CALIMERA SIDE RESORT — Hotel in Manavgat

We had a good holiday as we always do in Turkey but here’s my honest review on this hotel.||We arrived on the 5th September for 7 nights. Myself and my partner had a family room which was Perfect for what we needed with our baby. The room was cleaned daily however we did notice that the floor never seemed to be cleaned. Also there was two days where I noticed the towels had a few marks on them. The aircon in the bedroom worked really well but the one in the sitting area was rubbish it would barely get cool and you can’t adjust the settings yourself as they screw the remote to the wall. |My parents had a double room and found it to small as there was no where to sit and the balcony was to real small. ||Food & drinks- As far as all inclusive goes the food was pretty good lots of flavour and a good selection. However every morning there was never any glasses for the cold drinks so had to use the mini coffee cups. Finding a table was never an issue.|The drinks are in plastic cups because of the pool area I get that but the cups are hanging they look so dirty and we did actually see how they just rinse them under the tap not actually soapy water so we had to drink through a straw! |I asked for two champagne glasses as we had a bottle from duty free to drink on our balcony and the restaurant staff wouldn’t allow me any. Also the only drinks you can have with dinner are beer or wine they won’t make gin etc you have to walk to the pool bar for that. |There was a couple lady staff that were miserable. Don’t know any names one of them but one was lovely and the other one was miserable. ||Pool- If you want a sunbed in the sun all day then you do have to get up really early. I have a baby so I was awake and I could see people putting towels down at 6:30am! It’s frustrating when you know you have to wake up so early just to get a sunbed I think there are far to many sunbeds crammed around the pools the umbrellas are massive too. we always needed a end really to put the baby under the umbrella without upsetting other people. Also this was very annoying there was so many flies around the sunbeds they constantly land on you. Same as the pool bar all around the tables and chairs we got bitten a few times and it was not mosquitoes I think the reason there is so many is because the pool floors are not being cleaned there dirty there was rubbish under the sunbeds that was there the next day. There is also a real bad smell that comes from the pool bar! Smells like gone off milk or something. |The lifeguard usif was very friendly and came and spoke everyday. The pool bar guy sekhen was very good. ||Beach- We did use the shuttle bus and the beach is really nice. The waves were quite big! We had a pizza there which was tasty. ||Tattoo place next door - The guys come in and try to get you to get a tattoo they insult the ones you already have which is just rude. I have recently seen comments on the Facebook page that people’s have faded after a few days! ||We had to pay €24.50 for the safe because we were with easyJet which we found rather odd, I remember paying for a safe the first time I came to Turkey like 15 years ago. ||One of the lifts kept flagging up a weight issue so someone had to keep using the stairs if the other lift wasnt free, it’s just annoying. ||If you want a nice meal out sky safran is the best! The food is really nice we ate there a few times and the cocktails are good. You walk out the hotel and turn right and it’s like less than a 5 minute walk. Before that is also a little market shop. |Side town is about a 25 minute walk right down to the bottom it’s very busy. Taxi is €10. |Rubys bar was good with live music each evening and friendly staff. side is a beautiful place to visit however it is getting very expensive and the drinks were costing more than back in England. ||My biggest complaint is the photograph man. I don’t know names but the one who is bald took our family photos and he was nice and friendly. When we went to view them it was a different man with dark hair he was so rude! He wanted to sell us a package for £250 I explained we didn’t want to spend that kind of money on photos how we only needed a few. He kept trying to push most of the photos on us I kept saying I didn’t like certain ones please delete he was saying why you not like you don’t want any. I said I just don’t like them please delete them I only want a few and not those ones… he was huffing and puffing shaking his head. I said you are being so rude !!!! He said well you are delete them all you don’t want . I said no I don’t! I was so close to saying shove your pictures he was so rude! This happened on our last evening which did make it a rubbish start. ||Would I stay at this hotel again - NO. |We like beach front and larger hotels where you’re not all crammed on top...

Firstly, I'd ignore all the reviews from people with only 1 contribution. These are like;y from the hotel or staff to bump up the ratings (a thing happening more and more on Tripadviser).||I have just returned from 7 days at the hotel and all in all we really enjoyed our time there.||The location is very good. Couple bars nearby, with McDonalds, Burger King, a good number of shops and supermarkets near also.||The Old Town is beautiful and is a lovely 20 minute walk, very scenic. Make a point of going down pre sunset as its stunning at that time and you will get incredible pictures!! We didn't get harassed to go into shops or restaurants which I was slightly surprised about. Sure, you get encouraged to look at the odd menu but they weren't overly pushy. ||Back to the hotel - The good things - The place is kept very clean with staff working round the clock. We never had to wait more than a few minutes for drinks at any of the bars and the drink quality was generally fine. Wine wasn't great, lager was good, plenty cocktail options though which were good.||Pools were all clean and were a decent temperature. My kids got in all of them with little fuss.||Staff I found to be generally pleasant. I wouldn't say quite as hugely friendly as some of the reviews suggest. I think its important to remember, this isn't Tenerife where every single person is fluent in English, as I say staff were helpful and usually gave a smile when assisting you.||I found the entertainment to be decent. The jugglers show was good and the Kings show was funny (I managed to body swerve being on stage).||I liked that the ice cream was available all day and also that it was not a help yourself thing. Meant the ice cream was not half melted like other places I have been. Nice creamy ice cream too, not just cheap stuff in my opinion.||The food was not bad. A pretty good variety in general. It is Turkey and not one of your more British focussed places so there are lots of meats and sausages and a good salad bar. My kids struggled here a little more than other places we have been. The snack bar by the Water slides was generally good, my kids enjoyed the burgers, freshly cooked chicken, piping hot fries, excellent stone based pizza.||The room was clean and of a reasonable standard, but it was super small. Smallest I've ever had in a holiday hotel. It was fine, but if you are a family of big people you might find it tricky. Kids having to share essentially a corner sofa with duvets felt...not quite like a family room.||Water slides were great and the life guards engaged with everyone and kept things fun.||Foam party on Tuesday was good fun and both my kids loved it!||A decent supply of food, snacks, booze options etc from the on site shop....but it is costy. I bought a 6 pack of desperados, 2 packets of crisps and a couple Milka and it came to over £30!! Supermarket up the road you can get bottles of a range good brands of lagers for the rooms for 100 lira (£2). We like a few in the room for getting ready in the evening so always stock up with a few bits.||One of the cleaners tried to engage with me in a very happy nice way (but couldn't speak English). I wasn't sure what it was about but then found two towel Swans on my bed, so assume the hotel knew it was my birthday perhaps. A nice touch.||There is a room for putting your luggage on your final day in which is helpful. It does remain unlocked however and is at the front/roadside of the building. You can literally just walk in at any time and help yourself, which I didn't like.||The hotel is much bigger than it initially appears. Lots of areas that branch off, games rooms that we didn't find until the last day, extra sun bed areas you could easily miss, so make sure you have a good explore so you don't miss anything.||All in all I would recommend this hotel. Its maybe not as huge and grand as some in the Lara Beach area but its a very nice, well maintained hotel. For the price, its...

This was our first family holiday with our baby boy and overall we were really happy with our experience at Calimera Side Resort. It felt like a safe, welcoming and comfortable place to travel with a young child. We’d definitely consider coming back.

All-Inclusive Experience The food was good for an all-inclusive hotel and matched the price we paid. A bit more variety and a better layout at the buffet would help though. Sometimes it was awkward with the way dishes were arranged, like sauces coming before the meats. The themed dinner nights (Italian, Chinese, Turkish etc.) were a nice way to mix things up.

Breakfast was a highlight with fresh options like pancakes, croissants, omelettes, cereals, meats and cheeses. Lunch didn’t offer as much variety and meatballs seemed to appear in some form most days, though it was still decent. The snack bar by the activity pool had plenty of easy, kid-friendly choices like pizza, burgers and pasta.

Drinks This was one area that could really be improved. The coffee wasn’t great and the pool bar often felt understaffed, especially in the evening. Sometimes there was only one barman serving a long queue. One night we saw a dozen kids wait over 20 minutes for ice cream and leave empty handed as the barman had to focus on drinks for adults. A second or third bartender would have made a big difference. Self-serve soft drinks could also help speed things up, based on what we’ve seen at other hotels.

Rooms & Facilities We were pleasantly surprised to get a pool view room even though we hadn’t paid for one. It was clean and comfortable, the bed was good quality and the travel cot provided for our baby was perfect. Cleaning staff were excellent and always happy to come in regularly.

The bottled water fridges were a huge plus for us. Our baby wasn’t on solids yet so we needed lots for sterilising and making up bottles. There was always plenty available, which made things much easier.

We paid for a late checkout (€10 per hour). It felt a bit pricey, but it was manageable. Worth noting too that, like in many places in Turkey, the hotel clearly preferred Euros over Turkish Lira. Something to keep in mind when changing money.

Pools & Sunbeds The pool areas were a good size and never felt too busy. Sunbeds were a bit of a pain though. If you didn’t reserve one early you’d struggle to get one later, and there didn’t seem to be any proper system to manage it. We did get a note one day asking not to reserve sunbeds, though since nobody else followed it and staff didn’t seem to enforce it, we had to do the same to get a spot.

One reason we chose this hotel was for the waterfall mushroom feature in the baby pool, but it sadly didn’t work or was never turned on. This was a bit disappointing and did take away from the experience slightly. We still enjoyed everything else, just would’ve loved to have seen that working.

Entertainment & À La Carte The themed nights and entertainment were good fun. We tried the Italian à la carte and had a nice evening. The steak was tasty, although not cooked to the preference we asked for. The pasta was okay. Starters and fresh bread were provided and overall it was a pleasant experience.

Extras As Jet2 customers we got the room safe included, though other guests might be charged for it. Worth checking in advance depending on who you book with.

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Overall We had a really lovely holiday. The hotel felt very baby-friendly and the little things like bottled water, a good cot and friendly staff helped make our first trip with a baby much less stressful. If they made a few improvements l, especially with the bar service, sunbed situation and baby pool features then the hotel could be even better. We’d definitely be...