Hi All,
We are visiting the P Palace in September with a two year old.
Do you know if there are any kids clubs that you can go to and stay with the children, rather than a creche??

Thanks

My two kids are older and went in the clubs on their own. I dont think there is a club for the two year olds apart from the creche. I'm positive the other clubs start from the age of 3.

Having read a lot of reviews on this site before we left we wanted to add our comments. Sorry if this is long, but I know some of you will want the details, good and bad. Firstly to make it clear from the outset, we did have a really nice holiday.

Our flight to Dalaman from Gatwick was fine. However the queue (if you can call it that) for the obligatory £10 visa was shambolic as it's really just a mad bundle to see who can get to the desk first. There was only one person on the desk, which considering three British flights had just arrived was optimistic at best. They seemed almost surprised to see us.

The transfer was short and bumpy. Check in was possibly the best we've ever experienced. Your luggage is unloaded from the coach while you check in. The hotel staff are helpful and efficient. The room key cards and wrist bands are all ready waiting for your arrival. Your luggage is delivered to your room via the porters buggies within 15 minutes, although a tip is expected. Make sure you have some cash to hand.

The Hotel and the grounds are lovely. They are beautifully landscaped and immaculate. There were always people cleaning and gardening. Our room was great. We had a Jacuzzi suite as it was all we could get when we booked, but we are so glad we paid the extra. The air con is on all the time so you do have somewhere cool to escape to. Housekeeping is excellent, the room was cleaned everyday. We had clean sheets twice during our 10 day stay and extra blankets and pillows were no problem. Our room overlooked one of the small pools at the back. Just to let you know, none of the rooms has a kettle unless you hire one from reception at £2 a day. If you can't start your day without a cup of tea/coffee first thing, then take a small travel kettle.

Weather it was hot"¦really hot, reaching toward 50° at times and this is where the first real problem occurs. There are not enough parasols to go round. There are some covered areas around the main pools and we did spend a day under one of these but the sun beds are packed in so tightly that you can read the pages of the book of the person next to you (I may well read that Bill Bryson book myself as it seems funny, but the bloke reading it fell asleep and snored terribly!). There is a definite lack of privacy, in that the people around you can hear your every word. We were lucky to get those two sun beds though (2 between the 4 of us). The rest of the areas around the pools are dotted with parasols. If you are prepared to get up at 7am every day and reserve your beds with a parasol then you may get lucky. One of our room neighbours was an early riser to go running every day and she reported kids out at 7am with piles of towels to claim their beds for the day. You will be told by the reps at the welcome meeting that beds cannot be reserved before 9am, but the reality is that 9am is far too late, you be sat in the scorching sun all day with nothing to shade you. We raised the parasol issue with the reps (who agreed there was a problem but were apathetic) and they said that the hotel were working on a solution, so hopefully this situation will improve because it's not fun when the temperature is in the mid 40s and you have two children under 10 who are having to be smothered in sun block at every opportunity. Sadly there were some people who were happy to just take parasols and move them, which meant that one day there were none left at the baby pool. What sort of person knowingly takes the only shade people with babies have? We couldn't understand why the hotel couldn't just buy a load more, but in our (humble) opinion, the solution was obvious. Each room should be allocated their own parasol which you take with you to the pool. Bases could be collected from the towel collection point every day and so if you needed a late start you did not have to worry about getting that much needed shade. Probably too simple by far.

Food"¦we read some differing reports about the food on this site. The truth is that you'll never please everyone. Yes there were chips available with every meal; however there was also, rice, pasta and other potato types. We can say that over a ten day period we saw them in their jackets, sauteed, au gratin, mashed, wedges, in cream sauce, in a veggie stew with tomatoes and onions. Now call me a cynic, but I don't think there are than many more ways of cooking with a potato. There were lots of salads. There are different meat dishes every day, consisting mainly of lamb, chicken and turkey, obviously no pork and curiously not a lot of beef, but veal a few times. There were some heavenly looking desserts and always lots of lovely fruit; melon, cherries, apples, oranges, grapes, plums and fruit salad at all three meals. Breakfast was nice, omelettes cooked to your own spec, fresh pastries, croissants, pain au chocolat, bagels etc, cereals including the all important cocopops, fruit, and hot food; eggs, beans, sausage, but again obviously no bacon. In all I really cannot see what people have to complain about. The food was hot and plentiful and if you are happy to eat al fresco, no queues. We tried to eat indoors once and left. We were not prepared to join a bun fight for the same food that was outside.
If you have babies then there are high chairs and microwaves for heating food and bottles which is really useful. You just get on with it, no silly health and safety rules about heating food, which is refreshing.

Kids clubs"¦fantastic, very secure, lots of variety, great team of reps who worked really hard. The same can be said for family activities with the'In2Action' team; our son had a lovely time raft building with his dad and doing some archery and curling. The range of activities for kids, all the family and adults is huge, we had to put a small timetable together to make sure things the children wanted to do didn't clash! Our daughter also went to a couple of sessions of Stagecoach, culminating in a live performance on the Sunday evening which was great fun.

Entertainment now we've never really been into the entertainment stuff, always preferring to have a quiet drink in the evening, but not here. Usually entertainment is droll, performed by the same people who met you at the airport!"¦not in a Holiday village, they have employed the professional entertainment company E3 to do it for them. We were really impressed by the quality of the shows they put on. We had not intended to go but our daughter wanted to see 'Girls allowed' and I have to say those girls were great. They did an hour with one costume change performing all the hits and our little girl loved it"¦and so did I. The 'Back to Skool' show was hilarious and I would say to those like us"¦give it a try; we think you'll be impressed. A precursor to the main show is the crowsfeet island hour. The name tends to imply that this is for the very young children, but this is not the case. There is a different theme each night, with the same songs for the children to dance along to - they all love it. In addition to the evening entertainment at the amphitheatre there is also a quiz and the obligatory cash bingo at the pool bar, followed by different entertainment each night (karaoke, cabaret, guest entertainers). If you want a table at the Pool Bar, get there by 8:30.

Pools .there was plenty of room for everyone, they never felt too busy"¦BUT there are issues with the cleanliness. Both our children have ear infections as a result of swimming as did over 100 other people in the resort. This cannot be coincidence. First Choice and Iberostar are adamant that the pools are clean and checked regularly. A trip to the on site doctor cost us £92 ( and 7 yr old literally screaming in agony whilst they syringed her ears, which I now understand to be the last thing you do with infected ears!!!) which he then converted to lira at an incredible 3YTL to the £. There were several instances of people defecating in the main pool whilst we were there - it beggars belief what sort of a person does this? On each occasion the pool was cleared whilst the maintenance men attempted to capture the rogue object, then sprinkled chlorine in the vicinity and declared it safe once more - not sure this would satisfy UK H&S requirements! If you want to see the pools in their true light, look carefully at night at the 2 large pools (main & slide) for the scum line around the edge and the greasy film on the top of the undisturbed water - the rainbow sheen looked more like a fuel spill! In their defence, they are all bottom cleaned at night, and we witnessed the water being tested at the small pools which we mainly used, twice a day every day - quite what they tested it for though ?

Swim kids .We took 2 non-swimmers on holiday with us, and brought back 2 water babies, each sporting their own 25m certificate and very proud of themselves. £30 per child for 5x30min sessions - money well spent we believe, we cannot thank the instructors enough.

Bars - 4 in total, and we experienced good queuing habits at all times. When they are not hiding out the back or having a chat with their mates, the bar staff are very swift at serving, although a couple of extra staff at peak times would not go amiss and some of them seem to have had a charisma bypass.

Trips - we only went on one (the AI gullet cruise) which we booked through First Choice for ease. We had a thoroughly relaxing lazy day, stopping for swims at 5 locations - the kids loved jumping in the sea. Yes they are cheaper purchased privately in the village of Sarigerme, but the choice is yours.

AI Ice cream - This is available from 10 - 5 from the beach bar, which in reality is not that far at all from the pools, but the cynic in me says it is there to cut down the amount they have to give out, as the walk discourages many people. Don't even think about bringing them back for all the family, they will have melted!

Money - First choice price everything in pounds, and work on an exchange rate of 2.75 YTL to the £ if you pay by credit card or lira (it's 2.44 in the banks, and even the hotel foyer). The shops in the hotel are expensive"¦you are a captive audience. Our advice, take cash (sterling and lira), because although it is AI you will end up spending some money.

Photographers - There are on-site photographers who take shots by the main pool in the evenings, and offer a range of options of sizes and articles to have your photos printed upon. In addition they offer albums with extra shots taken around the grounds - the results in our opinion are great.

Location - As is made quite clear in the brochure and the website, the hotel is not in the centre of a bustling town, or even on the edge of it. A good 20 min walk in the searing heat or a 7YTL taxi ride will take you to the small collection of shops that is Sarigerme, which is bolstered on Sundays by a local market.

Reps - First Choice have a total staff of over 60 people working in the hotel, comprising In2Action, E3, Kids Club, Swimkids, and of course the reps. The first 4 groups are all great and work extremely hard The reps let the side down, as they are not prepared to listen to criticism, and just roll out standard pre-prepared answers instead of actually doing anything positive"¦they are paid for by you to help you, not to be a defensive mouthpiece for themselves and Iberostar whom they appear to be in cahoots with. Note: If you use either of the 3 small pools by the Jacuzzi suites you will not see a rep all day unless you actively seek one out, under instruction from their management they loiter around the 3 main pools all day.

Tom watch - we had no idea what this was until we got there. Basically AI in the bars stops at 0100 and starts again at 1000, so to avoid any cash transactions this is a unique electronic tag which you purchase credit on like a pay as you go mobile, and is then deducted at point of sale. It can also be used during AI times to purchase branded drinks - we didn't use it at all, so cannot make any further comment.

Ok, that's it, sorry for the epic read"¦I think I've covered all of it, but if you have any questions just ask.

Ackers wrote:

We are visiting the P Palace in September with a two year old.
Do you know if there are any kids clubs that you can go to and stay with the children, rather than a creche??

The creche do "stay and play" sessions which are designed for parents and littles ones to come to together. Not sure if they are everyday though. They are advertised on the kids club information boards.

hi could anyone tell me if they do exercise classes at the hotel and did anyone try them? and whats the gym like, 3 weeks and 4 days i cant wait, any info would be great. thanks steph

Thanks for all the Info Smurf / duncan & lynda.

got loads of idea's and things i never thought of taking. Going on the 10th from newcastle for the week cant wait .

Earplugs at the ready for a piecefull holiday then.

Anyone know if there is a excursion to the aqua park and approx price ? think im going to go armed with tenners for the markets
Thanks

Andy

I dont remember any excursions to any water parks I'm afraid.

Liam-I know this is a bit of a late reply from your request about the air con unit under the hut but I have had probs with my internet at home so since coming back last Monday this is the first chance I've had to post.
I was sat under there my last day and I didn't see any probs at all with it or any leaks so looks like they must have sorted that out.

We had a fab time at the HV, a smooth check in, didnt bother with welcome meeting just saw the reps to sign the kids into kids club, stage coach and swimkids in the lobby outside of where the welcome meeting was.

Thought the food was great, my two girls age 9 and 5 loved the breakfasts and the snack bar, struggled a little bit a couple of nights with the younger one as she doesnt eat pasta or pizza but always managed, tended to fill her up a bit at lunch and then she enjoyed the soup and a heap of bread most nights.
Enjoyed the restaurant at lunch a couple of days, nice change from the snack bar, jacket potato and cheese were my oldests fav and kids can get ice cream there but need to pop some clothes on! The girls loved the pancake lady in the tent, Fatma was the best, she was lovely, she really appreciated a couple of lira now and again too. Tried the 3 alacartes, couldnt get in at all out first week, didnt think much of the Italian or the Turkish but the Asian was great but made a lovely change to be waited on. If the kids dont like anything, they can just go to the buffet on the terrace and bring their food back into the alacartes-ideal.

The Efes was nice and I'm not a lager drinker, enjoyed the wine with a bit of sprite, vodka was good and the peach schnapps nice and refreshing with sprite too. I had the melon schnapps on out last day, it was yummy wish I had found that before, there was orange too but not so nice.Didnt try the raki, smelled awful!

Pools were fab, loved the entertainment going on around the main pool, good fun and the slides were good too. Me and my husband took it in turns to get up about 7.15-7.30 to go and bag a couple of sunbeds, usually fine at this time but did notice a few familes bagging say four in the shade and four at the poolside and then alternating, thought that was a bit selfish considering how full the hotel was.Also didnt understand why some people would get out of bed early to save the sunbeds and then not turn uptil late afternoon when they could get beds then anyway!!!Beyond me! The t-shirt or pillow painting by the snack bar was good too,got them out of the sun for a bit and a lovely souvenier £10 each.

Entertainment, a bit hit and miss but on the whole enjoyed it, usually sat up on the balcony above the amphitheatre as found it really stuffy in there. The shows were entertaining and the team work really hard and they are a talented bunch, my girls enjoyed like the girls allowed show and the holiday stars show, I liked the one with Grease etc in and the We Will Rock You show. Bingo and singers etc by the pool bar but got very crowded, need to get a seat early. We prefered seeing the show and then sitting and having a drink in the bar down below with our friends and the people we met.

I thought the kids clubs were excellent and really well run, my kids didnt go til the second week and wished they had gone before, the youngest was in the Sylvester club, she is 5 and she went in the afternoon and the evening.The evening one was nice 9-11pm, a couple fo times we fed them first and them went back for our meal in peace whilst they were in the club. My oldest-9- was in the wavelength club and they always had something going on, she also did a lot with the in2action team, like highropes, snorkelling etc, they were a great bunch and had a real good rapport with the kids. The signing in and out was good, made you feel secure in leaving them there.

Beach was pretty but so hot you would have frazzled down there, only went down the one time and not for too long, some watersports there but we didnt try so cant comment.

Did the mud bath tour with Varrolar Tours in Sarigerme, cost £35 for the four of us and it was a lovely day out, bus to Dalyan and then boat to the fun but smelly mud baths and then back on the boat down the canals, really pretty to a place for lunch and then onto Turtle Beach for a couple of hours.Lovely and the guide Kenan was fab, he was so knowledgeable and made the bit of history of Turkey he gave real good fun. Definately recommend him.

We ate out in Sarigerme 2 nights, reasonable and a really nice change, Sarigerme Restaurant 1st time, nice food and good fun, Paradise 2nd time, food a bit nicer but not same atmosphere. Kids went on the trampolines down there and had ice cream, all really cheap and we did our pressy shopping, had some good bargains and fun whilst being served apple and cherry tea, bought some cherry to come home, kids loved it and some spices too. Did'nt try the market only because we were in a lazy mood on the Sunday.

We went across to the Tropical hotel one night to eat in the Steakhouse, booked at HV reception, it is a must, it was gorgeous and she gave us loads of free drinks and breads etc, such a beautiful setting and then we stayed over there and got some drinks at the bar, they didn't seem bothered that we had different colour bands on. Nice relaxed atmosphere over there. Went back in the day for the slides, they were much faster than HV,watch for your bikini tops though. Whilst we were there they served their afternoon tea-wow-profiteroles, chocolate cake-mmm ...very nice.

Cant think what else to write but any q's go ahead. I'm really jealous of all of you going now.

Shar
xxx

Bullseye - fantastic details - thanks - just what we needed as we are going on Monday - seems like you had a great time - you dont mention the mozzies or ear infections - were these not a problem for you? Didnt realise you could book the restaurant at the Tropical so thats good to know. Do you know if they run any of the fitness classes they advertise in the brochure or what the gym is like (heard reports that the treadmills werent working - need to do some token exercise while I'm away as I eat like a pig and come home 1/2 stone heavier if I dont)

Hi Bullseye,

Carcking feedback..really looking forward to getting over there 1st week in September.

You mentioned the Steakhouse over in the Tropical. but booking it through the HV. Is it free to eat over there or did you have to pay..?

did you hear of anyone with ear infections whilst you were over there..we are quite concerned about this as we have a 3 year old, and a 5 month old with us and last thing we won't is for either of them to catch this.

We spoke with !st Choice today and they gave us this response via email

"Thank you for contacting First Choice expressing your concerns with the
Holiday Village Turkey.

I can confirm that the hotel has had 4 official reported cases on a
virus like infection within the pool. However, First Choice is aware of
this and has checked out the pool. We tested chlorine levels etc, and
found the pool to be highly satisfactory. Here at First Choice we take
health and safety very seriously, and would never send any of our
customers that fail to meet our strict health and safety tests. Please
be aware that if circumstances were to change at the Holiday Village
Turkey, then we will notify all of our customers"

Just hope they've cleared it up by now.

Thanks
HolidayMad

Bullseye - where were you? Never saw you or at least I don't think I did!!! We sat by the Swim Kids. Where were you?

Holiday Mad - Ear infections - believe me what FC are telling you is not correct. When we had a meeting with the head rep and the two Iberostar Pool Technicians, the rep told us there were 28 cases that had been referred to the hotel doctor that week. FC are also fully aware of people defecating in the main pool and that this is in turn creating bacteria. When I reported "pooh" in the pool one evening, I was told that this had been happening all season and they really did not know why. JUST BE VERY CAREFUL ESPECIALLY WITH SUCH YOUNG CHILDREN.

As my husband always gets an ear infection (and yes he did again this year!!!), I spoke to my local pharmacist before going to see if there was anything he could buy over the counter as a preventative. Alas no, only on prescription from the doctor. His advice was to use vaseline to line the ear, put some on a bit of cotton wool and put that in the ear. Both my husband and son did this but TOH got the infection; the son never! The only advice I can give you is that when your children come out of the pool, please make sure that you dry their ears with a bit of tissue NOT THE POOL TOWEL. A tissue absorbs the water laying in the ear whereas a towell just pushes it further in.

It is such as shame about the ear infections as it takes the edge off such a lovely place; we had a lovely holiday; weather was in the 50s for a couple of days and if you can, do the jeep safari - it is the best day out by far!!!

GillG - Mozzies. Use Avon SOS and you will be fine. Like Cuba last year, TOH used this and only got bit where he hadn't applied the spray. Don't waste your money on Jungle Fever or anything else. This works.

I am so angry that First Choice doesn't seem to want to try and tackle this ear infection problem.
My 7 year old was screaming (literally) with pain as the doctor treated her and I was very distressed as any parent would be seeing their child in that situation.

I raised a concern with the rep (big lad, swans around the reception area) and he seemed totally disinterested. If he is the face of First Choice then frankly they don't give a flying f*** how we or our kids feel"¦it's not their problem. In their opinion the pools are clean and that's the end of it, they are not prepared to accept the fact that lots of customers are suffering and this is spoiling their holidays"¦holidays that we have paid a lot of hard earned money for. I know that a lot of people had complained about the pools, and I think the reps are sick of hearing about it.

There is nothing you can do to prevent the problem, but"¦ we spent most of our time in the small pools at the rear of the Jacuzzi suites. These pools were quieter and to us had a higher concentrate of chlorine (you could taste it) than the other pools. They seemed cleaner to us. They are away from the madding crowds and therefore the bars but we liked it there. We believe that our kids picked up the infection from their time at 'Swimkids' in the main pool because none of the other children we spent time with at the small pools developed an infection coincidence"¦maybe, but we'll never know.

If I have any advice it is to take cash as the Medical service use an exchange rate of YTL3 to the £1 exploitation in my opinion and"¦make sure you take lots of pain killers and anti inflammatory. Luckily I travel ready for any eventuality and so carry a first aid kit and medicine chest with me so I had lots of Calpol and junior brufen in my case. I saw a lady buy paracetamol from the doc in the hotel and he charged her YTL10 for a pack that would have cost 30p from Asda or similar.

I hope that any of you who are going soon do not fall foul of this bacterial infection.

*Edit for libel reasons personal names removed Briar

Smurf you are so right - FC are oblivious to the infection and just don't want to know. Our daughter works for FC and believe you me, I can understand why the reps have the attitude they have - like all employers FC are not the best and contrary to what people believe their employees earn a pittance and commission is a thing of the past hence they no longer try and sell you everything when you go to the welcome meeting. But I won't bore you with what I think of them as an employer!!!!

She advised us to write a letter of complaint to FC about the ear infections/bacterial infection. I said it was a waste of time but she said no you should do it because using the pools is a major part of your holiday and they have got to take some responsibility for what is happening in resort. Hence we have sent a letter and I will let you know the outcome but we aren't holding our breath!!!

I think we were there the same time as you as when we had the meeting with FC/Iberostar someone we spoke to said that their daughter's friend had had to have her ears syringed - maybe that your was daughter?

I just feel sorry to people still to go out there knowing what we have told them but you never know, FC might admit there is a problem and deal with it!!!

PS : Forgot to say the rep big lad he isn't the head rep; she is a female
*Edit for libel reasons personal names removed Briar

Jackie

I don't suppose it was you and your husband we spoke to briefly on our last evening. We were sat right next to the FC reps desk, waiting for our return transfer.

I will think very seriously about taking the issue up with FC, as i do agree that they have to take some responsibility even if it is just letting customers know about the situation.

Smurf

That was us Smurf!!! I remember you saying that your son had come down with the infection. You were flying back to Gatwick if I remember right. Small world!!!

It might be worth putting pen to paper to FC becuase if they do get enough complaints, perhaps they will start taking the matter seriously enough. Our son was born deaf in one ear so to have a problem with his "good" ear was our dread; thankfully that never happened but there could be a child left with a hearing problem because of the infection.

I will say that on the last 2 days we only used the jacuzzie pools and you could smell the chlorine in them so maybe they upped the dosage.

LOL small world indeed. We were delayed on our return journey and so didn't get home until 07:30. I was on the phone at 09:00 to our GP and our son was then prescribed antibiotics and I had the doc check daughters ears for any damage. He said that they should have never syringed her ears if an infection was present, but how was I to know that.

Anyway they are both ok now, and we will write to FC. You never know they may well do something. Thinking about it I should have got a sample of the water myself and had it tested here in the uk. Now sure how i would have done that but.....well it's too late now.

If there are any budding chemists/scientists out there who fancy taking a couple of sample jars with them.........

Smurf

Someone told us that a lady had indeed taken a sample of the water to bring home with her for analysis so you never know Smurf, she might be on this forum! Fortunately for us TOH is used to getting infections in his ear so he just kept out of the water for the remainder of the holiday but bearing in mind the excessive temperatures, it wasn't easy.

I will say that it hasn't put us off of HV holidays; we have booked Egypt for next summer and have been to the Costa del Sol one. The concept is brilliant and we think gives you very little to complain about because the children are so well catered for. Its just a shame that something like this takes over and spoils it.

Can I just say that I was there last year and my son and me got the dreaded infection, and I was avoiding it!

The testing that is done regulary is to fill in the white boards with ph levels and whatever else is displayed to all by the pool bar. It does not test for any infections.

We are going t o Bulgaria this year and FC are lying through thier teeth that there is no people poorly over there (E-coli believe ot or not!, but hay, we have that here). Thwy use the same response to any complaint and it is all lies, they need to be honest and we wil believe them.

QAs for the reps, they are not at all any good or usefull. I had salmonella last year and ended up in hospital. The rep said there is no issues with the hotel and that I must be drinking too much. if I seen him in the street now!

Other than the illnesses, the hotel is very, very good in terms of a family holiday