Batihan Beach Resort

An honest review from a family living in the uk.

We stayed at this hotel for one week, my husband myself and three children aged 5,9 and 10. This is probably our 15th time visiting Turkey but first time in Izmir. On arrival we were placed in such a cramped room with the smallest toilet. We could just about walk in the room, there just wasn't enough space for a family of 5 at all. We complained about this and the staff at reception advised for us to return tomorrow where we would be able to move to a bigger room (duplex). This was much more spacious with two bathrooms which is what is needed for a family of 5! Although the room was very dated it was sufficient. The hotel overall was nice, the slides were great and the pools were very clean. The food was good (none of us became unwell from the food) yes there is repetition but this is expected when you're AI. Beach was lovely and clean (sun beds slightly crammed together) but was a very nice and relaxing atmosphere.

The downside to this hotel...

Meals times are EXTREMELY chaotic, there is not enough tables for the amount of guests and we were often wondering around waiting for someone to get up so we could get a table...not pleasant when you have paid for AI. The staff do not help in finding you a table at all. And the staff are so busy they don't have time to serve drinks etc. Again not enough staff. If we didn't get to the meal times on time (ie when they first opened the restaurant) the food would run out and they would not re stock! The food also was never hot it was always luke warm or cold. We went to both A la carte restaurants the steak restaurant was much nicer then the fish one...but in all honesty not having to fight to find a table and rush to get your food before it ran out was the most enjoyable part of the meals here...

Maid service is very bad and very basic. My youngest would want to have a nap in the day time and we would go back to the room around 3pm and it still wouldn't be clean. They did not re stock tea or coffee and often had to call up for towels as maid wouldn't leave any clean ones despite taking dirty ones away. They did not remove empty glasses/mugs or take away plastic was water bottles. Also there is no supervision of the maids, in other hotels you often see a supervisor checking on staff and ensuring the rooms and communal areas are clean. Which is probably something the hotel needs to implement in order to improve the maid service.

Sun beds! What a nightmare if you aren't up at 7am to reserve a sunbed you will again be wondering around looking for one at 9am. People reserved sun beds with their towels and they would be left empty all day and unused. The hotel needs to address this.

The entertainment in the evenings was so so bad. Something you would watch on x factor where all the judges would press the red X buzzer immediately. It was quite shocking to be honest. The hotel needs to invest in better performances.

Life guards were rude and like other reviews I saw on here...were often seen smoking and chatting on their phones behind the performance stage. The only time they were working was during the slide open times.

I can't comment on the kids club as my children did not want to attend they were happy swimming and on the slides.

Staff overall were ok, they weren't super friendly and smiling but they also weren't rude. On check out when we handed in our key cards and advised we were checking out the reply from the member of staff was "ok" took the key cards and carried on speaking with their colleague. No "how was your stay" "have a safe journey home" etc etc! The staff really lack customer service and this should be addressed.

Would I come back to this hotel...no I wouldn't. Would my children want to come back yes they would! Despite all of the above we enjoyed being away as a family and each others company and when you have spent thousands of pounds to go on holiday you need to focus on the positives of the holiday rather than the negatives... That being said a lot of improvement needs to be made at this hotel.

We had a really lovely family holiday here and, overall, the hotel ticked all the boxes we were looking for. We booked quite last minute, so finding an all-inclusive hotel with plenty for three children to do was really important to us, and this definitely delivered. The kids had a fantastic time, we made some lovely memories and I’d happily consider coming back again.

First impressions are great. There’s a real wow factor when you walk into the lobby, and the hotel is very clean and well maintained throughout. The pool areas were particularly impressive; everything was clean, tidy and looked after, and there were lots of lifeguards around who were actually on duty. With three children, that was incredibly reassuring. On one occasion my son bumped his head in the pool and a lifeguard actually came to find me to let me know what had happened and that he was okay.

We stayed in room 129, which was above the restaurant. The room was a decent size for our family of five, with a partition separating the kids’ sleeping area from ours, as well as two shower rooms, which worked really well for a family. There was also an electric toggle to request housekeeping or “Do Not Disturb”, which we’d never experienced before and thought was quite cool! The only thing we would have liked was a bath, as this would have been useful with children. I’m not sure if that was the case for all rooms, so it’s worth checking if a bath is important to you.

The rooms were cleaned every day and the housekeeping staff were warm and friendly and did a great job. On our last day, while checking around to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind, we noticed that the floor under the bed was quite dirty, though!

Because our room was directly above the restaurant, noise was a big downside for us. We could hear the kitchen swing door squeaking and chairs scraping across the floor from when the restaurant opened, and on the penultimate day the restaurant music was playing from around 6:30am — much louder than usual! The squeaking door also seemed to continue throughout the night on multiple occasions. A couple of very simple fixes, such as repairing the squeaking door and putting pads on the chair legs, would make a huge difference for anyone staying in that room!

The walls also seemed quite thin, so we occasionally heard other guests, including what sounded like a very loud argument and, on another occasion, a couple being rather enthusiastic! 😂 Obviously that isn’t something the hotel can control, but being directly above the restaurant combined with the thin walls did affect our sleep on multiple occasions. If you’re a light sleeper, I’d probably request a room in the other block!

We also occasionally noticed a strong sewage smell when entering the room. It seemed to happen every other day or so and we never worked out where it was coming from. The air conditioning was another issue; it seemed to be either absolutely freezing or switched off and boiling, with not much of a happy medium.

The WiFi was quite unreliable and would randomly disconnect, which was difficult for us as we run our own business and needed to be reachable while away. I appreciate this won’t be a concern for everyone, but there was also hardly any connectivity around the pool area, which made staying connected a little tricky when we did need to.

The pool areas were definitely one of the highlights. There was plenty of space, everything was very well maintained and the attentive lifeguards were a real bonus. The main pool is quite lively, though, with music playing for most of the day, so it’s definitely more of a fun, energetic pool than somewhere to go for peace and quiet!

The relaxation pool was perhaps a little less relaxing than the name suggests! There is a sign saying children must be supervised by adults, but this didn’t really seem to be policed, so there were still children kicking and splashing around. It would be lovely if this could be made into a genuinely peaceful area, perhaps even adults-only, with the rules properly managed.

The sunbed situation could also be improved. The signs say that towels shouldn’t be left on beds before 7:30am and that towels left earlier will be removed, but getting a sunbed even at 7am could be difficult, particularly around the toddler pool. We didn’t see any towels being removed, and on one day there were unused beds with towels on them until around 4pm. Consistently enforcing the existing rule would make a big difference.

Food-wise, there was a huge amount of choice and plenty of variety. Overall, we thought the food was nice, fresh and plentiful, and there was always something available. The only thing we struggled with slightly was finding enough plain food for the children — mine aren’t particularly fussy but seemed to live off chips, cucumber, rice, occasionally nuggets and ice cream for the duration of our stay! The sausages at breakfast were lovely, but they were covered in sauce, so the children wouldn’t touch them. It would also have been nice to have ice cream as part of the dessert offering at lunch and dinner rather than just at the pool bars.

One thing that was a great hit with all of us was the waffles or churros with chocolate sauce that were brought out every other day. They were absolutely delicious and something we all looked forward to!

Water was also freely available at the bars and in the fridges throughout the day, every day, which worked really well and meant you could easily grab a cold carton whenever you needed one.

One thing that would improve the dining experience is keeping food available until the advertised closing time. Breakfast finished at 10am, but by around 9:30am the children’s section was already cleared, while at dinner, which finished at 9:30pm, some of the food had already been removed by 9pm.

For example, one evening there were chicken thighs that looked delicious. By the time I went back for some, they had been replaced with a completely different saucy chicken and mushroom dish. Of course I understand that food will run out and needs to be replaced… But why not just put more chicken thighs out if that’s what was being served in the first place and make enough for the whole service? It was frustrating to go back for something you’d seen and wanted, only to find it had been replaced with something completely different, without the label even being updated.

Staff also started ushering people out just before the restaurant closed, even if they were still eating, which was disappointing. It would be much nicer if guests could simply finish their meals without feeling rushed.

The snack bar was another small example of something that could be made clearer. The menu showed a cheeseburger, so one was requested, but we were told they didn’t actually have cheeseburgers; only burgers without cheese. It would make more sense for the menu to reflect what is actually available.

One thing we absolutely appreciated, especially after travelling on a late flight, was the restaurant reopening at 11pm after dinner. Being able to get food when arriving late was a brilliant touch and not something every all-inclusive offers.

The drinks were probably the area that could use the most consistency. They were very strong, and the lobby bar and pool bars had completely different menus. Some of the cocktails were quite unusual, and we didn’t recognise some of them at all. It would be great to have the same drinks available throughout the hotel and for the cocktails to be made as advertised. For example, a mojito came with lemon instead of lime and no mint, which unfortunately just didn’t taste like a mojito.

The cups around the pool were sometimes paper and sometimes plastic. Having plastic cups throughout would probably be more practical and would feel a little more in keeping with the setting.

There is also a candyfloss and popcorn stand on site, which the kids were very excited about. These aren’t included in the all-inclusive and cost €4 each. It’s only a small extra, but it becomes expensive when you’re there for a week or more and have three kids!

The evening entertainment was a real positive for us. The shows were really good and, for us, the timing of the mini disco worked brilliantly. We’ve stayed in hotels where the mini disco is so early that you’re always eating dinner and end up missing it. Here, the mini disco was at 9:30pm and the main show at 10:15pm. It is late, but it meant there was no mad rush from the pool to dinner, and the children really enjoyed the shows.

The kids’ club was also good, with plenty going on to keep them entertained. There was certainly no shortage of activities for the children, and there was even a large soft play area which mine loved!

The onsite photographers were brilliant…They take photos throughout your stay and you can also book a sunset shoot. The photos they take are absolutely beautiful and we got some lovely family pictures that we’ll treasure.

The staff were generally efficient and there were plenty of them, although we didn’t always find them particularly warm or friendly. Everything generally got done, but there wasn’t always much interaction.

Overall, we genuinely had a lovely family holiday here. The children had a fantastic time, there was loads for them to do, the pools were great, the food had plenty of choice, the entertainment was good and the hotel was generally very clean and well maintained.

For us, this feels like a good 4-star family hotel rather than a 5-star hotel. There are certainly little things that could be improved — enforcing the pool and sunbed rules, making the relaxation pool genuinely relaxing, having more plain food for children, keeping the menus and food consistent, fixing the squeaking kitchen door, adding pads to the chairs and improving the WiFi - but we came home with some really good memories, the children had a brilliant time and, ultimately, that’s what matters most. We’d happily return if we were looking for a similar all-inclusive family holiday — we’d just go expecting a good 4-star experience rather than 5-star luxury.

Overall, a lovely family holiday, lots for the children to enjoy and good value for the price we paid.

The food in this place is shocking. Absolutely awful. There are 20 varieties of slop in different shades of grey and green. There are chips and salad and one night there was roast chicken they called chicken slaughter. We spent an additional fortune on eating out as it really was that bad. I will eat anything pretty much but seriously. Unless you like Bulgarian Goulash I suggest you look elsewhere or go self catering. How on earth it is rated so highly I have no idea. There are extremely low standards throughout. It’s tatty, full of cigarette smoke, terrible cheap daytime snacks for the kids, no loungers by the pool as it’s acceptable to leave 1 towel across 2 loungers for the whole day to reserve and not sometimes use at all. The sunset à la carte is inedible and we left after being served the worst food of the holiday. The lobby is a bun fight for the sofas but the only place you can escape the smoking. Very disappointing.