Turkey Discussion Forum

Discussions regarding holidays in Turkey.
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hi there, we are going 4 weeks today!!! for 2 wks all inclusive in a juniour room (theres 2 adults & 3 kids)
was wondering if anyone could help on what is actually in the rooms?
in the brochure (FC) it doesnt mention hairdryer, but i've seen a few reviews from people that says there are hairdyers?
also can we use the mini bar to store milk for our 20 month old who has milk before bed?

thanks in advance if anyone can please help :)
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hello again everyone.

just got back from two brilliant weeks in aqua fantasy.

its an absolutely brilliant holiday, and anyone who is waiting to go has nothing to worry about.

we stayed in the new world side of the hotel having three rooms, two overlooking the turtle canal & bird sanctuary, and one overlooking the main pool.
Rooms are perfect, everything you could need as a base camp whilst on holiday. They were cleaned daily by the maids.
the food was brilliant, with fresh eggs & ommelettes fried in front of you every morning there was always something to eat for everyone, it was a bit of a queue sometimes but hey, theres queues everywhere.
when you get to the hotel, dont listen to the rep, the shopahoilics trip is a total waste of a day. you are better off getting a bus into town (2ytl or 80p) or a taxi (20ytl or £8) on a wednesday to the market there for your hliday bargains.

the beer in the hotel is called efes, and varies on fizziness from bar to bar, but tastes a bit like stella. the bars get busy at around 10.30 so fill your table at 10. :)
the green settees ouside the irish bar are the most comfortable in the world.

the animation team are excellent, Murat (Borat) is a laugh a minute he made our holiday for us, and sam is brilliant, jack, freddy & seltac go out of their way to make your holiday great.

say to borat '7 family, 1 cd', says hello.

they work from 7 in the morning till 12 or later at night for around £8 a day. So i think they deserve a medal.

when you go down to the beach, the watersports bloke 'aydin' he is also an amazing man, very helpful. he also runs the internet cafe at night. say hello to him for me aswell.

the only downside is the fact i had to come home.
and the mosquito's at the ampitheatre, take plenty deet or other insect repellant.

have a great holiday everyone.
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oh and darren the geordie mc is absolutely amazing. a true top bloke, laugh a minute.

eftal, the barman by the world side swim up bar is also amazing, halil in the restaurant is great, slip him 10 ytl at the the start of the holiday, and youre table will be reserved for the rest of youre stay ;)

aqua fantasy is superb, ingore all the other bad remarks. i would go back there in a heart beat.
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hi Robin :wave: so gald you had a ice time & that makes me very happy for you to say it was fab!
its 3 wks & 5 days till we go, getting very nervous, mainly coz of the flight though! hate flying, petrified.

anyway tell us more plz?! :)
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what do you want to know?

the place is mint! i hate flying, as a man of larger sizes (more x's than a porn star) i dont fit in the chairs very well, but i'd gladly endure the flight again to go back there, its well worth it.

you have a great time, & if you have a specific question, get back to me and i'll asnswer it as best i can.
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Julie,
Kuster is the little "village" to the North of Kusi, I think. There are some shops, hotels and bars and a beach. Further North is the hotel Tusan Beach Resort and next to that is a big hill. On your side of the hill is Adaland, and on the other side of the hill is Aqua Fantasy. Both are clearly visible on Google Earth.
We were there a few years back now, but AquaFantasy used to run their own buses which would stop on the roads and give you a free ride to the Water Park. The local Dolmuses all go up to Adaland as they used to wait in the car park opposite, but the selcuk dolmuses definitely went on and passed Aquafantasy as well as Ephesus on their journey, if you miss the free one or it is full.

Both Water parks have web sites and both were different. For the best of both worlds we had a thoroughly enjoyed day in each.
Not sure of the way it works now but it may be worth checking the prices just in case the organised trips get (and pass on!) a discount on the entrance fees.

Also check out the way the parks work as you used to get a mag stripe card on the way in, which you had to return at the end or pay a surcharge. Once inside the park you could put money on the card and that was the only way to pay for goods (food, ices and drink) inside the complex. At the end of the day you would be refunded what was left on the card. The parks also had different security locker arrangements, one charging a fiver deposit returned with the key and the other charging a rental for a lockable box. Not sure how they currently work.
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Hi Robinjones, great to hear you had such a good time as we go in 18 days!!

Can you advise which rooms we request and on which side the world or club please, and also do they supply beach towels? Also any info on the kids clubs would be welcome about the sort of activities they do etc.

Many thanks :cheers
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i stayed on the new world side, this was fine, i didnt get a chance to have a look at a club side room, but there were 17 in all in our party with 5 rooms all in the world side, with no complaints.

when you check in make sure they give you a towel card per person, then every day, you go to the poolbar by the new pool (worldside) and swap your towel card for a towel. and swap it back when your towel is wet, dirty, or no longer needed.

sorry, no info on the kids club as my kids made their own fun in the pools, the animation team are brilliant, and even got two of my kids taking part in the shrek show!

but at the end of the mini disco the kids club leader would tell everyone the following days activities and what time they wanted you to drop your kids off with them.

have a great time. and dont touch the mini bar.! ask them to lock it! £1.60 for a can of coke :( £2.40 for half a fizzy efes beer :que

get a taxi into town, fill up on all neccessities. you will still save money including the taxi fare!!

any more questions? i will do my best to answer honestly.
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Thnaks very much robin, that's very helpful.

Are there different places to eat other than the optional a la carte and do the offer snacks other then main meal times? Also did you try the a la cartes and is there any free ice-c ream for kids?

Thnaks again.
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Hi Pamplemouse

They have just opened a 'planet yucca' right at the entrance to the hotel, which offers a break from the norm, but its not a cheap option, but we went there one night and its a great place, they have entertainment on all night for you, if you choose to stay there.
A decent sized T bone steak with all the trimmings was around £12.

We went to try the steakhouse but the choice of steaks was a bit limited, so we gave it a miss, so i cant say if its any good or not.

ice cream is free for the kids for one hour between 1pm and 2pm, just cornets, chocolate or vanilla.

cornetto's & magnums and the like are available all day for an extra charge on your splashcard around £2 a piece.
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It's amazing how these messages bring it all back. For the last few years we have been going AI to the Caribbean, where the room tea/coffee makers and minibars (only beer and soft drinks) are included, as is ice cream for adults and many a la cartes. The food and drink in a couple were 24 hour, so if you felt like a burger and chips type meal at 3 am they would cook one for you as well as 24 hour lounge bars. All Inclusive meant all inclusive and it was hard to find something they charged for outside the beauty salon!
I looked back fondly through rose tinted specs to the AIs we stayed at in Turkey and have been angling towards going back especially to the Aqua Fantasy park. I had forgotten that after the long plane journey and bus ride we arrived after midnight so there were no drinks available apart from the cans of orange in the room fridge. Big mistake at the time and sounds even bigger now, it immediately puts a damper on the holiday and I cannot understand why they do it. I think at the time of our visit the hotel shop flogged the cans for less than 50p but the hotel charged a couple of quid through the minibar service. We didn't realise before we got the bill, or we would have restocked from the shop! I had also forgotten the ice cream restrictions etc. I think the Kusi water parks are excellent, but am having strong doubts about the Turkey AIs again.
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oh steve, doesn't sound great then, i was on the understanding we wil get soup & stuff when we arrive at Aqua Fantasy in just under 3 wks time now.
we arrive around midnightish too.
i do though think the icecream for an hour only is a bit strange.
we have never been All Inclusive before though so have nothing to compare it to.
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I didn't stay at the Aqua Fantasy itself so someone else will supply the welcome details for there. We stayed at the Tusan down the road the last time we went.

Our first AI (in fact first foreign family holiday) was to a "holiday from hell" hotel up in Cesme but we found it excellent. They had a cup of tea or orange and snack of biscuits and cakes waiting when we arrived. We then stayed AI in Ibiza before returning to the Tusan in Kusi, neither of those provided any welcome refreshments despite all being middle of the night arrivals (we go cheap). All three were excellent hotels for us and improved our experience each time.

The advice I was originally given, which has served us well, was to peruse the buffet and decide what you want before you start queuing. If you wouldn't eat it in the UK best not to eat it over there! By planning the route you can end up with a nice hot meal that suits even when everyone else is complaining. I've mentioned it before but it is still surprising the number of people who will stack veggies, chips, potatoes from the hot plates onto their plate and then stand in a long queue waiting for a meat course to be cooked/served and then complain that the meal is cold! We normally wander around and then pick up the soup and decide on the menu whilst eating the soup. When the food is all good it is an extra bonus but you still end up with the best choice of the day.
Since then by astute selection and a lot of luck, even though the holiday per person cost was less we have stayed at one of the best hotels in the DR and one of the best on Cuba as well as a 5 star in Mexico. They do put the notch up with welcome drinks for you whilst in the checkin queue, minibar contents included etc, however because they are "better" does not detract from the fact that the good Turkish ones are good and the Aqua Fantasy is one of the rated ones, coupled with continuous free access to one of the best water parks in the Med and beyond.

If this is your first AI then look out for the pitfalls such as using the room minibar by mistake (watch the kids in case they open the wrong drinks), look for ways around any of the other limitations, we just went with the kids and got the extra ices for their brothers and sisters type thing. Don't make the mistake of getting the accessories before any queues for freshly cooked meat or eggs. Queue for the fresh cooking and then dive off to get the rest on the way back to the table. The pancakes from Turkey were excellent and havent been matched by the Caribbean or Egypt yet!
There is a whole world out there I havent got to yet but I would go back to Kusi for the Aqua Fantasy (and ADAland) water parks, I rated them so highly.

My Turkish holidays were the first ones I took where I actually forgot about work .. completely, which came as a bit of a shock when it came to going home.

You should have a superb holiday and if it also your first time to Turkey, use the free Sauna and Turkish bath facilities to exfoliate more or less as soon as you get there (lots of soap and an exfoliating sponge or cloth which used to be cheap in Wilkinsons!), which really does wonders for the tan. Another tip is the "washer" built into most of the the turkish toilets. There is normally a little tube poking into the bowl and a tap in close proximity. The reps used to go into detail but stopped and I am not sure if they have started again. You are supposed to turn it on when you have finished but beware of the angle and the water can be cold!

Have a great time.
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Just wondering if the mini-bar is refridgerated? Was thinking of asking the staff to empty it (to avoid mistakenly taking/being charged for something) and just stocking up on bits ourselves which we can just keep cold in the fridge. Did anybody try this?
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Hi, only 13 sleeps left, hurrah!! Can anyone advise what currency to take to this hotel please, and what the locals like in Kusadasi?
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hi Pamplemousse, wow only 13 sleeps left for you! 17 sleeps for us!! oh my god, getting scared now.
we haven't got a clue what money to take either, been told to take a credit card for easiness (don't have credit cards though)
seen a lot of people saying take a mixture of Euros/sterling & Turkish Lira.

someone else is bound to know though! :sun2
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Hi Foxymum

Yes starting to get in the holiday mood now :cheers

Last year to Lykia World we took about £50 in Turkish lira and £300 in euros along with our cards which we didn't have to use. I was wondering if to do the same or because of the low value of the euro, it wouldn't be the best bet at the moment. Any suggestions guys?
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hi everyone just new to this. im off 2 aqua fantasy 15th of june cant wait. :D :wave: :sun2 im taking my 2 boys aged 6 and aged 4 so was looking 2 know if they do kids clubs 4 there ages. Does anybody know if u can take a boat trip to bulgraria from kusadasi. I would like to know if the hotel is as good as it lookes in the pic. Well who ever is going around that time hope to meet u's ut there. thanks :wave:
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Does anyone know if they have extended the waterpark?

When we were there a few years ago, some of the staff mentioned that the waterpark was being expanded and that an extra part was being build on the side of the hotel?
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