Didim Beach Resort & Spa

2 adults, 1 child (11)
I have just returned from the Didim Beach. Overall I was unimpressed. Fortunately we have been to Turkey before otherwise I would be thinking twice about ever going again. We did manage to enjoy our holiday; mainly because our daughter made such a lot of friends which kept her fully occupied and because we met some nice people, especially Harold and Stacey (hello!).
I will try to summarise the good and bad points below:
Good:
Daytime activity programme for older children and adults although trying to work out what happens when can be a bit difficult as there is no proper published programme and you don't always hear the call for the activities.
Availability of tea, coffee and soft drinks.
Availability of snacks although, again, sometimes they moved the place they were available but didn't pass on this information so it was hit and miss. Ice-cream is a problem though - served by a very miserable lady who sometimes would allow you only to have one ice-cream so the whole family would have to queue if they wanted one each, small portions and long queues.
Rooms were adequate except for drawer space which is very limited. The broken shelf in our wardrobe, reported on the first day, was never fixed.
Reception area as you arrive is nice as it has recently been refurbished. The only trouble is they don't like you using it. There are no signs but when we took drinks up to sit with friends, who were departing, until their coach arrived we were told off by the security guard for having drinks in the reception area!
Beach area small but adequate and the sea is nice.
Deck area at the beach is great but you have to pay, rather annoying and short sighted of the owner. This could be a real plus for the hotel and the decking area was never more than about a third full. When we went to Turkey before a similar area was free at our hotel and we loved it.
Pool nice but the surrounding area quite lethal. I lost track of the number of accidents. People slipped and fell on a daily basis, including the staff!
Slide good for the children but no supervision. A member of staff stands at the top but doesn't do anything. He doesn't stop children going down before the person before has reached the bottom. You can go down any way and some children were going down on their knees etc and toppling at the bottom (or before). Again quite a few accidents.
Staff on the whole were friendly. Entertainment team tried very hard. Too often waiters would listen to your request for something nod and then totally ignore you which was a pain, particularly if you were trying to get a jug of water to go with your meal, often had to ask 3/4 times.
Bad:
All inclusive option. Drinks severely limited. Wine awful. Only one pedalo for all 700+ rooms. Canoes not available. The A la Carte restaurant had not been open for 4 weeks by the time we left. Initially they said they needed 20+ people to book it but a group of 13 tied to put their names down and 7 of us at our welcome meeting tried to but they weren't interested. Obviously no intention of opening it. I don't know where the advertised 'two' a la cartes were, no evidence of any! No tennis.
Note that there are two AI levels - the Brits are on one which means you can only have drinks until midnight. The Turks, Dutch etc are on the enhanced one which allows them to drink beyond midnight. Not too much of a problem but it does make you feel like second class citizens!
Entertainment - very poor. The worst I have ever encountered. The Turkish night is quite good but was only on once in two weeks. The Egyptian night was ok but they cut the programme short due to the wind. I agree with the comments that the amphitheatre should be used less and more use made of the outside stage area (only used once in the fortnight - for the Turkish night). Nothing to do in the evenings. The hotel lacked atmosphere. Not enough outside tables to sit at. We found it much better to go into the town as did many guests.
Beds - there was a chair bed for our daughter - hard as rock. I had to insist on a mattress for it. We had requested twin beds and were given a double. I insisted we needed separate beds (my husband had an injury). We were finally given a child’s put up bed so one adult had to sleep in that all holiday.
Maid service - we were three people in the room but often were given towels for only two. Anything used just didn't get replaced. Call me cynical but the maids couldn't be bothered to make the beds most of the holiday, just left the covers folded back but on the last two days they were nicely made and the towels made into a design on the bed, after a tip. Cleaning of rooms was not particularly good although the bath was always clean.
Food - pasta was quite good. They couldn't keep up with replacing food, dishes, cutlery, cups etc. The dining area was like Butlins, awful. No cloth for the bread so everyone’s hands had been on the loaves when you went to cut some (I always took a fresh one). Food was not labelled which made it difficult, particularly as the veg was often stuffed with what looked like meat so no good for vegetarians, vegetarian option very limited. Food not well presented. Dining definitely not a good experience at this hotel.
Health and Safety - there was none!
Drinks - as mentioned above, very limited. Often ran out of ice. Not worth going all inclusive for this!
Disco - unfortunately in a dank cellar.
Sauna/Turkish bath - actual Turkish bath was good but, again, situated in a dank cellar which nearly put me off going.
Air conditioning - there was no properly air conditioned public room.
Public rooms - there was really only the Sports Bar available in the evenings which was brightly lit and lacked atmosphere. There were tables outside the bar but these are limited. Coffee was available where the a la carte restaurant should have been.
Communication - none. The owner took over a lot of the facilities one evening and the guests were shoved out. No explanation or apology - nothing. No weekly programme displayed to allow good planning of trips etc. The staff tell you nothing on arrival. You have to find it all out yourself.
Reps - all very nice but dealing with complaint after complaint must be disheartening. Nothing done about any of the complaints although two couples managed to be moved to the hotel behind.
To conclude, definitely only a 3* with limited all inclusive package. Needs to raise it's game. From the number of people complaining I would say this hotel is being mis-sold by the UK agents. If you get it really cheap then you might be satisfied. It does have a relaxed atmosphere. Two local reps (both Turks) admitted that this area is generally a bit downmarket and, having been to Turkey before, I would agree. Masses of building going on and plans to improve the area so it might be worth going in another 5 years. Most people managed to enjoy their holiday despite all this because there were lots of children who made friends and let the parents relax, more to do with the guests than the hotel. The much talked about refurbishment is barely evident, don't let them fool you.
Would I go to Turkey again? Yes. Would I go to the Didim Beach - not on your life!

Would not go back to this Hotel and have stayed in various hotels in Turkey. Arrived to see lifts not working properly.
Carpet in was in need of renovation, smelled bad. One night the food was Turkish and quite nice but other six nights gave my family stomach illness.
This hotel really is in need of renovation and was probably nice in 1970 but has not been maintained.
We were told we would have to complain after the holiday, don’t complain, just don’t go, save your money, if you’ve booked this holiday, save your money and go somewhere nice instead, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Agents also told us we could swap but only by paying full price again, shame as it would have been worth it but I couldn’t afford it.

If you are thinking of booking a holiday at the Didim Beach don't unless you really do want a 3* holiday that is only partially all inclusive with poor entertainment. Am typing this while on holiday at Didim as a warning.
I have been on holiday to Turkey before in a 5* - far better than this.
Contrary to earlier review Turkish hotels do provide bacon (at least the one I stayed in before in Marmaris did). This is another example of this hotels cheap attitude. Guests are a bit of nuisance once they have taken your money!
So far over 8 accidents due to slippery surfaces around the pool needing visit to the doctor at guest’s expense. 3 accidents due to lack of basic health and safety on slides. One riot involving police and hospitalisation of a guest.
Entertainment staff try hard and manage to provide activities in the day but evening entertainment is awful.
There is more not included than is included. Food worst I have encountered in 20 years of holidaying!
Sorry got to go as time up on internet!

Group of 11 people, ages 49,46,39,36,17,16,15,14,12,10 & 8. This hotel is not a 5* more like 4* just, but for the price that most people seem to be paying to stay here I think some of the reviews I have read are very harsh.
Hotel is kept clean & tidy except the bedrooms. Food is good but not brilliant. Soft drinks - good, proper coke/Fanta/sprite. Alcohol - beer, vodka & brandy all local are free, but you have to pay for any others & there were lots of complaints about this.
Beach is private & the sea is shallow.
Rooms were ok, wooden laminate floors in all bedrooms, beds are quite comfortable, poor lighting in the bathrooms I had trouble having a shave, very little storage space for clothes, more effort is needed from the hotel cleaners when they clean the rooms like changing the bed linen more often & keeping the floors cleaner, floors should be swept & cleaned daily not once or twice a week.
Swimming pool is deep but clean. Slides into the pool are dangerous 3 people got injured during our stay. Hotel has a pier on the beach with a bar & nice comfy cushions to lounge around on but you have to pay for this 10 lira adults 5 lira children, also you have to pay for the drinks which are expensive.
The nightly entertainment was rubbish, mini disco about 9.30 then silly comedy sketches or silly games with very little effort put into making them. Daily entertainment was ok, plenty going on, pool games, football, volleyball, darts, yoga, keep fit etc.
All in all we had a good holiday & as long as you don’t expect the plush 5* hotels we have in England you will have a good time.

This hotel was amazing. I had the time of my life. I would definitely go back.
The food was ok :). Hotel was very, very clean :). Maid was in every day to clean rooms. Reception area was lovely & spotless. Pool side was really clean bit slippery at times. Every where with a wet surface is going to be.
The entertainment team was great! Toni Seyhan Ozz & Totti :). Night entertainment was good as well. It repeated itself a bit but oh well :) & the bar men were fab to :).
Well I don’t know how people would write a bad report if a teenager isn’t moaning why is an adult?
Well I would definitely go back. Hopefully am next year!

why give this hotel a rating of 5 it should get no more than 2. It says its under new managment i hate to think what the last one's was like because they was no help what so ever.
As we had nothing but problems on the night we arrived on the 24 July 2006 at the airport. On meeting our rep we were informed that our holiday had been cancelled, on getting on our bus which the rep did not travel with us. It should of taken 1hr and 20mins to get to the hotel it took us over 2 and a half hours as the driver kept on stopping we could not ask him why as he spoke no English.
On arriving at the hotel we were then told we had not been booked a room, this took us over 2 hours to sort out as our rep was not with us who spoke Turkish and the management did not speak very good English this was very annoying as we have three children with us who were very tired. We had booked a family room for five we did not get this all we got was a room with 1 double bed.2 single beds and a pull out chair which was rock hard to sleep on ,it took us 3 days to get the bed changed as they said they had no other rooms left.
You got the same food every couple of days they even put on sprouts for your tea you may think what’s the matter with that well then they gave it to you for breakfast. You have to go and find your own cutlery as there is never any on the tables. The ice-cream you got once a day at five and you could only have one. In the games room for the kids there is only pool tables and you have to pay for them also you can only play for half an hour.
There is no water sports as stated (non-engine) you have to go to the next beach where you have to pay. Music through out the day was the same music every day by the end of our holiday you know which record was coming next.
For the entertainment through the day it was more for the adults than the children as every time my children asked to have a game of volleyball etc they always said no it's adults only and the room that is for 4-12yrs my daughter whom is 8 walked in there and straight back out she said it was boring it was more for 1-4yrs.
On the night there is not much to do who wants to play bingo every other night, the kids disco only lasted for half an hour then it was the adults same music every night. Be prepared to wait for drinks as there was only 1 bar staff on most times.
Watch out where you walk by the pool area and bar area as there is no lighting and there are very high steps many a time people was falling down as you could not see where you was going. Watch out on the pool area as it does get very wet and very slippery also wear shoes all the time as the floor in the hotel is very slippery. Be prepared to walk the stairs to your room even though there are 4 lifts only 1 was ever working.
Don't use the salon as you will get ripped off, my daughter picked a style out of a book which had plaits and beads on they do not tell you that you have to pay extra for the beads and after two days the elastic bands broke and it all came out went back to complain they did not want to know. Be prepared to be hassled when you go into the town. Go into town the night life is great also they have a market every Saturday but be careful when you buy t-shirts as they say you have ten but when you get back to your hotel we only had 6 so count them before you move away from the stall.
The maid service is very good kept our room nice and clean. Not enough sun beds to go round so you need to get up early to get one. The beach is great very shallow in parts great for the children. Go scuba diving for a day we went with okenos diving school who are on the private beach, Julie whom is English was great made you feel really welcome we went for the whole day well worth the money and the kids loved it.

The transfers from Bodrum Airport to Didim Beach resort took 1 1/2 hours after spending an hour and a half at the airport waiting for other flights to arrive so they could fill up the transfer bus! Our flight arrived in Bodrum at 12.05am but we didn't arrive at our hotel until 4am!
Our room was quite a good size but not enough drawer space was available. We lived out of our suitcases for the week.
We had to pay quite a lot for the hotel safe and then again to get a late check out due to an early morning flight a week later. In all I spent £46 on the safe and the late check out.
I hadn't realised I needed to book flight meals and only noticed on my tickets the night before flying that we didn't have any. So at the airport we needed to have a meal. Unfortunately, by the time we got through passport control, customs, etc, we only had 45 minutes before our flight boarded. We flew from Stansted and found that there aren't many places to eat at the airport apart from Frankie and Benny's. We explained to the staff that we needed to board by 6pm at the latest and that it was now 5.15pm. They said it would take around 15 to 20 mins to get our order. We basically ended up with 10 mins to eat our big dinners. We ate about quarter of a £40 meal! Not a good start.
The flight over went pretty quickly but on arrival at the airport, you have to pay £10 per person on a visa. WE were only told that on the plane. I only had Turkish Lira so asked how much in that currency. I was given a figure on the calculator of 120 lira. I paid. When I checked at the hotel how much I should have paid, it turned out only a hundred lira which would have been £40 instead of the £48 I had paid!
The Turkish are always scamming to see if they can squeeze out any more money from us but then again, it is a poor country so what do we expect?
The hotel was definitely not a 5* hotel as advertised. This was a 3* and definitely not 'All Inclusive' as advertised. The basic things were all inc but the nice things were extra such as the pier on the beach, the pool games, cocktails and other alcoholic drinks. However, the all inc things were ready available such as the wine was on tap! Cold drinks, water, tea and coffee were available all day long.
The cleanliness of the hotel was outstanding as were the majority of the staff. They had an impressive amount of staff who were very good at their jobs. The only downside to that was the availability of English speaking staff. I really feel that because the majority of guests are English speaking, they really should employ some English staff, especially on reception and also for the entertainment.
The entertainment was pretty bad with really boring shows every night. Their sense of humour is definitely not British. They cater for the Turkish more than the Brits or anyone else. The compare speaks in 3 languages for everything he says and it gets incredibly boring. The kids liked the mini disco but that was about it.
The Turkish night was ok but went on for too long. It would have been good to have had the entertainment in the main area rather than the amphitheatre which was away from the main hotel area. You were not meant to take beverages to the amphitheatre and I'm not sure why as everyone did anyway.
The main pool which is in the shape of a dolphin and looks much larger in the brochure photo's than it actually is, is very deep all the way around. There is only one other pool for everyone else which is mainly a fun pool with slides. This pool is shallower at one end and slopes down. It gets incredibly packed when the water slides are open, which is most of the time. The areas around the pools are very dangerous as they are very slippery. I can't count how many people slipped over in front of me.
These things happen in any hotel I know but it is always good to be prepared for these things.
You do not need to take beach towels on holidays as there is a man by the slide pool who gives you towels when you tell him your room number. We made the mistake of not knowing where to go to get towels and the pool bar man didn’t' understand what we wanted, so we went to the hotel shop and bought 4 towels!
You don't get bacon in Turkey or at least at the Turkish hotels as they are Muslims. You can go to cafe's nearby who are run by English people and get bacon etc. The meals are pretty good overall. Not very hot after a while but if you get there dead on the opening times they are pretty hot. There is a massive choice of foods and plenty to appeal to everyone. I read some of the previous reviews about the bad food and was worried. That was a load of nonsense. If you go out there expecting all English food, you will be disappointed, but hey, you are in Turkey and should expect some Turkish food?
The outside grill caters for meat eaters and does burgers, chicken etc. There is also a wonderful hotplate cook who does pasta dishes in front of you. That was delicious. In the afternoon, after the lunch has finished at 5pm, there is a man at the doors of the restaurant who serves fresh water melon with feta cheese. Absolutely mouth watering!
They bring out 'biscuits' at 5pm also. If you can call them biscuits. They are plentiful but are absolutely horrible. I can only describe them as tasteless dry pastries! Still, plenty of people were eating them. The kids got ice creams at 5pm but had a long queue for a tiny portion of ice cream. Apparently, you need to push the Turkish kids out of the way when they try to barge in front of you and also you must complain if they get larger portions of ice cream!
If your kids pay for the pool tables or the internet, make sure they ask for their change. There is a bit of a scam getting your change back. The kids don't always realise they should get change and the staff rely on this. It is 3 lira for a half an hour on the internet. It is 5 lira for the pool tables.
The hotel shop is pretty well stocked but if your kids buy the Gameboy games, make sure they have their Gameboy with them and can save the games. These are copies of the originals and don't always save so you must show the shop owner this and he will replace them. The games are £20 for 3 'new' games. They like getting English pounds as they get a better rate of exchange. However, you do get scammed.
If you venture out to the markets, make sure you haggle as they are expecting this, otherwise, they call you names as you walk away. The buses (dolmus’) come every few minutes and you can flag them down as you walk along. They cost 1 lira wherever you travel to. Again make sure you get your change, because if you don't ask, you don't get.
The hotel is pretty much self contained and we found that a week was long enough for my children to be totally entertained and happy without going out anywhere. In fact after the second day, they didn't want to go out as they had made friends. Suited me fine! The private beach is lovely and again you get free drinks from the beach bar. There is a bit of a walk down and up steps and when it's really hot, it can be difficult. The beach is very clean with clear turquoise seas. Heaven. The pier is lovely as you get a breeze but you have to pay between £3 and £4 for the day. Also, on the pier you pay for your drinks and eats. However, what a lot of people were doing was going to the beach bar and bringing their drinks onto the pier. What we also did, was fill up water bottles with water or juice from the hotel and take it onto the beach or pier.
To get a sun bed you must get down to the pool before 8am. I would say 7am would be best. It gets so busy but it keeps the kids happy. There was meant to be an a la carte restaurant but it only opened Saturdays and you had to book and pay extra by the Thursday. There were 2 set meals to choose from and nothing on the menu for the kids. We didn't bother with that. The photo on the brochure or online of the tables by the railings, was meant to be the a la carte. Don't be fooled.
All in all, the hotel was ok, food pretty good (except we got deli belly the last 2 days) and drinks available. However, I have been to a 5* hotel in Mexico where the standard was so much higher than this and everything was included. There were 9 restaurants to choose from and you only had to book them the night before. There was also the main buffet area. Food was available for longer hours and there was more of a varied choice.

1 reader found this review helpful

After reading previous reviews about this hotel we arrived with trepidation - but we had no need to worry.
Just ignore all the bad reviews and photographs from previous years, the hotel has recently been taken over and refurbished to a very high standard, no dirty carpets, in fact no carpets at all! The weather and the location was glorious, the private beach, with recently built jetty and bar, are lovely and very safe for young children with plenty of free sun beds, and a boat trip from the new jetty is due to start soon.
The food is mainly Turkish, well it is turkey, but even the most picky eaters could always find something to suit their taste. Staff were lovely, helpful and the entertainment staff seemed to be working 24/7, kids will have a great time and the Turkish staff adore them. This was a great hotel, fantastic value for money, but mainly for families, not for rowdy singles.
The town of Altinkum is a short bus ride away, 40p on a dolmoosh which run continually on the main road outside the hotel, but be prepared to haggle and be hassled by market traders and bar owners. Turkey is great, the people are friendly and helpful, the beaches, sea and views are fantastic. Don’t hesitate, book it and have a cheap, but fantastic, holiday!

1 reader found this review helpful

Please ignore all bad reviews of this resort. We had booked this holiday before reading the reviews as we did not have the internet at the time. Total cost was £1017 for myself 38yrs my mum 59yrs and my daughter 8yrs old. When I hooked up to the internet I immediately looked it up. I was dreading going after reading the reviews. BUT......
When we arrived I was totally amazed the hotel was beautiful, very clean and new they were still refurbishing it. As we were one of the first to arrive. The staff were so friendly, the cases were taken to our rooms for us. We arrived at 3.30am and met the rep at 10.30.we then went for breakfast which had plenty to choose from the waiters were so friendly and made you feel like royalty . Nothing was any trouble.
The pool; park, beach, hotel restaurant were spotless. The choice of food was plenty. The only fault I can say about this place was the evening entertainment, as it was the start of the season and just being refurbished the open areas were not finished so the entertainment was very limited. Snoopy and Erci were great entertainers for the kids and maybe next month the entertainment will be up and running. The customer relations lady was great so friendly and spoke to you at all times and was very good at her job. We met loads of people, bob, Pauline, Theresa Russ, Ryan Courtney, Donna, Dave, Kathy, syrelle and family. And Claire, stu, Nadine Christy, Dylan, bev Ritchie alfie and baby Madison. Great people great holiday, would defo go back again. Well worth the money and we’ve definitely got holiday blues. A wonderful place and the nicest people to meet. The Turkish people are wonderful.

1 reader found this review helpful

Do not take any notice of the bad reports you have seen elsewhere as they are out of date!
We have stayed in Altinkum several times before and this is best hotel we have stayed in and would recommend anyone to go to this hotel. Hotel is lovely, staff are very friendly and helpful. Rooms are cleaned everyday. Food and drinks are excellent and there is lots to choose from.
Beach is lovely and quiet. Entertainment is good especially for the kids.