Nirvana Mediterranean Excellence

The hotel exceeded all our expectations. The grounds are beautiful, well-maintained, and surrounded by stunning nature. We especially enjoyed staying in one of the detached villas—they are spacious, comfortable, cozy, and offer a great sense of privacy. The food is excellent, with a wide variety of delicious, high-quality dishes. The service is also outstanding: the staff are friendly, attentive, and always willing to help. We would be happy to come back again.

For the last few years I’ve taken a bit of a gamble with our family holidays by booking brand-new five-star hotels during their opening season.

We’ve previously stayed at Anda Barut and XO Cape shortly after they opened, but this year we decided to try something completely different and booked Nirvana Mediterranean Excellence.

It’s a very different style of hotel to what we usually choose, but on paper it ticked every box. There isn’t a particularly active Facebook group for the hotel, so hopefully this review helps anyone considering it.

Our booking

• Family of 4 children aged 9 & 5

• 7 nights

• Cedar House Lagoon View room

First impressions

As we arrived in the Beldibi area we were immediately blown away by the scenery.

The dramatic mountain backdrop combined with the pine forests and greenery made it feel completely different to other parts of Antalya.

The hotel itself is grand rather than ultra-modern, but it’s incredibly impressive and welcoming.

We were greeted by Olga, who was absolutely lovely. She explained everything clearly, including the unlimited evening à la carte dining available with our room and how we could contact our personal assistant via WhatsApp whenever we needed anything.

It was a brilliant first impression.

Our Cedar House Lagoon View – The highlight of the holiday ❤️

For us, this was what made the holiday feel truly special.

Rather than staying in one large hotel building, we stayed in one of the detached Cedar Houses nestled amongst mature pine trees and beautifully landscaped gardens.

Our room was spacious, bright and comfortable, with a lovely covered terrace. It actually reminded us more of places we’d stayed in during trips to the Caribbean than Turkey. While the décor was fairly simple, it had a charming rustic feel and was spotlessly clean. We all loved it! Our 5-year-old son especially loved having his “own house on holiday.” 💙

One of my favourite parts of every day was waking early, quietly slipping outside with a book, listening to the cicadas and enjoying a peaceful swim before everyone else woke up. 🥰

We often had the lagoon pool outside our lodge completely to ourselves, making it feel wonderfully peaceful.

One small detail I absolutely loved was the terrace furniture. There was actually a proper table with four chairs! It sounds silly, but so many family hotel rooms only provide two chairs. We used the terrace every day for games and evening drinks.

Housekeeping was fairly simple rather than luxurious, but perfectly adequate.

The gentleman who delivered the snacks was fantastic and always let the children choose exactly what they wanted.

Hospitality ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is where Nirvana really stood out.

The vast majority of the staff made us feel genuinely welcome. There was such a natural warmth throughout the resort.

From the lovely lady at our lagoon bar waving every time we stepped onto our terrace…

…to the lifeguards making our children laugh and handing out endless high fives…

…to the incredible service in the à la carte restaurants.

We were lucky enough to visit Gusto Italian twice, where the staff remembered our usual drinks order and made such a fuss of the children. The welcome and service throughout our stay were exceptional.

Food & Drink 🍽️

The food options were excellent.

One fantastic addition this season is the Blue Sky Lounge, which has gorgeous décor and feels much more luxurious. Best of all, lunch there is included for every guest.

We only used the buffet for breakfast, which offered plenty of variety each morning.

For lunch and dinner we almost always chose the à la carte restaurants, which suited us much better.

One thing worth mentioning is that dishes arrive as they’re ready rather than everyone being served together.

Cocktails were a little hit and miss depending on where you ordered them. Our favourites definitely came from the Excel Lobby Bar and the à la carte restaurants.

Entertainment

The entertainment programme is huge, with activities running throughout the day including yoga, padel, bike tours, paddleboarding, volleyball, football and much more.

The children’s programme was excellent too.

My daughter loved the perfume-making activity, happily joining around 30 Russian children. The organisers dipped in and out of English, and she was lucky enough to sit beside a lovely little Russian girl who happily translated for her. 💕

We also watched the Crazy Professor Science Show, which was brilliant. Although much of it was presented in Russian, everything important was repeated afterwards in English.

The little touches ❤️

This hotel is full of thoughtful extras that really add up.

Our favourites included:

• Chocolate fruit fondue in the patisserie 🍓

• Create-your-own Magnum ice creams 🍦

• Several places to grab ice cream throughout the day

• Aqua Snack, which is actually a full waiter-service restaurant

• Evening popcorn before the shows

• Candy floss and sweet treats during outdoor entertainment

Another huge plus was that à la carte reservations simply required arriving between 7pm and 8pm rather than booking a specific time. It made everything feel much more relaxed.

Personal Assistant

The WhatsApp concierge service deserves a special mention.

Responses often arrived within 30 seconds.

Restaurant bookings, menus, questions or requests—it was all incredibly easy and efficient.

The setting 🌲

Unlike many newer hotels, Nirvana sits within a beautiful pine forest.

Yes, it’s an older hotel.

Yes, there is some wear and tear.

But honestly, for us that was all part of its charm.

It felt peaceful, natural and completely different to many of the polished modern resorts.

During the week we spotted birds, lizards, a hedgehog and plenty of other wildlife. 🥰🌲

We also loved swimming in the sea and using the two piers, both of which have their own bars. Drinks waiter service is available on the beach too.

A few things worth knowing

⭐ The fantastic new waterpark can be heated, making it a brilliant choice for May half-term.

⭐ Beldibi/Kemer is typically a little cooler than Belek, Lara or Side during the height of summer, which was one of the reasons we chose the area.

Final thoughts

Whilst this isn’t a brand-new luxury resort with pristine buildings, I genuinely think it’s a hidden gem.

The warm hospitality, unique Cedar House accommodation, beautiful forest setting, outstanding à la carte dining and relaxed atmosphere combined to make this one of our most enjoyable family holidays.

I’m so pleased we tried something different, and I honestly wouldn’t hesitate to return or recommend it. ❤️