Don't know anything about the tila. The Yuvam is at the top of a steep hill.
Going to the grand ucel next Monday 1st May.
There are many bad reports about this place but it has been taken over and refurbished so its it the lap of the gods. Most of the reports have been on Realholiday Reports The ucel has changed its name a few times Was Ucel then Hidden Garden then Club Solaria now Grand Ucel. It has many pics on their web site. The good news is the proprty they also own have had very good write ups. If you go to
http://www.salhan.com you will see. link to Grand Ucel site It looks nice.
Margaret

hi

thanks for the link to that it looks fine, ive been offered this really cheap for my husband ,myself and daughter or a hotel in olu deniz itself which i love for a £100 more and cant decide whether its worth paying that £100 lol oh decisions lol

When are you going. I am worried the work may not be finished by the 1st May. That could sway which one you decide to stay in.
Margaret

not til oct , going to turkey in july too but staying at akyaka

Ah well at least you will know by then.
Will do review when i get home.
Margaret

might hang on then, just this price we got was under £140 each inc flights, hotel, trans etc so was worried it would go up as its from our local airport too, might take a chance and wait lol

We stayed there a few years ago, the owner Polo was great as was the staff, but they were having problems at the time, the uncle had lost all the family money(he liked to gamble) big apartments, good maid service.
The down side was unknown to us they had turned it into an all inclusive
after we booked but failed to inform us,it was packed, if you wanted to get to the pool you would have had to get up at six, no kidding, no one moved from the pool side allday, so you had no chance.
We found a nice hotel in Hisaronu and went there every day, the owner would pick us up and bring us back when we were ready, we also spent time at the apartment block oposite, really nice friendly people, but the bar was a bit to expensive for us.
Saying all that we had a great hliday as it is what you make of it yourself, will be interesting to hear your comments when you get back, have a god one

COMMENTS ARE RE GRAND UCEL

WHERE DID YOU GET SUCH A GOOD OFFER FOR OLU DENIZ?

*Edit please do not post with caps lock on Briar

hi

thanks for your replies im swaying towards the karbel now after reading such good reports , ive had a few quotes depending on which flight i go with but both from birmingham,without trans which will probably be around 60-70 return, this is for 2 adults and 1 child, £499 for a week, or 459, think will go for 499 as flight times are better and 7 days whereas other is only 6, 499 is with lowcostbeds, 459 flights with goldtrail, hotel with findmeaccommodation.com, xl are doing this as a package for 569 too from east midlands, goldtrail have got some packages from 413 for the 3 of us really cheap but at the tila garden which i cant find any reviews so this would worry me, dates are between 9-13th oct

Has anyone been to these apartments recently, as in the last month or has anyone booked to go back. Ive just booked for myself, my partner and 21 month old daughter to go there for a week on 25 June B&B. Just wondered if the aqua park is finished now?

Thanks,
Gemma

We were supposed to say in the Ucel but they were not finished. We went and had a look at them they were due to be finished in the next ten days. This was in May. They look great. There is a recent write up on the hotel reviews here by someone who has actually stayed there. The only down side is Ovacik its self. There is nothing there at all. We spent a fortune going to Hisaronu/ Olu Deniz and Fethiye. Each journey did not cost a lot but it really adds up over a week, when you are doing it two or three times a day. Plus side very quite and peaceful.
Margaret

thats why ive decided to stay in olu as i dont like to be in middle of no where and as you say taxis etc do add up, still not booked a hotel yet just got my flights booked ,will book hotel later

Ive just got back from a weeks holiday at the Grand Ucel hotel in Ovacik and felt that I should write a review to balance out some of the negative feedback I had previously read. I had read lots of dubious things online before we set off and was expecting the worst just in case things started to go wrong. The flight from Manchester was delayed by 3 hours, which wasn't a major big deal, but thought it might possibly be a sign of things to come. The flight over was fine and I was greatly relieved to be met by the Goldtrail reps at Dalaman Airport and directed onto the correct bus. They ticked off our names on a list and as soon as I realised they were aware that we were meant to be there, and had us down for the correct hotel, I calmed right down and started to enjoy my holiday (like I said id read some previous horror stories)
When we arrived at the Grand Ucel the sun was shining and it looked absolutely amazing. Much nicer than the photos on the website. The hotel looked clean and the check in was fantastic. We were in our hotel room about 5 minutes after we got off the bus. My boyfriend and me were expecting a twin room, but we were given a double room instead, which was great as it didn't mean pushing the beds together. It was clear that the whole hotel had been completely refurbished .Our hotel room was brand new - you could still smell the paint a little bit. There was plenty of storage space and the shower room was lovely. It was a normal self contained-shower like in the UK with doors on, so the bathroom floor didn't get wet. We had hot running water at any time, day or night. The bins were emptied and towels changed as often as necessary.
The hotel (and Hisaronu resort) was surprisingly quiet to say that we went in the school holidays. I was expecting it to be completely over run, but there were generally only a handful of people around the pool at any one time, and the same at the bar and restaurant. The positioning of the hotel is excellent - short Dolmus ride to Hisaronu, Oludeniz and Fethiye so it never takes you too long to get to where you need, and its really quiet compared to the other resorts, and also a bit cooler. The staff there were always falling over themselves to help you. They were absolutely fantastic. There always seem to be there as well. We would see them at 7.30am cleaning and preparing for breakfast and they were still there when we went to bed every night. A couple of them that we spoke to said that they get by on 5 hours sleep a night. (Hi to 'Steve' by the way - the head-waiter, who is an absolute gem) We were staying on a bed and breakfast basis. Turkish breakfast was included in the price, or you could pay for a full English breakfast. Both were great. We got an English breakfast on 2 days, which was really nice (although they boil their sausages rather than fry or grill them, which is really bizarre and we couldn't eat them) The Turkish breakfast consisted of a boiled egg, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, cheese, bread, jam, and honey. The olives weren't really for me but the rest was delicious and the bread over there is amazing. We ate lunch at the hotel once - chicken kebab which was very well prepared and presented and very cheap, and we ate dinner at the hotel on our last night - Ottoman Casserole at the recommendation of Steve the head waiter. This meal was the best meal I had eaten all holiday. We ate out somewhere different each night and the meals were always superb - with the exception of one, which was surprisingly at Salhan apartments just down the road. This hotel is owned by the same person as the Grand Ucel but obviously doesn't have the same calibre of chef.
The restaurants in Hisaronu were all pretty quiet and consequently were always trying their best to try and draw you in from the street. It gets a bit tiresome, but the best thing to do is just smile and say "hello"¦ no thank you" All the prices are generally the same and they sell similar sorts of dishes so its best to choose a restaurant that you like the look of rather than checking the menu, cos once they see you looking at the menu they will come out and try and drag you in.
I had been told before I went to Turkey that they are a very friendly nation and was very pessimistic thinking they are just like that to get business from you - and to an extent that is true, when the resort is quiet they are all competing for the same customers. But once you choose where to eat and sit down they treat you like royalty. They get a conversation going and lots of them are hilariously funny. They know that the better time you have in the restaurant the more likely you are to go back again and also recommend it to friends (I recommend the Sun Trap, The Piano Bar, and the Italian next door to Piano Bar but forgot what its called, the pizza there was the best I've ever had and the waiters were excellent and made us feel really welcome) Hisaronu itself is aimed very much for the English holiday makers. It pretty much like Blackpool abroad although lots more classy and better food. We even caught a bit of one of the England matches whilst we were away!! Haha. We generally avoided most of the bars and clubs to avoid the tourists, we didn't mean to catch the England game, we were just going back for more of the cheap Sangria we discovered earlier that day when it was really quiet - oh how it changes at night!! Lots of sunburnt English getting drunk and rowdy every night - This isn't my scene really but its quite easy to avoid. We had the perfect holiday in Ovacik. At the end of the day anyone who complains that they haven't had the best time has not made enough effort to make their own holiday the best that it can be. We didn't stay around the pool all day or sit drinking in bars or lie on Oludeniz beach, we made the best of our time doing excursions and activities. I would thoroughly recommend to anyone going on the 12 island boat trip and the Jeep safari which were both amazing. We also visited Kaykoy deserted village, which was ace, and went to the Tuesday Fethiye market. This was a bit too hectic for me and I wouldn't go again unless I was looking to buy something specific. We just went for a look round. We did buy an excellent donner kebab there though. We also went paragliding off Babadag mountain which was out of this world and the highlight of our holiday. We also went to Oludeniz beach on one day, this was a bit disappointing to be honest. It is a pebbly beach and you cant really chill out there for long as it is far too hot, there is no breeze at all. It does look lovely though so I am glad we went there just so we can say we've been.
One minor gripe about the hotel though-an hour before our coach was due to pick us up I mentioned that we would settle out tab on the credit card and they said they didn't accept credit cards!!! We had to quickly pack our clothes, book a taxi to take us to town to get some money from the cash point and come back to pay in cash. The coach to pick us up arrived about 2 minutes later! This caused us a major headache and it was a shame to have the stress right at the end of our holiday. Also"¦ Dalaman airport on the way home was a complete nightmare. It was the most disorganised and cramped place I have ever been in in my life, it was terrible. We were also delayed for an hour with no word on why, they didn't even tell us the flight was delayed! We just had to sit in the departure "lounge" and wait. These are the only negatives to the holiday though.
The Grand Ucel is expected to get a lot busier in the next few weeks as they have built a new aquapark. Unfortunately this wasn't available at the time of our holiday but we could see it being built and it looks brilliant. I expect that once that is finished the Grand Ucel will be the best hotel in the area. I would definitely go back there again in the future and I wish the staff all the best with the coming season. Many thanks for giving me and my boyfriend the best holiday ever.

What a great report. Pity we did not get to stay there, maybe next time.
Not with goldtrail though because this is the last year of the goldtrail contract. I suspect they will be much more expensive next year.
Margaret

thanks for such an informative report, ive already booked my flights to do a diy but i got offered this hotel on a package for 3 of us for a week around £400 in oct ,bargain, but was worried about lack of reports and it being a bit further from olu than i wanted, but sounds good

its only about 15 minutes from oludeniz, its really close to all the amenities you will need. Although id recommend going out in Hisaronu rather that Oludeniz, because its a little bit cheaper

one other thing to people that are going over

take plenty of £ Sterling

we didnt, and it wasnt a problem, but things are often a bit cheaper if you pay in £ cos they are so desperate for the £ over there.

Most of the Menus are in £ as well

Exchange rate over there is currently 2.95 Lira to the £

have a good one
Sarah xxxxxxx

pics look great, but i want to be next to the lagoon as we love the beach, looking at all incs as prices for them are so good, ive been a few times to this area so know it quite well but not that familiar with hotels around ovacik area

if you go to the beach make sure you have some of those plastic/rubber shoe things. they sell them at loads of shops at oludeniz, but not at the lagoon itself. and it would be a shame to have your day dampened cos you cant even walk around

its all really really hot pebbles. you cant even walk into the sea without your shoes on cos you get crippled by the stones.

sarah x

Try Suara Beach. Lovely clear water, proper sand , no pebbles at all. Some pics in the Ovacik album. Free bus from Olu takes about five mins around the lagoon. So peaceful.
Margaret