Acanthus Cennet Barut Collection

We visited this week and had the best time! We are a young family and took part in all of the activities. We loved playing darts with Mehmet and mixing cocktails with Ali. Ferhat was so attentive to us, we never had to wait for anything!

We came here for a week and have a great experience food, drinks and staff were amazing. Big shout out to Ferhat, Mehmet and Ali they were amazing! Would deffo come back here!

Had an amazing week at this hotel. Food was amazing, fun entertainment and the best staff!! Shout out to mehmet, ferhat & Ali 😊

Super location right on the sea front of side you can walk easily into side centre from the promenade shopping and harbour great and the ruins. The hotel has a great atmosphere all down to the amazing staff. Memmet the entertainment staff is great from during the day activities to hosting entertainment at night especially dancing great guy! Rooms are beautiful and always cleaned amazing by the cleaners. The hotel is a true five star and the food is amazing from the buffet to the la carte restaurants. True value for money. If you want quality come to Acanthus you won’t be disappointed.

Acanthus Cennet Barut Collection is, genuinely, a beautiful hotel. The property is spotless, the design is tasteful without being overdone, and the sea view rooms deliver exactly what the photos promise. Beds are comfortable, bathrooms are proper — tropical shower, good toiletries, the works. Food is where this place really earns its reputation. The main buffet is varied and consistently good, the à la carte options are a step above what you’d expect, and the Safran restaurant in particular is worth booking more than once. The cocktails and desserts at the bars are genuinely excellent — not filler, actual quality. Premium alcohol (not free) across the board as well, which matters. The location is a bonus too: old Side is an easy walk along the promenade, and having the ruins and the sea in the same postcode never gets old. Things You Should Know Before You Go “Memnuniyetle/with pleasure” everywhere. Staff are clearly trained around a hospitality motto, and while the intention is fine, hearing it delivered mechanically at every interaction — relevant or not — starts to feel performative rather than genuine. A small thing, but it adds up over a week. Some staff are visibly checked out. There are genuinely warm and attentive people here, and they stand out. But others will actively avoid eye contact when you’re trying to order, and you’ll find yourself chasing someone down rather than being approached. We saw this happen with other guests too, not just us — it’s not an isolated incident. None of the pools are heated, and the sea temperature wasn’t warm enough for our baby either. If you’re travelling with a very young child, factor this in — water time likely won’t be on the cards for them. Housekeeping is unreliable. Despite putting up the “Make Up Room” sign multiple times throughout our stay, housekeeping simply did not come. No cleaning, no towel change — nothing. There is a WhatsApp line you can contact, and they do respond and help when you reach out. But after previous hotel experiences where staff proactively checked in, noticed what you needed, and acted without being asked — turn-down service, daily towel changes as a matter of course — having to chase basic room upkeep via a messaging app feels like a downgrade. The system works if you use it. It just shouldn’t require you to. The sunbed situation. Towels go down at sunrise, and by the time most guests are awake, the pool loungers are “taken.” This is a Turkey-wide habit, not unique to this hotel, but it’s pronounced here. Be early or accept the leftovers.(if any left) The beach is not guests-only. People from outside the hotel can walk in, set up on sunbeds, and spend the day. The crowd this occasionally brings is noticeably at odds with the atmosphere the hotel otherwise works hard to create. There’s no enforcement. Dress code at restaurants. A few of the à la carte options require what they call appropriate evening attire. When you’re on a beach holiday and packed accordingly, you are at risk being turned away or having to go change is an irritation that feels out of place in an all-inclusive setting. Evening entertainment — good show, not enough room. The performances at night are genuinely enjoyable. The venue, however, is too small for the number of guests. Show up a few minutes late and you’re standing or leaving. This seems to be a known issue that hasn’t been addressed. Bottom Line A genuinely good hotel with real highlights — the food, the location, the rooms. But the service experience is uneven in ways you wouldn’t expect at this price point, and some of the operational gaps (housekeeping, beach access, entertainment capacity) are frustrating enough to mention. Go in with clear expectations, use the WhatsApp line proactively, stake out your sunbed early, and you’ll have a solid holiday. Just don’t expect everything to be taken care of before you have to ask.