Lov Faralya — Hotel in Fethiye

Seeking a visit to the Turkish Riviera, our search narrowed to Fethiye, driven in part by what we saw in Lov Faralya. Lov certainly delivered. Hidden away in the hills South of Fethiye and Faralya it is an immaculate property which truly does meet or exceed what is promised in their website. The grounds, the accommodations, the food, and the staff made for an unforgettable experience. A side-note is our visit was at the early part of the season so occupancy was low and not all services/events were part of our experience.||Booking/Coordination. Finding them through Trip Advisor and booking directly on the Lov Faralya website, e-mail correspondence was initially relied upon for coordination and questions. They were friendly and responsive. A real highlight was direct contact via WhatsApp initiated by Mersedeh the Hospitality Manager about three days prior to our arrival. Mersedeh really set the conditions for a great visit with recommending activities and just being a great point of contact when we faced some travel issues delaying our arrival on our first day. A real plus!||Check-in. Non-standard in every way as we had a flight delay not allowing us to arrive at the resort until midnight. Thanks to the before mentioned coordination with Mersedeh via WhatsApp she ensured there would be someone to greet us and she even coordinated wine and beer in the room for our arrival. The drive to Lov is a little “sporty” and has some dirt roads which can be a bit off-putting. That said there is a manned security checkpoint just outside the property and we were immediately at ease as we drove down into reception. Even at midnight we received a warm welcome and expeditious check-in and taken to our room (skipping the typical tour given the hour). So non-standard. We certainly missed out on how beautiful the drive is to the resort and the initial awe of seeing the view but made the next morning all the more inspiring.||Room. Originally booking a Cedrus Wood House we moved to a Penthouse Villa after the first night. It was a bit bigger and decorating more our jam. The pictures on the website do proper justice to the rooms as well as the patio and garden areas. The rooms have the nice touches expected of this level of resort and were clean. We were mildly perplexed by the “dance pole” and tantra chaise but I am sure a highlight for others…..The deck, pool, and garden are a genuine treat and we spent many hours outside enjoying the sun, view, along with drinks from room service. The pool is not heated (it is possible to book a room that has a heated pool) so our time actually in the pool was more on a dare than relaxing (May). ||Facilities. Beautiful grounds. Perched on a steep cliffside there are stairs from villa to restaurant, etc. That said they have golf carts and confident would be happy to move folks around that way. The pool and lounge chairs near the water are clean and well taken care of. As we were “pre-season” it was very slow so the Maserati Lounge was not really open but the restaurant was. Spending much of our time at our villa utilizing room-service and short of walks around the shore-front here and there, most of our time on the ground was walking villa to restaurant and back. The resort location is not “close to everything” which is how we liked it but if seeking a place to launch all your daily adventures it is a bit tucked away. We really benefited from a rental car. There is construction going on at the property to the North and although not ideal was not any real impact on us. You may hear the back-up horns and the occasional roar of machinery but for us….non-issue. That MAY be an important consideration on Villa choice however. A room right at the edge of the property likely WOULD have noise irritation. ||Dining. There is a single restaurant on property that also provides room-service and pool-side snacks. We ate there all four nights and with the expansive menu we did not run out of options. International, Turkish, and even Pizza and Sushi there is something for everyone. Additionally with the drink menu's many choices and okay wine-list with moderate priced bottles, you will not go thirsty. Breakfast is a part of the rate and nicely done with a selection of items bought to the table and an a la carte menu for eggs, etc. Now when it is busier they may do a buffet but given the occupancy this method made good sense and we enjoyed it. All our meals were tasty and between friendly service and breath-taking views a memorable time. They have good quality ingredients and the talent in the kitchen to prepare them. There are some food options off-resort with a short drive but frankly we were not drawn given the quality of experience on site. A small note - if not a Turkish speaker you may want a translation app as the menus are in Turkish.||Staff. Beautiful grounds, facilities, food, and villas of course are nothing without a good staff. Lov’s staff are from all over Turkey (and some more distant) but all have a common focus on the comfort of their guests. Virtually all front-line staff are multilingual and able to speak some English but not always the most comfortable with it especially when faced with my propensity for slang (sometimes I had the sense they were “flipping” for who had to go talk to me.) That said, all very friendly and never failed to make us comfortable and fulfill our wants. As I wish I spoke all native languages when I travel…..alas I cannot. Lov’s staff filled in for my deficiencies. They utilize WhatsApp and was used before and during our stay and found it very helpful. Mersedeh was a force of one in the hospitality department, and coordinated everything from our late check-in, room change, room service to coordinating activities off-resort. Even on her day off she did not miss a beat. Certainly a Lov MVP for us. Others that are top of mind are “Mosul”, Itir, Nazli, and Nori. I also think we were Omer, the beverage manager’s, special project. I am certainly missing folks but thanks to all of them for bringing the resort to life. ||Tips. Whatever you want…not my business however if you like to tip, keep in mind a 10% service charge on all transactions and no ability to “write in” additional gratuity so cash is king. ||The Turkish Riviera is breathtaking, and Lov capitalizes on that beauty given its location but with their stellar facilities, well thought out Villas, solid restaurant, and friendly staff, it is a perfect destination. Don’t let the dirt road fool you, Lov is a top-notch resort and well worth the drive. We certainly don’t frequent the Turkish Riviera but Lov has earned our admiration and created life-long memories for us during this “once in a lifetime”...

Thank you for your response. My review reflects my and my husband’s genuine impressions from our stay in July 2025, based on our own observations and supported by photographs we took at the time. It was not written with any intention to mislead or cause harm, but simply to share our personal experience for the benefit of other travellers. We appreciate that you offered a complimentary stay, which we declined for practical reasons. I have updated my review to ensure clarity.

Location is stunning but that is where the positives ended for us. I won’t list everything because I am sure you don’t have the time to read it all! But here are the highlights.

Our room was bad! I have to assume the worst room they have on site! Just weirdly laid out, fixtures and fittings really badly done! Bad smell coming from the area outside the window next to the bed. The bathroom window looked on to the same space and wouldn’t close, so the room was hot, humid and had an odour we did not find pleasant. The curtains were hanging off the poles. The plumbing in the bathroom was bad with big holes between the fixtures and the wall. There was mould on the ceiling! When we contacted guest relations to flag these issues. Her response was to get the window fixed and the area outside the window cleaned and that was that. We should have left at the point, but we had driven for hours to get there and it is pretty isolated. So we decided to give the benefit of the doubt and stay.

We went for lunch and I am sorry to say the restaurant did not seem to have been cleaned after breakfast, so there was bits of bread, napkins and what looked like meat on the floor. The service was slow! the staff seemed confused and annoyed that we wanted to eat lunch in the restaurant, rather than on sun loungers.

We had booked massages which were nice but one of therapists had her phone with her and it rang twice during our treatment.

The toilets by the pool were disgusting. And had been that way for a while by the looks of things.

Dinner was I am sorry to say a bit chaotic. With bread baskets being thrown all over the floor. We had a G&T each and then my husband ordered another at the same time as we ordered our food along with a bottle of wine to have with food. Our starters arrived before the G&T when we tried to cancel it we were told it was already poured and couldn’t be cancelled. So we said fine bring it as well, then the wine arrived and then a couple of minutes later the “already poured” G&T arrived, but instead of one there was two. The waiter said he would keep them in the fridge and we could have them at the end. Literally five minutes after our starters arrived, our main courses arrived and the waiter just stood there holding the tray, while we quickly tried to finish our starters so he could put the mains down.

My main course was really bad! I have never in all my life actually spat out food, but this I did. When I mentioned this to the waiter he said he was sorry and he would feed it back to the kitchen. No offer to have something else no offer to even take it off the bill. We then took our flat, watery G&Ts back to our room.

The next morning at check out my husband went to go and talk to reception, hoping to speak with guest relations but she was no where to be seen. The receptionist asked how our stay was my husband said it had been terrible. His response “I am sorry, here is your bill”!! At this point we just wanted to leave so I decided I would speak with the hotel about these issues once we got home.

They apologised, for our experience and offered us a two night comp stay which we thanked them for, but for lots of reasons including how challenging it is to get there, we decided that would not work for us and instead asked if they would refund us just the cost of our dinner as a good will gesture. The response “It is against our policy to refund”!! Looking at the other reviews I guess we were unlucky! All I can say is if you stay there I hope you are...

This could be a great place. The nature is simply amazing. The staff is wonderful and attentive. I would have given one of the highest marks if it wasn't for the kitchen. No kidding, friends, it was the most (!!!!) the most unpleasant gastronomic adventure in the last 3 years of my life in Turkey!!! And considering the price of the dish, it probably couldn't have been worse.

Mini burgers of unnatural colors, dry as grandma's heels, with one kind of meat and sauces that are difficult to get out of mini jars....overcooked tasteless pasta with lemon sauce and nuts... but! all this pales in comparison with the evening menu of the restaurant. French onion soup. Has the chef seen and tasted this magnificent French soup? Has the hotel administration tried this creation? Does the cook know the cooking technology or at least the composition of the flavoring additives in this soup? Why did they bring me unleavened soup with crispy (!) white onions and a piece of soaked bread?! Next comes the soup, which is associated with Tom Yam. My husband didn't even touch it because of the disgusting smell, but I tried it! It was a terribly unpleasant soup, smelling of old butter with soy added! The next course was sashimi with tuna. Not such a disgusting dish, but: just slices of avocado, not fresh tuna on top, a little wasabi.... Just a fish, just an avocado, just a drop of wasabi. Where is the love of food?!! Where is the harmony of tastes?! When we despaired and ordered a Margarita pizza, hoping that it would be difficult to spoil the pizza, we were surprised by the cheese, which is not intended for pizza (brine, which does not stretch, but solidifies in a layer).

This vacation could be wonderful, but food is an important component of our satisfaction and impressions. That's why I'm putting 2/5 instead of 5/5. I'm really, really, really, really sorry. The memories of our wedding anniversary were ruined because of the kitchen, despite the wonderful staff and nature.

I strongly recommend that customer support analyze this review and all the others and change the situation, as you spoil not only the impression of the guests, but also...