Hi Bridd!Yes used a Lykia World taxi and was the same as to go into town, just 25 lira. You tell them when you want picking up and they give you a little card with their name and number on so you can ring and change your pick up time if you want. We spent whole day at Lagoon being dropped off at 12 and picked up at 6.30 to get back for dinner. You pay 3.5 lira per adult to get into lagoon but its worth it, it's so tranquil and beautiful. Have a fab time Bridd! I wanted to stay i loved it so much!!

be interesting to see what you have to say bridd its about 6 weeks til we go and i havent been there for 4 yrs so really looking forward to it and to see if any changes for the better lol , have a great holiday

karen

Just like to say - I went to Lykiaworld for my 40th Birthday in 2007 and got the bug. Lost hope of going again when Thomas Cook got the exclusive - but would like to say - I booked yesterday with Direct Holidays for a good price. Got two rooms for one week from 21/08/2010 for two adults, a 16 and 13 year old for £2,578, looking at the prices for lots of other destinations this came up very reasonable (there was a £1080 discount showing on the price breakdown) Thomas Cook price £3,500.

Hope this information helps someone.

Lykiaworld here I come!!!

I'm looking for a hotel for next Summer for 3 adults and 1 child at a good family 5*AI. We've been to Lykia World 3 times and really love it there for loads of reasons, but mainly the food, childrens' facilities and evening entertainment. I can't really fault the Sentido Perissia in Side which we tried this year for a change of scenery (and budget!), but I'm looking for somewhere different next year. After trawling the net and all the brochures I have to hand these hotels are possibilities, if I can get the right price:-

Royal Dragon, Side
Rixos Premium, Lara Breach (bit pricey though!)
Royal Wings, Lara Beach

Has anyone been to Lykia World and any of these hotels that can make a comparison? Does anyone have any other recommendations that can compare to Lykia World?

I will, of course, be pricing up LW in the usual way just in case the price is right, but any help with other recommended hotels would be appreciated.

Thanks - anice

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wizard

we have stayed at lykia but not the other hotels as i visited lara beach area and wasnt impressed. we have also stayed at letoonia, this is not quite as nice as lykia but still a lovely hotel, the benefits are its 24 hr all inc and has some international brands this was definitely a plus, lovely food, scenery and kids club was ok, the entertainment was good , the only bad thing is if you stay in a bungalow some have lots of steps, so we opted for the hotel which was fine. its got is own website and certainly worth a browse, good luck

We have stayed at Lykia World twice and this year at Royal Wings. I felt that Royal Wings was nowhere near as good as LW. However, Pamplemousse disagreed and liked it just as much. I expect she will be along soon to corroborate this! I suspect RW is similar to Sentido Perissia in Side, so if that met your requirements, then RW probably will too. Only thing is that as Ellie meg says, Lara Beach is a complete dump, whereas Side is nice. So RW is good only if you stay inside your hotel! Royal Dragon is the sister hotel of RW and is in Side, so I suspect would be all the better for being there.

LOL mehmeh, I am here!! Like mehmeh I suspect RW is alike to the Senitdo and agree that if you want a nice town then Lara isn't good, just a few shops to pick up the necessaries but not somewhere you'd choose to visit. This year though we weren't bothered about getting out and wanted to totally relax so only ventured out the once for the above so it really didn't bother us.

If you look out the RW thread I think I explained the plus points for us - the hotel was well designed, rooms better with included mini bar (ours was a suite at no extra charge and wonderful) with lovely views over the pool and sea. Pool areas very good with a huge pool, beach sandier, and we really enjoyed the food especially the little food kiosks and a la carte restaurants, oh and did I mention the patisserie - yum. Yes we missed the Marina, who wouldn't, and there aren't any other than the usual activities for teens although our 7-12's were really happy with the kids' facilities. Entertainment was typically Turkish if you know what I mean, I'm sure they all go to the same animation school, lol, and I missed the gala evenings that Lykia had as well as the beautiful surroundings. The real plus point for us was the all inclusive concept with four growing kids with huge appetites for drinks and snacks. I know it's fairly easy to fulfill those needs at Lykia without forever dipping into your purse but we really enjoyed the relaxed way the children could visit the kiosks - ice-cream, kebabs, baked potatoes, pizza, cakes - on their own for a snack and sit by the pool or on the sunbeds, ditto with the drinks, without having to get dressed and move to a restaurant. This, of course is a personal preference but for us,as a large family has become much higher up the 'wish list' as previously.

In many ways the RW did us good. I'd always hankered after Lykia despite visiting other Turkish hotels but for us the RW showed us there were other hotels out there that could offer us an excellent holiday, comparable to Lykia albeit having some negative points but also other advantages - much like your holiday at the Sentido I think. I would certainly return to Lykia but for us, it would have to be comparably cheaper than other 5* AI's to be cost effective but again we are a family of 6 so this may not be importance to a smaller family and for a couple not so at all.

Incidently the Royal Dragon is the sister hotel to the RW so I would imagine be comparable, it was certainly one I was considering but Direct Hols took it off for re-pricing and I lost the moment. We have now booked for the Voyage Torba which is near to Bodrum. It is a village type property like Lykia which I got at a really good price with 6 a la carte restaurants included which we found we really enjoyed and important to us as we could relax with waiter service and not be continually helping the children at the buffet. Again Lykia's charge would be considerable for us all as an extra charge to eat at each one which I have had to take into consideration when costing up the holidays. Mehmeh suggested the Magic Life Seven Seas Imperial which she enjoyed and this is certainly on my 'to do' list it offers a good teen activity programme if that's important to you and I'm sure she can help you more with that one if it's of interest.

Good luck.

Anice, The Rixos premium is in Belek! Lara does have at least a decent sandy beach and the hotels are superior !I would not call it a complete dump!! It may not be to everyone taste but the hotels are what make people return year after year!
The club letoonia is okay and beautiful views but rooms are very basic at best! Drinks are not brilliant either, decent stuff hidden away and linited choice!but I know there is some refurbishment due over winter ! Horses for cousres but give me a nice quality hotel any day! I think the Royal Wings will offer more than the Perissia but also the Royal Dragon is a very good hotel that offers the same AI package!It also has a great beach! Agree with pampplemoouse regarding having to paying for all extras on a full board plus holiday, with children!

as you can see everyone likes different things on holiday, so i think it boils down to whether you want to be hotel bound or not, lara beach area isnt very scenic so if this is important to you then regardless to whether the hotels are good or not you wont like this area as both pamplemousse and mehmet have said the area isnt as nice. i personally didnt like it and prefer to be surrounded by nice views and i hate being hotel bound, but only you can make the decision as to what suits your family, i do agree that if you have children then lykia can add up . good luck with where ever you decide

We just got back from Lykia World - our 8th visit. We had a good week but I was a wee bit disappointed in LW this time. It's got more expensive for the extras and they are charging for things that used to be free. Not a huge deal as there's still plenty included but it left us with a feeling that they are out to squeeze as much cash as they can from us.
The drinks at the bar shocked me this year. They have gone up a lot. Same for coffees, ice cream etc outwith mealtimes. I don't know what a magnum ice cream costs here but its 3 euros in Lykia World. Fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast is now 2 euros. We noticed the LW shops were deserted - most people would rather get a taxi to Olu than pay their prices. I went to buy a small box of turkish delight to bring home and it would have been 20 euros. The same size at a shop on the way to the airport was 3 euros.
The a la carte restaurants are also dearer. We only ate in the chinese - 7 euros each but the Italian was 10 and the Japanese 35
Is this just me being tight?

hi bridd

glad you had a good holiday, gosh the ala carte restaurants have increased, they were only 3 euros when we were there last for turkish, italian and chinese, no way will i be paying that ontop of what ive paid , is the food still as great in the self service restaurants if so ill just stick to those lol, we are stopping at lykia for the 1st week then moving to olu deniz resort all inc for the second good job by the sounds of it

Sorry it wasn't quite as wonderful as last time Bridd I think that's what I was trying to say really. I loved Lykia but with other 5* ultra AI's offering everything without supplements it's nolonger made me hanker after returning as I did as I would be worried it would be a little disappointing in comparison.

The a la carte restaurants in themselves wouldn't be feasible for us to visit as the cheapest would come in at an additional 42 euros, daren't work out what the Japenese would cost We have found that these are an important part of our holiday now, we enjoy dining at different restaurants and being waited on as I said it's far more relaxing with children this way.

Incidently I think a Magnum is very expensive at 3 euros. We were at Alton Towers at the weekend and they were only £1-50 there!!

Hi Ellie_meg
yes the self service restaurants are still excellent. We ate in the Marina mostly but in the Residence once as it was thunder & lightning and they had to close the marina. The place was completely full last week - not a spare room in the whole place but it didn't feel too crowded, even with the closure on that evening. People were waiting a few minutes for a table but nothing too serious. We always got a sunbed at the beach and at the adult only pool - didn't go near the main pools.
I could happily eat in the Marina every night. The gala on Sunday (6th) was V good. They had fireworks and a show by the Village Pool. Not the big firework display they used to put on years ago but nice all the same.
I'd get yourself a bottle of your fave tipple on the way out and have that on your balcony - wish we'd done that.
Hope you have a great hol. Hi also Pamplemousse
I think we are on the same page. I don't mind paying for quality but I think they're being a bit greedy. It doesn't seem to be good business either. The crazy golf was empty - this while the hotel is full. At 4 euros each if you have 2 or 3 kids it mounts up and it's not a cheap holiday to start with. They've stopped lending out tennis rackets unless you pay for lessons. Not everyone thinks to bring rackets from home. They were having a 50% sale at the spa - obviously people aren't paying those prices.

Glad you had a lovely time Bridd! We didn't dine in the other restaurants due to not really wanting to pay when we could eat at the others for free, but also i liked the marina so much we just stayed there every night! I think if they'd have been cheaper we might have tried one of the others. This was my 1st time at Lykia World so i didn't have previous prices to compare to but it must be disappointing if you are a regular and see the prices jump up. It may end up being their downfall though as like Pamplemousse people will look at other high quality AI's instead of returning. Shame. I was actually keen to go back next year and still might but am also going to price some of the AI's that people have been talking about! We did make the most of what was included at Lykia World by staying at the marina a bit longer at lunchtime and evening for drinks, etc, but it would have been nice to not be so restricted on where you could get an included drink. I like the sound of some of these others and having the drinks by the pool, etc.
Could anyone tell me is the weather nice in Turkey at end of May/beginning of June? One thing about going in August was it was very hot, but i also don't want to go when its more likely to rain!

yes i preferred the residence restaurant, glad to hear the food hasnt dropped in standard thats 1 thing people cant complain about the food there has always been gorgeous. think i made the right decision only staying a week although changing hotels half way through will be a pain lol. 5 weeks to go cant wait, just a bit worried about hubby as hes still ill after our last holiday to turkey grr

pamplemousse how weird we were at alton towers on sun lol , although i didnt go on any of the fast rides, ellie was too short and her friend wouldnt lol, i did manage to go on mine train lol

we have booked to go to corfu all inclusive with free admission to water park, and will go back to akyaka when or if i find a cheap flight

Unfortunately Bridd, greedy companies seem to be the norm don't they? They become successful, then keep trying to tap you for more money in different ways then wonder why they lose their custom

Hi Summerdreams.
We were very like you when we visited Lykia. We only tried the Turkish restaurant as we didn't really like the idea of paying extra, and of course the food in the buffets was so excellent. I have to say though that included a la carte's are now a definate requirement as we loved them so much at the RW. The food and service was excellent and sooo relaxing, of course those with young children will know what I mean lol in comparison to the buffets. My children enjoy food - they are like sticks but eat for England, sickening, and are happy to experiment. This was great at the a la carte's as the kids got to try up to 7 courses - we would ask for a meal for 4 and share the various dishes other than the mains which we all chose. It was terrific family fun and we all really enjoyed the experiences and togetherness it created. SAt Lykia, with prices as they are we would not have wanted to pay the extra even if we could afford it as like Bridd says, you feel a bit ripped off and that they are trying to get money off you.

Ditto you regarding staying in the restaurants. We would sit with a bottle of wine in the restaurant as this meant we weren't continually paying extra for drinks, yet we'd much have preferred to have gone to another bar for a drink and relax there instead had this been an option.

We usually go for the last 2 weeks in June and the weather has been brilliant, in the mid 80's with the pools lovely and warm. For next year i have bought it forward 2 weeks to include spring half term so am only taking the children out of school for 1 week. I have looked into this and the weather appears very good at this time - no rain and late 70' s to early 80's.

I crossed posts with you ellie-meg. Did you shout 'choo choo, oh yeah' when riding the mine train? Just shout if you have absolutley no idea what I am talking about lol. I only live 40 mis away so it is a very regular haunt of ours!

Let me know how you rate Corfu, won't you, I don't stray into that forum lol.

Thats great thank you Pamplemousse! I am looking to go exactly the same time for the same reason as you, so only taking 1 week out of school.
I will definately be looking at some of the others that have been mentioned. I met a lady at Lykia World who had been to a 5 Star A1 somewhere else in Turkey for less than she's paid for Lykia World and she was disappointed with all the extra charges. She also highly recommended trying a high quality AI rather than going back. Will let you all know how i get on!