Be careful with the late checkout. As we transfered at 2.30am, we paid FC £40 in advance to vacate the room for 6.00pm. On our departure day, to trim down the waiting time some more, we asked at reception if they would extend the late checkout till 12 midnight. They said that would be ok but at an additional cost of £40! We didn't bother as we concidered the £80 total abit steep so blew the £40 on an evening out in Sarigerme and still had change for the airport.

The reason i would not go peak season is a personal choice. Just for me it just seemed to be too busy. Dont get me wrong there wasnt massive queues at the bars but we preferred the first week before the half term crowd turned up. Being that we dont have school age children we tend to holiday outside peak season anyway so that may be one of the reasons we thought it was so busy. When we went mid september last year it was nowhere near as busy. The sunbeds were a bit cramped and walking round the pools was more of a problem in the second week due to the amount of sunbeds everywhere.

As i have said i would go back there so please dont misunderstand what i am saying.

I know what Michael's saying. I have very rarely holidayed in peak season, my little fella is not quite school age yet either, and I imagine that for me, PP in peak season is my idea of hell!

But I would return to the pp too, preferable May or September when it is quieter. As Michael said, with the half term families there it became quite treacherous trying to navigate your way round the sunbeds and it literally was mental with kids at night in the amphitheatre, lol. I just preferred our first week when it was a little more subdued and you got so much more attention from the staff.

Nevertheless, we still had a fab holiday!

C xxx

Hey all!

Just woke up after getting back at 5am this morning!!!
Had a wonderful time - yes there are a few issues but we all have these personal preferences and to be honest my issues lay with FC and not the resort at all!

Ive never had such an amazing 2 weeks! The 1st week was magical because it was much quieter but even though it gets busier you just get on with it and I have my own 2 little horrors!

The resort was lovely and clean in my experience. Our maid was an absolute star.
We required a room change which could have been dealt with quicker as there was water pouring from the bathroom ceiling but hey "the people who authorised it were on lunch" lol!
The food was no where near as bad as I expected and after you have been there a few days you suss out the best times etc to go! My girls liked the coissants for brekkie so we made sure we were there by 9 to have a better chance of getting some. Had lunch at the beach bar if eating after 1.30 and we found that in the evening if you went around 7-7.30 it was much quieter to eat outside rather than inside. I was disappointed with the themed resteraunts but staff were wonderful and the management is taking on board the feeedback they are receiving regarding them.
We had no problems getting the kids into the Kids club - they are 6 and 8. They didnt always want to go as they felt it was sometimes babyish - their words! The only thing that i had issues with was the activities over at the High Ropes - these activities were advertised under the kids club board but when you got there it was costing you £8. Yes there were some activities advertised as taking place there but these ones werent. Also it may just be me but I felt £8 was a lot for 90mins when they only got to do 1 thing whereas when they went back the next day they could have 3 and half hours and have the time of their lives for £10!! So if you are going with little ones who may be interested in this bear this in mind as there is nothing like arriving there with the kids and trying to explain why they couldnt do it!
The absolute saviour of my holiday and what is the deciding factor in making me want to go back is the Spa! Very very under-rated if you ask me! My partner and I used it loads and feel it was an absolute bargain! We went for one course of treatment - Sauna, Turkish Bath, Full Body Massage and then a Face Massage - it was over 2 hours of bliss and that was even with the kids with us (they came in for free and were treated like princesses) and this was only £40 each. I recommended visiting the Spa to anyone I spoke to and quite a few took me up on it then hunted me out and thanked me for it! Any one want any more info just ask away!
The other thing to note about this resort and locally is that virtually everything you need to pay for can be done so in Sterling and they seem to actually prefer it. I used both but they were keener to take your £10 notes!!!!!
My family done a few trips - FC Family Cruise which was great but "boiling hot" - excellent trip, well itineried, Yosh the guide was really good and food was amazingly yummy!! We all thouroughly enjoyed Dalyan but I never got to go in mud bath as my oldest little monster managed to jump on my toe big toe the day before and take the nail off so i didnt want to risk infection! We done the Fetihye day trip too which was probably my worst day but only for personal preference really as there was nothing actually wrong with the excursion.
I have rambled on now!!!!!
Really gutted I didnt meet any of those of you out there at same time as me - Scottishmum etc but hope everyone is well!
Speak soon
Louise x

Juliakill, can you tell me, in the small family room are the kids still sectioned off in a separate bit. If they are on the sofa beds are they in the sitting room whereas in the kids den are they in a separate area? We too are really annoyed. We are travelling with a 5 year old and 2 year old and although I appreciate there is a lot to do, at that age they quite often want to come back to bed a bit earlier than a lot of older kids and it is nice to put a dvd on for them to wind down to bfore they drop off to sleep. I agreed about having paid for something you expect to get it. We too paid about 250 quid more but when i tried to downgrade to a family room, I was told that there was only the large family room and that is only £100 less than the kids den and I don't really see the point in having a room that size when the difference in cost is not a lot and we supposedly get less but i wonder how we stand on this? the brochure states all the way through that kids dens have a TV separate to the one in the apartment. First Choice get on my nerves becuase they never seem to be able to get anything right and that is even before you go...!

Help!!!!!!! My other half has gone into panic mode about the heat when we have booked - 10 August. We are now thinking of making the holiday later and changing it to September. Can anyone who has been in August tell me is it that bad - we have a 2 year old with us and will it be better mid September?

Hi haffendenfamily

We went last year mid September and it was still hot so i wouldnt like to say how hot it would have been in August but would imagine it would be quite bad then.

Well sorry to have to frighten you, but yes August in Turkey is mental, infact in 2000 I went in August and it was around 50 degrees. Scary heat!

I personally (only my opinion) wouldn't take my nearly four year old to Turkey in August, but thats more because I would never get him out of the sun, he'd refuse to come and I would worry about him spending a long time in that heat and he's got olive skin!

Sorry, not slating anyone who choses to take their children to Turkey at that time of year, its just my own feelings. Mid September will be a lot cooler but still hot.

Catherine x

Hi guys. So do you think September would still be too hot? Do you think that we should make it October. Is the Pegasos palace the place to go in October - do you all really rate it?

Hiya Catherine

Nice to hear you had a good holiday!! If your like me it seems like a life time ago already - Shame we never got to meet up again - next year maybe

Haffenden

For years & years i avoided holidaying in Turkey in July/August because of the heat factor - Being milk bottle white and blonde - it just doesnt go!! But last year i went both in July & August, and it wasnt that bad - Yes very hot, but as long as you are sensible - loads of cream, avoid midday sun, drink lots of water, hats etc . In fact we are due to go back 21st August - and taking our soon to be 4 year old monster

LA

Anyone else going in August? Anyone else knw if September or October is better?

Hi Mcfester & vicky06

Thanks for the info regarding nappies - i think I will probably just take a pack out with me as I am a bit like Vicky and can't be bothered trailing about trying to find them. It was just in case I ran out - although I think we will just about need another suitcase by the tie we have swimming nappies and normal nappies!

Looking forward to it now - 3 weeks to go.

We have booked my oldest son into the soccer school. Does this mean that his place is guaranteed or do you still have to book at the hotel? Same with the kids club, I think I have pre-booked 2 sessions each but I think someone said at one point you still had to go on a waiting list - does anyone know if this is the case?

I also read on here that a Friday is Fish only - please tell me this is not true as my husband will not eat fish at all!

Every 2nd Friday night is a speciality seafood night but there was a couple of other selections too. If I remember rightly there was beef in gravy and stir fried chicken among others. The childrens buffet was also as normal.

HTH

C x

meiklej
Fear not! I remember the fish themed nights too! I paniced as i got closer to the restaurant because i dont eat it but i cant bear to look at it either - hence why my other half goes home to his mums to eat once a week!
Overall I am a very fussy eater but had no problem having a satisfying amount to eat every night! Every night had a range of chicken/fish/beef with veal thrown in every now and again! Loads and loads of yummy salads too!
Louise
x

Mieklej
You might already know this but you can get re-usable swim nappies about £6 each ish i think boots toys r us etc sell them i was planning on buying 2 of those to save space on disposable ones.

Haddenfamily
I am going on 3rd august and my baby turns 1 on 1st august i know people will slate me for it and say its too hot(my mum being the main person) but i think with a few sensible precautions he will be fine.......i plan on buying a shade a babe for my buggy it blocks out sun giving a factor cover of 40 or 50 also protects from mozzies(so good at night too when he is asleep in it) n getting a buggy fan, plenty or sunscreen, i have an all in one swim suit which is factor 40, a pop up tent for playing in and to keep him out of sun.........mostly i plan on making him drink lots and lots of fluids very regularly.
People have also mentioned the creche sessions for 1 and a hlaf hours in the afternoon as it is an airconditioned room.....i probably wont use it as he usually has a 2hr sleep in the afternoon so i just plan on putting him to sleep in the shady area and have a sunbath!!!
Only you can decide what to do but for us it is the only time of year we can go away.
My other thought is that turkish people have babies and children, ok the kids have gotten used to the heat but when a baby is first born people manage ok.
Have a great holiday whenever you go i intend to!!!!!

Vicky

Hi Just got back for a 2 week stay. Weather was fab, they are having a heatwave in Turkey, some days it hit 42!! The place was brill, even though 1/2 place shut. 1st week place was busy, but not too bad, 2nd week was the school holidays so got quite busy so had to queue for food, drinks etc. Ice creams were free all day at the beach bar. You would get as many drinks as you wanted at the bar, there were NO restrictions at all. You had to get up eary to get the sunbeds and very early for the sun bed mattresses. But during our end of the hol, first choice made a few rules and followed them though. If you reserved any beds for 9.00 and did not stay with the beds, they took the towels off, this did cause quite a few arguments and was quite funny to watch. What we did, my husband got up eary and reserved our beds he got himself a coffe and sat there reading. When they took the towels if hotel towels you could get your towel card back so you would have to pay £10 for a new card (each towel) or if your own towel they threated a £5 fine to get you own towel back - at the moment they are just giving you your towel back, but peak time not sure what they would do. Don't bother taking Lira, just take sterling, I took both, but bought back all my Lira, everything was much cheaper using sterling, even to pay for trips in the town, the markets and all the shops (even in other towns like Marmaris, Daylan - they all prefered sterling). We walked into the town Sarigerme, bit of a waste of time, hardly anything there, we did book our trips there with a company called SARIGERME TOURS - they are on the right just as you start walking up the high street, they were very very friends and very cheap, a LOT LOT cheaper then the hotel. They also did trips to the turkish bath (which is a must) and this only cost £8.00 and we were the only ones in there, you paid for if you wanted a oil massage after, this was also £8.00 - must is a must - took 2 hours in total. The hotel charge £40 for the same and you have the bath with lots of people. FC did an offer for £16, for the bath only - so use Sarigerme tours. They were just starting to clean the pools on the tropical side. The themed restarants were ok, but the food was very slow coming - some people even walked out. There was a restaurant upstairs, which stated adults only, we eat there a lot, as they did let children in, it was a nice atmosphere at there with lovely views, it's a must!! Any questions - let me know. We loved it, we have 2 boys 10 and 12, they had a fab time, the clubs were good and the in 2 action was brill. Hope you all have a fab time when you go too.

Hi haffendenfamily.

The kids den and small family rooms are exactly the same. They consist of one room which can be seperated with 2 sliding doors. The kids den and small family room have a king size bed. The kids den then has two bunk beds. Our friends small family room has a single bed instead of bunk beds which we assume can also be the lounge area, by adding some cushions to the single bed. There is not a seperate lounge area to the bedrooms. I hope I have explained it well.

hi haffendenfamily,

we went in oct last year the weather was still sunny in the day but very cool at night and the pools are very cold which is why we are going back in july/aug this year.

hi im a member of thesmith family i went last year it was amazing and the high ropes were great.it will be better this year because the plants will have grown and they will of had more expeirience (and maybe my mum and dad will remember to pick me up from the kids club this october when we go )we had a great time last time and this time we are going in a larger party.if you are going there are plenty of things to do for all ages including water sports and massages.

by!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s it was fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!