We have just come back from a family holiday to Bodrum in Turkey, staying at the Parkim Ayaz Hotel. It was booked through EasyJet Holidays and was our first experience of staying at an all inclusive resort.

The flight was mid afternoon on a Saturday from Luton. With the time difference and about 4 hour flight time this meant we got to Bodrum at about 9pm local time. We had opted for the shared minibus transfer to the hotel and this just involved going to the relevant desk (just outside the exit of the airport building) and being pointed to the correct minibus. It took under an hour from there to the hotel with a couple of dropoffs at other hotels on the way.

On arrival at the hotel we checked in and a fabric coloured wristband was applied - this would be our pass for the week. Entry to the complex involves showing the wristband to the security staff.

The Rooms

We had a double room and a “twin” room booked, which were right at one end of the complex. This meant that we were away from the main facilities but it also meant that we were away from most of the late night noise.

Our double room (1707) was very clean and also quite compact. It had everything we needed but I would not describe it as spacious. There is room to move around and put all your things but don’t expect lots of space around the bed. This didn’t bother us at all as we didn’t spend a lot of time in the room - and it had a small balcony we could sit out on with a couple of chairs and tables if we wanted. The bathroom was a good size and the shower was great.

The other room was a “twin” (1751) but had three beds in it so they used that for piling things on. The room was a bit bigger so they had a bit more room.

The beds are definitely on the firmer end of the spectrum, the pillows are good and the duvet is a pretty thin affair but you wouldn’t really want much more.

Both obviously had air conditioning and that worked really well. There were no instructions so a picture of the remote and a question on Gemini showed us how to use it. There was also a fridge in the wardrobe that we used to keep water bottles cool.

The rooms are optionally cleaned every day.

Facilities

There are three pools on site. We only used the pool by the Cozzy Bar but there is also a pool with a slide near the beach and also another pool tucked away in the top left hand corner of the site which seemed the least busy.

The pool we visited has the bar directly next to the pool so you can sit in the pool and drink your cocktails. There is also a sort of jacuzzi section to it where it is nice to just sit.

About 3pm each afternoon there seems to be a semi-organised game of either water polo or water volleyball. We have experienced these at other hotels where they have got over competitive but here it was just people having fun and was played in good spirits.

There was also a darts competition directly after in the bar - you need to sign up there just before it. There is entertainment here as well in the evenings, which is of mixed quality.

There is a kids play area which seemed popular, right next to what we ended up calling “cat corner”. There are a number of cats that seem to have made the hotel their home and wander around all day. They all seem to spend most of their time asleep and seem friendly. There is also the odd tortoise walking around the grounds.

There is a games room tucked away near the third pool. You have to get to it through an arch near cat corner (the only one not marked “Staff Only”). You then go past the pool and up to the first floor in the opposite corner. There are two full size pool tables and two table tennis tables that are free to use and in really good condition. It does get hot in there though as there is little ventilation.

There is a spa on site which allows free access to the gym and sauna. The gym is pretty well equipped (apparently). You can also book various spa treatments at an additional cost - my daughter really enjoyed the massage and facial she had.

When we checked out we had a whole day before we were due to be picked up. We were able to use the facilities and then borrow a towel from the spa (for free) and use the excellent showers and changing facilities. Our luggage was stored in a luggage room.

You can get towels for the week if you want - you need to pay a 10 Euro deposit to the main reception who then give you a card to get a towel from the spa reception.

Speaking of towels, there seemed to be the usual rush in the morning to reserve sun beds next to the pools. The pool with the slide still had some beds free at about 9am but the other one was pretty much full. Which brings us on nicely to the beach.

The Beach

There is a private area of beach directly outside the hotel. There are sun beds here with parasols (which we kept hitting our heads on) and we never had a problem getting 4 of these together. You can also take drinks from the bar here in paper cups if you want to.

The beach itself is relatively narrow and certainly cleaner than some other sections of the beach. It is mostly sandy. The water is clean and clear.

Once in the water it drops relatively quickly to about knee depth and stays like that for quite a distance out to sea. It does eventually drop off a little to about waist depth.

I would really recommend wearing some form of beach/pool shoes as it quickly becomes quite pebbly and rocky. It becomes a very slow journey out to the slightly deeper water otherwise.

You can see small fish swimming around your feet if you look closely, right up to the shore.

There is also a stand selling water sports. We were going to do parasailing but it ended up being too windy so the kids ended up doing one that seemed to be an inflatable sofa being towed by a speedboat and the other lying flat on a large inflatable bed while also being dragged by a speedboat. They really enjoyed the latter one.

Food and Drink

For an all inclusive holiday, the food and drink on offer is important.

We arrived late at night but were still able to get food as they have an area to get soup and bread right up until midnight in the main restaurant.

There are three restaurants - the main restaurant, a fish restaurant and an Italian restaurant. As part of the week we could book a meal in one of the two other restaurants and just pay for drinks.

We tried the fish restaurant and it has a nice view over the bay. The menu is a set of starters and then you can pick a hot appetizer and a main course followed by a dessert if you want. The food was really good quality and it was a nice evening. The drinks were a little on the pricey side but we didn’t mind too much as this was the one time we were paying.

The main restaurant is where we mostly ate. Each meal is in the form of a buffet. The quality of the food is excellent and quite varied. There was a Turkish night and this was a particular highlight.

There is a separate section for a selection of cooked dishes - queues can develop here. There is also a small section at the opposite end for one off cooked dishes. In the morning you can get an omelette made there. In the main section is a very good and well stocked salad bar, a couple of areas for more cooked food and then a large dessert section. There was always a selection of Turkish desserts, a selection of cakes and sometimes an ice cream counter.

The staff here were excellent. Fahab seems to run the restaurant and he always took time to welcome us and show us to a table and get one of his staff to get us drinks. I would also call out two other staff members who were brilliant. Burak always took time to make sure we had drinks throughout the holiday and we would often have a quick chat about football - really helpful and helped make our holiday special. The other is Ali. He is a model of efficiency, always looking to ensure that things are taken care of and doing the little things to make a guest’s stay better.

There is a counter near the slide pool which does ice cream and waffles in the afternoon and another counter at the opposite end, past the Cozzy Bar, that does ice cream as well as freshly cooked flat bread (which is brilliant).

The main bars serve a mixture of drinks. You can get soft drinks like lemonade, Coke Zero and Fanta on tap. You can also get local beer (Efes) and local wine (it’s okay but don’t expect too much). They also offer a selection of about 8 cocktails, made from local alcohol. We had quite a lot of these and they are decent - the quality and strength varies each time but definitely drinkable.

There is also a Lobby Bar above reception where you can get non-alcoholic drinks and a selection of pastries. This is a quieter area, with a small library.

There is also Turkish tea you can help yourself to and coffee and fruit juice machines you can use.

There are also fridges where you can help yourself to bottles of cold water or you can ask at any of the bars. This works really well but I hate to think how many plastic bottles they get through per day!

Going Out

If you want to go into Bodrum itself the easiest way is to get a small minibus from outside the hotel. They usually have “Bodrum” in the window and you flag them down. It cost us 50 lira per person which you need to hand to the driver at some point.

Coming back it is better to get a taxi as the bus takes a very circuitous and much longer route before getting to the hotel and you think you might be on the wrong bus.

The bus comes into the main bus station. On Tuesday during the day there is a market in the big building next to the bus station. It is mostly selling fake trainers, clothes, bags. Oh and it gets quite hot in there.

If you want to go shopping, it is much more interesting at night. From the bus station, go down the main street - there are lots of shops.

Despite what they may promise you everything here is fake, but very cheap. There are a lot of fake goods being sold here that would without close inspection pass for real at a cursory glance. You can haggle with them on the price.

When you get to the mosque at the end of that street the marina is to the right but the rest of the shopping is on the street to the left.

Near the hotel, you can see the Bodrum Windmills at the top of the hill. This is about a 15 minute walk up a reasonably steep hill but worth the walk. The windmills themselves have seen better days but you can see both bays from the top and the view is great.

We did one excursion while we were there. It was a boat trip which we booked with Discount Bodrum Travel - out of the hotel, turn right and walk about 200 metres following the main road, and they are on the left. It was about £25 per person which included being picked up and dropped off, a full day on the boat including a lunch (Route 3).

The pick up was painless and the boat was decent. It was busy but not overcrowded. There were 5 stops for swimming which was great. Life jackets were available if you wanted them. The water was clear, although cold at times. The staff were friendly.

The lunch consisted of chicken, pasta and potato. It was edible but you would be disappointed if you got it at a restaurant. You had to pay extra for drinks. At the end we were dropped off at the harbour and chaotically pointed to the correct minibus - that bit worked but was not very well organised.

Miscellaneous

The WiFi in the hotel was on the whole decent and we were able to stream videos. I would thoughly recommend buying an eSIM before travelling. A couple of us used Roamless for the first time and this was painless and worked really well.

Before travelling I consulted Gemini for the best way to carry cash and it suggested using our Revolut cards at ATMs. This was a mistake. Despite assurances by Gemini about fees, this proved expensive.

Most places take Turkish Lira and/or Euros. If I was doing it again I would get a load of both before travelling and rely on those, with my Revolut card for card payments. We tended to get better deals when paying with cash.