Oludeniz Resort Hotel

Our holiday was between the 23rd September - 7th October.
In our party, there were 6 Adults and 1 child.
After reading all the reviews on this hotel, twice or more, I couldn’t possibly believe, that this hotel could be as good as everyone was saying.... How wrong was I?
I went with an open mind. We enjoyed ourselves so much we are all looking to book next year.
CHECK-IN.
Greeted on check-in day, by staff with huge smiles. I always think that this is a good start to a holiday.
Checking us all in was very prompt, a bellboy awaited our room numbers, and off he went with our luggage.
The reception/lobby area is very clean, comfortable and airy. This has a bar area, however during our stay this wasn’t in use.
ROOMS.
Sea View rooms were allocated to us without an up-grade.
These rooms are spacious and family rooms have a separate bedroom for the children. Hanging space is plentifull. Fridge, TV and air-con as standard.
However, please be aware that these rooms are away from the main hotel and to get to them, there is a steep slope and many steps.
Due to the location and ages in our party, we felt these rooms were not suitable to our needs. I must mention that there wasn’t anything wrong with these rooms, it was just our personal choice to be moved. Which was dealt with promptly.
Pool Side Rooms are smaller, and yes the noise from the pool/bar area can be heard. Four of our party were placed in these and the other three of us in a family room in the quieter area.
Quieter rooms were just perfect for us, with fridge, TV and air-con and terrace or balcony, and another quick chat to the Duty Manager and the others in our party joined us in the same block the next day. This hotel was still running to near full capacity, so I am very grateful to the staff for getting us all together.
Maid service with daily towel change, bedding every other day.
Always pleasant and with smiles.
The gardens that the rooms are situated in are wonderful and attended to by several gardeners daily, again always with a smile.
POOLS.
There is a main pool with kids section next to the bar area, there is also a further kids pool next to the Kids club.
This area is full of things for the kids and has a "kids" entertainer all day.
There is also a further 2 smaller pools in the Sea View annex.
Where there is also a bar area and is much quieter.
BARS.
One main bar area with at least 5-7staff on duty. Again all with smiles and they certainly work hard to make your stay a warm one.
Lobby Bar.
Bar area within the restaurant and to the Olive Garden, where soft drinks, tea and coffee are self service from 10am- Midnight.
This area also has a snack bar serving late breakfast(fruits),burgers, chips, toasted sandwiches, pizza's and ice-cream throughout the day except meal times.
Turkish Pide is to die for and served regularly throughout the week.
MAIN RESTAURANT.
All meals are buffet style.
Breakfast is continental, fresh breads, jams, fruits.
Eggs are cooked in front of you. Fried, omelettes, scrambled, boiled, you name it! They did it! Pancakes also cooked fresh.
We usually miss lunch but on the few times we did manage it, it was a salad bar with everything you could imagine! Hot food at lunch, lamb, chicken, fish, pasta, rice, chips, vegetables....the list goes on!
Evening meals again with salad bar and hot food again as above but with different sauces and tastes. You just have to try all of it!!!! Desserts are to die for!
No a la carte here, however, on a few evenings they had Chefs in the restaurant cooking stir-frys and Special Fish dishes.
All meat dishes were cooked in view and EVERYTHING was replenished regularly and was always hot!
You couldn’t help but find something to eat here-all day!
Restaurant staff always friendly, and my son made a very good friend of the what we called "The Ice-cream Man". Ice cream was served every mealtime and if you take a bowl instead of taking the cone, the guy filled it up with all the flavours he had! To any four year old that was just perfect.
ENTERTAINMENT.
These people worked very hard all day and all night.
During the day there were different activities-soothing volleyball table tennis water polo and watch out for the water gym!!! and at night there was either a show by the staff, and they worked very hard at this with minimal partaking from the guests, karaoke (which is sooo amusing) and I'm afraid only one night of bingo!!!!
LOCATION.
Stunning! Olu Deniz is stunning. Set at the base of the mountains the scenery is jaw dropping. Restaurants Bars and Shops galore and only 5 mins from Hisaranou - a livelier time if you want it.
The hotel is approx 500m from the main town area, which is just far enough to walk off the dinners!
BEACH/BLUE LAGOON.
The beach is part sand at the top of the beach working towards the sea it is shingle and then pebbles. PLEASE TAKE AQUA SHOES. These are a must.
Please watch out for the paragliders. Amazing to watch but if you take your eye of them whist waking along the promenade....they may just land on you..
You have to pay for beds on the beach, however there is a drinks stand for the hotel guests which is self service, serving water squash and tea and the activities guy comes down with cakes at 4 pm ish......sooo funny to see how many people run towards him when he shouts "Oludeniz Tea Time" at the top of his voice.....
Pedeloes and canoes are free of charge.
A free bus takes you to the Blue Lagoon where the beds are free. However there is no all-inclusive here, so drinks and food are to be paid for if you so wish. The bus leaves the hotel at 10 am and returns at 12.30 and leaves again for the lagoon at 2.30pm and returns at 5.30pm. Or if like us, just stay there all day! This part of the lagoon SUARA was just next to BOBS BEACH (which had been recommended but we never got to BOBS). The water is clear shallow and safe for the kids and non-swimmers.
FACILITIES.
Doctor, Fitness Centre, Turkish bath,24 hour shop.
Only used the Doctor once, when one of our party got stung by a bee in the sole of her foot. Very prompt delivery of the prescription to the hotel.
STAFF IN GENERAL
All staff, from reception to gardeners were always very friendly, helpful but above all, always smiling.
A special thank you to Ipek (reception staff) whom my son has fallen in love with.
DAYS OUT.
We did a boat trip from Olu Deniz, which took us to 6 different locations around the area, including Butterfly Valley. Didn’t see the butterflies however we managed to go 1000km into the valley and got to the base of the hidden waterfall, and that was really good.
Kayakoy (Ghost Village) was eerie.....Fethiye Market was a barters heaven!
I can’t help but think this place has to be one of the pleasant holidays I have been on. I'm not sure there is anymore positive words I can use.
I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone, be it families or couples.
I hope I have captured just enough on the video, to make you want to try this hotel.
If you do, YOU WON'T be sorry.

4 *? Don't make me laugh! I've stayed in better tourist class hotels in Cambodia. Our room was so small it would have been a crush for one person, and the bathroom...I think basic is putting it mildly - hot water was not always available. Our room was near the entertainments area and pool - non-stop muzak from 10 a.m to 1 a.m ( if not longer), not to mention the screaming brats.
The food was good, but too oily - not that it seemed to bother the majority of the clientele, as long as there were chips, hey, what else could you want? There was a good selection and everything was freshly cooked- I gather snacks were also served at times when the "canteen" was not open - in case anyone got chip and ketchup withdrawal. ( I use the word canteen deliberately -that is what it is - basic and rather grubby)
The bar was fine and the drinks adequate although they did not have local whisky, imported drinks had to be paid for ...and were not cheap. The bar staff were really friendly.
The entertainment. Straight from the League of Gentlemen...I swear, Papa Lazaru was up there on stage.....To be honest, if you like the "community sing" type of evening you’ll love it - or you like to see chav boy-brats being cocky and obnoxious, you’re well away. I found it tedious in the extreme.
The pool was full of inflatable crocodiles, brats and urine. Thank you, no. The area around the pool was the highest concentration of sun-beds I have ever seen. The release of a few REAL crocodiles would have livened the whole place up very pleasantly.......
Did not go in the hotel shops - nor the on-site tattooist. Sheer genius, that - they do henna holiday tattoos as well, so the whole family can join in! Piercing also done.
The beach is OK, but you need shoes of some kind as it is shingle. ( Not clear from pictures) The sea shelves abruptly and can be rough. Good. fewer children.
The resort is a real rip-off - and nowhere looked of a very good standard - most of it obviously food for tourists - so if you can’t live without full English breakfast, it’s definitely your kinda town. Souvenirs were junk or designer copies - such a treat!
The water-pipes ( hookahs) were great fun - although once again, we felt we were over charged and can probably do it for the same price or less in Edgeware Road.
We did enjoy ourselves as we went to relax and lie on the beach, the food was excellent and the drinks included. My idea of a good holiday is North Korea or Tibet, so probably I am not the best person to judge this place, but you would have to pay me serious money to go near Olu Deniz Resort Hotel again!

Olu Deniz Resort Hotel
ROOMS
We had the sea-view rooms, which are I think larger than the standard rooms (mind you I don’t see the need for large rooms, all you do is sleep, wash & change in them on holiday). They are up a very steep sloop, to the side of the hotel (not on the main grounds). I would say they are unsuitable for young children, the elderly or anyone with any type of mobility problems. If however you can cope with the climb, you get a room, a great view, a quieter area & a small pool & bar area just for the sea-view rooms (this area also has a great sea view). The rooms were very well kept (our chambermaid did a fantastic job) & had all you needed. A hairdryer in the bathroom, a bathroom which was of a decent size to & not pokey. Fridge for cold drinks & TV (if you’re really boring!)
Storage space for clothing was OK as well. Small terrace outside room.
RESTAURANT
Clean & airy and some tables available outside on the terrace overlooking the pool.
Great food, huge choice, at breakfast there was always a chef cooking something fresh to order, omelettes, eggs & German sausages or pancakes. Very soft fresh breads, toast, boiled eggs (3 or 5 mins) coffee, tea, fresh fruits whole - (apples, oranges, ECT) fresh fruits chopped - (melon, grapefruit, ECT) yoghurt, cornflakes, oats, dried fruits – (apricots, sultanas, ECT) Cheese, cucumber & all that foreign stuff!!! Orange juice wasn’t great, my only breakfast complaint.
Lunch, fresh breads, fantastic salad bar, soup (I think?) hot buffet, array of fresh chopped & whole fruits and ice-cream.
Dinner, again fresh breads, salad bar, soups, hot dishes, out-of-this-world desserts, array of fresh chopped & whole fruits and ice-cream.
Tea & coffee after dinner cannot be taken in the restaurant; you have to go to the “olive grove”
Restaurant staff were as all the staff, fantastic. It was our first time all-inclusive & I can’t imagine they make much in tips; however the standard of service would make you think they were!
GENERAL
Hotel was super clean & grounds were amazing, like a garden centre & really well kept. Staff were very friendly & couldn’t do enough for you! Pool area was very busy with children, but there is a bus in the morning & after lunch to the lagoon, where there is a small section of course sand beach with sunbeds for guests at this hotel. Water was beautiful like a huge warm bath, hardly a ripple in it. There is also a section at the main beach for hotel guests, but it is stony & shingled & hard to get out of the water because of a steep slope over stones (you need plastic shoes for this one). Choice at the all-inclusive bar was limited to red/white wine, lager, vodka (& a couple of other sprits) fizzy mixers and soft drinks. However not being a big drinker this didn’t bother me. There was a large patio area called the “olive grove”, here you could get tea/coffee, soft drinks, burger, chips, cheese salad rolls ect & ice-cream and fresh fruit.
Entertainment every evening, can’t comment on this as we never stayed to watch it, go out for a wander, and entertainment staff who organised children’s games during the day as well.
TURKISH BATH – HOTEL SPA
It was our first time to Turkey & we wanted a Turkish bath, we knew you had to have them before sunbathing so we booked in first thing. The hotel next door seems of a similar standard (The Belcekiz Beach Hotel) we had an all over body massage & foot reflexology for (£10 & £5) £15 for both on our last day. However they also do Turkish baths for £10. However on our first day we were not aware of this place & used the spa downstairs in the Olu Deniz Resort Hotel & paid double that! Also when we went for the massage they sent us into the Turkish bath for 10 minutes to open up the pores & the actual room was much grander & more authentic. They also gave us free tea. So go to the one next door.
DAY TRIPS
Went on a jeep safari with “bloody gorgeous”, paid £17 & that included lunch. Great day, great fun. Wear your oldest dark clothes & expect to get filthy. Would not recommend this trip for the elderly or young children, as you will be climbing in & out of jeeps, in the freezing cold gorge & wallowing in mud.
Also booked the 12 islands boat trip, was a choppy day & don’t think boat had any stabilisers. Ended up paying a speedboat (shared cost with a Swedish woman & her daughter, they also felt ill) to take us back to shore. Many people on the boat didn’t seem to be enjoying it & some children were getting sick. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY GOOD ON BOATS, I thought I was OK, till that trip. Also Fetiyeah has a big market on Tuesday (you can get the Dolmus (small minibus) there very cheaply. Great for belts, bags, t-shirts, spices, teas ECT.
ALL IN ALL
I was surprised a how clean & friendly it was, I was really impressed with all-inclusive. I was very impressed with the hotel.
I would like to return to Turkey, I would like to return to Olu Deniz as I can’t imagine Turkey has any prettier places & if I was to I couldn’t stay anywhere else as I can’t imagine anywhere else measuring up to The Olu Deniz Resort Hotel.
WHITE DOLPHIN
Went here one night as it has rave reviews, found the drinks very expensive, the food quite expensive. The tables & benches more RUSTIC than I would have expected at these prices. The tacky dolphin salt n pepper pots more suited to a pound shop. The lack of menus puzzling? You have to go up and read off a blackboard near the front door & pick your fish from a display chiller. The service OK. The food good (but not amazing). I ordered a coffee & was given a huge mug more suited to a greasy spoon. The free pick up & return is a nice service & great as it’s up a hill.
The sunset & views are FANTASTIC & TO DIE FOR. However it’s on a cliff edge & very green and as the sun sets, the mozzies and insects come out. We didn’t get bit, but felt as though we were being eaten alive. For this reason I wouldn’t go there after dark again. They do spray Olu Deniz with mozzie spray, might be a good idea if this restaurant paid them to spray up here also. Would also be a good idea if they trimmed bushes/trees/greenery over hanging tables as it feels very over grown & “things” did drop on out table. As darkness falls it isn’t well lit and you don’t know if “things” are dropping in your food & you are eating them.

I Read Ms E Lee’s comments and felt compelled to write a review as I was so shocked by hers, some of her comments were reasonable but harsh and so here is a fairer viewpoint. This year 0ct 05 will be my family’s 4th trip to Olu Deniz Resort Hotel. I used to be an air stewardess and have travelled the world, for me to go back to the same place so many times says it all really. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Ms E Lee is more familiar with your 4-5 star all inclusive long haul type hotels, I too have stayed at these, but it must be appreciated that Turkey is a family destination.
I AGREE with some of her points, there are some very small rooms near the olive garden, the way to avoid these is to request a quiet room as these small rooms are directly next to the pool and the entertainment area, the rest of the hotels room are of a good size. There is another set of rooms called the annexe rooms across the road and up in the mountain, personally not a good idea for us with prams but I have heard they are spacious and have a private pool but not recommended for young girls who need to return in the dark, although Old Deniz is very safe, wiser not to tempt fate. The pool is really fairly small and definitely overcrowded and can be noisy. We catch the free hotel shuttle bus to Josef beach near the lagoon, the water is much more shallow than Belceciz beach, warmer too and its sand not shingle, also the paving around the hotel pool is very slippery, we have mentioned this each year in our comment card to the hotel but unfortunately this hasn’t been rectified yet to our knowledge.
The only other down point to this hotel is the entertainment, we don’t generally bother other than the mini disco for our 2 young children aged 2 and 4. This is a very family friendly hotel, we took our son at 5 weeks of age and were thoroughly accommodated in our every need regarding hot water, heating of milk, travel cots etc. There is a small hotel run kids club and separate toddler pool but this is unsupervised and the gate is often left open which is worrying even if your child is old enough to be left with the staff, which I think is age 4 plus.
Overall I think this is a fantastic hotel, made so by the food which is just unbelievable and all the staff who just are so friendly and return there year after year and so get to know the regulars.
To summarise, beautiful scenic resort, clean, safe, friendly, fantastic shopping, very reasonable and plenty of lovely restaurants and bars in the town too. Certainly not for your 18-30 type holiday makers.

This hotel is the best value you will find ever. The all inclusive deal was excellent and the standards very high. Great food and genuinely friendly staff. A big thank you to the silver shop jeweller, the DJ, the entertainment team and all the staff who helped coach me in beach volleyball. I hope to return very soon.

This was our second wonderful holiday at the Olu Deniz Resort Hotel.
The food is excellent, the staff are just the best, they are so helpful and friendly. The accommodation is very clean and comfortable. The entertainment staff are simply the best.
We are so sad to be home and are trying to get back in October this year!
Watch out for Nellie and the water gym what a great girl with so much personality! Also be aware for Tom who collects football T Shirts, he would love to have them off your back. Tom, Thanks for everything, but watch out we will be back and who knows we may buy a property up the road!
We know this resort is the best as we bumped into lots of families that we met last year, you just have to go back for more each year!
10 out of 10 for such a wonderful Hotel.

Just returned - great holiday for myself and 15 year old daughter. Standard of hygiene excellent - no tummy problems for anyone. I think it would be 5* if a larger or second pool was provided. Crusoe’s on promenade provided safe nightlife for teenagers
I would go again - staff were extremely helpful.

Have just returned from spending a lovely two weeks at the Olu Deniz Resort Hotel, which is in a superb location. Accommodation and food were excellent - so much choice and the desserts were to die for!! Staff were very friendly and helpful, as were all the Turkish people we met. The only downside was the crowded and cramped poolside area, which was not big enough for the number of rooms, but this did not concern us much as having no children we went to the beach and the Blue Lagoon which were beautiful.
A visit to the nearby White Dolphin Restaurant (5 mins away) for pre dinner drinks and watching the sunset is well worth doing.
The local mini-bus service (Dolmus) was excellent for our visits to Fethiye and Hisaronu - so frequent.
All in all an extremely enjoyable holiday. We’ll certainly be back next year!!

Friendly Staff all spoke English and were happy to help with anything.
Excellent Entertainments Team they were friendly and encouraging without being over bearing.
Good variety of food well presented with extra children’s choices - the deserts were particularly tasty!!
Rooms were clean and bright with plenty of space.
The resort was excellent all round - loads of kid’s entertainment - the crèche was particularly good for little ones as it was completely enclosed and safe.
The hotel is on the beachfront of this picturesque part of southern Turkey. It is a beautiful area and I would highly recommend it.
The local markets provide bargains galore especially at this time of year as its nearing the end of season.

Fantastic Hotel on Beachfront. Excellent Food! Great Pool and setting. You couldn’t ask for a better hotel!
Hotel has Burgers/chips and Pizza offered throughout day- not to mention all inclusive drinks, tea, coffees and cakes.
Beautiful scenery and mountains surround the hotel and a free bus can take you to one side of the blue lagoon! The lagoon and isthmus is fantastic! Sea warm weather super!
Entertainment and tons to do for the children.
Best place yet. Sssssh don’t tell everyone.