Iz Flower Side Beach

Just returned from a 10 day holiday to this hotel. Great food, hotel clean, people friendly and amination team best we have ever experienced. Good value for money.

a first visit to turkey, and will be a yearly return, our first holiday without our children, all inclusive at the paloma beach resort was outstanding, location was fantastic, hotel and staff excellent, food great, and to make the holiday the animation team were absolutely brilliant, we were told half way through the week a volcano had erupted and we couldnt fly back home which put a downer on things but the animation team were fantastic and gathered to bring spirits back up. working constantly through the daysfrom 8.00am through to early hours the next morning, mehmet oscar, suat korkma, mami, johnny (tarzan) were all excellent and truely professional through-out the hole 2 weeks working hard to keep the moral up performing nightly entertainment, and keeping us dancing till early hours then training afer for the following show, we felt as part of a family at the end of the holiday thank you all for an unbelievable holiday keep up the good work people see you all next year Marty & Sharon thanks again

We stayed here when the ash cloud was doing its worst, but thanks to a lovely Thomas Cook rep, Leah, and a great animation team our extra 4 days flew by. The season was just starting and we had the run of the place, any sunbed, anywhere. The entertainment during the day was great fun thanks mainly to Suat, Mamy and Oscar and the girls, Luba and Mila, were always trying to get you involved. The first day was stormy so we had a turkish bath,spa, and massage, onsite to get our skin ready for a tan.What a wonderful experience, definately recommend it. This was our first all inclusive and our first holiday to Turkey and we hope to be doing both again!!! Many thanks to Thomas Cook for not making a drama out of a crisis!

We were among the first holidaymakers in Side as the 2010 season got off to a start and we can safely say it was one of the best holidays we have been on. The check in staff were lovely; The room was spacious, clean and tidy with a fully stocked mini-bar; The many restaurants and bars had a variety of food to a high standard compared to the other all inclusive hotels we have visited; Many of the bar and restaurant staff were attentive with the exception of a select few, reluctant workers; The activities were limited to air rifle shooting, archery, table tennis, tennis, boules, curling, football and volleyball at the beginning of the season but they were promoted by the Palomotion team who were attentive and got everyone involved; There are water ski's, paragliding and parasailing etc. available on the beach; The evening entertainment was still in it's infancy and needed more work, being the second week of opening it was expected. The hotel and complex were newly renovated meaning everything was new and clean. The manager and other senior staff wandered the complex everyday which was refreshing as they made time to stop and talk to the holiday makers to make sure they were enjoying themselves. The chefs and food prep people all wore hair nets, aprons and gloves which showed hygene was good, we even noticed them taking trays of food away replacing them with fresh ones rather than mixing them as we have noticed in other hotels around the world. We can't say enough good things about this holiday and hotel, it was lovely, quiet and personal, just the break we needed. We are concerned that it may be busy in the height of the season as it is a large complex. If you do get fed up and want a break from it, there is a small village outside the hotel complex so you can go for a stroll around the shops in the evening. There is Cosby bar accross the road for a change of scenery. We caught the Dolmus to Side to see the ruins and Manavgat to barter in the market. We also walked up the beach to Side but it is about 7Km either way. The only thing I am disappointed with is that I didn't book to go a day later, If I had I may have got an extra week there due to the volcanic ash cloud, air ban!

Thank you for a great holiday,thanks to one of the nicest hotel manager`s we have met Mr Arif Atak alway`s around for you,5* service from every member of staff,and a massive thank you for the entertainment staff,they have there own beach with loads of sun-beds attended by a lovely man who takes your sun-bed mats down for you Oscar,Luba,,Luda,John,Pikagu,Suat,Mamy,Arzu,Gokhan,Sevim and Ozge for the organised games and night entertainment it was FAB !!!! Great childrens programs twice a day with lovely staff,they kept the kids really happy rooms are quite nice and keep very clean everyday by lovely ladies,the food is ok loads of choice, the down side is there are quite a lot of Germans (didn`t spoil our holiday though) but Thomas Cook are doing there best to turn this around, We will be returning for certain, THANKS TO YOU ALL

Very impressed with the hotel, it was extremely clean and all the staff were very friendly and efficient and could nt do enough for you. The only complaint I would have was that in general food was a bit cold but i do think in high season when the turn around would be quicker that it would be fine.The animation team were all exceptional especially Suat Korkmaz who was always full of life, smiling and fun to be with! Grounds of the hotel were beautiful and very clean and the 2 pools were lovely but a bit cold! We were all inclusive and you could nt of asked for any more food and drink!

Just returned from a week all inclusive . We are well travelled and expected not too much - just a rest in pleasant surroundings but had a fabulous holiday which more than exceeded our expectations. The weather was really hot, pools lovely (but cold!) gardens, then step straight down onto the beach. We cannot fault this hotel - everything was exactly as you would want it - the staff are so friendly - especially the animation team who worked really hard. I'm not sure we would have enjoyed it in the height of season as it will probably be too busy but before then I would have no hesitation to recommend it completely. - the only thing we would say is that if you need to keep your room on, pre book it as our friends got charged £40! Don't contemplate going anything but all inclusive to Turkey now - it is no longer the cheap place it used to be. Side town is gorgeous and we walked into Cumkoy where there are several shops.

I went here with my other half for a cheap, relaxing sunshine break in September. Having read the reviews on here, I was a little apprehensive as some of the latest ones weren't positive, but nevertheless we decided to give it a go, mostly due to budget constraints at the time. We arrived in the middle of the night yet Erkan in reception was bright, friendly and helpful faced with a huge queue of grumpy travellers. We were given a room on the 1st floor right above the pool and restaurant, with nice views of the sea, the pool and even the greens. This was lovely, apart from the fact that the balcony was somewhat exposed. The room has some interesting furniture but it all functioned and that's the main thing. Having seen reviews I knew the kitchen was in a wardrobe, adequate but we were going to eat out most of the time anyway. Beds, bedding and towels were clean at first glance but all I wanted to do was sleep. Throughout our week the stay was lovely, very good maid service (they had this quite little touch where they left your pyjamas in a little bow type thing on your bed, just nice touches like that), towels and bedding were changed on a daily basis, floor sweeped and bathroom cleaned. The cleaners don't really speak English, but as I also speak German which they knew a bit more of, I got there with hands and feet in the end as we were missing a bathplug! The pool is great, large and clean, and separate kiddies pool. Animation team are lively and fun to just observe, and while not necessarily taking your first no for an answer, they never pressure you into anything, they're just doing their job, striking a good balance. I couldn't do what they do! One night they had a special on in the hotel dinner, which we were notified of via a note in our room. Decided to eat at the hotel, and surprised by the quality of the food, really quite good actually! Also, all drinks were just charged to your room so it was great not needing money anywhere. All in all I can't fault the hotel, although the late checkout is only subject to availability and they sometimes change their mind! Thankfully we got late checkout until 7pm as we weren't due to leave until about 11pm, and no issues when settling the bill either. Staff was generally super friendly and not like in the US where they just do it to get a tip, I think they are just genuinely there for service and your experience! As mentioned before, throughout our stay Erkan in reception remained the most helpful & friendly receptionist I've ever come across, even waiting with us outside when we were waiting at 6am for an excursion which forgot us! (not their fault as we'd booked it on the street and did get our money back) We mostly went out for dinner and found the most amazing Chinese restaurant in Side, China Court. A little more pricey than the other places (yet still pretty cheap) and gorgeous food. It's not well advertised but SO worth the effort. We had planned a few excursions, do NOT book these with the Thomas Cook people as they're ridiculously overpriced. We found our own, and would advise to do the Turkish bath thing on your first day. After all, if you did it after a few days tanning the exfoliation would just get rid of your tan! Malavgat market isn't that great, the boat trip there was fun but the market itself is a bit, well, just knock off fake designer gear mostly. Not the original, genuine trinkets I'd been hoping for. Unfortunately the weather wasn't perfect, we were unlucky enough to have the first 2-3 days of rain in the last 6 months! But that didn't dampen the spirit and rain when it's 30+ degrees isn't even that bad. Once we were completely drenched and even the Dolmus driver was laughing! Outside the hotel are also many stray cats, including kittens. These are very friendly once they "know" you, and we fed them every day as there was one heavily pregnant cat which we wanted to make sure had enough food, and some kittens. Adorable and I just wanted to take them home! Yes, there are a lot of Germans in Side but it's not an issue. Generally they do not deserve the rubbish tag they have as holiday makers, I found it offensive when I heard English people complain that the Turkish shopkeepers spoke German but little English when they clearly hadn't bothered to learn any Turkish (even thank you, please or similar) themselves. I speak German and do found it's easier to haggle when they are more comfortable with speaking, but all in all it's not an issue at all and the German tourists were all lovely. Lovely holiday, lovely hotel, and lovely people. Couldn't fault it, apart from the resort of Side could've done with being a bit more lively.

After a spontaneous decision to book a holiday for 2 weeks time, we fell upon a great offer in a local travel agents and booked it without even checking out the hotel. We read some reviews before we took off and were quite pleased. Arrived at the hotel realllly late and a bit grumpy, got our keys and our luggage was taken off with a porter to be delivered for us. From then on...it just got better. We didn't lift a finger, and even though we were self catering, do not let the location put you off, there is a supermarket just over the road, (5mins walk) it had everything we needed for a week. We ate at the hotel on a few occasions and the food was always lovely. Just after the pool is a little walkway that leads directly onto the beach.The spa on site is blissful and we even had our photos taken for their brochere which they rewarded us a VIP spa package for. Side town is lovely, it's very romantic and has a lots of things to do, there are lots of restaurants along the harbour that are worth a visit to, there is a small one right down on the harbour where you can sit on bean bags on the beach with drinks until the early hours. Our rep was great and we got to find out all the nooks and crannys of the resort. The staff are equally as helpful. Our room was cleaned everyday, even our messy washing up! It was my first trip to Turkey and the weather was beautiful for May, i will definitely go back! Lots of fun and sunshine!!

I stayed at the Paloma Side/Iz Flower with my young family in Oct 2009. The first thing we noticed was that the resort was very much geared towards German visitors - everyone speaks to you in German first, and everything is priced in euros. Slightly annoying, but the German guests were themselves very pleasant (mostly older couples). The beach at Kumkoy is decent - soft sand and gently shelving. The dolmus service into Side is excellent, very regular and cheap, and the dolmus' are modern and comfortable to travel on. We were staying self-catering but found it impossible to cater for ourselves. The cooking facilities in our hotel were awful, but there was little food in the local shops anyway! You could get basic fruit, limited veg, cheese, eggs, bread etc, but nothing that we could actually make a meal with (other than pancakes and omelettes!). The restaurants in Kumkoy were very disappointing, they all served much the same thing, and weren't cheap. The restaurants in Side are much better, but quite expensive - I remember the days when eating out in Turkey was very cheap - not any more. Side itself is a lovely little town, loads of ancient ruins, nice little museum, but not much in the way of beaches, and the restaurant workers really hassle you to come into their restaurant, so you cannot enjoy a nice evening stroll - such a shame as the town is nice in the evening, bustling and atmospheric. The hotel itself is nicely situated, pools are great, kids had a good time (small playground and kids club which we wandered in and out of as we pleased). Tried the hotel restaurant which is buffet service, food was OK, most people would probably be happy with it. Hotel staff very helpful. Overall, I am glad I have visited Side, but would not recommend Kumkoy unless you are staying all-inclusive (in which case it is fine). I don't think I will go to Turkey again - prices have risen too much, you may as well go to Greece and enjoy better food!