Eftalia Aqua Resort – All Inclusive

Just got home from a 1 week family holiday with 2 adults and 3 children at EFTALIA AQUA RESORT. I have to say, that this was the best family holiday that we have ever had and we will most definitely be returning again. Private transfer: We paid £60 private transfer from Antalya Airport to eftalia Aqua Resort hotel by a company called Kozbay transfer ‪(+90)5079442348‬). The transfer van was a supped up VW caddy van which was fantastic with TV, air con, drinks (charged) and great service. The transfer took 1 hour and 30 minutes and was much more relaxing then coach transfer. Friendly service and they like a tip once you arrive. We also done this again for our return journey back to the airport but the return journey wasn't as good are the first journey. Van wasn't as nice and the driver wasn't the most smoothest but we made it safety. But, I would recommend a private transfer for the 5 star service. Arriving at the hotel: Arriving at the hotel, it was a quick check in and I asked for an updated room. This works by how many people there are and the availability. For 5 people they asked for £180 but said if I paid cash then it will be £150. Which I paid. Ask for a second key so that one key stays in the electricity slot in the room so the air con stays in all day. Bell boy took our luggage to our room which was in the main building on level 5 (penthouse they call it). Room: We was in room 5048 and I have to say, our room was huge. Basically you get twice the size room if you upgrade compared to if you have a standard family room. Bed where made nicely and all was clean. We have two bedrooms with the master being one double bed (good sized). Mattress was a bit hard and only one pillow each person but it was comfortable. Large desk and small TV (not many English channels so bring a fire stick). Second room had one double bed, single bed and single sofa bed. Massive room. Bathroom had a decent sized shower with decent shower head. You have a safe and mini bar which is replenished every day for free with fizzy drinks and water. We had two balconies with partial sea view and we overlooked the new hotels construction site, but the workers are quiet and we didn't hear any construction work during our stay. Room was clean and tidy with room service basically every day but cleaner likes a tip. Hotel: The hotel complex is massive so be prepared to do a bit of walking around. We done about 10,000 steps per day according to my smart watch. The hotel is immaculate and the hotel standards are very high. On level - 1 is a big shop with clothes etc, spa, hairdressers and barbers, and shop with basically all the stuff you need for a holiday. There is a professional photo shop here as well, which we booked and we went around the hotel having our family photos done. It took about an hour and they took lots of photos. It is very expensive , so keep that in mind but we paid a lot of money but its worth while due having some amazing family photos to take home with us. If you take a USB stick they will upload them to your usb for a price, so you can have copies of them. They have a card machine and they can do a better price so haggle with them. The hotel is very fancy and very clean. The front of the hotel as you drive in does look very fancy but don't like that put you off. The inside is lovely. The reception staff are friendly and are there to help with spare keys and replacement wrist bands. Pools: There are lots of pools with slides (that were very fun) but are on during selected times during the day. Getting sunlounges is normally easy but when busy, there are staff that get ones for you for a tip. All the pools where clean but the only downfall was that if someone pooed in the pool, then the hotel close the pool for cleaning which takes around 24 hours. This happened a few times but there are other pools you can go to. We spent the majority of you time in the pools and you can buy pool toys and floaties in the shop. There are more better pools on Eftalia island. Overall, the hotel has great pools and they are on it with their hygiene and cleanliness of the pool water. Food: Basically, there is always somewhere to eat. The main restaurant is massive but gets very busy during hot-spot times and queues do get long. But the food was very nice and is something to eat for every person. Our children are fussy eats but there was always something they would eat. They loved the Burger land restaurant which is small but have the basic kid loving food, like burgers, pasta, nuggets chips and salads and had juice machine and soft drinks. For every 7days stay, you got one ala carte restaurant booking, which is down by burger land and the food was fantastic and great service. Table service and drinks given. The service was so good that we tipped well. Drinks and bars: The drinks included in the all inclusive are ok. My partner said that the spirits are very weak but is OK and I drank the beer which tasted like a Carlsberg taste, not the best but you get used to it after a few days. The bar staff are good but you can see that they do long hours and are tired so service is basic but they are friendly. Their are a few cocktail bars that are charged around 9 euros per drink and the staff walk around to you and service you which great service. My partner said the cocktails are strong and tasted good, and look fancy. (one downfall is that our hotels, cocktails are included in all inclusive but oh well). The soft drinks where nice though and you can get as many small bottles of water as you want. There are lots of bars scattered around the complex. In the evenings the queues get long so pack some water bottles in a bag just keep hydrated. Entertainment: During the day is kids club and entertainment staff walk around to get adults to do darts etc. we mainly spent most our time in the pools so we didn't do much of theses. Down the island is lots of activities but it is charged. Evening entertainment is good with kids mini disco and then after is somewhat of a show. The show quality isn't the best I've ever seen on an abroad holiday but the entertainment team are very good and try their best to entertain you. Our kids loved the kids mini disco, which is main thing. Overall, it is pretty good. Eftalia Island: The island is a bit of a walk but there are lots of more pools including a ship pool and another kids pool which our kids loved. There two other big normal pools and then more decent slides at the end. There is lots of shops with clothing, tattoo shop. My partner got a big tattoo on her thigh and it was £350 which is around 19000 lira. The quality of tattoo is epic and great service. Recommend to book with jimmy, who walks around the hotels and book for your last day. There is lots of entertainment for the kids but again, it is charged. The is a big snack bar here which is included with all inclusive and I have to say, the food here is really good and more options then the main restaurant so eat here for lunch but it gets very very busy here so allow more time. Beach: Large beach with lots of loungers and water is warm and much cleaner than the UK beach water 💦😂. Beach shoes are a must are there are large rocks hidden in the water which I found unexpectedly and cut my foot so where some sort of footwear in the water. Especially for the children. They do a pirate ship expedition which can be seen during the day sailing past which is charged but was £100 for 5 of us. But looks very cool. We did book but cancelled as kids changed there minds. Overall, the beach is very pretty and much better than the UK The heat: It gets very hot here in July so I would recommend getting beach slip on shoes for yours kids are the floor is tiled every where and the floor gets super hot and burns your feet and the floor gets very slippery around the pools and these shoes prevent burnt feet and slipping over. Flip flops are deadly around the pools 😂. I used factor 20 on our first day and I burnt so used 50 for the rest of the holiday and I still come home which a great tan. During the day it got to 39 degrees on the hottest day and in the evening is still very hot staying around 30 degrees so where loose clothing, not Jean shorts as you are saturated in sweat by the end of the night. Basically it is very hot here so drink plenty and cover in sun cream. It's very bright so sunglasses are a must. Currency to use: I would recommend to just take lira as everywhere accepts it or use a bank card but be care of bank charges and atm charges. There is an atm outside the hotel by security but this wasn't working so ask the reception to get the bell boy to take you on their golf caddy to the arms around the corner but do tip them as they remember you and give you great service. We spent around £1000 worth of lira and could of spent more. It's best to change it up in the UK before you go as you get better exchange rates and you can lock your cash up in the room safe which you change the safe pin to whatever you want so no one knows your pin apart from you. Sexy Sam: There is a 21 year old guy, who calls himself sexy Sam who walks around advertising steak house meals and cocktails. Sam was absolutely FANTASTIC and his customer service was out of this world. He was superb with our kids and the kids loved Sam. He will go above and beyond for you and even gives you his number just in case you need anything. Honestly, I have never seen such good service from this guy. Trust me, if you visit this hotel, you will say the same thing if you met him. He isn't pushy for a tip, unlike some of the other staff members. We tipped Sam well, Just because he was that good and he deserved it above all others. He even remembered when we were leaving to go home, he come to the reception area and said goodbye to us. Kids loved him - Fantastic guy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. This is one of the main reasons we will be returning is to see Sam again. Overall: We absolutely loved our holiday and we can not wait to come back. There are a few negative reviews about this hotel but honestly, ignore them and book at this hotel. We are wanting to come back next year but for 10 nights this time. Bit of advise, bring lots of spending money as there lots of cool things for the kids to do and lots of cool expeditions to do. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Holiday and this is why I wrote this huge review as the hotel deserved it and to disregard the negative review people have submitted, which seems to be mainly about tipping staff etc. Turkish staff are on rubbish money so this why they give you good service and to be honest most of the staff do deserve a tip, due to how hard they work to give you the best time. 100% recommend to book here for your family holiday! Ignore the bad reviews.