Kaya Belek

1 reader found this review helpful

Just arrived back from a wonderful holiday at the Kaya Belek Hotel.
This was the first time our family (two children aged 2 and 8) had been on an all inclusive holiday and i must say it was very good.
The food was available nearly all day which suits children as they often are not hungry at lunchtime, so being able to get them something to eat at 3 or even 4 o'clock was brilliant.
The beach was great although the sand is a little coarse, but the sunbeds are quite a way from each other with large umbrellas so we were not sitting on top of other families as i have experienced in Spain, and also they gave you 4 fresh beach towels everyday if you wanted!
The rooms were clean and spacious and the minibar was stocked every day with water, fanta orange, pepsi and pepsi light which was fantastic.
The meals were very good even if you didn't like all the food there was something for everyone and their freshly baked bread was delicious. The tables had a bucket with red and white wine and 2 bottles of water for your evening meal, and the waiters also served you with other drinks you requested.
It is a large spacious complex and even at the height of the season, never seemed to be really busy which was great because you could always find a quiet spot to relax and have a drink. We didn't venture off the complex a lot, only having a trip into Belek at the market day on Saturday which was good, and we didn't get to use all the facilities, having a two year old it was not that easy, but overall this was a lovely hotel, not rowdy and nobody abusing the free drink on a grand scale.
The surroundings are beautiful and at night when the sun sets you get a wonderful view of the mountains with a lovely warm breeze and swaying palm trees, a lovely family holiday was had by all.

1 reader found this review helpful

When we first arrived at the Kaya Belek hotel we were very impressed, (although the transfer was disappointing and got mixed up).the food was as you would expect with all inclusive (not all too good) but the staff were very friendly and helpful.
The hotel was very clean and there were a lot of facilities to be used. This hotel would be very good for a family with children because there is a wide range of activities for them to use.
The hotels entertainment was very good and enjoyable.
We would recommend this hotel to all our friends and family as we had an amazing time!

1 reader found this review helpful

My wife and children aged 16,14 & 12 had a great time at this hotel. The hotel is a large spacious complex. In my opinion it is probably not quite 5 star, but still very good. We were there for 2 weeks fully inclusive. The food throughout was good, a little bit of queuing but nothing to bad.
I should say that the restaurant has no air conditioning and this was disappointing. We also went to the themed restaurants BBQ and Fish, these you have to book in advance (and queue to book). I thought the staff were excellent and hard working, in the bars they couldn’t serve you quick enough. The beer - Tuborg was a bit naff. As others have said the rooms are a bit scruffy and I would agree, although they are cleaned every day by the maids. The hotel grounds are spotless with an army of sweepers, cleaners, gardeners on duty.
Day entertainment was great for all, with a friendly bunch of non-British "the crazy animation team". However, I thought the night entertainment was dreadful.
We booked a couple of trips in town ,not through Thomas Cook, and they were great - particularly the rafting.
In week 1 all the beds around the pool seemed to have been reserved by 7.15 ish but in week 2 still available at about 9.00. There are more Brits than I thought there, but lots of Germans and Russians. I hope this report helps.
On Aug 17 the Sun run the article "31 Brits in bug hell" - there seemed to be an incredible number of people ill during our stay my wife and youngest son included, with sickness, diarrhoea and also ear infections. We all got an unsigned letter 2 days later from Thomas Cook, which was a bit odd - it had no address or phone number from where it had originated but said that independent hygiene consultants were on site. The pool had to be closed a couple of times as people were "ill" in the pool.

Positives. Food superb lots of choice, even for children.
Pools and beach excellent, lots of space. Water slides a hit with
Kids and adults. Gardens are beautiful, minigolf, horses, shooting, and archery. Waiters and bar staff very friendly but are overstretched. Cleanliness very good.
Negatives. Aircon in rooms useless, does not work 24hrs.
Rooms are shabby, they are renovating at christmas 05,
Reception staff non responsive and not very friendly, be prepared too be spoken to in german by them even when
They know you are british.
Definitely not 5 star.

1 reader found this review helpful

We went as a group of eight (four couples), who had no previous experience of Turkey, and ended up with a fascinating holiday in which we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves as well as feeling that we saw something of the ‘real’ Turkey.
The hotel staff were friendly and helpful, they were always on hand and were very efficient at clearing away glasses and keeping the hotel clean. The food, which was in a buffet-style layout, was generous in quantity and of good quality. There was, apparently, a different world theme to the food each day, but they provided such a range to keep everyone happy that it was difficult to tell what each theme was! In addition the restaurant also had an A La Carte section that you could book in advance if you wished, but we never took advantage of this. I would say that going all-inclusive worked well for our group, it might not be everyone’s preference but it meant that we didn’t have to carry around cash to buy drinks or food, which is one less thing to worry about while on holiday.
Our room was pretty much as it appears in the brochures and on the hotel website, with a decent bed and a television in the room, and it was clean and tidy with the staff making the beds and replenishing the tea and coffee each day. However, although we were very happy with our accommodation, phone calls made from the hotel were quite expensive. The beach by the hotel was excellent, as was spending time by the pool. However, we did try walking beyond the hotel grounds along the coast – this was one of the things we were looking forward to - but found that only the areas associated with the hotels were kept clean and tidy. The sections in between and beyond were quite dirty and were not worth venturing into, so you can’t really walk along the coastline as we had hoped to. It is also perhaps worth mentioning that the advertising photographs of the hotel grounds and surrounding area appear to be much more vivid in colour, consisting of rich greens and blues, than we found them to be in reality – but this may be related to the timing of our holiday, which was a few weeks before the peak season begins.
During our stay we visited a place called Side in a hired minibus, which was fairly easy to arrange and was driven by one of our party, and we saw the remains of an amphitheatre and temples, as well as the Manavgat waterfalls. These were interesting sights but were nowhere near as picturesque as the Oymapinar Dam, which we viewed from on high after travelling up some windy, narrow, roads before then moving on to eat at a restaurant set into the bank that overlooked the river.
On our other main day out we took an organized tour with a guide, who, very openly and honestly, told us about life in this part of Turkey. She was very helpful and interesting, taking us to a market in a hillside village, where local residents were shopping; to a mosque, which we were able to look around; to a village school, where we introduced ourselves to the pupils, and then to eat lunch with a Turkish family in their home. Some of the areas we visited and saw were quite run down or impoverished, with our guide explaining the realities of the local economy and infrastructure, so we felt that we gained some understanding of life in this region by looking beyond the hotel grounds and the designated tourist areas.
Much of our other time was spent relaxing in the hotel, playing crazy golf and using the other amenities, or just enjoying the sunshine. We also caught the bus to the closest town of Kadriye on a couple of occasions to do some shopping and we found the people to be friendly. We engaged in bartering for a few items, although the exchange rate was so preferable that much of time we willingly paid the prices being asked.
Overall I would recommend the hotel and say that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. This is, in part, because we travelled as a group and as a shared experience we had a lot of fun and never found it boring. It also helped that we were on holiday before the main peak season, when I suspect it would be a lot more crowded with lots of families and therefore potentially much more stressful. The fact that it was relatively quiet meant that we could always get chairs or spaces by the pool, and didn’t have to queue or battle to use other facilities or get to the bar. As we had travelled as a group of eight it also meant that we didn’t mind or notice if there were not many other people around sometimes, although our rooms were nevertheless situated on different floors in different parts of the hotel so we weren’t right under one another’s feet the whole time!
As a final note, I would add that through talking with other people who have been to Turkey I think we chose a fairly unusual introduction to this country. We visited what seems to be a less well known area that I would say has sporadic areas of amazing natural beauty but lacks the more spectacular sights found elsewhere, such as the temples and larger marketplaces you tend to see on television.

I Went to Kaya Belek, Turkey of Apr. 2005 it was my first holiday abroad, it met my expectations. Great location, friendly staff, adequate rooms (you are only sleeping in them). Great beach however we went out of season and as we were leaving the entertainment started. We noticed quite allot of Germans at the resort whom were quite ignorant, however this did not ruin the holiday, superb place to go if you want some R & R. Overall I would go back to Kaya Belek, the staff are out of this world, Recommend jeep safari excursion it is a blast.