Eftalia Aqua Resort

Good family resort, but mealtimes are chaotic

We stayed at Eftalia Aqua Resort as a family of five in April. It’s very similar to Eftalia Ocean Resort, which is just across the road, and both resorts share the same private beach area. The beach is easily reached through a pedestrian tunnel under the main road.

The resort itself is spread across a huge area, so be prepared for plenty of walking. Our room was clean and spacious, although nothing particularly special.

The main restaurant can be extremely chaotic at mealtimes. Huge queues form before the doors even open, with some guests lining up 30 minutes early. That said, there was a good variety of food available, including a large sushi selection, fresh seafood, local dishes and, of course, fries for the less adventurous travellers.

The snack bar is open pretty much 24/7, serving burgers, fries, pasta and drinks. During the day, from around 12:00 until 14:30, there are plenty of other food options available near the beach. These include fried chicken, pizza, burgers, desserts, pide, kebabs and various other snacks, most of which are included as part of the all-inclusive package. Be cautious, though, as not everything is included with your wristband.

The hotel has its own good-sized water park, but the main water attractions are over at the beach area.

Overall, it’s a good family resort with plenty of space, lots of water attractions and a wide choice of food. The busy and disorganised restaurant times could definitely be improved.

Honest Review – Eftalia Aqua Park Hotel I wanted to share an honest review of our recent 14-night family holiday at Eftalia Aqua Park. We travelled as a family of four — two adults and two teenagers — and paid around £7,000 for our stay. We had read reviews before booking, but unfortunately, we clearly didn’t read them carefully enough. On arrival, we were initially offered what was quite possibly the smallest family room we have ever seen. We were then told that, for an additional £140, a larger room suddenly became available. After speaking to other families, it appeared this was something that was happening regularly, which left us feeling that guests were being encouraged to pay more on top of what they had already paid for their holiday. The food was what you would expect from a large all-inclusive buffet, but unfortunately it lacked variety and flavour, and far too often the food was cold. The drinks were another disappointment. There was very little choice when it came to local spirits, and they were extremely weak. Cocktails were not included, with many being charged at around €10+ each. When you have paid £7,000 for an all-inclusive holiday, you would reasonably expect at least some cocktails to be included. The pool areas were okay, but the hotel is definitely in need of investment and updating. The daily 5.30am–6.30am scramble to reserve sunbeds was ridiculous and certainly not the relaxing start to the day you expect on holiday. More concerning was the hygiene around the pool areas. On several occasions the pool was closed after faecal contamination, and despite this, we felt the overall hygiene standards were lacking. Sadly, this became a much bigger issue for our family. All four of us suffered severe sickness and upset stomachs, resulting in us losing several days of our holiday. We also spoke to numerous other families experiencing severe vomiting and diarrhoea. What concerned us most was the apparent lack of urgency or concern from hotel staff when so many guests were becoming ill. The entertainment team was another major disappointment. There appeared to be very little energy, imagination or leadership within the team, with much of the entertainment feeling dated and as though people were simply going through the motions. We also had an extremely uncomfortable experience involving one of the entertainment team members, Tiamo. After taking my daughter's phone, he added himself to her Instagram and subsequently messaged her. She eventually had to block him because his behaviour made her uncomfortable. What made this even more concerning to us as parents was that he and the manager appeared to approach my daughters when we weren't around. There was also an issue with another member of the entertainment team, Zorba, whose manner we found unnecessarily aggressive. He became very agitated when questioned about why girls were being excluded from water polo. We raised concerns about his behaviour because it became personal towards our family, but unfortunately, we felt nothing was done. This isn't about expecting perfection. We understand that a large resort is busy, that things can go wrong and that not every meal or activity will be perfect. But when you spend £7,000 on a 14-night family holiday, you expect a certain standard. We have travelled to Turkey for the last four years, and based on our experience, there are competitors offering a much higher standard of accommodation, food, service, entertainment and overall guest experience. Eftalia Hotels — you really need to invest back into your resorts. Guests are paying significant amounts of money for their holidays, and they deserve to feel that the experience matches what they have paid for. Would we return? Unfortunately, no. Would we recommend Eftalia Aqua Park? Based on our experience, we wouldn't. If you're considering booking, please do your research, read the reviews carefully and make sure you know exactly what you're paying for. We went away expecting a fantastic family holiday. Sadly, this wasn't the experience we had hoped for. 💔 #EftaliaAquaPark #EftaliaHotels #TurkeyHoliday #HolidayReview #AllInclusive #FamilyHoliday #HonestReview #Antalya #Alanya #Turkey

Disappointing All-Inclusive Experience We recently stayed at Eftalia Aqua Resort and, while there were some positives, overall we found the experience disappointing and not what we would expect from an all-inclusive resort. One of our biggest frustrations was the drinks offering. If you want a cocktail, you have to pay around €10 each, as the all-inclusive spirits are limited. This made the “all-inclusive” experience feel somewhat misleading and meant that many drinks we would normally expect to be included came at an additional cost. More seriously, we had an uncomfortable experience involving members of the entertainment team and our teenage daughters. The assistant entertainment manager approached our eldest daughter when she was sitting on her own, entered his Instagram details into her phone and subsequently contacted her. She blocked him immediately. The entertainment manager also approached her when she was alone, which made her feel very uncomfortable for the remainder of the holiday. As parents, we found this behaviour particularly concerning and feel that appropriate professional boundaries should have been maintained. We also had issues with the entertainment team around the pool. One member of the team, Zorba, came across as particularly unwelcoming. On one occasion, women and children were refused permission to take part in water polo, which seemed completely at odds with the inclusive nature of the resort. Following complaints from guests, the atmosphere around the pool became noticeably awkward. On another occasion he was openly rude to my wife. There are, however, some positives. The hotel itself is clean, and our upgraded room was comfortable and of a decent standard. Unfortunately, our overall impression was that the resort places too much emphasis on generating additional revenue rather than providing the genuinely inclusive and welcoming guest experience we expected. Combined with our concerns about the conduct of members of the entertainment team, this significantly affected our enjoyment of the holiday. In addition there were several occasions where the Entertainment Team asked for TripAdvisor reviews while they sat with you in order to get an extra day off! For these reasons, we would not choose to return to Eftalia Aqua Resort.