Delphin Imperial Hotel — Hotel in Aksu

We arrived for a week’s all inclusive holiday at the Delphin Imperial Hotel on 8th September 2025 via Jet2 holidays. ||On arrival we were greeted by friendly reception staff and offered the chance to upgrade our room. I asked how much this would cost but the reception staff ignored the question and kept going with the sales pitch so we politely declined. I later found out it was about 500 euros to upgrade.||Room - We stayed in room 7027 which has a side sea view (which we paid extra for when booking). Unfortunately it is also directly above the service yard with views of spare ground which seem to be used for rubbish bags from the hotel. We were awakened every morning by the endless crashing of glass bottles being sorted for recycling by the hotel in the service yard. The room was very clean however there was a definite damp smell which seemed to be coming from the air conditioning unit. The decor is one of those ones you either love it or hate it. Personally we found it a bit dated but we didn’t spend much time in our room anyway. Beautiful bathroom with the biggest shower I’ve ever seen in a hotel. The room was kept very clean and bedding towels changed daily and mini bar restocked which was great. You can also ask maids for wine and they will leave you a half bottle if you don’t like beer in fridge etc. ||Pool Areas - We spent our mornings at the relax pool for over 15’s which is fabulous. No problem getting a sunbed at all at any point in the day at this pool. We were regularly topped up with drinks by the skating waiters and Eren was just an absolute joy…what a boy! One thing I will say is the hotel needs to think about replacing their sun loungers. They aren’t the comfiest tbh and some were broken and most could do with some new padding.||Beach Area - lovely beach, sandy but quite difficult to exit the water as it’s a steep incline and the sand/shingle gives way under your feet so probably not ideal for anyone with mobility issues who likes a swim. We have visited a few hotels in Lara and they’ve all been the same. There is no waiter service to your sun lounger at this hotel which we missed as we’d had this at titanic and it was fabulous.||Food and drink - The main buffet restaurant was lovely . Always plenty of choice but we found it very busy and maybe not big enough for the size of the hotel. I wouldn’t like to see it in high season. The staff were attentive and friendly. Drinks were a hit and a miss at the hotel - branded drinks available and decent choice of beers such as miller, efes and Budweiser. The white wine wasn’t good - very sweet and sickly and the sparkling white which they told us was champagne wasn’t much better. The rose was drinkable. The cocktails were ok, not overly strong which was good but they tasted very syrupy and weren’t made with quality ingredients imo (no fruit puree etc). We didn’t book the a la carte restaurants as we felt 80 euros on top of what we’d already paid for the holiday was a bit much. The Stella Maris beach bar was excellent for snacks and drinks and was lovely to enjoy lunch while sitting by the sea. The kebabs were delicious as were the strawberry daiquiris.||Entertainment - Now this is where this hotel MAJORLY fell down for us. The entertainment was seriously lacking for adults/couples etc - it’s was mainly geared towards a Russian audience which was the majority of the hotel guests when we were there . After dinner you have the choice of visiting the main entertainment area which hosts the kids mini disco (no good if you’ve no kids) or the pier. IMO the mini disco wasn’t geared towards British kids. The kids entertainment team looked as if they’d had enough. Now the pier entertainment is a man playing saxophone to background music on a Bluetooth speaker…every night between 7-9pm - no offence but it’s not the best. If you like you can sit here and ponder over your hotel choice when you look along the strip and can see/hear other hotels absolutely bouncing and cry into your vodka. Just pre recorded music after the saxophone act. This falls far short from what I’d expect of a holiday we’d paid over £3k for for two of us. Later in the evening you have “professional” shows. We visited Lara in 2017 and 2021 and it’s the same shows as we’d seen a million times before - Alice in Wonderland, acrobats, Fire of Anatolia type acts etc. There is also a bar area which isn’t busy and hosts entertainment. Again 2 singers and a keyboard…I’m sorry but it’s not on. We can honestly say that almost every night we were bored. If it hadn’t been for the cats/kittens I’d have been tearing my hair out. There were two evenings where there was a dj/lasers in one of the main areas and this was great but finished at 12. Off to the club we went…never to be revisited. We aren’t party animals by any stretch we are 50 but come on would it hurt to pen the beach bar at night and play some music or have a dj. I’d say this isn’t the hotel to visit if you like to have the option to party. No white night, fireworks etc and the drone show was cancelled on gala night.||So all in would I return? - no. Was it worth the £3300 we paid? Absolutely not. It’s it 5*? Maybe back in the day but not any more. The hotel needs to seriously up its entertainment program to cater for more than one type of holiday maker. There were a lot of younger guests at the hotel and there was absolutely...

This place has a lot, but what is good it’s more compact than other hotels which I think is good. Went in September as a family, close to the airport (30mins transfer). Great weather and great pool temperature.||Good points:||-Buffet has a good selection of food, and kept replacing any items left out too long or that are close to finishing.|-Rooms are a decent size, and the extra bed is an actual bed not just a fold up/sofa bed.|-good selection of drinks.|-a lot of water slides (6 different areas) for all age groups.|-pool was nice and big, plenty of beds around so you will always find one.|-easy to get drinks as people always around with skates on.|-theme park on site, that could be open a little later (I think closes at 9pm only open for a short time as well, but by the time you eat and get your kid there is around 8.30pm, should stay open until 10pm)|-mini bar stocked everyday. Crisps and nuts available everywhere, with bottled drinks, and packeted ice cream.|-the staff in the kids club are really good with the kids, a lot of planned activities as well that keeps them entertained.|-beach bar on the pier, which is very convenient.|-beach on site.|-fantastic lobby seating area, plenty of seats and staff coming round getting drinks for you, to be honest the best staff was 2 of them that would extend to you in the lobby seating area.|-great selection of food options from snack bars to buffet restaurant and scattered around, from chicken nuggets and chips to doner, to fruit, jacket potatoes, steak, fish, oysters and so on. Everything is on at different times so there is always food but what you may want you need to check what time it’s available.|-the pool party was really good fun, with a pool show, music and foam party, really good!||Negative points:||-rooms are warn and need a cosmetic update, marks and stains everywhere.|-A lot of dated concepts;|Old fashion wrist bands, and towel cards.|-a la carte booking on the day isn’t a good way of doing it, it’s nice to book what you like for your trip in one go. Also the a la carte restaurants menus are so small and limited it’s not much to choose from, we went to the Asian and unfortunately wasn’t very good so we didn’t go to any more. They need an Asian chef for Asian food, the spring rolls were a cross between an Asian spring roll and a Turkish cheese borek.|-the staff come across disingenuous, there’s so many staff but in the whole resort probably come across 3/4 that were actually nice, most would smile in your face and frown the second you’re not looking, it become uncomfortable at times, they moaned about us in Turkish and we understood what they said and a staff member had to kind of tell them off in a light hearted way to amend things.|-the cocktails weren’t that good unfortunately, I’d rather a really good cocktail from an allocated cocktail bar than cocktails offered everywhere.|—the second something is closed they will refuse you food or a drink even if you are the only person waiting and it’s bang on closing times there is a lack of common sense and empathy around the hotel in many situations like that.|-they will not go out of their way for you, if you need a late check out and can’t give you one you aren’t offered any help like other resorts I’ve been to. Most places even have an area where you can shower and change and just book a time slot, here you had to use the bathrooms in the spa, which we made work but there should be a better alternative offered.|-the entertainment on occasions could be great but they often had too many people just dancing around on stage which is boring. Just get a good act or a good singing and that’s enough.|-there were times where shows were meant to be on and they wasn’t.|-they had a brilliant Turkish band one night on the pier, that should be every night. They need more consistency, be great to see live Turkish music from 9-12pm every night! A beach DJ from 3-6pm. The pool music wasn’t good at all, it wouldn’t annoy you but poor music system and song selections.|-they need to have quality over quantity in some things and not rush to start and stop everything so quickly.||All that being said, that was in hope management sees that and improved somethings as overall we loved this place, just wished these easy fix things get done then it’ll be close to perfect. It’s great for families and kids really enjoy themselves here. Mixed crowds of people from all over the world as well which...

Very good hotel; food is good; swimming pools are good; the childrens pool slides most of the time splashes water (hard), lots of (smaller) kids for that reason dont use the slide because they are afraid. Also when it briefly stops, it suddenly starts again very hard and kids on the slide start crying and mommy and daddy have to get through the splashing water to get the kiddo of the slide 😂. Theres room for improvement there.

Kidsclub looks good and good materials. But... they really need better nanny’s. There are a lot nanny’s but most of them are not really connecting with the kids or bringing enthusiasm or merriment. Most of them seem bored and cant wait till its break time. It seems like management chooses their language abilities above actual nanny skills and passion for kids. Mayor improvement point!

Absolutely love the terrace over the beach, with nice cocktails and drinks. Beautifull views and good stairs to go for a swim in the lovely warm sea. Go here around sunset to enjoy the view with nice drinks.

Reception staff, please learn them to be more heartwarming, sincere and welcoming. A guest’s first contact will definitely shape the whole experience. This varies from person to person, but it really shouldnt!

Cashier with no cash is also not really logical. Tried to change some turkish money for tipping staff, but they simply turn you away.

I love the snacks around the swimmingpool, like fresh doner, fresh sliced vegetables/fruit all day. A very good coffee house wich now is opened throughout the day. Very good move. Coffee here is most of the time better than inside the hotel. Lovely barista helps you here.

Off course the amazing skating boy Hassan who provided us with his beautifull smile and nice drinks at the pool. Fast and always happy, great guy!

Rooms are very good, except for the airco, wich was a little too loud for us. So we turned it off at night, wich made the room a bit to warm to sleep. Please management look into this.

They have lovely junior suites but it doesnt justify in our opinions the extra costs to upgrade. The only difference is a few extra m2’s and a coffeemachine. So dont let them tempt you to upgrade. Normal rooms are decent enough. Beds are of good quality, rooms are spacious and clean. Nice walk-inn shower.

Nice minibar wich is refilled every day.

Animation of good quality, but please lower that volume!!!! You are damaging the ears of all your guests, i was especially worried about my little daughter. She herself complained about the music being way to loud and wanted to leave. Really Hard music is not necessary for a good atmosphere, please focus on sound quality above volume! (Also for your staff)

Staff kindness differs extremely, sometimes we counter really friendly and attentive staff wich really contributes to a 5 star feeling. However some staff members are really numb, bored and unfriendly.

Shops in the hotel are a bit to expensive, i understand they have to be a bit more pricey than shops across the street, but this sometimes feels like being robbed. So it always pays to take the walk across the street.

We tried the teppan yaki en mexican restaurant. Very happy that this year we could reserve for it. Earlier years you couldnt book it with kids or it was just simply impossible to get a booking. It seems they improved the system. Thumbs up management.

Teppan yaki restaurant was very good, except the sushi wich was not really what we are used to. The other dishes outstanding. Good juicy chicken and great tender beef being prepared before your eyes.

Mexican restaurant, didnt expect a lot, but we were positifly surprised! Very nicely done. Good quality and flavours.

Lifeguards should be explained the (life) importance of their job!!! Sitting behind your stairs hiding from the sun is absolutely irresponsible! You have like 0 view. How are you gonna explain that when someone drowns at your watch? Please management fix this.

All in all we really liked this hotel and will visit again. Staff and management keep up...