Side Star Elegance Hotel - Ultra All Inclusive

We stayed the week over Christmas 22-29th December, family with 2 kids aged 4&10. To begin the hotel is an hour away from the airport. It was a quick and easy check in and we were given a room in block 3 which was perfect overlooking the pool. The room had 2 separate bed areas but with a very open bathroom. The room wasn't near the main road so was quiet. Ideal for families. The resort is huge! It has many amenities like most of the Turkish resorts but alot of it is closed in the winter. Poor weather meant that all the bars and snack bars by the lower pools and beach were closed. There was a heated outdoor pool we managed to use once. Plus points: indoor pool is a good size and you can still use the sauna/steam room in the spa. The arcade room has a free pool table and a bowling alley for a reasonable price. The timeout bar was great with lovely pizzas and a few other dishes daily. The staff were are friendly and helpful. German is spoken more easily than English but they do try. The not so good: the main buffet restaurant could be better. The food was plentiful but not delicious ( by my taste) they had lots of options but not stuff that went together and due to the size of the restaurant you had to walk around to find bits. Eg rice far away from curry like dishes. Late breakfast starts at 10am but by this time they were already packing away the breads and fruits. Branded drinks have to be asked for and there are not that many options but we still found things we liked. We had unusually bad weather with constant heavy rains and although it's not the hotels fault we felt the entertainment team could have done more with guests indoors in the huge complex. They had an indoor cinema but did not advertise the movies that were showing on the day and the times. The hotel was decorated beautifully for Christmas and they had a special Christmas Eve programme including pre dinner drinks with carol singers and Santa. A wonderful Xmas meal and a live band in the evening. Christmas day itself felt just like another day with nothing going on. We tried the fish, Turkish & Chinese restaurants and they were all lovely! Really recommend your book them early. Having been to a few ultra all incs, I don't think this resort hits that mark yet or at least in the winter season.

Just back from our second visit to Side Star Elegance. The room was amazing, so was the food and the staff are really friendly. We love the spa area and had an amazing Hamma wash and massage. Side old town is in walking distance with some good value shops.