Melissa Garden Aparthotel

This was our first ever visit to Turkey and our first time staying at Melissa Garden, so we really didn’t know what to expect. We’re a family of five with teenagers and a 6-year-old, and we honestly couldn’t have asked for a better first experience.

From the moment we arrived, we felt so welcome. The atmosphere here is fantastic, but what really makes Melissa Garden special is the staff. They are so friendly, funny and genuinely make you feel like part of the family.

The banter with the staff was one of our favourite things 😂. We had such a laugh throughout the holiday and the kids absolutely loved getting involved.

Emir deserves a special mention because he had us laughing constantly! We were always happy when we saw him starting his shift at midday because we knew there would be plenty of laughs. The kids especially loved the foam parties and had great fun throwing Emir in the pool — and he was always up for it! 😂

Yaz was always stopping for a chat with us and having a laugh and recommending meals to have , he also cooked us an absolutely lovely steak one night, which was definitely one of the highlights!

A special mention also has to go to Açelya, the lifeguard. She was so lovely with the kids and became part of all the fun. She would come and play pool with the kids in the evenings, and on the children’s last day she even got in the pool with them! That meant so much to the kids and was such a lovely way for them to spend their final day. ❤️ She was always smiling and happy to join in!.

A huge thank you to Mustafa, who was so lovely with my little girl and always looked after her so well. He was always getting us drinks and remembering our previous orders and just generally a top bloke! . ❤️

Kassim at breakfast was another favourite. He was always so lovely and seemed to constantly be beinging Seb pancakes! 🥞

Metin on reception in the evenings was brilliant too. He would bring his kitten in for the kids to see, which they absolutely loved. 🐱 Such a lovely little thing that they will remember.

And Oguz on reception during the day was always there helping me sort out all my bills and anything else I needed. He was so patient and helpful every time.

We also loved the 2-bedroom apartment, which was clean, spacious and perfect for our family of five.

Being our first time in Turkey, we really didn’t know what to expect, but Melissa Garden has completely won us over. We’ve had such a brilliant holiday, made fantastic memories and, most importantly, the children have absolutely loved it. We also made friends with some lovely families there and hope to join them again next year!

A massive thank you to Emir, Yaz, Mustafa, Kassim, Metin, Oguz, Açelya and every single member of staff. We honestly can’t mention everyone by name, but every person played a part in making our holiday so special.

We arrived as complete first-timers and left feeling like we’d made friends. ❤️

Thank you Melissa Garden for an amazing first Turkish holiday — we’ll definitely be back! 🇹🇷☀️🍹❤️

We’ve just come back from our stay at Melissa Gardens and overall had a lovely holiday. The room was very spacious and clean — yes, a little run down in places, but nothing that affected our stay or enjoyment.The staff were genuinely amazing. Nothing was ever too much trouble. One moment that really stood out was when I was pulling a sunbed over to where my family was sitting; the gardener noticed, stopped what he was doing, and came straight over to help. The cleaner was also lovely and always happy to assist with anything we needed.We ate in the hotel a few times but mostly chose to eat out, then returned in the evenings for the entertainment. The staff never pressured us to dine there they did ask and obviously wanted us to eat with them but were never rude or off with us when we didn’t — they were consistently welcoming. The entertainment itself was fun, relaxed, and very child‑friendly.My only downside is that this isn’t actually self‑catering, so we ended up spending more on food than expected. Again, it didn’t spoil our holiday, but it’s worth knowing. The on‑site shop says it offers guest discounts, but we found it quite expensive. If you walk past it to the last shop along the road, drinks, snacks and bits and bobs were much more reasonably priced.We visited Turkey two years ago and prices have definitely gone up quite a bit, but that’s just the cost of living everywhere — nothing to do with the hotel.Overall, we had a great stay. Lovely staff, clean rooms, fun entertainment, and a welcoming atmosphere throughout. I travel with my family and my parents and we all enjoyed the holiday, the kids made loads of friends around the pool and it was just a lovely atmosphere with family around us too.

This was our second year and stay here! Yaz, Mustafa, Emir, Aran and the whole team are friendly, brilliant hosts and so accommodating. From helping with sun beds, drinks, or dance moves, these guys are great! The food is delicious, fresh and actually a pretty good price too. Everything you need is to hand and a quick bus or taxi ride takes you straight into the Side Old Town for the ruins and boat tours. Will be back again!