"We’ve just returned from 10 nights at Blue Dreams Resort as a family of four, and overall we had a lovely holiday. There are definitely things the hotel could improve, but there was also lots that we genuinely enjoyed. Hopefully this helps anyone considering booking.
🏨 ROOM & HOTEL
We booked a deluxe double room through EasyJet and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find we’d been upgraded to a Deluxe Family Room.
Before travelling I’d read lots of reviews complaining about the amount of stairs. Yes, there ARE a lot of stairs, but honestly we found it absolutely fine. There are lifts around the resort and we rarely had to wait very long for one.
Overall cleanliness was good and we constantly saw cleaners working around the resort.
Housekeeping was a little more hit and miss. Our room was cleaned, beds made, towels changed and floors mopped, but the timing varied massively – sometimes around 10am and sometimes much later in the afternoon. There’s a handy switch outside the room to indicate whether you’re sleeping/don’t want disturbing or want the room cleaned.
Replenishing things wasn’t quite as consistent. Toilet roll in particular became a bit of a saga and we had to ask more than once. The pull-out toilet-roll dispensers themselves are also a nightmare when the paper gets stuck, although thankfully you can open them yourself!
We were told that the nicer coffee/tea supplies were only provided on arrival, although after asking for more creamer we suddenly received more coffee-machine coffee as well, so that seemed a little inconsistent.
🌅 SETTING & VIEWS
The views are absolutely lovely and the sunsets are beautiful. It’s a gorgeous setting and definitely one of the hotel’s strong points.
🏊 POOLS & BEACH
The infinity pool is lovely, but if you want a sunbed there you’ll need to be up early. Beds get reserved very early and can remain “reserved” for most of the day.
The beach was much easier – we generally found loungers available whenever we wanted them.
The sea itself is lovely, but it’s VERY stony getting in, so I’d absolutely recommend bringing water shoes. It can also get quite rough when it’s windy.
Something families should know is that the main pools are around 140cm deep throughout. There isn’t really a shallow end and entry is via ladders rather than gradual steps. There is a separate kiddies pool, but that’s really aimed at babies and very small children. If your child is too big for the baby pool but isn’t confident in 140cm water, that’s worth considering.
One area I do think needs improvement is lifeguarding and pool safety. There were periods when there was no lifeguard at the infinity pool – at one point we noticed this for around three days – and when lifeguards were there, they sometimes seemed more interested in their phones than watching the pool.
There’s also a wall around the back of the infinity pool which people climb, sit and walk on. We even saw someone walking along it in flip-flops. Occasionally a lifeguard would whistle for people to get down, but there’s no obvious signage saying you shouldn’t be on it. We also saw children hanging around that area when there was no lifeguard present. I really think clearer signage and more consistent supervision are needed.
🍴 FOOD
Food was probably one of the more hit-and-miss parts of the holiday.
Breakfast had plenty available, but we normally went at around 9am and unfortunately the food that should have been hot was regularly cold or lukewarm.
Lunch was lovely and there was plenty we enjoyed. The snack bar was good too, particularly the pizza.
Dinner starts at 7pm, which personally I think is quite late when travelling with children. It can get very busy and occasionally finding a table was difficult.
The evening buffet also becomes quite repetitive over a longer stay. There are changes here and there, but much of the food is similar each evening. Taco night was definitely my favourite!
We had one concerning incident where we were served raw chicken. Thankfully I noticed before my child ate it. I showed it to a member of staff who brought over the manager and chef, but unfortunately there was a language barrier and nothing much came from it. Raw chicken is fairly universal though! This only happened once and every other night was fine, but I’d recommend checking chicken before giving it to children.
There doesn’t appear to be much of a dress code in the restaurant either. We regularly saw people coming in wet, in swimwear and with towels, including at dinner.
🐟 FISH RESTAURANT
The Fish restaurant was a highlight and the food was lovely and fresh.
I wouldn’t personally describe it as a traditional à la carte restaurant because you don’t choose your starters – a selection is brought to the table. For the main course we were offered sea bass, sea bream or salmon, although salmon wasn’t recommended to us, followed by a choice of two desserts.
The calamari was AMAZING. I genuinely wish they’d brought me a whole plate of it! 😂
🍹 DRINKS & BARS
Tuborg is the beer and it was perfectly fine.
Wine was more inconsistent. Generally it was okay – I preferred mine with ice – but strangely it could taste completely different depending on which bar you got it from, and occasionally it wasn’t nice at all.
Cocktails, however, were brilliant, particularly with the right barmen. Don’t feel restricted by the cocktail menu either – tell them what you fancy and they’ll often make something for you.
Emre, Rustuo and Izzit were some of the barmen who stood out. They were friendly and made some great cocktails. Emre would also occasionally make special cocktails with crushed ice, which was very welcome in the heat!
🧃 DRINKS FOR THE KIDS
There were fruit drinks available at meals including peach iced tea, sour cherry, orange, apple and pineapple.
Our kids loved making their own concoctions by mixing the different flavours together, which became a bit of fun at mealtimes.
🎯 DAYTIME ACTIVITIES
There are activities throughout the week. Darts was good fun, and the guy running it was really friendly and particularly kind to the children.
The pink foam party was also great fun and lasted around an hour. They handed out flamingo floats, although there was quite a battle amongst the kids to get hold of them! 😂
The inflatable obstacle course on Thursday was another good activity.
My criticism here is communication. We discovered afterwards that there had been a bucking bronco and candy floss by the restaurant pool which we’d completely missed because we didn’t know it was happening. There were also other activities listed where we couldn’t work out exactly where they were taking place.
It would make a big difference if the entertainment team were more vocal around the resort about what’s happening, where it is and when it starts.
🎭 EVENING ENTERTAINMENT
There was entertainment every night, normally starting around 9–9:30pm.
With younger children that was quite late for us and we were often already back in the room by then. Some of the tables also seemed to get reserved with people’s belongings.
Our room happened to be very close to the entertainment, so it was loud, but nothing headphones couldn’t solve and everything generally finished by around 11pm.
Otherwise we found the resort fairly quiet at night. We were only woken once during the whole stay by drunk guests talking very loudly in the corridors in the middle of the night.
📶 WI-FI
Wi-Fi was a bit on and off throughout the resort but generally okay.
We bought a 5GB travel SIM as backup for the 10 days and didn’t even use all of it.
🐈 CATS
There are LOTS of cats around the resort, including kittens and pregnant cats.
Personally I love cats, so this wasn’t remotely an issue for me – I thought they were very sweet and most were really friendly. Obviously if you really dislike cats, it’s something to be aware of.
📸 PHOTOGRAPHY
Ike the photographer was great – genuinely friendly and helpful and gave us lots of recommendations. He was definitely one of the staff members who stood out during our stay.
The parrot and pirate photo experience was also a lovely added touch and the photos came out brilliantly. They were €12 each, which I thought was quite pricey, but clearly not enough to stop us because we bought two! 😂
🌊 WATER SPORTS
This was one thing we skipped because we thought the prices were ridiculously high.
A jet ski was around €85 for just 15 minutes, which was far too expensive for us.
🛍️ SHOPPING & BODRUM
There’s a little shop on site with useful bits and bobs, but for proper shopping you’re much better off going into Bodrum.
The hotel can call a taxi for you and we paid roughly 700–800 Turkish lira into Bodrum. The journey is only around 10 minutes and we were able to pay by card.
Bodrum itself is lovely for wandering around the old town and shops. There’s also an ice-cream man who does all the tricks with the ice cream before handing it over, which our kids loved.
🙂 STAFF & RECEPTION
Staff were another area where consistency varied.
There were some genuinely lovely people around the resort.
Reception was more hit and miss. Some staff were friendly, while others barely greeted or smiled at you. It’s a small thing, but in hospitality a simple hello and a smile goes a long way.
🧳 CHECKOUT
Checkout was really easy.
You can ring for a porter and they’ll come to your room and collect your luggage, which made leaving really convenient.
✈️ BODRUM AIRPORT
This obviously isn’t anything to do with Blue Dreams, but it’s useful information if you’re travelling home from Bodrum.
Give yourself plenty of time.
Our EasyJet queue/process took around an hour and was so slow that we ended up with no time to get food before the flight.
Bodrum Airport also feels quite old-school when it comes to security. Liquids need to be in containers of 100ml or less and put into the usual plastic liquids bag, so have everything prepared beforehand.
⭐ OVERALL
Overall, we had a lovely family holiday.
The biggest areas for improvement for us would be more consistent lifeguard coverage and pool safety, hotter breakfast food, a little more variety at dinner, and clearer communication about activities.
That said, there was plenty we genuinely enjoyed. The setting is beautiful, with lovely views and sunsets, the sea was great, the Fish restaurant was a highlight, and we really enjoyed most of the food, pizzas, cocktails and some of the activities.
I also wouldn’t be put off by reviews mentioning all the stairs. Yes, there are a lot, but there are lifts and we personally found getting around absolutely fine.
For families considering booking, my main tips would be: bring water shoes for the sea, be aware that the main pools are around 140cm deep, get down early if you want an infinity-pool sunbed, and don’t be afraid to ask the barmen for a cocktail that isn’t on the menu.
Overall, we came away having had a really enjoyable 10-night family holiday. There are definitely areas where Blue Dreams could improve, but there were also lots of things we really enjoyed.
🧿"