A question about : Antalya 1 to 11 Feb 2015 (Brief JBR)
Just returned from an enjoyable Thomas Cook AI package to the WOW Kremlin Palace at Lara Beach.
Weather: At his time of year you can expect just about anything, and the mountains to the west of Antalya were covered in snow - a glorious back-drop.
We arrived late on 1 February, and it was rather brrr. Our first full day it was dank, gale force winds, intermittent rain, and the sea looked angry. So we thought that perhaps we'd made a bad decision, but it was a good way of getting to know the bar staff!
Tuesday, we awoke to blue skies, and hardly a wisp in the air. It soon warmed up, and remained shorts and t-shirt temperature until mid afternoon, when a fleece came in v.handy. That trend continued for 7 days, and it really was really v.pleasant.
Tuesday 10 February, it was all change. It rained heavily overnight Monday, and that continued all day Tuesday. That combined with strong chilly winds made another day at the bar an easy decision to make.
Lara Beach: Our hotel was at the extreme east of a long spread out chain of beach fronted mega hotel. There is no promenade to enjoy, just a long main road about 300 yards inland of beach, which fronted all the hotels. Quite a few shops and shopping malls spread out along the road. Never ventured there as it was a long trek for us, and all the shopping places looked same-same. There's quite a lot of building work in progress at Lara Beach, and I expect that most of the gaps between the mega resorts will, in time, be filled with more mega resorts.
Antalya: Antalya is beautiful. It's set in a glorious bay with mountains that you almost touch to the the west. A very big and busy working town that mixes with ease traditional Turkey with tourism. It came across as being a great place to live and to retire to as an expat.
From the Lara Beach hotel strip it's easy to reach all the pleasures of Antalya by public bus, which you can catch anywhere along the hotel strip. The bus (LC-07) takes around an hour to reach the seafront, which actually runs along along a high vertical cliff, and costs 2TL (65p). Ask the driver for Kaleici (the Old Town).
The down side of using the public buses are the bus drivers are nutters, so if you don't get a seat you need to hang on tight!
Airport Transfer time: To the Lara Beach hotels or to Antalya the transfer is very quick. Our hotel was the last drop-off, and it took less than 30 minutes.
The Kremlin Palace Hotel: Sounds horrendous, and I booked it online after sinking a bottle or so of the red stuff! But it's a really lovely hotel. As it's off-season we bagged a bargain, but of course a lot of the facilities were closed. Our room (3319) was lovely, big, king size pit, bath/shower with water pressure as good as I've ever had, free mini-bar that got topped up every morning, free safe, got the Premier League footie on the room flat-screen telly, 24 hour main bar, superb restaurant and excellent food, great indoor heated pool/jacuuzi/gym/sauna. Never had any issues with the staff, and the entertainment team (Turkish, Ukrainian, Bosnian) were great fun, intelligent interesting young people.
A big bonus is that we could use all the facilities of the equally impressive WOW Topkapi Hotel, which is next door (v.short stroll).
via a wicket gate.
Summary: Loved it. A v.pleasant vfm winter break. Personally I wouldn't go there in the summer as it would be far too busy and noisy for my sensitive soul.
Any Q's fire away.
Best answers:
- Glad you enjoyed it. Can you now see the advantage of a high standard Ai hotel ?
Would you go again?
And I take it you would recommend the experience.
Quote: - Thanks for that, so glad you enjoyed it.
I've stayed in the Old Town in Antalya (actually a hotel built into the city walls) and it's delightful.
Certainly got me thinking about next year. I'm a huge Turkey fan. - Thanks for the info.
Going to Lara Beach in May; Baia Lara Hotel.
First time holidaying in Turkey, although been there a few times on day trips, from Kos and cruise ships.
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