Barut GOIA

Came with my mother (64) and son (6) mid August 7 nights with Jet2 £2200 all inc. And I think we received what we paid for, we have all had a nice time.

My son and I have stayed in another Barut (Anda collection) on a previous occasion and so expectations were high. This trip was approximately half the price of that trip, and I’d say that it was probably more than half as nice.

Our room was very comfortable- the rooms are all like mini suites and I think this is great for families. Storage is excellent. Balconies are huge and most rooms have a sea view, and we were lucky enough to be able to see the amphitheater from our room.

Compared to some other Barut properties this is a relatively small hotel, so there’s not as many choices for dining around/ bars/at the buffet, but that said we were well fed all week, and once we found the sunset bar where drinks are made very well in beautiful glassware in the evenings, and the proper coffee in the patisserie opposite the main buffet we felt well taken care off.

If one assumes that the flights, Luggage, and transfers cost around £500 each then I have to say that this hotel presents great VFM for the price we paid. The grounds are very clean. Staff generally are very helpful, and nice, they seem to be working very very hard. The fresh food in particular (salads, Meze, fruit) at every meal was really very high quality. Turkish breads, pastries very good. Baklava pretty good. Hot food and deserts were ok to good, but again looking at the price I was favorably impressed.

When we arrived (very late due to a delayed flight) there was a problem with our room, and so we didn’t end up in a hotel room until nearly 6am local time. The room we were given was in the “noisy” side - and we were woken up about 4hours later by very loud music and announcements so I was quite anxious about what the rest of the week would be like, but once we were moved to the room assigned in the quiet side, all was well. The quiet side was more our speed, young families and quite a gentle vibe. Didn’t try “noisy” side at all as it seemed too busy for our taste.

There is pleasingly little smoking around the hotel - this was an issue I noticed at the other Barut property I’ve stayed at so I was pleased to see that smoking seemed to be restricted to very few areas.

One issue that I do want to raise is that life guarding doesn’t seem to be taken seriously. At the Anda Barut Collection the LGs were on it. Here they seemed much less present, and on several occasions I saw them away from their post or on their iPhone not looking at the pool, or smoking.

My son went to kids club for an hour one day so I could use the gym. He had a reasonable time, staff were nice and kind and he felt comfortable, but I think he was a bit bored and mainly watched TV (though crafting, and face painting, was on offer he didn’t join in)

The gym is ok. Reasonable range of high quality equipment. However, I do have some serious safety concerns about the gym: It’s very hot, On one occasion several men were working out with no shirts, which I found uncomfortable and ultimately I left the gym because of this. Despite signs reminding guests not to take kids on three occasions I saw kids in the gym (with parents) including wearing unsuitable clothing (running on the treadmill in pool slides!) The mats in the main gym have no grip and one slipped out from under me, I fell to the floor and badly bruised myself - Fortunately avoiding falling into equipment. I would urge the property to get safe workout mats, and change the temperature of the aircon. Also it’s in the basement and has no windows.

We wanted to use the hamam and steam Rooms, which should be part of the AI, but the man at the front of the spa seemed very pushy about massages to the point where I had to tell him to please stop and take no for an answer.

We went to one show - the Mongolian acrobats. I’ve seen a few shows like this in the past and this one was fun and terrifying and impressive. The entertainment all happens inside which makes the main area of the hotel very noisy and busy in the evening, but not unpleasant. And there’s always Q bar in the quiet side.

Small (expensive) mini market and some other more surprising (fur coat! Knock off shoes!) shops in the basement along with some games (table tennis, snooker, giant chess) and a games room. Kind of weird to have this underground mall but useful.

Two kids play parks which were nice and very under used.

Side old town was charming, mainly it is undergoing restoration but there is still plenty to see, plus many tourist shops, and a pleasant harbour. Very easy to get to from hotel.

Didn’t love the beach - but it was clean and facilities were good. It’s not a bay, so the swells can be quite rough, and the water not clear because of churned sand. There are bays in this region but not here. That said plenty of people were enjoying it, but it just wasn’t right for us.

All in all this was a nice family holiday and we found it to be very good value for money.

Barut Goia - 10 night All Inclusive with Jet2 in late July/early August 2 adults and two children aged 9

Brief review – more detailed review provided below Highly recommended, clean and well designed resort. Brilliant, friendly staff, lovely facilities, great food with a variety for most tastes, range of drinks, plenty to keep kids entertained and local area is a must see. We had an amazing 10 night stay at Barut Goia and likely will return. Our first all inclusive with our 9 year old twins and whilst we loved the look of the resort from reviews, photos and videos, we were still hopeful rather than confident that it would match up to expectations. It did just that, and perhaps exceeded them. I would recommend this resort to anyone, and met several families that had been before and were returning. I think we might be joining them in doing that in the next year or two.

Longer review

The hotel – really nice, well laid out building, set across two main complexes; a busier main complex and across from the main reception (and accessible from an underpass too) was the quieter side. We didn’t venture over that side other than to have dinner at the restaurant there, and to have a few pics taken. That side has its own pool but we didn’t visit it. Once we became familiar with where everything was, it became more obvious how well laid out everything was. The central area just after the reception desk is where the food hall, entertainment and main bar is situated. There are then additional bars located around the site, and the restaurants on the outer areas too. Further out you have the pools and the apartments.

The room – we paid a little extra for a poolside terrace and we are delighted that we did, we were maybe 8 steps to the pool from our sliding doors, and the layout of the room was perfect. Big enough for the 4 of us, plenty of room for clothes, bags etc. Every room has a safe, and each day the fridge was restocked. We left 50-100TL for the housekeeping each day. The twins slept on the sofa beds in the main room, but we were only in the room to sleep, wash and change so they stayed as beds the whole time. TV in main room and bedroom, air con was perfect (make sure the external door is closed otherwise it wont come on), and we left it on when we were out, but turned it off overnight. Great shower – rainforest shower and big cubicle was very refreshing. Lovely big mirror and sink and plenty of room for toiletries.

The food – I am the least fussiest eater of the 4 of us, with my wife at the other end of that spectrum, and I was spoiled for choice but she found things that she could eat. The range of cuisine was impressive, it felt that I was having 2 or 3 dinners a day because I wanted to try so much. Breakfast was more disciplined, but that maybe because of the lady making the omelettes each morning was my go to. Such a range of food at each mealtime, it was very impressive. There were salads, fruit, pastries and desserts all the time. Then you had the time dependent choices, breakfast was more cereals, eggs, cheeses, fruit etc. lunch was a mix, you could either get light bites or a larger meal with what was on offer. Dinnertime catered more as the evening meal, so you would have different areas for different tastes. We are English and Irish so some was like home but there were local offerings too. One thing I would say, the butter was apparently not what we are used to in UK and Ireland, with a different taste, so if that puts you off I would recommend maybe bringing some or getting some from a supermarket. We brought a bottle of ketchup and it didn’t get opened during the holiday, but we did use our own tea bags. Not a criticism of the hotel, just our taste and it might help you out. There was a little café with a selection of cakes, and I am told the coffee was nice (only tea for me) and the cakes and ice cream on offer was lovely after stepping out of the sun.

The standard – very impressive. The hotel was clean, well maintained, and it was obvious that there was a sense of pride in keeping it that way from all the staff. Corridors were clean, rooms cleaned each day, poolside was kept looking great and I cannot remember us noticing anything which could have done with being cleaned at the time. The main areas looked great each day, really a compliment to the staff when the bars were open well into the night.

Pool and poolside – loved the pool, and somehow we always found room in the pool; it never felt crammed. There are activities each day, and water polo took place twice a day in the pool which was fun to watch - playing with kids took priority over getting involved in that, but I did keep saying each day I might play tomorrow. Poolside was hosed down each evening, and whilst there I didn’t think there was a problem with people towels on loungers (there were still loungers available past 9am each morning) I did put them out quite early once we had found a spot we liked. The entertainment – mostly dance groups, but this was mixed up. Hip-hop one night, latin dance another, a magic show another, a circus event another. Missed Michael Jackson which I heard was good, he played the day we left, but the main hall was well laid out, and if you got there an hour before the show you could get a good seat, but we never failed to get some seat. There were kids events on earlier than the main show, for younger ones.

The bar – great selection of drinks, and whilst there was a cocktail list, including virgin cocktails, the staff would make you whatever you wanted. Local beer Efes on tap and in bottles was very nice, and there were others too, Becks and Bolmonte. All range of soft drinks, spirits, slushies, a really good offering couldn’t fault it.

The area – the local area of Side has ancient ruins from Roman Empire days, and the waterfront is stunningly beautiful. Little cobbled streets lead down to the marina. I am a sucker for sunsets and was not disappointed, beautiful area. You will be asked to visit the restaurants and bars, and will get a few sales pitches for them but it never felt unreasonable. People are very polite and not pressured at all, they will accept a no thank you, but at the same time we sat down for a drink in one and could have stayed there all evening. We also visited the next big town over Mavangat, as we went on a boat tour through Jet 2 and that was lovely too, but Side is the gem in the local crown, will look even better once the restorations to the ruins have completed. Maybe in time for our next visit?

The staff – last but certainly not least, the staff. Every single member of staff, from the reception to the bars to the food hall to the restaurants to the cleaners, were so clearly dedicated to their job and to making sure that us guests were happy with their stay. They could not do enough for you, and over the few days we were there we became familiar with several. The highlight perhaps being my walk to the bar to be greeted by a prepared glass of beer, only problem is I didn’t get the mans name to give him a name check. The hotel should be very proud, I am sure they are. I hope to see some of them again in the near future.