Eftalia Marin Resort

We spent ten days in Eftalia Marin - two adults and our 14 year old son. We are already planning to return next year.

We arrived late on Saturday, around 11.30pm, and found our way to the pool bar which is open all night and serves spaghetti and tomato sauce, burgers, pizza, borek (like a pasty - delicious), salads and drinks. It felt like a great start to our holiday!

There are two pools - the busier pool with music and “animation”. The animation wasn’t for us but it looked good, especially the belly dancing lessons! Watch out for the steps into the pool as they are not clearly marked and I managed to slip injuring my foot. My vision isn’t great to be fair!

We hired a cabana one day costing 20€ for the day. Nice to have a bit of privacy but I am not sure if I would again. We thought we might get a cool breeze in there but there wasn’t. We did get a little cat come and visit us which was sweet. The other pool is known as the relax pool, much quieter, felt more shaded down by the children’s small pool. We liked that one best!

Our room was clean and fresh, cleaned every day to a high standard. There is a mini fridge in the room which is kept stocked with water, Fanta Orange and Coke. I would have loved some Coke Zero in the room as I have diabetes but I am not sure if small bottles of that are available in Turkey. The hotel bars all have it which was great for me. We had great room cleaners who always said hello and made creatures out of our towels.

The food - I have read the reviews and was a bit worried before we went but we loved it. Firstly the chicken doner on toasted bread that is available in the afternoons at the pool bar - never disappointed! We were never short of choice in the main dining room but we do love Turkish food already- there are lots of peppers, courgette, aubergine - stuffed and in various stews so if you like these you will be fine. But there is also so much more - hotdogs, pizza, chips, rice, pasta, sauce, at lunch and dinner. We sometimes chose a Turkish style breakfast but also there were delicious pancakes (with huge bowls of Nutella style sauce), omelettes, boiled eggs, many types of cereal, yoghurts, a nice treat every day of small pieces of Turkish delight. The cakes were beautiful. The staff were cleaning constantly and worked very hard in my opinion.

We went to the Island twice. We thought we would be there every evening but after a few days we settled on the Cocktail Bar at the hotel where we always had a warm welcome from Mehmet. Not cheap as it’s not part of the all inclusive but we found it a relaxing way to spend the evenings.

If you need new sunglasses I recommend the shop in the hotel. No pressure.

Whilst there we went to Land of Legends water park and theme park. Great day. Our son got on the big hyperia style ride 6 times in 30 minutes and he loved the water slides. There were lots of things for little ones too, including a Paw Patrol World. We organised it through Tony Montana’s Excursions.

We did the Big Kral boat trip also with Tony Montana. We enjoyed, especially the foam party at the end. They let the brave jump off the side of the ship and my son loved that!

But by far the best day out was the jeep safari with Tony Montana, to see the river Dim with water fights. We were in the jeep with Carlos who was doing a lot of the filming and it was so much fun and exhilarating.

If you need the medical centre in the hotel don’t hesitate. I had left my insulin pens behind. This silly mistake cost me €375 including a consultation with a consultant in Alanya and transport there and back. It’s a very organised response and the nurse we saw, Ceren, was lovely.

We booked a swim up duplex room, for a family of 5 including 2 teenagers. We are so pleased we did as we had our own bit of pool to ourselves. You can upgrade when you arrive st the hotel, for around £280, far cheaper than booking this room in advance, but ofcourse you cant guaranteeavailability. The hotel and rooms are clean and tidy. We could always find something to eat at meal times, big range of choice. I cant comment on the kids food as i wasnt looking at that. All drinks are included in the all inclusive apart from cocktails. Don't bother paying for them, they are €10 each and you cant even taste any alcohol in them. The pool areas get really busy with young families, we went in early July, and I can imagine in the school holidays its even worse. Absolutely fine if you have young kids, but ours were teenagers.

The island was great, lots to see and do, but very expensive! There are a couple of bars that are part of the all inclusive on the island but they only do Efes lager and wine (which wasn't nice). Any other alcoholic drinks and you either have to pay or walk back to the hotel which is about a 5 minute walk. But annoying if you want to relax by the beach of an evening. The beach has a lot of sand flies, so make sure you take insect repellent. We only managed to sit near there twice because the bites got too bad.

They do a sunday market outside the hotel, which was worth the wonder round. We booked the pink jeep safari excursion, this was so much fun and we had a great time. I would recommend booking from. The men on the beach and not through the reps in the hotel as its a lot cheaper. Unfortunately we found that out after we had paid our rep. Our transfer was about 1hr and 30 mins which included a stop to allow us to use the toilet and visit a shop for drinks/food. There are shops in the hotel which pretty much do anything you would need, including a barbers.

The evening entertainment wasn't great for a family of 3 adults and 2 teenagers. A lot better for young families. The water park was brilliant though and it did keep our teenagers very occupied every day. It was a safe complex and our 13 year olds were off enjoying themselves and just kept coming to find us to check in.

We had a really great week, and would 100% come again. I have tried to be as honest as I can and i couldnt add more photos as they have my children in them