Aska Lara Resort & Spa

"Pleasant stay here. Went for a week with my friend booked with jet2holidays. Rushed check in experience and the receptionist had to come to our room to issue us with our wristbands. We had booked a twin room but the beds were right next to each other but this issue was resolved shortly after. Room was spacious. Comfy beds. You can ask for robes and an orthopaedic pillow via the app. Maids came daily and so did the mini bar top up. Bathroom was large size. Balcony large size. Plenty of storage and charging stations at the room. No issues at all. We went in January so obviously it was winter time and everything just seemed a lot less than what it would have been in the summer. The waterpark was deserted and was almost scary to walk around, given how abandoned everything had looked. We saw online that there was a boxing area and of course this was closed due to winter. The waterpark area was closed but we walked through to get to the beach which was nice. There are pebbles on the beach which can be uncomfortable, id recommend walking left for a few minutes as there are less pebbles. Food. Average, nothing special. Food seemed very bland and repetitive. There was a large selection at breakfast, yet in my opinion lunch and dinner seemed to let it down. We went and it wasn’t overly crowded, yet we struggled to find a table inside. It is worth walking outside as they tend to have more meats outside. The best thing was the night time restaurant. Staff. No where near what you would call a 5 star resort. Pardon the ignorance but majority of the staff spoke very little English and all seemed miserable. Very few members of staff smiled/ seemed friendly. The odd waiter made polite conversation at meal times. The bar staff and reception staff seemed miserable. The absolute worst had to have been the restaurant front of house - absolutely shocking service which is disgraceful. There is a dress code which is not policed well at all. The hotel seems to strongly disapprove of any form of flip flops/ sandals/ slides/ crocs etc… ok fair enough. Please display this. On our first night we were asked to change our footwear to which we confidently refused as there were plenty of other guests wearing similar shoes to us who haven’t even been asked to change. The issue persisted on all nights yet we refused to change as same again we saw plenty of other guests. What enraged me more was that there was a sports team staying at the hotel and at meal times they would attend the restaurant in tracksuits and majority all wore “slides”. Not one member of staff questioned them. When I asked this girl on front of house at the restaurant (who was so rude) she said they can as they are a football team. I refused to change for her and her pettiness. She then further questioned my friend, and quote said to him “are you pregnant, you are holding your stomach” (my friend is a 23 year old cisgender male). We replied to stop being rude and asked why were we being targeted, she said it was because quote “you are English”. Never have I experienced such racism and disrespect from any member of staff and I have been to many resorts. That ruined our stay but other than that it was ok ish. We had a bargain and I’m glad we only paid what we did"

"This is a very decent hotel with excellent choice of food. All inclusive includes Turkish bath, swimming pool, gym, steam room and sauna which is great. Hostel has everything you need for a good holiday. It is very clean and very good housekeeping ladies clean rooms daily. We stayed as family of 6. We really enjoyed our stay. There is lovely coffee shop and a kids club. All was great. Thank you the staff at the hotel for making our stay great. The only negative thing - we found mattresses and pillows really uncomfortable. Other than that it has been excellent."

"We visited here on the 4th January, Weather was nice for January, much better than England, hottest was 18 and lovely in the sun, rest of the days were 14/15 and cloudy so wasnt weather for outside pool but fine to walk around in a jumper. Food - probably the best all inclusive food I've ever had and I'm a very fussy eater. Staff plate up lots of food for you so you just take the plate, one evening I had mash, beef and gravy was delicious I went back for another! There's lots of dishes that are already plated up for you, and plenty for you to do yourself. Salads and cheeses are all in sliding door fridges. Same with desserts but the staff give you what you want instead of helping yourself which I actually prefer as I'm a germ freak and hate it when people are breathing all over food! Some examples of what there was... Breakfast- all types of eggs including eggs Benedict with salmon! Pancakes, freshly cooked omelette,beans, grilled halloumi, fruits, yogurts, cheese toasties.. Lunch/dinner- chips, curry, rice, salads, noodles, beef steaks, grilled chicken/turkey, vegetables, jacket potato, crispy chicken, prawn crackers, Snack bar at terrace (table service) 2.30-4.30 had freshly cooked pizza which was soooo nice! Desserts were amazing best I've tasted in turkey, usually they all taste the same or some really strange flavours but these were delicious especially profiteroles and white chocolate brownie, my kids loved the chocolate topped doughnuts and muffins. They do have a children's buffet but you have to go outside past the terrace to get to it, that has some salad, pasta, rice, mash, soups, fish fingers type things, chicken nuggets (they are breaded) Kids club- my kids absolutely loved the kids club, they went every day to every session for the whole session, last session finished at 11pm! There is a cinema that shows a nice little selection of films we took advantage and watched sonic one day. The shops in hotel are more expensive than outside (obviously would be being in the hotel) some things weren't to bad though. Cigarettes are much cheaper in migros which we walked to about 15min walk to the right as you come out of hotel, €22 for 200 hotel charge €35! The grand bazaar we visited 3 times as we love shopping and got some great bits and alot of it is fixed price so you don't waste loads of time trying to lower the price, I really preferred the fixed price shopping as was cheap enough to just pick up and buy, although some things as a bundle I did get cheaper. Always worth asking. Me and my husband got a tattoo in the hotel, absolutely amazing lady she is so fast! She did a 3 hour tattoo in 45 minutes! The inside pool which was heated was still a bit chilly, my kids didn't care and we're in there splashing around. There is a bowling alley which cost us €28 for 4 of us, no side rails but kids are allowed to go all the way down the lane and bowl which is good. Rooms are big enough, not overly big but big enough for what you need it for, balcony again not massive but big enough and we didn't use it anyway, we rarely do only to dry swimwear. We had a standard room with a double bed, single bed and fold up bed - this was very uncomfortable and the springs poked out of the mattress, we had to put extra sheets and towels down to make it more comfortable to sleep on. Overall we had an amazing stay and the best all inclusive I've been to so far, we are coming back in May and can't wait! Thankyou for a wonderful, memorable stay. Pool towels are provided with pool cards. We did walk over to the wet and wild to have a look and looks like it will be great fun in the summer when we return. It's a short walk across the main road or there is usually a shuttle in summer that takes you. The all inclusive alcohol I didn't like and they didn't have brands that I drink so no Malibu, disaronno or peach schnapps so I had to have local and it just wasn't what I like but just made do. The Starbucks isn't "Starbucks" I don't drink coffee so can't comment on that but the hot chocolate is made with a machine no frothy milk like Starbucks would do and you can't have the syrups in the hot chocolate which I find absolutely ridiculous when it's there for coffee you can't put it in hot chocolate? The hot chocolate from the restaurant tastes better than there in my opinion. There is a patisserie that has also has sandwiches till late, cheese salad or chicken."