Rixos Sungate

We stayed at Rixos sungate for a week as a couple, here’s what we thought… Check in/check out - not very welcoming, no welcome drink or anyone to greet you, you queue up with other guests pushing in front of you, however the lady who checked us in was nice and polite. When I went back to queue to check out I was told you need to go to the other reception upstairs (didn’t know about that no signs or anything)

Room - our room was in the club diamond section and it was very nice but only because we got an upgrade (which we are very grateful for so thank you) however it’s very dated to get to the room like the corridors and overall the whole hotel is very dated. There are cleaners everyday and although we got fresh towels and bedding they didn’t clear the tea cups for 3 days. There’s a kettle in the room but no teabags or coffee and there was an old coffee machine shoved away with cups, saucers and cutlery in the cupboard?? Not sure what that was about. The bed is very big and comfy, shower is lovely, toiletries replenished everyday but air con is very poor, it’s not strong or cold enough!

Food - very average and very repetitive, breakfast is the best meal however again it’s the exact same thing every day. All meals are very catered towards the Russian guests like lots of salted fish, lunch options are pretty bad, however the ice cream huts and the Costa’s are very good (the one on the beach is quieter) the bars are nice - marine and fantasy you get a glass for your cocktails and china for your coffee, there’s fridges everywhere with water bottles which is good but they are tiny! We did 2 à la cartes (you have one included a week and if you want to go to the others you have to pay) we tried cactus and teppanyaki both were good with lots of food options and big portions, would definitely recommend.

Staff - a lot of them didn’t speak great English and I think because of that they don’t really speak much at all! The staff in fantasy bar especially do not speak, sometimes you’ll get a hello and a smile from passing by other times you’re invisible. However the staff in the à la carte’s were very nice.

Sunbeds - the worst! Absolutely awful you have to get up very early to secure a good spot!! We noticed that some people were even getting up early and sleeping on them, we overheard someone saying they came down at 5:20!!! Also half of the resort are nice cushioned beds that are comfy, and the other half are plastic, old and uncomfortable. Theres a lot of shade around the resorts because there’s lots of trees but because of this the pools aren’t very clean with debris from the trees and they’re all one depth there’s no slopes or steps into pools and no adults only areas which I think they should have. Oh and the towels are old and thin!

Activities - everyday on the app, there’s an itinerary released showing you all the different activities, I tried to join aqua spin but getting there 10 mins early was already too late so bear that in mind. I joined Pilates but the class was in Russian, by the time the teacher was able to say the English we were half way through the exercise! However the gym is great it’s huge, got every piece of equipment, fresh towels and water. We wanted to play tennis but was told it’s €20 each?! Which we were very disappointed to hear in a ‘5* all inclusive’ resort, the spa was also very disappointing there was no water in the pool, no one to help us just 2 people who stared at us when we walked in to have a look around.

The grounds are well kept, the gardeners are all out daily, I took a sunrise walk around the resort (because I was up putting the towels out!) and it is lovely but there’s cats everywhere and no control over them all all, people are feeding them and the seagulls constantly. The location of the hotel is around 45/50 mins from the airport, we booked a private transfer. One of the days we went into kemer and went to a beach club called Qualista the sea is absolutely lovely over there and the beach club was great! The town there is small but shops and restaurants plenty but order an uber the yellow taxis outside the hotel charge you nearly double! Opposite the hotel there’s a small selection of shops, including a few pharmacies and supermarkets which are a lot more reasonable than the shop inside the hotel. And lastly I have a complaint about one of the photographers, I was laying in fantasy pool in a bikini on a lilo reading and he came over and took a picture of me and I said no please don’t, and he left the camera to his face, I repeated no please, and then he said where are you from you want a photoshoot to which I said no thank you. I am not 100% sure if he took a photo of me against my consent I’m pretty sure he did and I didn’t appreciate that.

Overall, yes there are a lot of Russian guests who do not know how to queue or have basic manners which isn’t really the hotels fault but the staff should be better at queue management. It definitely isn’t a 5* hotel, and it’s not ‘all inclusive’ with the fact you have to pay for tennis and the à la cartes. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

We stayed at Rixos Sungate for 6 nights with our 5 and 3 year old and were extremely disappointed. Having previously stayed at Maxx Royal Belek and Ela Excellence Belek, I genuinely cannot understand how Rixos Sungate is marketed as the same 5-star standard. The difference in service, food and attention to detail is enormous. It felt as though we were paying for the Rixos name rather than a genuine 5-star experience.

Most importantly, I would strongly advise anyone with a serious food allergy to avoid this resort.

My 3-year-old daughter has a tree-nut allergy and suffered a severe allergic reaction here. At the ice-cream counter, we saw staff using the same spoon across different flavours, including a nut-flavoured ice cream. We chose a sorbet that did not contain nuts and, at the time, did not think anything of the shared spoon. It was only in retrospect, after my daughter developed widespread hives, that we realised the cross-contamination from the shared spoon was the likely cause of her reaction. She then required urgent medical attention.

The response afterwards was appalling. We asked a member of staff to take us approximately 100 metres by buggy to the resort doctor with our visibly unwell 3-year-old and were refused because he needed to deal with luggage. Apparently moving bags was more important than helping a child having an allergic reaction.

At the medical centre, rather than immediately focusing on our daughter, an extraordinary amount of time was spent discussing private insurance and fees. When your child is having an allergic reaction and you know how quickly these situations can escalate, standing there discussing payment before she is properly assessed is completely unacceptable.

It somehow got worse afterwards. We spent FOUR DAYS chasing an invoice. When documentation was eventually produced, they had my daughter’s age wrong and stated that we had knowingly given her pistachio ice cream despite her allergy. This was completely false. We had selected a non-nut sorbet; the issue was the cross-contamination we had witnessed at the counter. It took until checkout, FIVE DAYS after the incident, for us to obtain firmer documentation from Guest Services.

For a supposed 5-star international resort, I found the entire handling of a child’s allergic reaction disgraceful.

Food: Very disappointing. Choices felt limited and, most concerningly, allergens were not clearly labelled. Given what happened to our daughter, this became an enormous issue for us. I also cannot remember staying at a comparable 5-star Antalya resort where not even one à la carte restaurant was included. It feels as though anything beyond your room and the main buffet comes with another charge.

Buffet service wasn’t necessarily rude, just wildly inconsistent. Ask one waiter for an English tea and receive one thing; order exactly the same thing from someone else the following day and receive something completely different. There simply doesn’t seem to be consistent training.

The croissant kiosk was one of the few food highlights. The noodle bar didn’t appeal to us as everything appeared drowned in soy sauce, including a chicken noodle dish prepared for our daughter.

Accommodation & pool: We stayed in a terraced house. The location was convenient for both Rixy Kids Club and the main pool, and the AC worked well. Beyond that, the room was nothing special and certainly didn’t give a luxury 5-star impression.

The main pool was warm and spacious. Costa is conveniently located nearby. We repeatedly watched roller-skating waiters delivering food and drinks to other guests but were never approached ourselves. There was no obvious QR ordering system either, so we still don’t understand how this service is supposed to work. Being overlooked poolside appears to be a recurring theme in other reviews too.

Rixy Kids Club: This was probably the only reason the holiday wasn’t a complete disappointment. The children’s water park is excellent and the pool bar made the best iced coffee we had at the resort. Mehmet was particularly helpful.

The workshops were genuinely good, particularly ceramics. The lady running it was extremely patient and lovely with the children. Unfortunately, even here there were problems. Children’s pottery is left out for around two days to dry with seemingly no proper collection system, and somebody took my son’s piece. The kiln was also broken during our stay, so the pottery couldn’t be glazed as expected. The science and painting workshops were good additions.

The games centre is decent but the opening hours are ridiculous — 12–2pm and then after 9pm. At the 9pm session it becomes so busy that good luck actually getting onto many of the arcade games or rides.

Communication at the Kids Club was another major frustration. Many members of staff struggled to communicate even basic information in English, which I find astonishing at an international resort carrying the Rixos name. There also appeared to be a noticeable difference in how easily Russian-speaking guests were accommodated. Evening children’s entertainment was underwhelming too.

Overall, Rixos Sungate was nowhere near the standard we expected. The Kids Club facilities are good, but good slides and workshops cannot compensate for poor food, inconsistent service and, above everything else, what we experienced regarding our daughter’s allergy and the resort’s response afterwards.

We absolutely will not return. Having experienced other 5-star resorts in Antalya, there are far better options — including resorts offering considerably better service for the same price or less. For us, Rixos Sungate simply did not deliver a 5-star experience.

A good 4 star stay, but not quite 5 star

We’ve just returned from a 12 night stay at Rixos Sungate and overall, we had a good holiday. I’d personally rate the hotel around 4 stars rather than 5, as there are definitely some areas that let it down.

Rooms

We stayed in a Superior Double Room with Balcony, while our in laws stayed in a Comfort Room. Our Superior room was lovely, spacious and comfortable, and we were really happy with it. The Comfort Room, however, was a different story. My in laws found it quite dated and weren’t particularly impressed with it.

The cleaning throughout our stay was fantastic. We genuinely had no complaints at all. The lady who cleaned our rooms was brilliant and always did such a great job.

The general cleanliness around the hotel was also very good. The only thing we noticed was a fairly strong drainage smell around one of the pools towards the restaurant side. It wasn’t something that ruined our holiday, we simply avoided that area.

Food

Unfortunately, the food is probably the biggest thing that lets Rixos Sungate down.

We ate at three of the à la carte restaurants and really enjoyed all three. However, we found the main buffet restaurants quite disappointing for a hotel that is marketed as 5 star. There was not plenty of choice and overall standard just didn’t feel 5 star to us.

Costa served daily for free was a great positive.

Noodles, corn and fresh croissants also, made it great!

Pools, beach and sunbeds

There are loads of sunbeds, and despite the hotel being busy, we never struggled to find one, which was a huge positive.

The beach was also easily accessible. My mother in law has quite bad knees and even she managed the access without any real problems.

The kids loved the water slides and generally had a great time. The lifeguards definitely have their work cut out for them though!

The biggest disappointment was the kids’ pool being closed so often during our stay. With children, this was frustrating, especially when you’re paying for a family holiday and expect all of the facilities to be available.

Entertainment

The kids’ shows were okay and the discos were okay too. Nothing amazing on the disco side, but our children enjoyed them, which is ultimately what mattered to us.

One little hidden gem is the cocktail bar away from the main pools and bars. Find it! It’s lovely, much quieter and was one of our favourite places to have a drink in the evening.

Staff

A special mention has to go to Melike from Guest Services. She was absolutely fantastic and went above and beyond to help us whenever we needed anything. She really stood out and was a credit to the hotel.

People taking pictures around the pool for you to buy need to be less pushy, and the boat sales people. This really ruined part of our holiday, they didn’t need to be pushy, I’m on holiday not to be sold things.

The atmosphere and culture

One thing worth mentioning for British families is that there is a very strong Russian presence at the hotel. The culture and atmosphere is noticeably different from what you might be used to in a typical British holiday environment. This isn’t necessarily a negative, but it is something to be aware of before booking, particularly if you’ve never stayed somewhere with such a different mix of nationalities before. My mother in law was almost knocked over by a lady who shoved by her.

Land of Legends

We also visited Land of Legends, which was really easy to book through the hotel and I would definitely recommend going.

It’s a fantastic day out and the park itself is brilliant. Just be mindful of the return journey as you can hit rush hour traffic.

We had a good holiday, the staff were generally lovely, our room was great, the hotel was clean, there were plenty of sunbeds and the children had lots to keep them entertained.

However, for us, the food and the frequent closure of the kids’ pool were the biggest negatives, and overall we just didn’t feel it consistently met the standard we would expect from a 5 star Rixos property.