Grand Kaptan

No air con on the hottest day, asked for it to be fixed and didn’t get help until many hours later. 2 out of the 4 people in my family vomited and felt sick after eating similar things at the restaurant. There was never a life guard on duty even during the busiest hours of the day - a child vomited on the side of the pool and its parents just pushed the vomit into the pool, staff just ignored it. Definitely not 5 stars.

We really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Grand Kaptan. The staff were friendly, the food was good, plenty of variety and has something for everyone for an all inclusive buffet. The rooms could have done with being a bit more modern for a five star hotel but they were clean and everything was in working order which was good enough for us. The only thing I would say was that the sofa bed was uncomfortable to sleep on for our youngest child. The pool area was great and the slides were fun for the kids. There were plenty of pool bar food, snacks and ice cream at set times. I particularly enjoyed the aqua gymnastics. We did find that we had to get up to get sunbeds by around 8/9am but it was not a crazy sun bed war like you see in some hotels. We got some everyday. The gym is ok, not amazing but there were 2 treadmills, weight equipment and dumbbells that we used and it has a stunning view of the beach and is good enough to get a workout in. Some days were busier than others but it was never too busy. The beach area is lovely, again you have to be early to get the sunbeds but there is a beach bar and water sports right on the beach (extra cost). The sunbeds on the pier are 5 euros each to hire (although we didn't do this). It is a rocky beach so I would recommend sea shoes. For an extra cost we booked into the spa for a Turkish Hammam and massage and it was lovely! Our first visit, they let the kids go free which was really good but when we returned before going home we then had to pay for them but we did, as it was such a relaxing experience! (50 euro per adult, 40 per child). I would definitely recommend booking in. There is a shop, doctors, beauty salon also in the hotel so it has everything that you need and the shop prices are really reasonable. The hotel does refill the mini bar for drinks in your room too at no extra cost. However, we did have to pay for wifi (it is only free in the lobby). That was 15 euro for a week or 22 euros for 2 weeks but there was an option to pay for a day or 3 too. There is evening entertainment most nights in the amphitheatre just outside the front of the hotel, mini disco starts at 9pm and then the entertainment at 9.30. Some entertainment was better than others but it was quite hot sat there so a little handheld fan might be a good idea. One of the only issues we had were the lifts. There are 3 small lifts in the main section of the hotel and we had to wait a long time for these quite often as they were full. Especially after the evening shows, there were long queues and certain guests would push in front of you to get in. I would recommend bringing euros, we brought Turkish Lira and although we could use it everywhere we went, everything was priced in euros so we were constantly having to work out what the conversion was on our phones before buying anything. I do think it meant we got a better price though! But if you want ease, euros is best. We booked one trip which was the pirate boat and this was an amazing day out! Really enjoyable for all ages and not far from the hotel. We booked via Get your guide and it was easy. The transfer getting there was a little dodgy as they overfill the mini buses and have no aircon but once you get on the boat, its a fantastic day! We also went shopping in the centre and the hotel provides free shuttle buses there and back at certain times so that is handy. The one thing I would do differently next time is hire private transfers to and from the airport as it is a long transfer (3 hours) and this was really tiring, especially having to wait for other people to get on when they were not on time. If I am being picky, I found some guests a little arrogant. I am British and I don't know if it was a cultural difference but I did find some guests that were from other countries quite rude and had no manners (not all obviously but a large amount). However, we still had an incredible holiday and I would go back.