Glad to hear you had a great time macjohnston..Im getting really excited now just picked up tickets today travelling on 23rd june

Hey macjohnson -glad to hear you had a fab holiday and want to return! I've a couple of questions -

Was it as good as you expected? Even though we've been twice I worry that I might have been wearing rosy coloured shades and might be disappointed when we go. I'm sure i've nothing to worry about but things do change from one year to the next (I was just reading a thread about Sun City). I am always recommending LW to people but when some friends nearly booked to come with us this year I started to worry that, even though I thought it was a fantastic place, they might hate it! In no particular order (and mostly out of curiosity!) what did you think of the prices, food, entertainment, location of your room, kidsclubs, paragliding, ratio of British/Russian/Other guests?

Also macjohnson, apart from the black/white and red/white gala nights which I assume they still have, what were the party theme nights this year? Last year there was an all white night and a tropical night.

Sorry - that's more than just a couple of questions isn't it ...

Thanks in advance!

anice

Hi anice - it was better than I expected. We've been to Florida the last two years where the villas are huge and very luxurious, so I tried really hard not to expect too much, but I needn't have worried, the rooms we had (and I say rooms but we booked one family room, it just had two separate rooms within it) were clean, spacious and fitted out all very nicely.

Food was excellent - loads to choose from, all very fresh and always the staples to fall back on (chips, pasta, bread, salad, ice cream) - check out the carved watermelons in the salad bars - made to look like roses, fish etc - brilliant. It did get busy in half term week though, so try to go either early or late. Entertainment was to a very high standard - particularly the Kenyan acrobats and the circus, although we really enjoyed the Stars night too put on by Lykia staff. We didn't see much of the themed nights because we needed to get the kids to bed, but there were tropical, white, wild west and a number of others I can't recall.

Our room was very near reception, so we could see people coming and going from our balcony, which some people may not like (not quite so private), but it wasn't too noisy (only on the night we forgot to close the balcony door :duh). Had advantages to in being very quick to get to. Prices were typically a bit inflated - 2.50 euros for a beer, sun cream is extortionate so make sure you take plenty - ice creams from 0.75 (lolly) to 3 euros (magnum).

More brits than any other nationality. Kids clubs seemed very good - ours only went a few times but enjoyed it - we used both the 9-12 age club and the 3-5 year club. Lots of activities.

Paragliding was awesome. We booked in Olu, haggled and paid about half as much for four as we would have done if we'd booked from Lykia. Jeep ride up is a bit hairy, but once you're at the top, you don't get time to back out and before you know it you're grinning like an idiot and repeatedly saying "brilliant" to your pilot .

Think that covered everything! When are you going?

Hello all I'm just back today!! Fantastic and I must echo everything macjohnson said, it was very busy half term week, difficult to get a sun bed but from about last Sat/Sun a week ago it really quietened down more and more as the week went on to the point that on our last night we went down to the marina and got a table no prob and it was 8pm with lots of tables still free, our first week we had to be down there at 6.45 as all the tables would be gone by 7pm. Noticed alot more Russians the 2nd week though and alot less British but apparantly, according to the Tennis coach, it is now the start of the Russian 3 month school hols.

One thing that has concerned me though is 3 of us (myself, hubby and eldest son) have been really ill with an upset stomach, vomiting and diarrohea, me & hubby are still not right now and we have had it almost a week it was really bad and at it's worst I spent last Monday in bed the whole day and Tuesday morning, we thought it was just us but after speaking to others we found 4 families had also been affected with the same symptoms, one guy actually made a point of asking my husband while they stood talking over the large tuna fish on display in the marina if anyone else had been ill and suprisingly two of the men said yes their families had all had it. Luckily our younger 2 boys weren't affected at all but that does make me wonder as they are both fussy eaters and never had meat, both lived of turkish pizza, ice cream & pancakes! The food was fab, and everything appeared to be spotlessley clean around the cooking areas and freshly cooked, but honestly I have never been so ill since I was a child with this type of bug....it will be interesting to know if anyone else has suffered who has been to Lykia recently, it really spoilt my 2nd week as I just wasn't interested in food and couldn't be bothered with the wine either.

Oh and after all the hassle with our family/interconnecting room type that our TO messed up with we ended up being moved into the residence as the village room they gave us was riddled with ants, we arrived at 6am and I was so pleased as I unpacked everything, we went for breakfast, came back to the room intending to have a shower and a sleep after our night flight and found the room swarming with flying ants, we complained at village reception and they offered us a family room in the residence, this was brill and much bigger but I notice the room plan is not on the residence brochure, the style of the room wasn't anything like the ones described and def not seperate interconnecting as ours had only one bathroom and was originally meant to sleep four but they put an extra fold up bed in so our 3 boys slept in one room, we had our own room but we all shared one bathroom, the set up was similar to the village cat4 room we had been originally given only bigger with a large balcony. I am pleased we didn't stay in the cat 4 room as the sofa bed was def too short for our tall only just turned 9yr old, his feet were hanging over the end, I can't understand how they can describe it as a "sofa bed for child under 12" as I would say max age 6/7 unless you have a small child.

Anyway if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask

twinkletoes,

glad you had a great time execpt for that bug !!

I had it last june and found out that it was from swimming in the main pool but I only used the residence adult pool, and had it 3rd day i was there, it was mentioned on here a few pages back - look for june 2007 on topic page, all i ate was bananas and then 3 days later a little food,

its carried in the pool water and can be passed around by people using different pools also it can come back in a week or so time - so be carefull go and see your doctor, what week was the white night on ? and also what colur was the gala night last sunday night ?
cheers gregg

Hi gregg,

The white night was on our first week, so will be due again this week coming (Thurs night) as it is once a fortnight, last Thurs (our 2nd week) was tropical night. Sunday gala night was black & white and is due to be black & red tomorrow night!

Regarding the 'bug' we too used the residence pool alot but so did our 2 boys who have been unaffected, we were wondering if it was the jugs of water kept on the tables as our 2 youngest never drank from these, after reading on here I found last sept there are a few with exactly the same symptoms who had a test done and the bug was pin pointed as cryptosporidium which is found in dirty water but is also immune to any kind of 'cleansing' ie; bleaching etc so if the drinking water is suppose to be filtered then according to what I read the bug won't die so we could all be drinking it and assuming it's pool water causing the illness. Did you go to the docs? Anyone else had the same synptoms? Surely if this has gone on at least one year than Lykia must be suspicious? My husband & son went to the doc in Lykia (they were so ill but wouldn't usually go just for a tummy bug) and he put it down to stomach flu and gave them yeast sachets to drink mixed with water, said they put good bacteria in your gut but never did any good, nor did we get billed for this, wondering if there is something suspicious there that they don't want proof if you know what I mean? We would love to go back but I honestly couldn't face goin through that again, even today I've not ate since breakfast, just not worth it, it dosn't stay in! At least I havn't gained weight this hol!

Twinkletoes, what a shame about the bug. Hope you all recover soon. I know you can catch these things anywhere (I've been ill at home this week with one) but it's horrible when you are away. I definitely remember reading on here about it last year. Hope I don't feel I have to avoid the pools, drinking water etc when I go.

Hi Twinkletoes. Read your message with interest. I went to the docs on Thursday after 4 days of - well let's just say far too many visits to the toilet. I thought it must be some chicken that I cooked on Sunday at home, as I wasn't ill whilst I was away, rest of the family is fine, and the symptoms started 3 days after return.

My lucky doctor has a sample which is being analysed as we speak, so I will let you know what it indicates.

I agree though, that the food areas seemed spotlessly clean, and as I said, everyone else is fine, as are some friends who were there the week before us.

Will keep you posted. (sorry if it's too much information!)

hi all,

lykia world knew about the bug last year but played it down to all guests, its transmitted through the pool water not drinking water, a lot was ill last year and some had it confirmed by their own gp's, and yes it does raise it head again within 2 weeks - sorry all but i hope i dont get it in july ?

So sorry you have been so ill twinkletoes. I imagine Lykia would want to keep something like this quiet. Am really worried now as I am suceptible to this kind of thing. What with that and what you report about the size of the beds I am now very concerned as my children are much older than yours and what you say about the bed only being suitable for max age 6/7 will definately not suit us. For some reason I have had my doubts about this place for us and am only going because i got such a good deal, I hope I don't regret it. I think once you have severe diarrohea and vommiting somewhere you just never trust the food again for the rest of the holiday, even if it is the swimming pool that is causing it.

Seeing as one of Lykias big selling points is its 17 swimming pools and it costs a fair bit to stay there you think they would be able to eliminate this bacteria from their pools, although i'm no scientist so I wouldn't know if that is more difficult to do than it sounds.

Doe

doe,
please dont let it put you off, i caught it in late june last year and i still returned in september.

i just went down around 11pm and spent all the following day in bed and drank bottled water, i then ate a few bananas during the day. i'm taking tablets this time just in case but i have still booked for next year too !!

when are you going doe ?

Hi Gregg

During main school summer hols Gregg ( I don't put specific dates on the internet, or do countdown threads, incase it gets matched to my address somehow, I'm paranoid about burglars, identity theft etc )

I think different people react differently to stomach upsets when away, some seem to be able to brazen it out and still go on to say they have had a lovely holiday, and good luck to them if they can manage that, others will say they will never go there again.

Unfortunately for me I fall into that later category. If my kids got ill I would be devastated. For people to be that seriously ill I am afraid there has got to be some form of severe hygeine problem even if it is crypto, surely they should be on to it.

Doe

I go on 23rd june & Im not liking the sound of this sickness through the pool/drinking water. My youngest child who is 15mnths has a kidney condition (only one of them works ) she'll be getting it removed soon.I couldnt imagine what it would be like if she got sick.Hopefully the antibiotic shes taking since a baby will help deter this.

Surely Lykia should be doing something to prevent this happening again this year!..Im getting a bit worried now..maybe need to highlight this to tour op.

Thanks macjohnson and twinkletoes. Sounds as though it's as good as I remember it BUT I have to say it does make me worry about this bug you've had. I remember reading the posting about cryptosporidium with surprise because the place seems so clean. None of us were ill either time we went but last year a family we made friends with did have sickness etc(!) for one or two days each. I'm sure we only drank bottled water when we were there "just in case". My husband and three colleagues were all really ill last year after drinking "filtered" water in jugs on a business trip to Turkey. I have never wanted to go to one of those huge hotels with big buffet restaurants with food that sits out for ages festering away- makes me feel ill just thinking about it. The lovely fresh food is one of the many reasons we really like LW. I know its awful being ill on holiday but it's only happened to us twice - once with stomach bug in Corfu and once my daughter had tonsilitis and ear infection (pool?) in Majorca. Makes we want to touch wood.

We are going on 17th July for two weeks and the main thing slightly worrying me is how busy its going to be. We've been both times in June and it was busy enough (and hot enough!) then ... as there are only 4 of use hopefully we'll be able to get a table in the Marina if we get there early enough. If getting out for dinner at 7 to 7.30 doesn't work out we may just go to the Marina straight from the pool and go and get showered and changed afterwards (if we sit right at the edge of the restaurant - and suitably cover up our pool stuff and don't feel too out of place!). Well I'm thinking about maybe doing that anyway - we'll see ... Hoping to be able to get 3 sunbeds of a morning too, although I refuse to set my alarm and get into all that sunbed scramble stuff.

Even though we've been twice, its such a big place with so much going on - these are the things we want to do differently this time: buy a large bottle of vodka from duty free(!), drag ourselves away from the Marina so we can see more evening shows, spend the whole day on the beach rather than an hour here and there, try the Residence buffet and the Turkish restaurant, go into Olu Deniz in the evening, spend the whole day at childrens paradise rather than a couple of hours here and there, try the Chinese restaurant in the evening, try the bars in the Residence and try to get my daughter to join in with others her own age (so that me and hubs can try the Oasis pool and the Fish restaurant and the Turkish bath
I don't think we'll be doing the paragliding this year - the experience was fantastic but once was enough for me thank you. Although we have said our daughter can do it this time if she wants to

I'm glad they still have the white night - the kids loved the balloons, the lanterns and the glosticks - my daughter still raves about it now!

anice

anice,

Buy your vodka at the duty free as your waiting for your luggage to come up on the belt !!

I paid about £8 last year - cheaper than gatwick duty free !!

Sorry to hear about your 'bug' twinkletoes, it must ahve really but a damper on your holiday.

When we went last year we certainly didn't catch anything thankfully, although I do always check the kids' meat carefully abd several times didn't let them eat burgers & chicken that I thought a little underdone. We used all the different pools, including the residence one with no problems too.

A business colleague has just returned, having has a fabulous time but did mention that the a la carte restaurants were not now all inclusive and worked out quite expensive, can you throw any light on that?

Good to read that everything went well apart from these stomach bugs. I had the same when I went to Belek, year before last (not that it's bespoke to Turkey) as also same last year in Lanzarote and again in Egypt at Christmas, I just seem to pick up anything thats going!! but wife and kids don't seem to pick up a thing.

This aside, how much were the excursions through LW ie swim with dolphins etc and also the paragliding and jet ski's. On a note of swimming with dolphins does anyone know if the dolphins are in a well maintained environment as the kids wont want to go if they are stuck in a pokey little pool or something, it will break their hearts if they seem to be suffering in any way.

I am jumping around a bit I know, but what sort of time do you need to get out to the sun bed scramble in the mornings and do you have to que before being seated at the Marina???

Thanks
Darren

Hi Darren

Paragliding from Lykia was I think between 105 and 120 euros each depending on who you asked, but we went into Olu and booked and haggled it down to just over half that (although there were four of us going, and we were able to go on a Monday which I think is one of their quieter days). They collected us from the hotel, but we made our own way back in a taxi from Olu afterwards. Jet skiing from Lykia was 120 euros for two jet skis for half an hour (if memory serves me!), but we haggled that down to 100 euros for cash - well worth bartering if you can face it!

We started going down to the Marina at around 6.45pm to sit (no waiting, just grab a table anytime - just means you've got to sit there with nothing to do for while), but that was because we wanted the front tables by the grass so we could watch the sunset whilst the kids played on the grass. Also, that was half term week which was noticably busier than the week before. Sun beds in the childrens paradise - we tried to get up there for 10am to get our favourite location, but there are loads of places to sit towards the back on the grass and away from the pools if your kids are older, so you'd still get them later. We only struggled the day we went up after lunch.

Thanks Macjohnson.
Were the beer, spirits and kids drinks etc expensive? Don't drink much but would not want the prices to put us off having a drink when we wanted one!!

My wife has asked if anyone had any of the treatments. Are they any good? I think she wants pampering.

I take it that there are lots of pool games and entertainment around the main pools during the day, are they any good.

My two girls (11 + 10) are looking forward to the childrens paradise, I take it they will enjoy it and leave us to soak up the sun

Thanks
Darren