Riolavitas Resort and Spa

We arrived at 2am after a long and tiring journey and were greeted by a rather rude receptionist who barely acknowledged us. No welcome drinks either, which I would expect from a 5-star hotel. The bellboy, however, was very helpful and friendly.

Our first room was awful — it clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly (2234) and the balcony overlooked the hotel next door, so it felt like staring at a wall with very little natural light. We ended up paying an extra £130 to upgrade to a family room, which was much more spacious and overlooked the front of the hotel.

One big downside was the noise. Music from the neighbouring hotel went on until the early hours every night. I think they have a club underneath and leave a door open because the music echoed right up to the rooms.

Although the room initially looked clean, there were lots of little things that let it down. The area where the kettle was kept was sticky and dirty, the balcony wasn’t cleaned once during our stay, and corners of the room, fridge cupboard, and public toilet areas were grubby. We did have a barn house martin mud nest on the balcony though, which was fascinating to watch — even if the mud all over the floor was never cleaned!

We booked the Far East à la carte restaurant one evening — don’t bother. The food and service were awful. The crispy beef was so overcooked and tough that if you’d thrown it in the ring with Mike Tyson in his prime, it probably would’ve knocked him out! Two tables left half way through the meal it was that bad. One young waiter there worked incredibly hard, constantly smiling and helpful, while the older member of staff looked miserable the entire time. Food in main restaurant is 10 times better and that's saying something.

Beach, well the food there is absolutely delicious . All freshly cooked. You can either walk to beach which will take 5/10 mins or jump on a golf buggy which are regular. Food and drink is all included.

The animation team were practically non-existent. There was one dance around the pool which they abandoned halfway through the song. There just didn’t seem to be any energy or enthusiasm from them. Evening entertainment was ok, same as most AI.

On the positive side, the bar and restaurant staff in general were friendly and helpful. The food overall was decent and plentiful, although the advertised 24-hour food definitely isn’t really a thing — there’s basically nothing available between 4pm and 7pm, and during the night you’ll struggle if you don’t like soup.

We also visited Manavgat market, which personally I wouldn’t bother with. It’s mostly the same things repeated over and over, and a lot can be bought cheaper online.

The hotel is around a 30-minute walk to Side and about a 30-minute bus ride to Manavgat, so the location is fairly decent.

Overall, we still had a lovely break, but this is definitely not a 5-star hotel in my opinion — more of a 3/4-star. Would I come back? Probably not. There are much nicer hotels and resorts around for the money we paid.

Great hotel, great food, pool is good, atmosphere is good