I can only recommend don't do all inclusive, Although i have never gone all inclusive myself, I have only ever heard bad reports,mainly problems with food and/or drinks.If the food is bad you are stuck with it unless you are prepared to shell out more on restaurants and what was dished up the night before, is breakfast on the following day, the drinks side seem to come in small glasses with small measures so you spend more time queuing for them than actually enjoying them.from my own point of view i look at the all inclusive hotels and think the high barbed wire and tall walls are more for keeping the occupants in than keeping others out, I have also spoken to people on trips that have payed far more through the hotel than i ever did organizing the trip directly with the company doing it or the local tour firms,
I am sure many people on here will shout me down and say how wonderful they are, i have just yet to meet anyone in person.
Good Luck

Hi Britmark

Sorry can't help on your choice of hotel as we are first timers to Turkey come August, however I wouldn't be put off by the comments on the previous post. Since ijduffell has never done an AI they are hardly in a position to pass comment. AI obviously isn't 'their thing' which is fair enough, but the post is a little opinionated in my opinion given their lack of first hand experience.

Each to their own though everyone is entitled to their own 'informed' opinion and personally we wouldn't do anything other than AI especially with the current poor exchange rates. We have yet to go on a bad AI.

If you want Marmaris grab the brochures and start looking at the hotel reviews both here and on Trip Advisor there's bound to be one that appeals, it just takes time. I nearly gave up on ours but then hit lucky!!

Good luck

Pam

very interesting keepupwith, you are right, what i say is a lot from hearsay and some of what i have seen with my own eyes, however it is interesting that you dont dismiss my coments as wrong , from your informed point of view, and you do nothing to say why ai is a good idea,
do you disagree that ai is a bit of a gamble in as much that if you get a bad deal, you are stuck with a bad deal, sure ai works for a lot of people as ai is very successful, and that is why the big money chains such as marriot and novotel put all of there money into foreign countries, to yield high profits, after all they are in it to make money and good luck to them, it is a shame though that they put a big pressure on the locally run, friendly business`s, forcing a lot to close, sure they do employ local people, I have walked into these hotels and never received the warmth and friendliness of the afore mentioned, Maybe i even have some issues with these large chain and what they do to change the most loved holiday spots in the world, ie the changes that Goa has under gone since 2000 have made a small paradise unrecognisable.
but without going to far of subject, is the food as good as the local restaurants, are the drinks as free flowing as we are led to believe and are they really as friendly as the local family run buiness, and do you really get to know the country your visiting whilst being hearded around by these organisations.
you are right ai is not for everyone fortunately i have enough insight to realise i am not one of them,

I have been to several AI in Turkey,( in Antalya, Belek, Bodrum, Kusadasi and Fethiye to name a few) as well as several BB and SC. I would say that AI is definately the way to go, especially if you have young children.
The food as always been wonderful, plentiful and well cooked. With lots and lots of choice.
The drinks - branded, as well as local have been free flowing - without queuing - and most are waiter service.
Add to that, 24 hr free room service, beautiful rooms with free stocked minibars, free safes and aircon. Entertainment day and night. Several large pools to choose from and all the ones we have been to have been directly on the beach.
What more could you want?
Denny

I have friends that always go AI in marmaris in May, the book thru TC AN STOP AT Grand Ideal

Ijduffell

I didn't go into the pro's of AI, since that wasn't really the question that Britmark asked. For what it's worth I do disagree with your view of AI- we research our accomodation carefully and have always been very pleased with our choice and no it is no more a gamble than any other holiday. The food has been good to excellent ( we don't drink much so don't need it to flow!!) and those hotels contribute as much to the local economy as the smaller restaurants etc. We make a point of venturing out of the hotel 'paid for' or not since we take our children abroad to experience new cultures and we actively seek out 'trips' that are a little different. The other benefits Denny put very well.

It seems that you hold very strong views against the AI concept, and your arguements remind me very much of the corner shop versus big supermarket chain debate that we get here. At the end of the day we all make a choice according to our budget and needs. We vowed having gone S/C never to do so again as we spent a fortnight budgeting, not eating terribly well and it cost us an awful lot of money to do so. Our total spend would have got us a very good AI hotel rather than mediocre S/C- it really was as they say a 'no brainer'

Sorry mods this is going way off the original topic

Pam

Hi

My wife and i have booked to go AI at the Sun city holiday village in Olu deniz. We booked it in May 2007 to go this Sept 2008. We have 3 kids aged 7,3 and 1. We have only ever stayed AI once and that was when we went to Dominican Republic for our Honeymoon and we loved every minute. One of the main reasons we chose to go AI this time is for cheapness. The forum asking about spending money is shocking. It is advising a family of 4 should look at spending £100 - £120 per day on food and drinks and around the shops. The price of our AI for the 5 of us for 2 weeks cost me £1645. We are looking at spending approx £500 - £600 on trips and shopping. You do not have to stay in the hotel as if it is a prison and you do not have to book all your trips through the hotel. We are planning to do what a lot of other people do and book them with the companies directly.

Sorry that i can not recommend any hotels in turkey as this is our first time. All i can say is look at the reviews and book an AI that you like the look of.

my last response here, don`t even get me started on the chain store supermarket hype, I think there should be a law against the over processed foods these places brainwash its customers into thinking are good, ready meals are just overpriced junk, fruit and veg that are definitely not fit for human consumption and meat that is just about ok for feeding to my dog, my family eat fresh veg and meat bought at the local farm, far superior in its flavour and texture with no waste, I remember the last leg of lamb that came from a well known chain, over 50% ended up in the bin as it was to fatty even our dog turned its nose up, i prefer cheap quality over expensive rubbish quantity any day

It would all depend what you expected from your AI deal. You can get a cheap deal or a very expensive deal it all depends on what you expect.

Jim.

We stayed approx 9 years ago in the Marmaris Park, situated on the beachfront between Marmaris and Iccmelar. The food, accomodation etc was excellent. You are not restricted from coming and going to either town (15 minutes walk either way). Since then we have been almost every year to a different resort in Turkey, but always all inclusive, minimum 4* and never been disappointed. We are off again next week to another in Side. What is nice is that apart from tips, you don't have to carry any money around during the day for food and drinks. It makes for a relaxing holiday. Of course we still went on boat trips and to markets etc, but to be honest we would not want to eat out in local restaurants. The same applies to holidays in Egypt. However we would never go A/I in Goa or Portugal because we love their cuisine and enjoy eating out somewhere diferrent every night. Everyone to there own I suppose, but in Turkey A/I is best for us. But that is just our opinion and choice and we have never regretted it.

I've just booked our third A/I in Turkey. The first was excellent, Fantasia in Kusadasi. Magico Bronzoin Hisaronu, nowhere near as good, but value for money, this one, The Grand Newport near Gumbet, I've read all reports on this and 3 other sites and nobody seems to have a bad word to say about it, except that the food gets repetitive in the second week. I'd expect that anyway so if we don't fancy the evening meal, try the local places. We are never prisoners of the hotels, but do make friends with the staff but more importantly, enjoy our holiday.
Report on the hotel will be posted later.

I was advised by my travel agent not to do AI in Turkey due to the
terrible reviews AI hotels get (not just poor food but the poor alcohol too)
and also as the cost of living out in Turkey
doesn't justify AI. They were his views, not mine!

For the last two years I have been A/I in Turkey and could not fault it

Well I have to agree with most others and disagree with ijduffell. The AI I stayed at in Turkey had excellent food. We ate out a few times and I gave up on it as I knew the food at my AI was better and I was fed up with paying to be disappointed.

Turkeys the same as everywhere else, some good resturants some indifferent and some bad.

Recent reports on here are showing people needing £1400 to £1800 on a family self catering holiday, on top of flights and accomm. Presumably mainly for food and drink. The other thing you circumvent by going AI is all the hassle when people try to bully you into going into their restaurants.

Poor alcohol in Turkey is not just restricted to AI's its poor everywhere unless you pay through the nose for imported brands. (buy a couple of litres of your chosen tipple in duty free on the way out )

I don't feel responsibe for the Turkish economy as I have enough problems worrying about the British one, my DH & I work hard all year and wont cave in to anyone trying emotional blackmail on me as to how I should spend my two weeks away.

Doe

There appear to be some very good deals for AI in Turkey. Personally I would only do AI somewhere like the Caribbean where you might be in a resort where there isn't much in the way of 'going out', or perhaps in Egypt or Dubai or something. It must be a godsend for those with children just for soft drinks and icecreams alone. Turkey isn't as cheap for eating out and drinking as it once was so I guess you have to weigh up what you want. There are, after all, AI hotels and complexes to suit different budgets.

For me, I don't have kids, I like to get outside the hotel a bit more for bars and drinks than meals (as my situation is I'm travelling with a singles company which always do half board as that alleviates the dining alone thing). If I'm with a boyfriend or friend then I tend to go self catering because the evening meal out in a restaurant is the highlight of the day.

I have heard more often than not on these boards and others that the AI hotels in Turkey have a far better reputation for food than those in other European resorts.

I would urge that you get out and about into town, book up some trips direct with the suppliers and have some lunches out or a few nights in the bars though.

Doe, I'm happy to drink the local brew - turkish vodka, gin, raki and efes and that's me sorted for a fortnight.

We are back going to Turkey at the end of July for what will be our 6th family AI holiday in Turkey. We have never returned to the same hotel or even area but have had 5 excellent holidays with quality accommodation, food and drink, though we would only ever use 4.5 or 5* hotels. In October we usually go to the Caribbean for an AI hoiday and I admit that the standards there are way above those in Turkey but Turkey comes a close runner up. We did AI in Egypt earlier this year (also very good and comparable with Turkey) but our worst experience ever was a 5* AI in Tunisia that we would happy have paid to leave! AI doesn't suit everyone - it suits us and as others have said if you research your hotel well you should be fine. Most of the bad reviews I have come across seem to be for 3 star hotels - I wouldn't touch one of these I'm afraid!

Cazz

Did AI for the first time this year in Belek. We stayed at The Cornelia Delux Resort 5*. It was excellent. Buffet food was brilliant and then you had al la carte restaurants where you were waited on. The drinks were fabulous, all international makes included in the AI. Cocktails were made with all the trimmings. The was plenty of waiters running about You could not have asked for anything better. All the hotels in this area are All Inclusive and mostly 5* or more.

We enjoyed it very much BUT we found when we went into the town it was very drab. There was nothing going on outside of the hotels. Presumably as nobody would spend any money on food and drink so it was not worth opening any restaurants or bars elsewhere.

Also we took a car out with some other people for the day, but the other people weren't keen to stay out too long, as they had already paid for food and drink at the AI.

I think the AI holiday makes you miss out on seeing the real Turkey or having any experience away from the hotel.

And its too good to miss

Thanks for the replies guy and girls, keep them coming.
The reason we are looking at Al is we have just come back and all the time we was there we ate and drank in the hotel,we are passed the age of night clubbing but we do intended to get out and about. But we mainly go to sit round the pool and relax.