Avena Resort & Spa Hotel

A fantastic hotel ! Would recommend!! I like to write an honest review to help others thinking of booking this hotel The hotel is a 2+ hour drive from Antalya airport. The hotel is well positioned in a busy tourist area with bars and restaurants. The check in was straightforward, unfortunately we arrived after dinner service and there wasn't any provision for us except the very late night soup service . However we ventured a few doors down and got some food there on the first night . The room was spotless. The beds were very comfy indeed and a great size. Our room's balcony looked out onto the pool . This got the sun in the morning but then was in the shade the rest of the day. Music goes on til 10:30 pm every night , so if you have light sleepers , this may be a problem. Luckily our children are heavy sleepers so it wasn't a problem for us. The sun lounger situation is one of my only criticisms. They have signs everywhere saying not to reserve sun loungers, but people are out before 7.30am putting towels out and by 9am you can't get one. Most of them are left unattended for most of the day. Better enforcement of this would make the place more enjoyable. There is a 16+ only sun lounge which seemed to have loungers available. The pool is a lovely temperature and has two flumes. There is a shallow pool with 2 slides. My kids LOVED the pool and we couldn't get them out of it. The lifeguards spend most of the day on their mobile phones, so you need to carefully watch your own children because the lifeguards surely aren't. The entertainment team do aqua aerobics and pool polo in the day and then the mini disco and introduce the evening entertainment. I wasn't made aware of any other activities they were putting on (particularly for children). If they were do more, it's not advertised anywhere. The evening shows were sensational. They had an acrobat show and a tennure show! Wow There is an on site Dr which puts your mind at rest. There is a Turkish spa on site and gym . The spa is good value at €40 for 90+ min session. The ladies in the spa were lovely, but there wasn't clear explanation of what it entailed (not a language barrier, just no communication). I entered the Turkish spa and there was a gentleman lying down having treatment. The spa worker proceeded to pull my swim top down , exposing my breasts and stomach. After I pulled it back up , she fetched a robe to cover me. Once the gentleman left, she pulled it down again exposing my breasts. The room has a see through door and there are other customers in there. I acknowledge this may be an authentic experience, but better explanation is needed as i didn't enjoy this part at all, having had my breasts exposed to the room. The massage itself was excellent. The food was delicious! They do not cater for the British. There is no "full English " or pizza and nuggets here! So if you are a fussy eater , you may struggle. Luckily we all like veggies and lots of salad so we loved the food. The restaurant is open for long periods in the day and there is an outdoor snack bar with beef burgers and fries serving from 11-4 If you get to the restaurant at the start of service you will have much more to choose from than if you get there later. They put it all out at the beginning, and don't come back and restock the puddings etc . So once the good ones are gone, they're gone. There is a patisserie on site serving cakes all day. The all inclusive is good- a nice list of cocktails , soft drinks and beer. They only serve ice cream between 4-5 poolside The cleanliness is brilliant. The floor is shining clean and they take great pride in keeping it spotless. Cannot fault the cleaners! The staff are friendly and were always helpful and attentive. There is a beach section with it's own restaurant and sun loungers. This is a perfect alternative to lying by the pool(or inability to lie beside the pool as there aren't any sun loungers!) I have mentioned all the good and the criticisms. The criticisms are very minor for us - but if you are a fussy eater, light sleeper, sun bather.... They would be more significant for you. If a friend asked me how my holiday at Avena was - I would say it was AMAZING and I'd go back (and re book) in a heartbeat. 5* from us.