Family Belvedere Hotel

“If you like to have a very Turkish holiday then this hotel offers very good value for money.”

Our all-inclusive family holiday this year was at The Family Belvedere in Yalikavac, Bodrum, and we had a pretty fantastic week. We met new friends and had a blast. We had lively interactions with many Turkish guests who we found to be some of friendliest locals ever met with plenty of smiles and p… more

Our all-inclusive family holiday this year was at The Family Belvedere in Yalikavac, Bodrum, and we had a pretty fantastic week. We met new friends and had a blast. We had lively interactions with many Turkish guests who we found to be some of friendliest locals ever met with plenty of smiles and politeness despite the language barrier. The staff were fantastic all the time including the very energetic animations team. The weather was perfect as we knew it would be in Turkey (hope you like it hot). The food was good and plentiful. The views amazing. If you like to have a very Turkish holiday then this hotel offers very good value for money. Don’t expect luxury, it’s a 3 star. The hotel............ This is a 3 star hotel, remember that and you won't be disappointed! Our room was quite old and basic but also perfectly usable and comfortable (we only ever intended to use it for sleeping and showering), and the price reflects this. The aircon is included as standard at this hotel, which is a real bonus when visiting Turkey during August because it's always going to be scorching. We also had a small working fridge and a [very small] sea view balcony. Hotel facilities were all in good working order although some might say are looking a bit tired, both blue and yellow water slides were turned on every day between 11.00 and 12.30 and then again between 15.00 and 16.30 and the blue slide can be ridden fast if you want to. Be aware the main swimming pool is on the whole very deep and even the shallow end is too deep for young children or non-swimmers. The water slides go to a separate small pool which is shallower and for this reason often has younger children playing in it when the slides are not on, and sometimes also when they are on. The private beach is nothing special and is shingle, I swam in the sea from it once on my way back from a visit to town. The free hotel minibus drops off and picks up from the hotel’s private beach, and lots of nice shops and restaurants are then a 5 – 10 minute walk from there. The people............. The manager is friendly and very helpful and generally a nice guy to talk to, I suggest checking whether he can get you a better price if you're looking to book excursions such as boat trips Etc, before you hand over larger than necessary amounts of money. As I don't do boat trips we visited Blow Water Sports, about 10 minutes away in a taxi, for a bit of jet biking one afternoon instead, which was pretty awesome in this bay due to the calm water making it possible to take my 6 and 7 year old daughters out (separately) for a go. For this however I would recommend taking a watch and keeping a close eye on time in order to avoid unexpected excess charges. The hotel was mainly filled with Turkish guests, along with a small number of British families and a few other European nationalities. I would like to personally thank the following staff for their hard work (please excuse me of any mis-spellings); Mahomet was our primary glass collector, very talkative and keen to improve his English. I would nominate Mahomet for a promotion if I could. He will be great in the animations team. Arman was lead animator with the younger ones at the junior disco, and organising the daily Darts competition. Arman is only 14 but destined for great things due to his natural talent with people. Thero was lead on the Water Polo and surf board games which he put boat loads of energy into. Thero was always pleased to see and interact with guests. Mustafa the lead chef, for cooking such excellent pizza at the snack bar each afternoon. Ebo for carrying both our suitcases single handedly to our room, and for welcoming us to the hotel upon arrival. Activities / Entertainment............. If you like to take part in all the activities such as Water Polo, Darts and riding a surf board in the pool, most of which are organised daily by the animations team (Sunday is their only day off) then you'll get to know many people here by name (but there’s no pressure if you choose not to). Junior disco is 21.30 to 22.00 followed by various entertainments from 22.00 to 23.00 such as Turkish Dancers / fire and snake show / musical chairs. The food............ The food is Turkish, if you don't like it or are a fussy eater you're going to be hungry here. That said it's all good quality with a different selection most nights, and always something tasty and nutritious to eat. There can be long queues (20 minutes) at the snack bar in the afternoon at pizza time which is a little annoying, however remember it’s being cooked fresh. At breakfast time it’s always worth going outside to check the snack bar for fried eggs / omelettes / pancakes / crepes, which are cooked fresh on different days.

less

“Nicola maguire”

I am currently at the family Belvedere hotel with my husband and 5 year old and it really is a lovely relaxing holiday, staff friendly food good and the pool areas are so relaxed never a rush for sunbeds even the manager achnowledged us several times which never had in any other hotel, if we came b… more

I am currently at the family Belvedere hotel with my husband and 5 year old and it really is a lovely relaxing holiday, staff friendly food good and the pool areas are so relaxed never a rush for sunbeds even the manager achnowledged us several times which never had in any other hotel, if we came back to this area we would defenatly come back to this hotel. Well done to all the staff and management for having a lovely relaxed hotel.💯😁😁

less

“Nice holiday”

Just returned from a week here. Views are amazing, would return based on that alone. Offered a sandwich and bottle of water on arrival, speedy check in. Plenty of information in rooms and on notice boards at reception regarding meal times, transfers to beach etc.. Friendly staff, all took time to … more

Just returned from a week here. Views are amazing, would return based on that alone. Offered a sandwich and bottle of water on arrival, speedy check in. Plenty of information in rooms and on notice boards at reception regarding meal times, transfers to beach etc.. Friendly staff, all took time to speak to us and toddler. Very family orientated. Friendly. Always asked if we wanted to join games, trips and entertainment. Food was good. Although found that dinner time there was a huge rush and we were quite often left to wait for refills whilst the other guests were going up for seconds. Never went hungry or thirsty, plenty of food and drink served throughout the day. Kids club and some sort of entertainment most nights. Plenty of sun beds and seating. Never a rush or people reserving like at other hotels. Great different areas for sitting. Water slides are turned on regularly and for a long amount of time. Only a couple of minor issues. The on site shop doesn’t take card payments so we had to make our way to a cash point. When we asked where the nearest cash point was the staff told us to walk to the marina.. no directions given we just had to follow the signs, luckily we knew basic Turkish to follow signs and ask locals. we were told by staff that it would be just a 10 minute walk so we were quite annoyed to find it was roughly 40 minutes in the blazing sun with a toddler. We got a taxi back which was 15TL. Had we known this before we would have got a taxi down there too. So would suggest you need cash on you for taxi and on site shop as the nearest shop to the hotel is also quite a walk and the hotel is situated at the top of a very steep hill. Rooms were “cleaned daily” however didn’t find that the standards were as good as other hotels we have stayed in in Turkey. Yes the beds were made, but not changed, we were left fresh towels but never any toilet roll! Had to ask several times, in the end we ended up using our toddlers baby wipes. They swept the floors but didn’t remove rubbish from room and the toilet was filthy and stained, don’t think it’s ever seen bleach. Could be more to do for children. Other issue was that my partner went into the onsite shop and was completely ignored by the staff member in there. He stood there speaking to the man behind the till but the guy continued to play on his phone so my partner put the money on the desk and walked out. Was appalled at how rude he was. Last thing. The plumbing is extremely dodgy. When neighbours or upstairs guests flush toilet, use shower etc, sounds as if the water is pouring into your room. Think that they have plumbed it to drain in between walls, was shocked to wake up several times in the night to the sound. Defiantly needs working on or take earplugs! Other than that we had a great week and would probably return again if we returned to the area.

less