Delphin BE Grand Resort

"In the 30+ years I’ve been travelling abroad Turkey is not somewhere I have ever fancied or even considered, however, when my wife booked this unbeknownst to me, I decided to approach it with an open mind. First of all the hotel is superb. My initial reaction was one of surprise, the lobby area is spectacular, modern, clean and frankly impressive. This extends to the outdoor areas with pools that cater for literally everyone. There is a large adults only pool, an Olympic size swimming pool, a sports/recreation/lively pool, a fantastic kids pool and the water park! All very clean and well served by brilliant waiting staff. Even though it was busy we were always able to find a sun bed. Yes you get the usual sun bed morons who are up at the crack of dawn to put their towels down and then disappear until mid day but you get that everywhere and it’s by no means out of control. The beach area was clean, pleasant and there were plenty of sun beds with a bar/cafe on the beach. There is also a mini peer with sun beds and a bar but you have to be there early to stand a chance of getting a spot and this was not a game that we were willing to play! The water park was great (the life jackets for the lazy river could do with a regular clean as they were often smelly and covered in black mould) There is also a children’s fun fair at the side of the hotel which our little boy really enjoyed. We were very lucky to have our room upgraded and it was superb! The cleaning staff were brilliant and the rooms were cleaned/bedding changed/minibar restocked daily. Our son was sick one night and the two ladies who came to help change the bedding were lovely showing concern for our son and even offering advice on how to help which was much appreciated. The only issue would possibly be in the height of summer the air con is not very powerful at all and 19 degrees is the lowest setting. In October though it was fine for us. As I have already mentioned the hotel staff were brilliant! Always attentive, polite and helpful. The entertainment staff work really hard and the catering staff are absolutely phenomenal with their presentation of the food at meal times. Again, and I am being picky here for me the food was very “samey” I love meat and found what was on offer to be of poor quality although I think that may be more of a supply issue as opposed to the way it is prepared. Sausages are more like hot dogs/pepperoni as opposed to the real meat sausages that I like. There was no bacon or hash browns (Yes I am English) and although that doesn’t make or break the food situation I do appreciate it on occasion when I’m on holiday. If you like salad then this is definitely the place for you, absolutely phenomenal! I did usually manage to find enough to satisfy my appetite. There are always plain spaghetti, chips, chicken nuggets for picky kids like mine! The hotel itself is immaculate as are the grounds. If you are brave enough to venture out it is a very different experience. After following a very smelly and polluted river you find yourself on the main strip which is simply a few miles of shops selling fake designer clothes. It’s very busy and a little dated/scruffy. We only went during the day and it felt safe enough. Obviously people do come here for the fake designer goods but don’t be fooled these days it’s not cheap. You pay anything between 30-40 euros for a designer jumper for example. Fake watches retail for around 100+ euros and bags are the same depending on the quality you are willing to accept. The sellers also are not that interested in bartering and are happy for you to walk away. Granted you can get a better deal if you buy multiple items. Overall I’d definitely recommend the hotel without reservation but beyond the hotel this area of Turkey is not somewhere I would be in a hurry to return to."

"Brilliant holiday, have never been to a hotel of this standard. Staff were friendly, there is a high standard of cleanliness throughout the hotel. Facilities are brilliant for adults and kids. Food was lovely, loads of places to get something to eat for everyone. Overall very happy with my stay, amazing hotel would definitely recommend"

"I'm going to start by saying that if I hadn't been to the Voyage Sorgun last October, my review would probably be 5/5; however I've been spoilt and unfortunately the Delphin BE Grand does not quite cut it in comparison, mainly due to lots of small touches at the Voyage which are simply not on offer at the BE Grand. No point in listing all the positives, which were plentiful, so here are the not-so-good things (and I'm nit-picking) below: 1) The food in the buffet is generally good and plenty of choice. However with a bit more signage telling people what ingredients are included, there could be so much less wastage. Not a great selection of fruit unfortunately - must be the first hotel I've been to with no watermelon, which is usually on my plate at every meal. We ate at the Greek a la carte one evening (this was the only time we managed to book due to the queues each morning) and we thought it was pretty awful and served the same food as in the buffet, but colder. We didn't manage to book another a la cart unfortunately so cannot comment on them but I didn't hear great things when speaking to the other guests and pretty much all the food was the same as the buffet just bought to you by a waiter. 2) The staff were all nice, not overly friendly compared to other hotels, but regardless, they all work really hard and the place is always clean and you never wants for anything. There are some small frustrations like not having menu's on the sun lounger tables. The Voyage has a QR code on every sun lounger which you can view the menu on and directly order from rather than have to wait for someone to skate by. 3) Plastic - I was quite shocked at the use of plastic over the week. All the drinks around the pools are served in plastic glasses, with straws and all the water is in plastic bottles. Makes me wonder why, in the UK, we bother so much. 4) Reserving sun beds - why put up signs saying that guests cannot reserve sunbeds if guests literally do just this and nothing happens. 5) The system at the waterpark does not work. There are not enough floats and as a result some people wait for a long time before someone gives up a float. I watched some adults go on the slides continuously when children were stood waiting for a float to have a go. 6) Location - I don't think I will go back to Lara Beach. I really missed having somewhere nice to walk around in the evenings like we had in Side last year. Outside the hotel are some shops selling fake clothes but the prices were expensive and generally the area is a bit of a dump to walk around."