Turkey is great summer family vacation destination with its long Mediterranean and Agean coast. Moreover, it is a good value for money compared to the other European resorts. As a Turkish travel blogger and a mom I prepared a list of our favorite family resorts in Turkey in which we vacationed many times. Finding a family resort in Turkey is not so hard, but in order to choose the best of the best here are some insiders recommendations.
Click for my blog post: Best Destinations for Family Vacations in Turkey
We Turkish people, love our comfort and relaxation especially during our summer vacations. As a result of this demand, there are hundreds of all inclusive summer beach resorts with good service and facilities on the Turkish coast. You can find all inclusive resort hotels for very different price ranges. Then, which one to choose? All of them are all inclusive, how come the price varies so much? Does a higher price guarantee a better vacation? After tens of family vacations in Turkey for two decades in many family resorts in Turkey, I have the answers to all of these questions.
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What All inclusive resort mean in Turkey?
In Turkey, all-inclusive usually means all the food served at buffet and snack restaurants is included. You can find something to eat all through the meals during the day and in the evening. Soft drinks and some local alcoholic drinks (if you are older than 18) are also served with no extra charge. There are no hidden fees to use the pool, beach and lounge chairs there. SPA treatments, excursions, water sport rentals, alcoholic drinks other than the ones selected by the resort, bottled soft drinks, a la carte restaurants are usually for extra cost.
At “ultra” all inclusive resorts food is even more abundant and alcoholic drinks choice is wider. In addition, they are more accessible during the day and evening, even at night. Some imported premium alcoholic drinks may also be included. A la carte restaurants are either free of charge for the vacationists staying at a certain number of nights or are charged with reservation fees per person which is a very fair price for the service and the meal.
Turkish baths, saunas, steam rooms, indoor pools and relaxation areas are some SPA parts that most ultra all inclusive resort include. You can usually use SPAs free of charge but you need to pay for your treatments if you want to have some.
Kids clubs, entertainment, many activities, huge pools are indispensable at all ultra all inclusive resorts. Waterparks with many slides for all ages are also free of charge and many ultra all inclusive family resorts in Turkey have one.
Luxury All Inclusive Family Resorts in Turkey
Oh my, Turkiye is a synonym of luxury! We Turks definitely know how it’s done! You would certainly feel very special when you are welcomed with a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries after your flights and long trip to the resort. Once you settle in, all you need to do is trying to choose among the abundance of options. Spending time at the beach or the pool; eating at the buffet or having a meal at the restaurants by the pool, enjoying some coffee or a afternoon drink with the delicious desserts at the patisserie and so on…
You would notice that all the places you go at the resort are sparkling clean, since cleanliness is a must in our culture. Also you can be awed with the crystal clean pool water. Thanks to many huge pools troughout the resort none of the pools are too crowded. Pools, sea, waterparks, there are plenty of places you can enjoy the water and the great weather. Relaxing in your sunbed and sipping your cocktail knowing your kids are having great time at the kids club is another pure joy.
You would definitely be enchanted by the atmosphere of the Turkish bath or the hamam at SPA! After a foamy bath in the steamy hamam, you can enjoy some apple tea or green, healthy smoothy. Pure relaxation! All of these mentioned above are not some stuff cut out from luxury travel ads but are my memories and experiences from different family resorts in Turkey.
What is the difference between ultra all inclusive resorts at different price range?
When you look at ultra all inclusive resort prices in Antalya Lara, the mecca of family resorts in Turkey, you would see that the price is higher about 100-200€ per night for some hotels. All of them look great with huge pools and with ultra all inclusive concept. Then, what is the difference between those resorts? The answer is: you get what you pay for. Higher prices mean better service, even higher quality food, unique imported alcoholic drinks.
1. Higher quality food
If you are into Turkish cuisine, you would easily distinguish the taste difference of food between the resorts of different price range. Maybe, the main dishes are not so different in taste (only there are more choices) but the pastries, desserts and ice creams, the ones that spoil us the most, can vary a lot. High quality ice cream, both packed industrial or artisan one, would amaze both the kids and adults. French patisserie with exquisite desserts and chocolate would attract you many times throughout your day for sure.
2. Exceptional service and best drinks
More important, the service at higher class, deluxe all inclusive resorts is splendid. You don’t need to wait in the line at the bars trying to reach the bartender squeezing between the crowds. Everything is brought to your place by the pool or at the beach. Bottled soft drinks of favorite brands are widely available for free in many fridges spread throughout the resort. Moreover, for adults, beer is served both bottled and draught as your choice. Expensive spirits are not only in the hidden bars out of sights that you discover only on your last day of your vacation but easily accessible in central bars.
3. Huge and incredible pools
And the pools are incredible and crystal clean! After our vacations at deluxe family resorts in Turkey, my kids don’t like and appreciate enough any pools in other countries anymore. Pools in luxury all inclusive resorts are huge and there are many of them! Since they are not so crowded, kids can enjoy the pools as they like. Honestly, although we go to the family resorts in Turkey mostly for the great Mediterranean coast, kids end up spending all their days by the pool. Swimming, splashing, snacking, cannon ball jumping they have a blast by the pools.
Must haves for a family resort in Turkey for us
When we vacation in a family resort in Turkey following standards are must for us:
- Huge pools that all our family would enjoy.
- Fun kids pools where the little ones can play safely.
- Waterparks with slides for both little kids and bigger ones.
- Beautiful coast and good swimmable sea
- High quality food and drinks
- Entertainment for kids like kids club, activities, bowling or fun fair
- A SPA including a Turkish bath and sauna for whole family
- Good a la carte restaurants
Family resorts in Turkey we’ve visited many times
Voyage Belek Golf Hotel & SPA
There are many luxury resort hotels in Antalya Belek area, unquestionably Voyage Hotel Belek is one of the best. What makes this ultra all inclusive resort better is its staff and services. It became even more preferable after its renovation in recent years. This deluxe hotel includes all the “must haves” criteria I’ve mentioned above. In addition it has some services like Virtual Assistance, that elevate your vacation even more. (You are connected with a guest relations staff with a private Whatsup group and all your needs like a la carte restaurants reservations, daily entertainment info etc are managed from there.)
What we liked about Voyage Belek Hotel the most:
- Food: All the food at the hotel is incredible!
- Staff: All people working there make sure you have a great vacation. They generously serve all the best and exquisite drinks and food, from fancy cocktails to really expensive alcoholic spirits.
- Pools: huge and crystal clean pool water. Finding a lounge chair by the pool wasn’t a struggle at all.
- Patisserie: Chocolates, desserts, pastries all were to die for! After a few days we started skipping breakfast and instead had a feast at the patisserie.
- A la cart restaurants: You are supposed to pay around 5-20€ but you skip all the crowds at the buffet and have a great, tranquil dinner with special world cuisine dishes (worth multiple times the price you’ve paid) and fantastic service. We ate in Turkish, Greek and Italian restaurants and all were awesome.
- Waterpark: There were slides for both little kids and more adrenaline kicking ones for older kids and adults.
- For prices of a stay in Voyage Belek Hotel, please click here.
For more options of family resorts in Antalya, Belek area, please click here.
Rixos Premium Tekirova
Rixos Premium Tekirova is a great kid friendly ultra all inclusive resort and one of the best family resorts in Turkey. Its area is not as expanse as other resorts, making it easier to navigate for the shorter legs. Also it has an enjoyable waterpark with slides, splashing giant bucket and lazy river that my kids loved. From the kids restaurant to garden family suites with two separate bedrooms and bathrooms this resort looks like specially constructed with families in mind.
What we liked about Rixos Premium Tekirova the most:
- Waterpark: My kids loved Rixos Premium Tekirova’s water park. It was perfect for my young kids. Not too boring, not too scary, just the perfect combo for the little ones. In addition, it had bigger water slides for the braver ones.
- The incredible sea: Rixos Premium Tekirova is great family resort paired with one of the best beaches in Turkey to swim in. Honestly you can’t always find both, a good resort and great sea, at once. The sea at Antalya Tekirova and Cirali region is crystal clean and calm. Just perfect for enjoying the Mediterranean at its best.
- Breakfast: We still remember the filo pastries (kol boregi) served at the breakfast buffet. It was so delicious with a glass of Turkish tea and orange juice.
- Miniclub: It had a well organized mini club with lots of things to do. My kids liked playing different video games and movie sessions at the club.
- Land of Legends theme park access: Guest staying at Rixos Premium Tekirova could get in Land of Legend theme park (kind of aqua Disneyland in Turkey) for free. We didn’t prefer to go to the theme park during our stay but it was good opportunity.
- For prices of a stay in Rixos Premium Tekirova, please click here.
For more options for family resorts in Antalya, Tekirova area, please click here.
Rixos Premium Belek
Resort hotels at Antlaya Belek area are among the best in Turkey. If a resort hotel has different branches in different cities, there’s a high chance its Belek branch would be its best hotel. It’s not different with Rixos hotels in Turkey. Rixos Premium Belek is an elegant, ultra all inclusive resort hotel covering a large area at Belek coast. Great food and drinks, huge pools, kids club, waterpark and all the other amenities of a luxury family resort are offered here at their best.
Which to choose Rixos Belek or Tekirova?
Honestly, we preferred Rixos Premium Tekirova branch to Rixos Belek twice, since I like Tekirova region’s sea more (and it’s slightly cheaper, for the prices click here: Rixos Tekirova, Rixos Belek). By comparison, the families who had visited the both resorts mostly like the Belek branch more. For us, although we visited Rixos Premium Belek on a winter vacation, we found Rixos Belek bigger with more amenities and better restaurants and food.
What we liked about Rixos Premium Belek the most:
Since we were there for winter vacation, not all the facilities were open. Among the open ones we liked:
- A la carte restaurant option for whole day: It was complimentary and with no need for reservation. You could just walk in and have fabulous dishes grilled lamb chops, burgers, desserts all were so delicious.
- French patisserie: Crispy croissants, French cakes, chocolates and many yummy desserts. It wasn’t easy to resist the charm of this place.
- Turkish bath and relaxation area: I can easily say that Rixos Premium Belek had the best and the most authentic Turkish bath relaxation area we’ve ever seen! Enjoying the hot water in hamam, especially in the chilly days we visited, was great. Sipping a glass of spice tea in the dim relaxing room decorated with oriental pillows, curtains and a fountain was quite an experience. We loved it!
- Land of Legends theme park access: this Rixos resort hotel offers to its guests free access to the amusing theme park as well.
- For prices of a stay in Rixos Premium Belek, please click here.
For more options of family resorts in Antalya, Belek area, please click here.
Lara Barut Collection
Resort hotels in Lara, Antalya benefit from being the closest resorts to Antalya Airport. (only 10 km) And one of the best of the best Lara hotels is Lara Barut Collection ultra all inclusive resort. It is an excellent family friendly resort hotel with many pools, a great beach and many waterslides.
What we liked about Lara Barut Collection the most:
- It’s very close to Antalya Airport: You can hop on a taxi from the airport and you are in the resort in just 15 minutes.
- We really liked the service there. Moreover, alcoholic drinks choices were impressive and high quality. It was our first time staying at a upper scale, luxury ultra all inclusive resort there and we were spoilt with the premium choices. It broaden our view of what a deluxe all inclusive resort can be. (All the resorts I listed above and bellow, we visited after this hotel.)
- We liked its Spa, especially the Turkish bath.
- Aquapark has been renovated in 2022 and looks like one of the largest waterparks we’ve seen in a resort hotel.
- For prices of a stay in Lara Barut Collection, please click here.
For more options of family resorts in Antalya, Lara area, please click here.
Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa
Dalaman Sarigerme area is another region that benefits being very close to an international airport. Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme is just 20 minutes drive to Dalaman Airport. It is an amazing family ultra all inclusive resort that we stayed twice. It has 10 pools, a waterpark with many slides and a lovely, vast private beach area.
What we liked about Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme the most:
- We liked its direct pool access rooms.
- Kids club was great. Also, the staff working at the club was so professional. My little kids loved spending time there.
- Food and drinks, all were high quality. Many people we talked at the resort were emphasizing that they come year after year especially for the higher quality soft and alcoholic drinks.
- Pools were huge and very clean.
- Shallow baby / kids pool was just perfect for my toddler (at time of visit).
- For prices of a stay in Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme resort, please click here.
For more options of family resorts in Dalaman Sarigerme area, please click here.
You can also like my blog post “The best beaches in Turkey for families“
My other posts about Turkey:
- Most beautiful places to visit in Turkey
- 20 Reasons Why You Should Visit Turkey
- Best destinations for family vacations in Turkey, by a local mom