Lately we’ve been reminiscing about holidays we’ve been on. One of our all-time favourites was when we went and did our first ALL INCLUSIVE holiday in Turkey, back in July 2017. We booked the package through Thomas Cook, who have since gone out of business – but we had a fantastic experience with them. We thought we would share our experience with you anyway because the Hotel was EXCELLENT, and is still up and running! Paloma Grida Resort and Spa – take a look!
We flew into Antalya and then took a long coach ride to Belek. We arrived close to midnight. We were tired, but excited! We were so impressed with the look of the Resort as we walked in. We had a drink whilst waiting in the queue to check in, and the kids were so excited to be there, they got a second wind of energy and were dancing all around!
The Resort was so pretty and picturesque. We loved walking down the main street every day! There were shops on the ground floor and the floors above were hotel rooms. Everything on site was easy to find and, from what we saw, very clean. We spent most of our time at the pools, splash pad, miniature golf and playing table tennis. All were easily accessible.
The swimming pools and splash pad areas kept our kids entertained the whole week! There was a good variety of swimming pools, some had slides and some were just swimming pools where you could have some fun with your pool inflatables. We actually taught Freckled Faces number 2 to swim here! We also had some fun at the small park area and at the miniature golf.
Our room was at the front of the Resort. You had to come out of the main entrance and go down the hill, to the left. It did mean having to walk up hill every day, but it was a pretty walk and gave us a chance to work off some of the food we had eaten! Ha ha. Our room was nice, clean, and well laid out. There was plenty of room for us all. The bathroom was a good size, with a nice big shower. There was also a good size storage room by the front door, where we kept all of our cases, shoes and pool inflatables. The kids would get excited to see what towel creation the cleaner had done when we returned to our room at the end of the day! She used to do them on their beds as well as ours, they loved it!
Along the beach of the resort there were lots of sunbeds, showers to rinse yourself off, a lovely restaurant…and Camel rides – so, of course, we had to try it out! Really glad we did – the kids loved it and it’s made for a great memory! The sand got really hot – like burn your feet hot. We were glad we had our water shoes with us.
Food! When you go abroad with kids (known for being fussy eaters), you worry a little about whether they are going to like the food. Let’s face it, hungry kids are hangry kids – and that’s enough to ruin anyone’s holiday! Luckily, the food here was a huge winner with our kids (one of which was very fussy at the time). Between all the different restaurants on site, there was so much choice throughout the day. They also had a separate kids dining area and kids chef in the evenings; there was pasta, hot dogs, etc for mains and yoghurts, fruit, etc for desserts. Ours liked something from every restaurant we tried…..which I think was all of them! We used to eat lunch in the restaurant by the beach. Not only do you get the gorgeous scenery while you eat yummy food, but we also saw Sea Turtles that had come up from the beach – SO COOL!! The kids LOVED it!
We also loved afternoon snacks – delicious waffles! The kids loved that they could go and help themselves to ice creams whenever they wanted one too! Lots of yummy food and refreshing drinks to enjoy.
Our evenings were spent either splashing around and jumping waves on the beach, or enjoying the entertainment provided by the hotel entertainment staff. Sometimes a mixture of both, depending on how busy the entertainment area was. The kids love music and dancing, so they wanted to get involved with the kids evening club.
This was the first time we went all inclusive for a family holiday. We just wanted to get away and totally relax, not have to do anything. IT WAS HEAVEN! Whilst we didn’t see a whole lot of Turkey, this was exactly what we needed. We ventured off one day to go to the local town. Hubby was happy because he got to use some of the Turkish language that some of the Resort staff had taught him! He got to haggle in the shops too – loving it! I was happy because I got lots of compliments! haha
Although this holiday was 3 years ago, we still talk about it. It was one of the best holidays we’ve ever had! We don’t tend to go back to the same place twice, because we want to see as much of the world as we can, but we would return here.
4 Freckled Faces 