Have just returned from this hotel which is only the second time we have experienced all inclusive.

We have quite mixed feelings concerning this hotel in that we did read previously that it's location was slightly remote. We, however found it very remote/middle of nowhere.

We found most of the reception staff efficient though slightly aloof. The waiters in general were very friendly, though on our second day our 15 month old baby managed to break 2 plates (no baby plastics)and 1 pepper pot, and as a result was given a telling off by a very miserable waiter.

The snack bar was a complete waste of time as it took half an hour to get our order taken (miserable waiter)and with 3 hungry kids, an hour to get pizza and chips wasn't our idea of fun.

Wasn't allowed in any pools one day as some sand had blown in. (It took some angry people to get the baby pool open).

Only ate in the buffet style canteen after the 1 snack bar visit, which we found okay, though was the same food just about every day. Fresh orange juice was charged extra for (about

We booked this hotel as a late deal via teletext and we were a bit worried as we got it so cheap. We had never been to Turkey before so it was all new to us.

We flew with Onur Air who are the Turkish equivalent to Easy Jet, the planes are like USA coach flights with two rows and an aisle. There are 3 seats in a row which was good as there were only 3 of us travelling. There was a bit of confusion at Gatwick, we checked in at point D, but they were checking in two flights from the same desk and only had one check in clerk, but it was all good. As the plane was not big you felt the turbulence a little more than you normally would, and being that Bodrum airport is in between two mountains it can get a little bumpy. The flight crew were not very talkative, you boarded, took of and within half an hour they were feeding you, the food is traditional Turkish food, usually lamb with rice and Turkish rice pudding, it was edible but not to everyones liking.

We landed at Bodrum in the early hours and there was a huge queue for the visa desk, so might be worth getting your visa before hand. We collected our luggage, and made our way to our coach ready for our 1.5hr ride to the hotel, it was very dark which in some ways was a good thing.

It was very very cold when we landed which surprised me a little as I thought it would be warmer than it was, it was a mere 8deg in Bodrum and dropped down to 6deg when we arrived at our hotel. We arrived at the resort at 6.15am we were all very tired.

The hotel looked lavish as you entered, all marble flooring and stairs. We checked in very quickly, the gave us our own wristbands to put on, and took our passports, they stuck stickers on our cases and we made our way to our room.

The hotel is very well laid out, the little villas were ample for us although several people were complaining there was not enough room. I personally really liked them. I have to say this is by far one of the cleanest hotels I have ever stayed at but that could be because it had only opened for the season some 2 days earlier. They usually open on the 1st May and this year they decided to open on 1st April to see how it went. There were 75 people at the hotel including ourselves but by the end of the week there were 150.

There is a property company based at the hotel and they have a lot of English couples there viewing properties locally in Altinkum.

They have several restaurants at the hotel which all open at different times, not all the restaurants were open when we stayed. The food in the main buffet was ok, be sure to check that the BBQ food is cooked through as on several occasions we found our poultry still pink. The rice is very good, and my husband loved the desserts but they were a little too sweet for me. One thing I will say is that Turkish bread is the best bread I have ever eaten and the soup at the hotel was very nice too. The buffet is outside so I often found the food cold but as I said earlier it was very cold that time of year so it would probably be better in the warmer months. The buffet didn't seem to cater much for children. There is the Sunset Snack bar which opens at 11am they serve the best cheese pitta bread ever, they also serve, burgers, fries, freshly made to order pizza etc. They also serve snacks and ice cream at the lobby bar around 4pm. The lobby bar closes for all inclusive at 11pm, so it is worth loading up with drinks before this time. The reception clocks are set 5 minutes fast so go by those times when looking at the bar time.

The hotel is actually in Didim, there are two little stores outside the hotel, and the dolmus stops at the top of the road every 15 minutes.

The hotel has its own private beach, which i should imagine is lovely in peak season. There are plenty of loungers around the resort and there is always somewhere for you to relax. I really liked the layout of the hotel but I am not sure I would like it in peak season when it is full. We found the staff a little unfriendly, especially at reception, but at the same time I think this is just the Turkish way they are not rude just not very good at English.

There is a small shop at hotel everything in price up in Euros and is doubled to convert to YTL. It is very expensive in the shop so be warned. The Hotel has a photographer. This is well worth a visit, we did a photo shoot while we were there and were over the moon with out pictures. You can check them out via the link in my CLUB TARHAN topic in Turkey forum. The photographers Alit and Aaron were very friendly and spoke excellent English. They do have an entertainments team and bless them they do try to get people to take part, but it was hard as there were not a lot of people at the hotel.

There are plenty of things to do at the hotel but most incur a charge, billiards is 4YTL for half an hour and 8YTL for an hour. You are issued with a card when you check in which you use around the hotel for paying for things you can pay if off daily or at the end of your visit its up to you.

Note the mini bar is very expensive we didn't use our card at all while we were there but many others did and were shocked when they got their bills.

There is a Turkish Bath at the hotel, the lady there is very persistent and it is rather expensive, if you see the Travel Lite rep they do an excursion to a local bath for