Ela Excellence Resort Belek

It is our last day and We had an absolutely amazing stay at Ela Excellence Resort, and it exceeded all of our expectations. From the moment we arrived until the day we left, every detail made our holiday feel special.

We stayed in one of the Lake House Villas, and it was the perfect choice. The room was beautiful, spacious, spotless, and very comfortable. Waking up with direct access to the pools made the experience even more relaxing.

The pools are huge, clean, and never felt overcrowded, while the beach is simply stunning with soft sand, crystal-clear water, and plenty of comfortable sunbeds.

The food throughout the resort was excellent, with a fantastic variety every day. We also really enjoyed the à la carte restaurants, especially the Greek restaurant, where I celebrated my birthday. It was such a memorable evening thanks to our wonderful guest assistant, Mehtap, who thoughtfully arranged a beautiful birthday celebration. She regularly checked in with us throughout our stay to make sure everything was perfect, and her genuine care and attention made us feel truly valued. She is an incredible asset to the hotel.

Thank to reception team and Ms Aleyna for help us to have late check out because we have kids. She was so kind and professional

Our children absolutely loved the Kids Club. The team was warm, caring, and full of fun activities, giving the kids an unforgettable holiday while allowing us to relax knowing they were in great hands.

What makes Ela Excellence truly stand out is the exceptional service combined with beautiful facilities. Every member of staff was friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere throughout the resort was luxurious yet relaxed.

We left with wonderful memories and are already looking forward to returning. Thank you to everyone at Ela Excellence, and especially to Mehtap, for making our stay and my birthday so special. We highly recommend this resort to families and couples looking for a luxurious and unforgettable holiday.

Ela Excellence Resort – More of a 4★ Than a 5★

We have just returned from a 7-night family holiday at Ela Excellence, and unfortunately, while we had some enjoyable moments, we left feeling that this is much closer to a 4-star hotel than a true 5-star resort.

Arrival

Our arrival started well. Our two children were given Ela teddy bears, which was a lovely touch, and we were welcomed with drinks at reception.

However, things quickly went downhill when we reached our room. One of our children’s beds was missing, and there was no soap in the bathroom. After calling reception, housekeeping arrived without knocking while we were getting changed. As they brought the bed into the room, they hit my wife on the ankle and knee. The housekeeper couldn’t speak English and simply laughed, which wasn’t the response we expected.

Cleanliness

This was one of the biggest disappointments. Across the hotel, the standard of cleanliness was poor. The hallway carpets were stained, dirty and in desperate need of a deep clean, if not replacing altogether. Bags of rubbish were often left lying around, and the communal areas generally felt neglected.

The breakfast restaurant was no different, with many stained chairs and tables left uncleared for long periods after families had finished eating.

Around the pool, it wasn’t unusual to see overflowing bins, stains and bugs first thing in the morning. Overall, the hotel feels like it needs a thorough deep clean throughout.

Food

The buffet was acceptable but became repetitive very quickly. There wasn’t a huge variety, and it appeared to cater more towards Russian guests than British or other international visitors.

We also noticed flies around some of the fruit and meat, which again raised questions about hygiene. There was obvious cross-contamination at times, with serving spoons being shared between different dishes simply because there weren’t enough available.

Pool & Facilities

The pools themselves are excellent, and the gardens and landscaping are beautifully maintained.

Brown’s Coffee Shop is fantastic, and the milkshake shop next door was a big hit with our children.

The rollerblading staff delivering drinks around the pool work incredibly hard, but there simply aren’t enough of them. The QR ordering system is a great idea, but service can be slow because the team appears understaffed.

Drinks & Cocktails

This was probably our biggest disappointment.

Cocktails such as frozen Margaritas, Daiquiris and even simple gin and tonics tasted like they contained little or no alcohol. You could easily drink several without noticing any effect.

For three days I was repeatedly told there was no Heineken available, leaving Carlsberg or Beck’s as the only alternatives. My partner ordered an Irish coffee, which arrived with six coffee beans floating in it and was poor overall.

For a hotel marketed as luxury, I wasn’t convinced premium spirits were consistently being used.

Service

Unfortunately, we found hairs in our food on two occasions and a bug on another. There was no apology or acknowledgement from staff.

One particularly disappointing moment was when a member of staff smelled a drink we’d ordered for one of our children because they seemed unsure whether it contained alcohol. They laughed before serving it anyway. It wasn’t professional and certainly didn’t inspire confidence.

Kids’ Facilities

The water slides are excellent and well supervised.

The children’s club has good facilities, but the experience depends heavily on the staff interacting with the children. At times it felt more chaotic than organised.

Overall

Ela Excellence is a pleasant hotel with attractive grounds, good pools and enjoyable family facilities.

However, it lacks the attention to detail expected from a genuine 5-star resort. Cleanliness throughout the hotel needs significant improvement, the food and drinks are inconsistent, and management needs to be much more visible in maintaining standards. In fact, I even spoke to a manager who was sitting on one of the stained chairs I’d noticed earlier.

We also spoke to several other families during our stay who had experienced similar issues, including problems with their rooms and foreign objects in their food.

It’s a shame because the hotel has a lot of potential, but based on our experience, this is not a true 5-star hotel. We won’t be returning.