Don't read any bad reviews for this hotel, they are being ultra fussy. The hotel IS a 5* beach resort hotel. If you want a different type of 5* experience, check out Knightsbridge. We just returned yesterday from a two week holiday here and we were very happy with EVERYTHING!
After a 90 minute transfer from Dalaman airport, we arrived with about 30 other guests. We we're very quickly given our room key and a porter brought our bags along about 5mins later. The room was spotless, and every day when we returned to our room the beds had flowers left on them, the fridge was stocked with a big bottle of cool water and a few fruit drinks (the fridge isn't restocked, but the water can be filled from the mineral water dispensers). The staff can all get by in English, everytime you say "thank you" they say "You're welcome"
You can see various videos on youtube for the hotel, one of which shows the sunbed rush at 8am. The hotel is strict about the time at which sunbeds can be "reserved" with towels. We did participate on a couple of occasions, but it wasn't that bad. Plenty of beds are in the gardens and we STONGLY recommend using the beach just infront of the hotel, where sun beds can be hired for 5lira each. You will need some beach shoes to go in the sea as it is a bit stoney after the water line. The hotel pool is fresh water clorinated (some pools are sea water!) and the pool boys spend the whole day offering drinks and collecting cups. You are treated like royalty.
This brings me onto the food, which being an all-inclusive hotel is very important. Please note we have stayed 5* all-inclusive, in Turkey and Greece before, but the Belcekiz beach is a class apart, it is wonderful. At every meal (inc breakfast) you have the choice of 30ish salads, 30ish main courses and 30ish puddings in a buffet style. The food is varied everyday and a "special" meal is available (steak, stirfry, chinese, sweet and sour etc). The quantities of food really have to been seen to be believed. We love our food and loved the variety. Not once did we eat in any one of the other resturants, including the hotels own a-la-carte, available in Oui deniz (pronounced Ola denis). The food is always fresh and there is something there that even the most fussy 8 year old will eat.
The staff serving you the meals are everywhere, if your glass is empty or your plate cleared, it will be removed and refilled within 30 seconds! They work SO hard and look to be enjoying what they are doing. The Restaurant manager (Memet) deserves a medal, he walks round all day with his walky-talkie making sure everything is perfect, smiling and managing his army of staff. Concerned about flies while you eat or around the food? They light a little dish of something and all the flies disappear. We would also recommend the peach juice as a different soft drink.
Oh, the hotel also provides fresh beach and room towels everyday, so you don't need to pack those.
This brings me on to the best bit, the entertainment team. Nelly, Eddy, Sunni, Ebol, Kenny, Harkan and a few others. Firstly, they arnt too intrusive. If you want to be left alone and not play darts, pool, table tennis, water polo and other activities, they will not be too pushy. If you do, its great fun, especially the shows they put on most evenings as the hotel has its own outside theatre next to the pool. We found out that the entertainment team also have some proper training (various drama schools), so you're in for a laugh. Again, you will see reviews that call the entertainment "corny" or worse. ITS A BEACH RESORT, if you want better, goto Drury lane.
The main high street is just round the corner from the hotel and seems to do all the normal "genuine fakes" and has a decent array of shops where you can pick up anything you may have forgotten and all your souveniers. You will also see a LOT of paragliding, but beware on the insurance.
We also went to Sugar beach in the blue lagoon, which was a pleasant change and very tranquil as motor driven boats are forbidden from entering the lagoon.
We did the Belcekiz hotel one-day boat trip (accompanied by Eddy). It was FANTASTIC. Stunning surroundings, great food and good fun.
What I did find very interesting is that most guests appeared to have been to the Belcekiz before, and nearly everyone is from the UK. The hotel was also full and yet didn't seem to be too crowded. A big thank you to Karen & Sue (the Thompson reps).
Our room was in the annex just behind the hotel. This is the best place to be as it was quiet and modern.
We spent about four days choosing this holiday, and nearly went to a number of other med destinations. We're glad we went to the Belcekiz Beach hotel, sad to be home now and it is the first resort we've ever been to where we would consider going back.
