Grand Park Lara — Hotel in Aksu

Just returned from a 10 day trip|To this hotel. I went with my 21 year old daughter and had a ball. Arrived around 11:30pm checked in quite easily and had a drink at the bar whilst our cases were taken up to our room. We are in a delux family room in H block. Absolutely nothing g that we could fault with the room. If I had to pick something the pressure on the shower could of been a bit better. No noise at this block at all. We went to the 24 hour snack bar which was located just by H block and found something to eat. The pool is busy but we didn't have a problem finding a lounger, it depends on where you want to be. If you have young children be prepared to get up early to bagsy a bed on the edge of the pool. We used the gym every morning and it's a great gym, well equipped. We went for breakfast each morning around 10am in the 24 hour restaurant, we found this quiet at this time and less hustle and bustle. Oh they will also make you an omelette in there too. Lunch time we used different places. The potatoes are amazing. The BBq is lovely too. TIP - sports bar has ice cream in cones. |Main restaurant has nice food for lunch but it's busy. Sit upstairs on the balcony it's so much quieter. We tended to sit up there of an evening too, so much nicer to chill. They also have a small bar up there for spirits, wine and soft drinks and there is a coffee machine. The snack bars look good but we didn't use these. |The entertainment team are amazing. They were on the go all day and night, a real asset to the hotel. We used the spa and paid €30 each for a Turkish bath and massage it was heaven. Pay at the spa itself it's cheaper than paying the guy who walks round the pool. Tip the skater waited and he will bring you drinks all the time. |The beach is amazing as is the bar/ snack bar. You come out of the door at the main reception and literally walk across the road and walk inbetween the 2 Delphin hotels. It takes about 3/4mins to walk or you can wait for the golf buggy to take you down. The seating area is lovely and drinks are the same as in the hotel. You can get ice creams and lolly ices at 4:30pm. Burgers and chips are served im paper bags and are delicious. You can also get panninis which again are lovely. |Plenty of beds at the beach and they are very comfy and of cause free. There is a water sports place there although we didn't use it as it was quite expensive. The sea is lovely and warm but the sand is very hot, don't forget your water shoes especially for your little ones. Please put your rubbish in the bin. One thing I have noticed with this hotel is that have a lot of plastic wastage and some people do like to leave it on the floor especially on the beach. Also fag ends stuck in the sand. We on a daily basis cleaned up after people and I will say no they were not all English leaving it. |We used the 2 alacart restaurants and they were amazing €15 each and the food really was alacart. Please tip the waiters when you go to these restaurants they work so hard. The fish restaurant at the beach was my fave. ||We wemt on 2 boat trips. Paid €30 pp fpr each trip. The first one we had a bus trip for 2 hours, far too hot and too long. The trip was ok but the second to the waterfall was much better. The transfer to the second was only 10 mins. TIP - drinks are expensive on the boat trips they are not AI although food is included. Soft drinks €5 beer €8 cocktails €15. We took large cold cups with us and the bar filled them with ice at the hotel and we took bottled water. We did have a cocktail though which was lovely. ||If your travelling for the shops, they are expensive here. Unlike other places in Turkey this is far more expensive. We found some of the shop holders to to arrogant and one even spat at us in one of the bazaars and hissed. He also said that my money was mud because I refused a price, he followed us and made me feel so scared. If I had been with a man maybe he would not of done that. . I've added the photo so you can steer clear of it. We went to the left of the hotel I suggest go out and turn right. We purchases a few items in one shop and the owner failed to put 2 items in the bag, there was no excuse as he had them all in a pile. There is a €10 bag shop which had many bags and also had large holdalls for €20. All in all we had a fab time. If we return to Lara we would not venture out to the shops again. I would return to this hotel for the price we paid it was fantastic. Also forgot to mention the evening entertainment. It's been the best I've seen in Turkey for quite a while I thought MJ was brilliant. Sports bar was a good atmosphere although I found the staff in there quite rude. The staff at all the other bars are really lovely and so friendly always happy to chat. Oh ask for nuts or snacks at the bars too they are free. |You can play bing for prizes. It's €15 we won and the prizes are great and includes a meal for 2 in alacart. |There is a cinema which has 2 films a day mainly for kids. We didn't use it |Kids club looked great. ||Slides are great fun too 😁 |Enjoy and...

Please avoid at all costs and read this review to the end, we ended up in the hospital due to chemicals in the pool. Instagram makes it look better than what it is, it's very old and outdated. It smelled like sewage in the room from the toilet, the air conditioning wasn't working in one room, the technician came to fix it but it still was not working after he left. We came back to the room that was unlocked, it turns out our door was not locking properly and we had to call the front desk and ask them to fix it, one day our safe won't open and we had to call the repair crew again and I had to stay in the room on my vacation waiting for the person to arrive with the screwdriver to fix it. WiFi was very spotty. The shower head in the bathroom would not stay on in the right position, you could only use it in the hand held position. There were rocks in the corner in the shower when we arrived as the beach is rocky and overall cleaning of the room was not that great. There was no air conditioning in the hallways and elevators, there was nowhere to sit for dinner if you didn't arrive promptly at 18:30, there were many flies in the restaurant in building F but enjoying time with my family that I haven't seen in a long time I was willing to not make a big deal about certain inconveniences even though I have traveled around the world quite a bit and this was worse than a 2 star motel in most countries. Only highlights are the food was ok especially bread and baking goods were good, the person on the grill is fantastic and the shows were fun and entertaining. The last straw was the last day of our vacation. After doing regular swimming and diving that the kids were doing the days before, my 8 year old son came out of the pool crying that his eyes are burning and everything was blurry and he couldn't see, then my 14 year old came out saying the same thing and we noticed her green bathing suit changed color and got completely bleached out. Only 4 kids that were diving had problems, the 2 that were in the kiddie pool and the pool with the slides seemed fine. It makes me think something either malfunctioned on the lower level of the adult pool or pure bleach was poured in one spot that the kids dived into, their hair was like straw and chunks of it falling out as if they got highlights that were bleached for too long and ruined hair. Their skin also looked red and puffy and they had rash, not a sun burn but more like a chemical burn. I ran to the reception and told them they need to check the chlorine levels in multiple spots of the adult pool. We ran to the nurse on site and she did drops for 2 children while the other two were still in the shower. Things were getting worse and the kids were saying everything is blurry and foggy. I had to rush to the hospital with 4 children as the chemicals can penetrate through cornea and cause permanent damage to eyesight. The guest relations service handled it poorly minimizing the danger, calling me and my sister dramatic and overreacting. $1,000 at the Turkish hospital and they wanted even more and wouldn't let me leave till I said I would call the embassy because I would miss my flight if they didn't let me go. I took my kids to the eye doctor back in the USA and my daughter ended up having chemical keratitis and prescribed eye drops for 2 weeks, after which she will need an eye exam to see if her eye sight worsened (she had a prescription before but seems to need stronger prescription). I will not speculate whether it is from the chemicals in the pool or was bound to happen. Thank God my son's eyes seem fine. The lack of compassion from the guest services was concerning. For them to say that the bathing suit turned beige from green is because it's a cheap bathing suit? That bathing suit was fine in many pools including Grand Park Lara's but something went terribly wrong with chemicals on July 1st 2024. They claimed we were the only ones with the issues but perhaps other people weren't diving to the spot and mostly stayed floating, or had burn and rush but thought it...

Turkey is a beautiful country. In August the sun shines bright, the beaches are warm, and there is no shortage of things to do both inside and outside the resort. Unfortunately, the Grand Park Lara Hotel fell far short of delivering the kind of experience that matches the setting or the previous reviews seen on Google.

Service & Staff

Quite frankly, the service was some of the worst I have experienced, and my family and I travel often. For 2025, we will have visited five different international locations. Around 7 out of 10 staff members were not only unhelpful but downright rude, dismissive, and aggressive. Simple requests, the kind of basic things any guest should feel comfortable asking, were met with irritation, hostility, or the dreaded automatic response of “no.” Instead of feeling welcomed, we felt like a burden. One has to wonder if it was because we were one of the only black families staying at the hotel, anyway I digress…

Of note, the beach towel staff, one gentleman in particular but both similar, were disrespectful, dismissive, and extremely rude. This was for something as simple as beach towels. If the owners of this hotel had seen, let alone experienced, what we went through, he would have been fired on the spot. Guaranteed. If you have a bad day, please leave it at home sir.

To be fair, I must commend the Spa staff and the cleaning staff, both for the cleaning of the generously sized rooms and the premises on a whole, they were professional, caring and kind. Sadly, they were the exception rather than the rule.

Food & Dining

The hotel boasts four restaurants as part of the all-inclusive package, but the food was underwhelming across the board. Bland, mass-produced, and completely lacking in flavour. It felt like seasoning was treated as optional. Compare this to meals we enjoyed outside the tourist areas of Antalya, which were rich, delicious, and full of authentic taste, and it is clear the problem lies within the hotel itself.

Family-Friendliness (or Lack Thereof)

This resort is advertised as family-friendly, yet my children (12 and 8) constantly felt restricted. They were told off for playing football, running around, or simply enjoying open spaces that seemed designed for children. I repeatedly witnessed staff shouting at children (mine included), who were doing nothing more than playing or asking questions. For a hotel marketed toward families, the message came across loud and clear: children are only kind of welcome.

Other Concerns

Adding to the discomfort, stray animals roamed the hotel grounds freely, cats in particular, of which my wife is allergic, and they were EVERYWHERE! Ironically with more freedom than the paying children. While some might shrug this off, it gave the impression of poor management and a lack of care for the guest experience.

And although I cannot say for sure, I cannot ignore the thought that perhaps the coldness of our treatment may have had something to do with the fact that we are a Black family. Whether intentional or not, that shadow lingered over the entire experience. Though one lady who had been coming to the hotel for years with her family noted they wouldn’t be coming back as the place had seen better days and it felt run down. “Not the Grand Park Lara of old” she said.

The Verdict

Halfway through the trip, my kids said, “We do not want to come back here.” My wife and I had already quietly agreed; that says it all.

This holiday could have been beautiful, because Turkey itself is breathtaking. But the Grand Park Lara Hotel particularly their people made it stressful and disappointing. Beautiful country, poor service, poor hospitality, poor food.

Of Note: Turkey’s tourism has been experiencing a sharp 17% decline in visitors annually. Based on what we have experienced at Grand Park Lara, I would not be surprised if that number climbs higher, no matter how many discounts they throw at potential guests.

Grand Park Lara, you need to fix up. Until then, I cannot recommend this hotel, especially...