my experience of my october a/i hotels.}
can garden hotel colakli 2006. hotel had not long opened when we went so everthing was new,food nothing to compare with mexico/domincan hotels, drinks ok,but no major brands. got taken by frequent free minibus to hotel beach and restaurant area .in the evenings we went into Side by dolmus due to lack of entertainment. holiday ok but hotel still finding its feet a little. £340 for a week.
mexico. yucatan, playa carmen rui hotel 2006 .there are 3 hotels all within walking distance of each other,2 of them on the beach the third generally slightly cheaper just behind.the hotel accomodation was excellent and the selection of branded drinks was superb.you had 4 full size optics in your room and a fridge full of whatever you asked for, more so if you tipped the maid.you could use any of the hotels facilities except for evening meal.evening entertainment was not outstanding but handy to go to one of the other hotels for a change.playa carmen strip could be visited in 5 min taxi ride for a night out for a change,or you could walk to it through a quiet residential area.another thing we did was go to cancun for the day and used the facilities of the rui hotel there,which was a nice touch. the hol was £899 each for 2 weeks which i thought was exceptional value,people we met stopped in the dominican rui's and said it was the same there but nowhere to go outside they went in 2005 for under £700.

dominican, bravaro,sunscape on the beach 2007(gather its now called dreams?)
marvelous holiday complex with lazy river running through site which is as the name suggests "is on the beach". staff superb you could not move without being handed a drink when around pool and beach area's, around 9 restaurants to go for evening meals all found to be good some more so than others.gardens superb and tropical birds etc a nice touch even down to a bullfrog .sadly i did not venture to a local village people who did said it was just a few local craft shops etc .the complex is in the middle of nowhere so you just had the evening entertainment which was a little dull for my liking but relaxing just the same.not so many branded drinks and the bar staff needed to be tipped otherwise they showed a remarkable ability not to add a lemon slice etc or not to even see you or even disappear whenever you were empty, more so the piano bar and casino. 2 weeks £860 each, really good value in superb suroundings.
obviously things can change overnight with a hotel so my views are of how we found hotels at the time.
to sum up
enjoyed turkey but of a different standard to other hotels.
rui hotels and destination very good.
dominican hotel superb and excellent value but in the middle of nowhere.
you can go a week but not so cost effective.

I think that the international beers is a no go.Nearly all the AIs I have looked at only include local drinks, both beer and spirits and you have to pay for specials if they even have it.
A lot will depend on what else you want to do but you should be able to get a week at the Conrad in Sharm for that price, where the big plus is the fairly short jetty taking you to a wonderful underwater world if you are into snorkelling. Even if you can't swim you can get a snorkelling life jacket and just watch the fish. The only other hotel I stayed at in Sharm was the LTI Grand AZure which is a very good hotel but the jetty seems a mile long, however the pools and pizza oven were better!
Over to the Caribbean you really have to do the two weeks to make it cost effective, but their hotels do put some of the others to shame. AI is AI, welcome drink on arrival, you don't get ripped off for using the minibar, plenty of ala cartes etc. The best thing is also that the "local" brands are usually better than the brands. Check thathe temperatures are OK in your chosen destination and that the amenities are still open. We went to Sharm in December and the sea was warm but the pools were freezing, not sure how warm the med is. In Cuba the locals told us they can swim in the sea all year round at Playa Pesquero, and it was warm in Mexico, both sea and pools last October.

Any ideas on the above criteria for Turkish Hotels i.e Bodrum area or around that?

I've just had a look at THISsite and it was the first search for your dates.

Looks OK to me.

Parky

(Mines costing £384 for 2 weeks)

Hi

I would totally agree with one of the earlier posts regarding AI in Mexico. I know which Riu hotels in playa car that they are talking about, I have stayed at the Riu Tequila and the Riu Yucatan was directly opposite. Excellent food, facilities! Weather in Turkey in October not as good, also Turkey standards in AI definitely not as good as Mexico !!

The strip of 5* AIs in Lara Beach Antalya all have to compete with each other and offer excellent value for money. I can personally reccomend the Limak Lara but have no idea what the weather will be like in October