Just back from 2 weeks in Perili, my first trip to Sunsail since our children were born. Very unlike the Sunsail of old, focus more on a "luxury" multi-activity break and less on a sailing experience. Much less of a sailing club atmosphere and much more a Mark Warner emulation.

Perili is a beautiful resort complex in a fantastic location. Our "Otterman-style" suite was spread over two floors with two single beds for the children downstairs and a large double upstairs. Lots of space and very attractively decorated with wood panelling for walls and ceiling. The whole resort had a great feeling with a maze of steps and paths between the individual buildings.

Good selection of sailing equipment atlough not as well maintained as I remember from the past and many of the boats were starting to feel pretty tired by end of high season. The mountain bikes were also on their last legs by the time we arrived.

Kids clubs were good although activities for the under fives were a bit limited. Some of the pre-arrival advice was not very helpful. "Don't pack snorkelling equipment" should have had the rider "you can buy new at silly prices in our shop". Having been assured "a U-rated film will be shown in Video Club", I did not expect my 7 year old to be subjected to a Harry Potter video on the first night, scaring her off video club for the rest of our stay.

Really the only disappointment from the holiday, but one that marred it for me to the point of not wishing to return to Sunsail was the cost of all the extras. Perili is in the middle of nowhere, the nearest shop is a ten minute walk (and was closing down), otherwise the town of Datca is a 20 minute bus ride. The club therefore has a captive market and knows it. While the cost of sailing courses is good value (£70 for a two day RYA course) everything else was almost embarassing. £7.50 per week for a safe deposit box, milkshakes at £6 each, house wine at £15 a bottle and water at more than 4 times the price at the harbour front shops in Datca. Perhaps my biggest irritation was with the shop that was trying to sell 0,80YTL postage stamps for 2.50YTL. While the cost of all this as a proportion of the overall holiday price was pretty minor, the whole way guests were treated as a resource to be squeezed for every penny left a bad taste in my mouth.

Sunsail has teamed with Joy Hotels Group to provide the hotel services in Turkey and this has much to do with these prices. Joy primarily runs five and four star hotels around the country and appear to have brought this pricing structure to Sunsail. Moreover, the Sunsail management now wash their hands of it - "there's nothing we can do as its down to Joy" was an excuse I heard several times during my stay.

In summary, while Perili was a fantastic resort and offered reasonable value, in the round, the way I was treated as a resource to be milked for money throughout my stay was what I will remember about the holiday and is why I won't be going back in a hurry.

We stayed in a large and spacious Ottoman room in the main building, it was wonderful, we would definitely reccomend it. The watersports equipment was very good. The staff on the beach were helpful and friendly and were happy to rig any boat for you. There were calm winds inside the bay but stronger winds outside the bay for the more adventurous. Our daughters did the YSC (youth sailing club) and really really enjoyed it. They did sailing everyday but did have a quick go at winsurfing, kayaking and tennis. We would definitely recommend this club for active teenagers and older children. The inclusive meals were OK for buffet style but you needed to be selective. The non-inclusive meals were much better but the service was poor at times. Bar prices were high but all the restaurants in Turkey seemed to have high drink prices. Be careful not to leave things on the bed or around your room as I left a rashvest on the bed and it was scooped up with the sheets and despite asking several time at the reception and looking through lost property I never got it back.
Overall it was a great holiday and certainly reccomended!

What I liked;

* Rooms were all different and well above average.
* Lots of sailing kit.
* The food was better than other Sunsail resorts.
* The wind was variable which made it more interesting and challenging.

What could be improved;
* Drink prices! 5.50 TL (£2.30) for a coke and 12 TL (£5) for a milkshake is a complete rip off! A lot of people were buying drinks in the local town and openly drinking them in the bar. You shouldn't need to do this on a holiday that costs £1000's.

Stayed here with a friend in the Adult only week in June I have never tried Sunsail before as always booked Mark Warner but they no longer offer any good Adult only summer holidays so I thought I would try Sunsail who I have before considered more up market. I was disapointed with my experience with Sunsail. The admin side is very unorganised they got our names wrong my friend booked and paid for group tennis and was told by the tennis coach that he doesn't run the group lesson that she had booked. Another friend had her tickets sent with her name wrong and had to wait at the airport for new ones. The resort is very pretty and the rooms are of a very good standard. The waiters and bar staff all very friendly. The bar prices are expensive for Turkey we had to pay £16 for a bottle of Turkish wine the same wine which I drink in Sofra in covent garden for £12.95! The beers are about £3.50 and G&T £5 If you fancy a milkshake you will pay £5.20! The bar sandwiches at lunch are about £7 and not that great, don't go for the club sandwich its not what you think. I had to pay £22 for some sun screen as its a remote location they have a captive audience and seem set on ripping them off which is very annoying. The activity staff are all friendly however not up to the standard of the Mark Warner activity staff in terms of experience and coaching