Side Royal Palace — Hotel in Manavgat

Just returned from holiday, overall we really enjoyed it.|The arrival and check in was very easy, we arrived around 1am and were offered some drinks and snacks (we did not take these but the offer was lovely).|Rooms are spacious, beds comfy and rooms are well equipped. .|We had an issue with the air conditioning and the maintenance man arrived straightaway and fixed it and checked with us the next morning that everything was ok.|The balcony was very small, only 2 seats could fit on it and we looked onto another hotel.|Food was lovely, we have one very fussy child and he managed to eat well. Staff constantly refilling the platters and the waiting staff were very attentive. One waiter would have our drinks for us without even asking him and he really went over and above to make us feel welcome. |Sunbeds are plenty, people started to reserve around 7am but you could always get somewhere.|The entertainment staff were great, they worked really hard and were great fun. |The hotel was very clean and staff were always clearing up. |A few negatives, the cats, these roamed around the hotel, I’m not a cat fan but can cope with them just walking round however most nights they would be in the dining area (probably due to guests feeding them off their plates!) |The a la carte restaurants, you can only visit once per stay, wherever we have been previously it is one visit per week, I checked twice with staff and they confirmed it was definetely once per stay. |The guests were predominantly German and Russian, they were so rude, often barging into you or when in the dining hall they would massively overfill their plates (if you were waiting behind one of them for food you could guarantee they would take everything on the platter), |A Russian man took our parasol whilst we were in the pool, our bag and clothes were on the parasol table and he threw them on our sun bed and just walked off with the parasol!!|Staff spoke mostly Turkish and German with a little English, the whole area surrounding the hotel is catered for the Germans.|There was a life guard at the pool however we noticed some family’s eating ice lollies or drinking cocktails in the pool and no one seemed to intervene and tell them to stop this as it’s really unhygienic, there would be drinks sat at the side of the pool whilst adults went in to cool down, I feel it needed the life guard or entertainment staff to tell people to get out the pool when eating/drinking (although you would think this would be common sense). |Shopping wise, we found the bazaar near the hotel to be very expensive and they would not really budge on price, we went to Antalya to flannels, ozzys and del boys and got some great prices there but I would say that the quality of clothing near the hotel (on the main road walking towards the McDonald’s) was very poor and the prices were ridiculous near the hotel in the market/mall. Side old town is really nice and some great shopping there too. At night time the ruins are lit up...

The Royal Palace was an amazing place, we stayed for 10 nights with a family of 11 people in early August 2023. The hotel is perfectly placed and has everything you need for a family holiday; close to the beach, great pools, friendly staff, loads of shops nearby, daily maid changing, spotless rooms/hotel and the beautiful decorations laid on the bed by the maids are really artistic. Minibar in the room is topped up with pop, water & beer daily. Food was great, plenty of choice, although if you have picky kids then they might struggle as it is continental but there really is loads to choose from! Entertainment was really good most nights and throughout the day the staff are always getting people involved in activities. Side town centre is about a 10-15 minute bus ride and at €1 PP to get there you can’t complain. It really is worth making the effort to go to the town centre, especially to see the sunset, it is truly magical and makes for a fantastic photo opportunity and the town is buzzing in the evening. The fact that a lot of the ancient Roman/Byzantine Empire ruins are still there leaves you in awe of the place, so much history. You literally walk over the ancient city via glass pavement in most of the town, so you can see the artefacts below you and in a lot of the bars. It would be nice if the hotel had an alternative beer on tap but Efes is the local tipple and is everywhere around the area, for those who don’t like beer there’s loads of alternatives (on site coffee/patisserie) like soft drinks, mixers and cocktails, most are made with branded spirits, so again there’s lots of choice. All this is part of the 24 hours all inclusive. You get a complimentary massage at the in house spa downstairs (you have to book this within 24 hours on arrival) and there is a sales pitch at the end of it but I treated my wife and daughter to 3 different treatments and she had nothing but good things to say about it and how relaxing it was! All in all this was 10/10 for our experience. When we go back we will be taking Euros rather than Lira, all places take both (and £&$) but the € is definitely the main currency that gets used. If only you could get a daytime flight to Turkey though, that was the worst part of the holiday due to the time you actually get back home and in to your own bed (5am)! We miss you already Side Royal Palace, we...

We stayed for 7 nights at the Side Royal Palace hotel (red bracelet), with a difference of 20 euros per person for the entire period compared to the Side Royal Style hotel (green bracelet). During this period, we visited the Side Style restaurant three times, and when we used the reception, they told us that we could use all the hotel's extras, as well as alcohol, because we were ultra all-inclusive. Based on conversations, we also visited the restaurant at the Side Style hotel, and on one of the evenings, a waiter asked us not to go to that restaurant anymore, because the manager had told him to! At the same time, other people with red bracelets came to this restaurant, it wasn't completely full, to protect in the other similar case, there were also many people with green bracelets! Then the receptionist repeated that we couldn't go to the other restaurant, but to the one at the hotel we're staying in! We didn't receive any information as to why the colleague gave other instructions. We had read everywhere in the groups before departure that both hotels could be visited because there is also completely free access, there are no closed doors or the like. We didn't sleep at Stila, haha. As for the green bracelets, they can eat at the Palace, but not the others! This offended and disappointed us, because then we saw people with red bracelets drinking at the lobby bar of the hotel and eating there! We took it personally because we were a company with a child! The beach has fine sand, it's quite close, and there are refrigerators with cold drinks available! A server is always attending to you, and some of them look grumpy, but it's obvious they don't want to work! The alcohol is quality, the beer is light, Efes! The hotel is located in a nice area with many beautiful hotels, but it is quite noisy; I don't know how you can sleep with the window open during the height of summer, the prayer starts at 4:30! The food was delicious, but all the visits to Side and the observations of the Turkish evenings and Kurban Bayram are marked more extravagantly! We are pleased, but also disappointed, because we perceived tourism in Turkey as a place that encourages hospitality and good treatment, regardless of whether you are...