Arum Barut Collection

This was our second stay at this hotel, and overall, we were very happy with many aspects of our experience. First of all, the hotel staff deserve special praise. The waiters, chefs, housekeeping team and all other service employees were extremely friendly, helpful and professional. They are clearly well-trained and disciplined. We would especially like to mention the Food & Beverage Manager and the Room Division Manager, who were both attentive, professional and very solution-oriented. The staff are definitely one of this hotel’s greatest strengths. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about the animation team. Their communication and interaction with guests were quite weak. We rarely saw them actively engaging with guests, inviting people to activities or creating a lively atmosphere. Even a simple “Good morning” was often missing. On one occasion, when I asked a question, I received a rather unfriendly response. Another issue was the lack of proper communication about activities. Even when the pool was very crowded, activities were not always clearly announced or promoted. The pool area music was also sometimes completely absent. These may seem like small details, but they make a significant difference to the atmosphere of a holiday resort. However, I believe the biggest missed opportunity is the beach and sea area. The sea is quite rocky, so naturally fewer guests choose to spend time there compared with the pool. This is exactly where a strong animation team could make a real difference. Instead of concentrating almost all activities around the already crowded pool, the animation team should focus more on bringing the beach and sea area to life. More beach games, water activities, sports, competitions, family activities and group entertainment could encourage guests to spend much more time there. This could also help solve another major problem: the sun-lounger situation around the pool. During our stay, getting a good sun lounger practically required waking up at 6:00 in the morning. It felt like a daily “sun-lounger race”. Unfortunately, we also witnessed two arguments over sun loungers right next to us. This was very uncomfortable, especially for a family holiday. We come to a resort to relax and enjoy ourselves, not to be surrounded by conflicts over sun loungers. I believe the animation team could actually help with this problem by actively encouraging guests to use the beach and sea area. A stronger beach program with water sports, games, competitions and social activities would make that area more attractive while also reducing the pressure around the pool. For international guests in particular, a lively and well-organized beach area could significantly improve the overall holiday experience. Overall, the hotel itself has many qualities: excellent staff, good food, strong service and a high level of professionalism. However, the animation team currently does not seem to match the overall quality of the hotel. In my opinion, the animation team needs to be significantly improved and reorganized, with a more energetic, friendly and guest-oriented approach. Most importantly, their role should go beyond simply organizing activities. They should actively communicate with guests, create energy, make people feel welcome, and encourage guests to enjoy different areas of the resort. We returned for a second stay because we genuinely liked this hotel. Unfortunately, despite being very satisfied with the general service quality, the weak animation, lack of beach activities and ongoing sun-lounger problem have made us less certain about returning for a third time. The hotel has great potential. With a stronger animation team and a much more active beach program, the overall guest experience could be significantly better.

We are currently staying at Arum Barut and overall, everything is great — the food, service, cleanliness, facilities and staff are all excellent. The only real disappointment is the entertainment. It feels almost completely absent, especially during the day. There is no atmosphere around the pool, no upbeat/loud music and very little holiday vibe. The entertainment team also seem quite disengaged — honestly, sometimes it feels like the girls doing the entertainment need someone to entertain them! 😂 There is very little interaction or energy and nothing really happening around the pool to get people involved. It’s such a shame because the hotel itself is fantastic. It just needs more energy, music, activities and a much more present entertainment team. Even some good music around the pool would make such a difference to the atmosphere. If you prefer a very peaceful and quiet holiday, you will probably love it. But if, like us, you enjoy music, a lively pool atmosphere and a bit of a holiday/party vibe during the day, this is definitely where Arum Barut is lacking at the moment.

A fantastic stay at Barut Arum – we’ll definitely be back! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was our fourth time in Side, and I’d always wanted to stay at a Barut hotel, so we finally bit the bullet and booked the Barut Arum. We were absolutely not disappointed! It got off to a bit of a rocky start with a cock-up regarding our rooms booked through Hotels.com, which ended up costing us quite a bit more money than expected. However, we were eventually given a lovely two-bedroom suite (room 2164). It was spacious, spotlessly clean and perfectly located right by the pool. The room was well equipped with shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bathrobes and slippers, and the minibar was generously stocked and replenished every day. The whole hotel is spotlessly clean, and you can really see how hard the housekeeping and gardening teams work. The pool area was lovely. You do need to be up fairly early if you want a poolside sunbed — around 7:30am seemed to be the sweet spot! If we were later, we could usually find a bed on the grass. The pier is also fantastic, with amazingly comfortable padded sun loungers. The sea is quite rocky directly in front of the hotel, so not many people seemed to swim from the beach. However, you can access the sea from the top end of the pier via the steps. Top tip: if you want to walk into the sea, turn right past the volleyball nets and you can get in there. The bottom is more slate-like than sandy, but it’s much easier to get into the water. 🍴 Food The food was amazing — probably the best we’ve had in Turkey. There was always plenty of choice, everything was warm and there was lots of variety. My son particularly loved the pasta station! For lunch, we usually ate at the Petunya Restaurant, which overlooks the sea and has a huge menu. A massive shout-out to Emre (I think that was his name!). Within minutes of sitting down, he would bring our drinks without us even ordering. Such a lovely man who clearly works incredibly hard. We didn’t eat at the burger restaurant, so I can’t comment on that. The à la carte restaurants — Turkish, Asian and international — were all lovely. We had no problems booking them. We went to Guest Relations on our first full day and managed to get four bookings during our ten-night stay. 🎉 Entertainment The entertainment team were great and, importantly for us, didn’t constantly pressure you around the pool to join in. My son particularly enjoyed the water polo, and Tolga from the entertainment team was fantastic. We also experienced two pool foam parties during our stay, which were brilliant — foam, inflatables, dancers, balloons and live music. There was also live music at the beach bar in the late afternoon, creating a really chilled-out holiday atmosphere. We only watched a few evening shows, including the Michael Jackson show, which was fantastic, the fountain and laser show, and a group of singers at the beach bar. All were excellent. 🛍️ Location We love having a mooch around the shops, and the hotel is well located for this. Come out of the hotel and turn right and there are shops nearby. Turn left and walk for around ten minutes and you’ll find even more. Kumköy is only a short taxi ride away — around €12 for us — and has a huge selection of malls and shops. It’s around a 45-minute walk into the beautiful old town of Side, although be warned: doing that walk in August is HOT! 🥵 ⭐ One little improvement If I could suggest one thing that would make the hotel a super impressive five-star experience for me, it would be having some fridges around the hotel with bottled water and drinks, as there could be a queue at the pool bar. I’d also love to see a few ice cream fridges dotted around the pool areas, as we’ve had this at other hotels and it’s a lovely little touch. ❤️ Overall Despite the rocky start with our room booking, we are so pleased we chose Barut Arum. The cleanliness, food, staff, entertainment, facilities and location all made for a fantastic holiday. There’s a really lovely atmosphere throughout the hotel, and the staff work incredibly hard to make sure everyone has a great time. We absolutely would not hesitate to return and will definitely be back! 🇹🇷❤️ Thank you, Barut Arum, for a brilliant stay! Note avoid SunExpress. Antalya airport was a shambles due to an IT issue, three hour delay and none of our bags arrived back at Manchester along with the whole aircraft’s and we still don’t have them back!

Great hotel! Good location, excellent staff, fabulous food and drinks. The evening entertainment is good quality, with a music group every night in the pool bar.

Amazing resort with the best all inclusive iv experienced