"Well I am currently a little bored waiting for my flight from Bodrum Milas - Manchester and thought what better time to write my review of the hotel we spent the last 7 days in. This was my second time visiting Aqua Fantasy, having come with my parents as a teenager 15 years ago, not much has changed other than my now adult perspective.
When we first arrived at the hotel at 1:00am we were greeted by polite and friendly staff who checked us in and took us (and our suitcases) to our room. We had a family room with the sliding doors and a balcony that faced onto a nice planted area. The room was clean, had ample wardrobe space and included tea & coffee making facilities and a free mini bar that was replenished every day with cans of Pepsi, fizzy orange, 7up and water.
We were pleased to be notified that the oasis restaurant downstairs was open and we were able to go get something to eat after our long day travelling. There were very limited options but I definitely have no complaints about that as we were just happy to not have to go to bed on an empty stomach.
After our long day and late night we woke up at around 9:30am thinking we would have missed breakfast but this was actually served until 10:30am. There were many choices including cooked breakfast, made to order omelettes, pastries, pancakes, fruit, yoghurt and cereal. We particularly enjoyed being able to cut a piece off a huge honeycomb every day to put in our yoghurt and cereal. If you don’t like beeswax there was also honey in a bowl you could choose instead.
Lunches and dinners were served also for a good amount of time and included a large variety of different choices, evening meals seemed to be themed and we enjoyed Turkish, Asian & seafood on these different evenings. The food was of good quality, hot and replenished quickly when things ran out. There was also a kids buffet section tucked away at the back of the restaurant with things like pizza, plain pasta & chicken nuggets for any fussy eaters. The main restaurant also had an ice cream parlour just outside.
You can dine in one of the hotels a la carte restaurants once during your stay for free. We chose the Chinese but there was also a steakhouse, seafood restaurant and Turkish restaurant and speaking with other guests it sounds as though they were all as delightful as each other. You can also dine in any of the restaurants after your free experience at extra cost.
There was supposed to be another all inclusive restaurant and snack bar, the pearl restaurant, but this was disappointingly closed for the duration of our stay.
Each of the pools in the hotel had a bar by them serving cocktails, shorts, beer & wine, milkshakes, coffee and soft drinks. There were multiple indoor bars too in case of bad weather and the Irish bar frequently had evening entertainment such as live singers and musicians.
The sailors bar is where the children’s evening entertainment is held and also just a few metres away from the beach so that you can enjoy a day in the sand and sea without incurring extra costs on drinks.
Attached and included in the price of our stay was the Aqua Fantasy water park, hosting a huge amount of slides and pools to cater for all ages and even the most daring of people. I found poolside in the water park to be slightly more luxurious with nicer sun loungers and better shaded areas. The food and drink in the water park is not included in the price and worked out at around £8 for a meal. The quality of the food was reflective of the price and again I had no complaints surrounding this. Take your drinks from the mini bar in your room over to the water park to save a few quid.
The pool areas in the hotel had frequent entertainment such as water based games and music playing. There was also other games like darts and volley ball available and a kids club that runs almost every day where your children can get out of the sun whilst you enjoy a little peace. The evening entertainment consisted of a kids disco followed by a more adult focused act. We enjoyed a dance show, a fire show, multiple singers and a TV game show style competition that guests at the hotel could enter. Water sports were available on the beach for an extra cost.
The hotel has a small shopping street downstairs where you can buy clothes, bags and shoes, there is a hair and nail salon and a convenience store. I was a little disappointed in the convenience store as they had 1 packet of crisps in when we arrived and very limited choice of other snacks, we kept note throughout the week and they did not restock anything. We ended up buying crisps and snacks from the store in the water park instead.
Now for a little downside, and this is obviously something totally out of the control of the hotel and staff. The wildlife can be a little intimidating, we experienced many cats, wasps, giant Asian hornets, lizards, crickets and we were bitten to high heavens by mosquitoes. I 100% recommend packing bug repellent, anti histamines and bite cream if you decide to stay here.
When it came time to check out at 12pm we were pointed towards a luggage room where we could leave our things and continue to enjoy the hotel until our transfer arrived to take us back home.
To summarise, I really enjoyed our week at Aqua Fantasy and I am glad I came back after all this time to share this experience with my own family. Our kids are 3 & 11 and this place provided ample entertainment for the both of them despite the large age gap.
Would I come back a third time? No, but I don’t usually visit the same place twice. Would I come here on a child free holiday? Probably not. But I wouldn’t go on a Disney cruise or to universal studios either. There is certainly something here for everybody and it is a hotel that I am happy to recommend."
