable, not to say in pain, for the whole sorry episode.
Thomas Cook suggest, in the paperwork you are given on arrival at your destination, that you pre-book return seats with their rep (£25 each) as soon as possible. I tried to do so at the welcome meeting and was advised that no legroom seats were available for my flight back. Thanks very much for nothing Thomas Cook. (NB – I ascribe no blame to the Thomas Cook rep at Lykia World, who was excellent throughout our stay, but the whole system appears to be in chaos)
As a footnote, arriving at the back of a long check-in queue at Dalaman Airport on our return flight, I asked, without any hope, if any legroom seats were available, and was given a seat I could have held a dance in, by the lovely check-in lady. (Not, by the way, a Thomas Cook employee)
Conclusions
Would we go to Lykia World again? No, as we feel it’s much more for Russians, Germans and young families. The temperature was way too high for us (not Lykia World’s fault) and on the day we left we were advised it had reached 56 degrees Celsius! If we want a sunshine/beach holiday in future, we’ll go somewhere much nearer home, and save the four hour (if you’re lucky) plane trip.
The two weeks cost us approximately £1900 to Thomas Cook, about £800 spending money (including duty frees) and about £600 for drinks on our room. Cheap it ain’t!!!

I was very nervous about this holiday due to some of the reviews I had read. I have to say we were really pleased with the resort and thought it had everything to offer that it said it did.
We have a 10 year old son and he loved it and had a huge choice of what he could do for the week we were there.
Wasps???? What wasps as lots of reviews go on about! There are lots of steps but also you can walk the long way round and go up the slope instead. The staff are really friendly and the cleaners must work all the hours god sent them to keep it so clean.
People do have falls etc but you can't blame the hotel for that, accidents happen. Our room and our view was lovely, we looked out onto the treatment huts and it looked lovely.
Food was great and no-one can say there wasn't something they liked to eat. It was really hot whilst we were there and maybe too hot for some people.
My only complaint of the holiday is the price of drinks and what the shops charge and to go out in a cab is very expensive so you end up paying the expensive prices.
The entertainment is out of this world, they are all experienced dancers etc and know how to put a show on.
I would love to go back again and will in the future.
Some people will think different then we did but I think the complex caters for everyone except maybe the elderly. If brave enough try the paragliding the view is amazing and my son loved it.

I visited Lykia world with my parents and two sisters know aged 15 and 10.
As we had been to Turkey previously to Dalaman and not totally enjoyed it we had stayed in a villa and there wasn't much to do, when we decided to visit lykia world it was a total risk as I said we hadn't enjoyed it previously elsewhere in Turkey.
We didn't know what to expect and being a family of five with all different wants and needs with myself being 18 and my sisters being 10 and 12 and my mum and dad in their 40's.
We were amazed it had everything to offer and more there was something for everyone (there was so much, we didn’t get to experience it all!!!)
The holiday was a complete success it is the best place alongside New York that I have ever been to and we are hoping to return this October (all 5 of us) for a 10 night stay !
We also made ourselves members which means we get good deals and offers we are so exited to visit lykia world again for I hope another amazing holiday!!
It isn't cheap but for what you get its amazing value for money with all entertainment food and other activities included.
p.s the food was top quality!

Our family (Mum,Dad and 2 children 12 & 15) have just come back from Lykia World and without doubt it was an absolutely outstanding holiday. Food, room, entertainment, facilities, staff, location, weather, people - all superb.
We couldn't fault it at all, not one thing.
The way the whole place is run is a model for all holiday villages.
As a family we do have high expectations and one word from the younger 2 members summed it up - awesome!

My husband and I, our six children aged 3 to 15, 'the nanny' and my parents are all at Lykia World as I write.
This is without doubt the worst holiday we have been on. As we are a group of eleven, we booked this holiday eleven months in advance to ensure we got the accommodation we preferred.
This was four adjoining units, with connecting doors. Essential with four children under 9. Equally important to us, was ground floor with full sea views. This was not cheap at £17,000.
Imagine our despair, when we arrived hot and tired to find that they were not expecting us. They were adamant that there was no booking for us!
We were left in reception, with our 3 year old twins crying, the other children moaning, with nothing to drink for 5 hours. As they were adamant that it was no fault of theirs, they ignored us.
We spent hours on our mobile phone to our English agent, who called the next agent in chain of the booking [Hotels 4 You], who called the next agent in the chain of booking [Yesil Dalayan], who in turn called the next agent in the chain of booking [Lykia World in Istanbul- head office] Nobody would accept responsibility. Yesil Dalayan did try to help, as did the English agent.

We were eventually given rooms without sea views, after much deliberation and upset. It took Lykia World a week to admit that it was there Istanbul head office that had made the mistake. Did anybody apologise? No. We are beneath them.
We did eventually get moved to rooms with supposed full sea views, but low and behold there are none! There are four huge trees 4 ft from our tiny balcony. The sun can't even shine through, let alone us able to see sea views!
Be warned, if you are paying a sea view supplement, do not agree to rooms S 123 and S 124.
We eventually decided to go to see management ourselves. We saw the deputy manageress Camille. At that point she apologised, although she made a big point of saying that it was head offices fault, and not hers, and then insulted us by offering a meal in one of their restaurants as compensation. [Cost would have been 10 euros per head] We obviously declined this not so gracious offer, and will be seeing her again shortly. Watch this Space!
As if things couldn't get any worse, our nanny then slipped on the grass and broke her ankle. After a trip to the hospital, she returned in plaster, to discover that Lykia World do not have a wheelchair for her. They have only two, which are already being used.
Be warned that the sprinklers do not just sprinkle the grass. They sprinkle the paths also, which turn them into skating rinks. Lykia World is by no means flat, it is all hills and steps. There are several guests here who have slipped and broken their leg or ankle in the last two weeks. Our nanny has been unable to leave her room for four days now. It is appalling how Lykia World has only two wheelchairs to accommodate thousands of guests. We hope ABTA will be more understanding.

Having read previous reviews I was expecting an amazing holiday. I couldn't have been more wrong!
Although the hotel is set in wonderful grounds and Olu Deniz is a lovely place this is the only positive comment I can make on this holiday.
The rooms in this hotel are extremely small, shabby, dirty, and not! Having travelled the end of June when the temperatures were extremely high the air conditioning didn't work.
Every day of a 14 night stay we complained on numerous occasions to be told all sorts of excuses. Even one that the hotel didn't have enough electricity to power it.
However they seemed to be able to power the continual din of the Butlins type noise that started from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.
Only travel to this hotel if you are not used to any kind of standards and have low expectations. The type of service you can expect to encounter is-
No sunbeds
No clean towels
Rude Staff
Dirty tables - with no cutlery at dinner
Missing sheets off you bed on several occasions (believe me with no air conditioning you don't want to be sleeping under a quilt!)
Rubbish Reps (Thomas Cook) Only good if you are booking trips or buying him a drink - if you have any problems you will be told to ring the main office.
Overall Olu Deniz is a stunning place - but save your money and stay in a 2 Star you'll get better treatment.

We came back from Lykia World a week ago. It was our first time here and we were far from disappointed. We went for the last two weeks in June with two boys aged 7 and 9.
We had booked a family apartment but on arrival was told our accommodation had been upgraded and we were placed in a family room in the Residence Hotel.
It took a couple of days to find our way around as the complex is so big but we soon got into the swing of things.
The weather was fantastic pools lovely the staff couldn't do enough for us or the children. Lovely choice of restaurants we ate well for the whole two weeks. The Marina restaurant became one of our favourites for evening time.
The nightly shows were great for adults and kids. Don't miss the circus magic show on Thursday night it was fantastic. Still can't work out how they did some of the tricks.
We would like to book again for next year if price is right. Couldn't fault anything on this holiday. Great place for a family holiday with plenty for children and adults to do.
Definitely go back at some point!

A family of 40 ish mom and dad and two lads aged 14 and 16, all of us really enjoyed our holiday and would definitely go there again.
The lads won’t forget the 'hunter' at reception and his chat.
Food, entertainment, accommodation, staff, and the views will make us return one day soon.
We can’t recommend this hotel enough.

What can I say; absolutely first class. We have had some poor holidays in the past and what a breath of fresh air this place was.
We went the week after the kids holidays and it wasn’t to busy no probs with sunbeds or dining, the water park wasn’t to busy either.
The attention to detail was first class and the choice of dining areas and quality of food was second to none, lots to do paragliding was excellent, not to pricey on site.
I will certainly be booking again for next year but will avoid busy periods. Cant recommend this place enough.