"Our main reason for choosing this hotel was Land of Legends. If you're not going to use the free LOL entrance perk, it's definitely a no-go hotel. Of course, for the LOL entrance to be meaningful, the weather needs to be good so you can use the water parks and outdoor attractions. Therefore, it's not suitable for periods like semester breaks or mid-term breaks. May to October seems more suitable for this perk.
The hotel's parking is inadequate. Actually, the hotel grounds could be a solution; there's plenty of space in the back, with plenty of unlandscaped space. There's even a road leading underneath, perhaps even a covered garage. It's probably used for the hotel's logistics. But despite complaints, the same problem has persisted for two years. Because Granada's beach isn't very active off-season, and Belek's public beach isn't busy, it's possible to find a spot on the road or even park close to the door. However, you won't find parking space during peak season. Since I don't like leaving my car with someone else, this is a major drawback for me.
Our room was in the main building, but the main building has a ridiculous design and unnecessary walking distances. So, we can say that the advantage of being in the main building doesn't exist based on the room location. Rixos Park Belek promises a healthy lifestyle with a 15,000-step daily guarantee. Of course, the real reason for this is different. We'll get to that. Since all the available facilities, except for the Kids Club, are in the main building's center during the winter season, staying in the Orient/Club section of the hotel is practically suicide. I wouldn't recommend staying in the warm season either. It's just as painful in the hot as it is in the cold weather.
The design problem creates serious problems, starting with cleanliness. I had to make three calls because they took away the dirty towels and didn't leave clean ones. The next day, x2 towels arrived. But not being able to shower at night is a huge red flag for any hotel.
It was advertised as they have a whatsapp assistant service group, but we didn't have one. Perhaps because we bought it from Rixos itself, we weren't treated like regular customers. I had to report every issue to reception and then customer service. It takes ages to resolve the issue. Here's another red flag for hotel.
Room: The furniture is still old, but the beds are good. They've made the TV a bit larger. There was a Nespresso capsule coffee machine with four coffees. There were no tea bags. The bathroom setup is acceptable. However, the Q-tips and toothpaste weren't replenished when they ran out. The minibar consisted of Coke, Fanta, Cappy, Efes malt, Nestle water, and Damla Mineral water. It was average. Anything that ran out was replenished regularly. That's ok also.
Food-Beverage-Alcohol-Dessert-Ice Cream: Non-alcoholic beverages were generally served in glasses. We didn't drink regularly, so we didn't bother much. Coke-based products were used. They've practically hidden the beverage cabinets. We found one on the sports field, which contained water, soda, and ayran. The kids discovered one by the pool, hidden in a wooden shed. The ingredients were the same.
The Turkish coffee cups are very small. We always had to drink a double. There's Turkish delight, but you have to ask for it. Other coffees are from automatic machines. Probably due to a combination of crappy beans and poorly maintained machines, we were served very bad, tasteless espressos, cappuccinos, etc.
Alcohol is average. The bars served Efes Malt, Becks, and Miller beers in bottles. The main restaurant only served tap beer. People's restaurant had only Efes Malt bottle. Wines (red, white, rose, sparkling) were Kilitbahir. Raki was Yeni Raki. Other alcohol branda were average too. For example, instead of Baileys, they had Ramazotti Crema. Ramazotti Crema wasn't bad either. They use average products like Gilbeys and Cork in the cocktails. If you're going to drink it neat, you'll have Absolut or Black Label. The cocktails vary greatly depending on the bartender. The bartender on the night shift at the beach bar was our favorite. Don't take offense to the other guys at the other bars; whether it was due to rush hour or fatigue, I can't tell. They tended to make it quickly and then move on. Naturally, if you're going to have a cocktail, it's recommended to have it at the beach bar in the evening or night. They had Peja as a non-alcoholic malt drink.
The main restaurant's buffet was average; they've increased the variety. The food was generally delicious. The grill always had a queue which is a big minus. Grilled chicken and fish were the default. Unfortunately, grilled lamb was served once, and for red meat, it was always meatballs or kebap. For the casserole dish, they only had guvec and tandoori once. Another minus. Let's not take credit for it; the kebab chef was very good. Beyti was served a couple of times, but very delicious, and we enjoyed it. We also came across the eggplant kebab once, which was a insane. That's a plus. The pistachio baklava arrived on a single tray for the first two nights. We could only eat one piece. The rest or the trays were walnut. Not our favorite. Most of the desserts were baklava and pastry varieties. They only offered a limited number of rice puddings and other similar desserts. We didn't took rice pudding because kids want to eat but there wasnt enough. So dessert buffet is also on the negative side. There were 7-8 varieties of fruit and ice cream, which is a minor plus. The negative side was winner, so the overall result for open buffet is mediocre at best.
However, the main restaurant's seating is very, very inadequate. Even though the hotel wasn't full, a line was drawn up at the restaurant door for both breakfast and dinner, and the staff, walkie-talkies in hand, tried to seat anyone to anywhere they could find empty. At one point, there were large groups of people trying to eat at small tables in the kids' section. This wasn't a negative; it was a huge red flag. One evening, I arrived at the door at 6:24 PM, and the line had stretched to the front desk. I was the 75th person to enter. I can't imagine what will happen in the summer. They even left a letter in the room, saying, in short, that the restaurant's problems aren't due to inadequate infrastructure, that People's offers breakfast and dinner etc. Thank goodness they do as if we didn't know. But because People's doesn't have the level and variety of a Rixos Premium hotels, t's not a substitute for either breakfast or dinner at the main restaurant. Naturally, it's not much use for anything other than lunch or a snack. For it to truly work, People's needs a serious increase in variety. Restaurant bottleneck at rush hour is like fifty shades of red. it is a real red flag.
The pastry shop's products are delicious, but they're mostly pastries and cookies. Since I'm not a fan of pastries, I can't say anything positive or negative about them.
We went to L'Olivo Italian à la carte. The menu and flavors were excellent. It surpassed the main restaurant in every way. However, there's one significant drawback: it only has an outdoor area. Naturally, it's not very suitable for evening seating in November. Eating with a coat wasn't very pleasant. It also rained the night we went, and they insisted on not changing the table despite we were under rain. They simply said, "You're right, but we weren't expecting rain," and offered no solutions. We had to make phone calls to resolve the issue. They kept asking the chef. When we asked for the chef to come, and when we had a quarrel with customer service, they did as we asked anyway. But their revenge was this: When we made the reservation, we were asked by guest relations if there were any special days, we told them we were there for our kids birthday celebration with our friends and they even took our children's names. The guest relations guy who made the reservation for us even showed the message to the restaurant manager and told us it is ok. Before going to restaurant we had double checked our reservation and guest relations guy confirmed again. But they didn't do anything for the special day. Customer service offered to have our wet clothes cleaned and dried. In short, if you have a problem at the hotel, know that they won't offer a real solution unless you start a quarrel. They will only say calmly "You're right, you're right". You didnt need that kind of passive stress at vacation.
Sea-Beach-Pier-Grass Area: The sea is typical Belek. The sea water was around 20 degrees Celsius, and there weren't many waves, which are typical for summer. There is no pier. Beach is very small, and they've tried to make good use of the grass area, but there are very few sunbeds, including here and by the pool. And despite it being off-season, it was mostly full all day. It will be insanly crowded in high season. You'll have to sleep on a sunbed i presume.
There's a towel card system, but the attendant sometimes requests it, sometimes doesn't. It would be nice if they removed it.
The outdoor and indoor pools are supposedly heated, but don't expect it to be too hot. It's a bit chilly. Access to the spa and indoor pool areas is through the open area. It's the perfect wintertime setup for getting sick.
Entertainment - Entertainment - Nightclub: There's no entertainment team, stage, nightclub, disco, or anything else. The program focuses on sports activities. You see what's happening in the app and at reception, but there's no harassment or announcements to force you to participate. This was fine for us, but it might not be suitable for the rest. There's only about an hour and a half of live music at the beach bar. Each evening, there was a different band, and the style was different. After the live music, there was a DJ for an hour before the end. There were no heaters, so we got a little chilly.
Child Facilities: The Rixy Kids Club has a limited number of toys, but there were various activities throughout the day. It was perfectly suited to ages 6-8. However, considering the hotel's capacity, it's clear that both the indoor and outdoor areas would be insufficient if hotel is full. Without Land of Legends perk, Rixy Kids Club would be as busy as the main restaurant. In the evenings, children were waiting in line for PS games, just like they were waiting for dinner. They found a solution by giving each child limited-time playtime per day. After the time ran out, they had to leave.
There are two shuttles from the hotel to Land of Legends, one during the day and one at night. Reservations are required for the shuttle and park entrance. Guest relations handle it quickly. We chose to drive because the departure time was about an hour after the park opened. It's a definite recommendation to bypass the crowds. Half of the water park was open in November, but in good weather, it was sufficient. Most pools aren't heated. Only one pool was warm. In November, LOL operates from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Only Nickelodeon Land is open until 11 pm. Entry and exit are from the chateau next to the shopping mall. The evening show is performed by the fountains in the pools. There's a short laser show at the chateau and Kingdom Hotel had door opening and closing ceremony, but I wouldn't say it would be a shame if you missed them. We didn't find them very impressive. The show duration varies each day. Even if you check the app, it can change. LOL offers two live shows: dolphins and a circus. The area where dolphins can be found is very large, but the Masha-themed circus show is held in a small area. The crew was talented, but the space was very small and the seating area was small, so people, including children, crushed each other.
Staff: There's a mix of local and foreign staff. Many of the managers are Russians originally from Antalya. They generally tend to be customer-friendly. If you need anything, they'll try to help you. They'll try to serve drinks to your table. However, when it's busy, the wait time can be quite long.
Customer base: Mainly families with children. Because it was a mid-term break, there were predominantly Turkish people. However, Russians were second and British were third. I anticipate a predominance of British and Russians during the high season.
Conclusion: Unfortunately, Rixos Park Belek is a hotel with serious structural problems. The design approach attempts to compensate for the limited capacity of the common areas by dispersing guests over long distances. However, this distribution not only fatigues customers but also puts a significant strain on the staff. Naturally, room-related services like room cleaning are disrupted. When there's a waiting or crowding in common areas for any reason, the area becomes overflowing. It's no coincidence that similar problems were experienced at the previous management. It's also interesting that while there used to be a beach setup that was relatively more suitable for the number of rooms, the capacity has now been reduced. If there weren't a LOL entrance perk, Rixos Park Belek wouldn't be considered. Even if there were a LOL entrance perk, booking decent hotels nearby early and avoiding Rixos Park Belek might be a better option for mental health. sadly.
I gave 3 stars for price considering free LOL entrance. honestly not more than 2 stars."
