Hotel Amara Beach Resort

The drive from Antalya airport takes about 1 hour. The transfer was carried out by Tui buses in our case which were relatively empty and we had a pleasant amount of space. We also noticed that our bus drivers were the slowest and thus the safest drivers who were travelling on the motorways. May have been a coincidence, but we have already seen other things on the motorway from Antalya to Alanya.The hotel itself is located just west of Side. We cannot give any more details.The beach can be reached via a beautiful and well-kept private garden. Distance about 150 - 200 metres.It is a sandy beach with the hotel's own sun loungers.The sandy beach stretches only up to the shore. For in front of the hotel the beach is rocky/ stony. For safe swimming there's the hotel's own jetty, which is very well maintained and which has 2 ladders that lead into the 2 -3 metre deep water. The advantage of such a sea floor is that the water is clear most of the time and when snorkelling or sitting on the jetty, you can see many fish and a few turtles.If you prefer a sandy sea floor, you should go 50 metres to the right of the jetty (mix of rocky and sandy beach) or 150 metres to the left of the jetty. In particular, on the left there is a shallow sandy sea floor which is wonderfully suited for small children or non-swimmers.In front of the hotel is the bazaar. However, we did not like it at all. We quickly did our standard shopping (medication, spices) and went back to the hotel.

Staff were very very friendly, always had a smile on their faces and always a cheerful "good morning / afternoon / evening".Foreign language skills were very different. With some of the employees you could wonderfully communicate in German. With some it did not even work in English. Others in turn spoke only Russian. But contact was always friendly and staff tried to communicate using hands and feet and tried to figure out what the guest wanted.The cleaning of our room was mixed. On the one hand the bathroom always shone. On the other hand, we found some hair on the carpet once or twice. Probably balled up when doing the vacuuming. On the one hand, the bed was always new and fresh. On the other hand, the toiletries were not always refilled.But about every second day we were surprised by another towel creation.All in all, the room was very nice, clean and tidy.Extremely good for us was the lunch service at the Anatolia. Gülsüm and Pinar are two gems of service and Ayshe nakes the most delicious Gözleme.The Turkish ice cream man (at the Anatolia for lunch) is a spectacle in himself.

Pictures/Videos to hotel review (Click picture to enlarge!)

There were:A bistro where you can eat snacks and a la carte around the clock .The "Horizon" where the breakfast and dinner buffet take place.The "Big Hut" where the lunch buffet is set up.The "Anatolia" where there are Turkish foods at noon and which acts as an a la carte restaurant in the evening.The "Capri", an Italian a la carte restaurant.The "Taka" an a la carte fish restaurant.Also snacks at the beach bar at noon (kebab, hot dogs, fruit, etc)Bars: lobby bar, beach bar, pool bar, Zoom Bar. And a bar in the hotel's disco.The food is definitely the biggest highlight at this hotel.It starts with the very rich and very varied breakfast buffet. This left nothing to be desired.At noon it goes on at the "Big Hut" at the buffet or at the "Anatolia" with Turkish cuisine. Again, the buffet selection at the "Big Hut" is huge and has something for everyone.All this is, however, beat by the evening buffet at the "Horizon". Every evening there's a different theme (Indian, Italian, German, etc). These slogans have not once been repeated during 14 days.The food is fresh, delicious, rich and always available.Even 10 minutes before the end the food containers are refilled and the employees are still and constantly on the move and the foods are draped.Cleanliness and table service are first class.The atmosphere is, especially on the outdoor balconies, very quiet and Mediterranean.At the 3 restaurants "Anatolia", "Capri" and "Taka" are a la carte restaurants in the evening, in each of which you can eat once per stay. More on that later, under "Tips".Tips are generally put into the special boxes.We have also given money directly outstanding employees.

There are 2 pools. A quiet pool and an action pool. These are structurally separated from each other so that nobody annoys each other.There are various typical, guided activities (archery, boccia, volley ball, pool aerobics, etc) in which we, however, did not take part. But they always looked very professional and funny.Water sports are not included. These can be done on the beach. (parasailing costs 40€ for two people and 15 minutes, jetski costs 30€ p.p. for 15 minutes.)On the beach there are 8 showers, 2 changing rooms, a house with toilets, sun beds and cushions and a beach bar.All in all, you can say it was top!

The rooms were clean and well furnished. All the rooms throughout the hotel are non-smoking.Large closet, safe, dressing table, mini bar, chaise lounges, balcony with 2 chairs, table and ashtray, large (2.2 x 2.2 m) bed, 2 bedside tables and air conditioning.Positive here is that the air conditioning was not a wall-hanging but integrated into the building.The bathroom was well equipped.

First, we want to discourage you from a visit to the barber's/ hairdressers/ etc at the bazaar. The blades were replaced and hygiene also seemed to agree. However, we were not happy at all with the price- performance ratio.We even had to get a follow-up treatment at the hotel, in order to fix the screwed up results.In doing so, we got to know the spa area of the hotel and to our surprise, prices here were much cheaper than outside the hotel. Qualitatively there was also offered more. Eyebrows were plucked without pain - remarkable.The same applies to the hairdresser/ barber at the hotel. After some bad experiences outside of the complex, I was treated to a great shave on the last night by the hotel's own hairdresser, who is almost reason enough to visit the hotel again.In the spa area, we want to especially recommend the hammam massage. A real experience!A tip for lunch: the Anatolia! This a la carte restaurant is also open for lunch and you can enjoy Turkish specialties as often as you want. Although the selection is not as huge as at the lunch buffet, it is much more quiet. The food is local and the gözlemes alone are a reason to spend lunch there each day. ;-)A tip at the end: use the offer of the a la carte restaurants! We ate at the "Anatolia" at the second to last evening. There was a fantastic 4 course meal and it felt like you're in a dream of One Thousand and One Nights. In Germany such a menu would have been priced in the 3-digit area for 2 people.Because of this experience, we then quickly reserved a table at the "Capri" for the last evening. And we can only say the best things about this restaurant as well.Certainly, the food is great at the buffet, and many travellers are right when saying: "Why should I eat out somewhere else?" But we can only recommend to try the a la carte restaurants. Specifically, the "Anatolia" is an experience in itself!