Just arrived back from 2 weeks at the Atlantis Hotel in Belek. First impressions of the hotel were quite good – quick check in, and a brief explanation of what was included in the All Inclusive package. Not quite as all inclusive as other 5* hotels we’ve visited in the area, i.e. paying for international branded drinks, drinks after midnight, and paying for just about everything that the kids wanted to do, but nevertheless not too bad. One thing I would recommend – if you get offered room 3011, ask for another one - unless you fond of plants. There’s an 8 feet tall hedge growing right outside the small patio – you can’t see a thing. Oh! And don’t put your washing out to dry on the patio, or it will get soaked by the water sprinkler system which runs directly outside.

Apart from the above, and a few nasty insect bites, I couldn’t fault the rest of the holiday.

The rooms are large, well decorated, and the beds very large and comfortable. The Pool areas, both at the front of the Hotel and the Relax area were spotless, and the water slides were more than sufficient for the kids enjoyment.

The food was without doubt the best we have had in our 5 previous visits to the Antalya/Belek area. The buffet restaurant area was large enough, even when the hotel seemed to be full, that we never had a problem finding an empty table. If you didn’t want to eat from the buffet, there was always an excellent Chinese meal to be had, with Chinese chefs cooking it in front of you (apart from Saturday night – Turkish Night), and to be honest, I’ve never tasted anything as good from any of my local take-away’s. We sampled quite a few of the A La’Carte restaurants on site, and found the Turkish to be the best – excellent service and 7 course meal. The Fish Restaurant (Poseidon) charged an extra 5 Euros per person, and then charged you an extra 14 Euros for a bottle of local wine, which seemed a bit expensive, but it was a good evening. The kids never went without food or drink, although they always complained that they were hungry, even when walking about with either a burger or pizza, and a drink in each hand.

The bar staff, especially Gabriel, were very pleasant and fast. They tend to look after the British more than the rest of the clients, as most of the staff don’t tolerate pushing in or queue jumping. Go easy on the number of Vodka/Gin etc drinks that you consume, as the measures they throw into your glasses will knock your socks off – if you’re wearing any. We only managed to get past 12 midnight on a couple of occasions, the rest of the holiday being a repeated stagger back to the rooms.

Although they charge extra for International Branded drinks, personally I wouldn’t bother paying for them. The local ‘Bazooka’ Vodka that they serve is better than the normal Russian stuff. The ‘Efes’ beer is refreshingly good – but then again, it always is in Turkey, and the wine, both red and white, in the buffet restaurant is ok. To put it mildly, my wife is the wine expert of the family, and to say that her eyes were starting to roll on a couple of occasions whilst having a tipple is testament to the strength of the stuff.

What can I say about the entertainment other than “excellent”. We’ve read previous reports about the ‘lack of’, but I don’t know where the previous holidaymakers were looking. Although the twice daily poolside entertainment may have been repeated over the 2 weeks, the night time shows and enthusiasm could not be faulted. The newly created ‘Tranny’ show was hilarious, even though some of the animation team seemed to slip in to the dress sense easier than others – “how you doing Bingo?” – (private joke!!). My daughter Grace (10) fell head over heels for another of the animation team – Oily, I think his name is – and was very upset when we had to leave. The entertainment on the beach, around the pool and generally everywhere in this vast hotel was fantastic, and if we seemed to be missing a kid or 2, you only had to look for a white shirted animation team member, and you could guarantee the kids would be there abouts – a special thanks to all the animation team and the barstaff and waiters – excellent!!

If there isn’t enough for you to do at the Atlantis, you can always take the tractor into Belek for your shopping, or there’s always the “Troy Aquapark” about 250 yards further down the road, which is in the grounds of the “Rixos Premium” hotel. You can arrange tickets through the Thomas Cook rep, for £25 per adult and £12.50 for kids, (a lot cheaper than going and paying on the door) to spend the whole day there, with a meal, a drink and a dessert thrown in. It also includes a dolphin and walrus show in the price. The walrus is hilarious, but don’t sit near the front – you’ll see why!
The aquapark is the biggest in the eastern meditteranean and well worth a visit. The kids will love the powerful uphill waterchutes, and for a small extra charge you can ride on the fantastic surf machine. You’ll get a guaranteed audience. The more daring of you might want to try the ‘Kamikaze’ slides, but its not for me - thanks!

I could go on for hours about this place, but I think I’ve said enough for now.
Don’t let anyone put you off going to this hotel. We’ll definitely go again.

My husband and I together with a couple of friends stayed at the Atlantis for one week from the 8th October 2006. We booked after reading the reviews which were very good but on checking just before we left for our holiday I was dismayed to read the reviews since August 06 as everything seemed to have gone down hill rapidly !

Having stayed at the Adora Golf Resort a couple of years ago I had a good idea of what to expect. We have also stayed at all inclusive hotels in various parts of the world so we have a good idea of the average standard. Obviously, it is fair to say that 5* abroad is not the same as 5* at home so if you go away expecting that sort of standard then you will be disappointed.

The Atlantis is a large complex with good sized grounds to wander around, grassed areas with sun loungers as well as pool side ones and, also, it leads straight on to the beach.

The hotel was extremely well maintained and clean and I had no issues at all with that side of things. The food was very nice in the buffet restaurant and you would have to be an extremely picky eater not to find something to enjoy. The temperature of food is not what we are used to but that is something that seems to be the case around the world. We stayed at a Sandals resort in Jamaica earlier this year and never had a very warm meal the whole time ! It just seems to be the way outside the UK !!

However, at the Atlantis we also tried the Turkish and Italian restaurants and both the food and service were excellent.

The only let down really is the main bar in the hotel as there was one waiter in particular that should never be let on the serving side of a bar and generally speaking the bar staff should be shown how to run a bar. Warm glasses, wrong drinks, drinks poured in readiness of people ordering, etc.

Also, I have never stayed at an all inclusive hotel that was as restricted as this one, i.e. drinks only from 10am to midnight, having to pay for fresh juice, etc., but I guess I knew that when I booked and the price pretty much reflects what you get in that regard. You also have to pay for all games, i.e. pool, table tennis, etc.

All in all the hotel is very nice and I really cannot fault it at all. We had a very enjoyable week, ate far too much, and enjoyed our time at the Atlantis.

I consider myself to be quite picky but in all honesty the "bad" points were not that bad. If you can get a good deal on price then by all means book this hotel.

Just returned from a 2 week stay at this hotel and was very pleased with our stay. we were very wary about our stay here after reading some of the reports about it being dirty and conferences going on and staff being unfriendly.. Dont know if these people were staying in a different hotel but we were really pleased with all we got. We have been to Turkey 6 times in this area in past 4 years and it is on the same level as all the others. The decor is very contempory. The Reception area is very spacious which leads to the Lobby Bar and entrance to restaurants,Disco,Bowling Alley,
Gym,Sauna,Hairdressers,Indoor pool,Shops. This then leads to the outside games area which then leads to Pools and Ampitheatre where the night entertainment happens. then you go down to beach. The place is spotless. The staff are really friendly especially the Animation Team, who work really hard to keep you entertained all day and night. The Food is very nice with plenty of choice. We tried the Mexican and Turkish restaurants and they were nice.I think english people get the wrong idea when they go to these hotels, they cater for many different nationalities, which we like, if you are in a foreign country it is nice to try there culture, if you want bacon and eggs for breakfast this area is not for you. We would go back to this hotel.

My husband and I went to the Atlantis for 1 week in September 06. If you have already booked this hotel, don't for 1 minute let me put you off, although I hope this review will help you prepare for what to expect.

The Atlantis is a large complex. As we were only there for 1 week we only ventured out of the hotel once (to go into Belek). We found plenty to do in the hotel to keep both of us occupied but it is fair to say that during the day we didn't do much more than read or sleep.

Firstly, after reading a few of these reviews, I have to say that we did not have much of a problem with the Russians, or any of the other nationalities there. The Russians seemed to queue up and wait in an orderly fashion like everyone else, contary to other reviews.

There is an abundance of sunloungers - we never had a problem in finding a nice spot. There is so much pool space (as the hotel name suggests) that we probaly didn't see it all in 1 week. We always found the pool areas spotlessly clean and always tidy. Likewise for our hotel room. We were on the 4th floor (lifts were excellent) on a corner so had views from 2 sides of the gardens. The room was quite large and we thought the bathroom was huge. The maids came daily so it was always clean and tidy. The efforts of the animation team didn't go unnoticed either. They obviously worked very hard. I disagree with the reviews that say that hearing them say everything in 4 languages get very tiresome. They tended to use a lot of English as a rule but I didn't have a problem with them translating for everyone else, especially when the English were very much in the minority.

If you enjoy good food and good service please do not expect it at the Atlantis. The buffet restaurant is just a canteen - it is not very comfortable at all. We tended to just eat and go. For some reason they move the food outside at about 8.30pm which just means it is cold when you eat it rather than luke warm (always make sure you check that your meat is cooked through). We tried 3 of the A La Carte Restaurants - the turkish was delicious and service very good (the only 1 we left a tip for). The food in the Mexican & Italian was better than the buffet restaurant, but painfully slow service. We found the general waiter and bar service quite poor. The language barrier did not help. The waiters spoke very little English (which I suppose is ok as long as you don't ask a question or have to explain what drink you want). I often saw the bar staff putting ice in the drinks (which was a rarity anyway) using their fingers which they then wiped on their trousers.

To sum up, we returned from this holiday relaxed and refreshed but we were really looking forward a good warm meal!!! Have a good time if you are going, although if you haven't booked yet and like good food, perhaps try somewhere else.