Barut Goia

We have been to Turkey many times and this hotel stands out head and shoulders above the others, which is why we returned this year after 2 previous stays. The hotel is really well maintained, the gardens are well kept and the restaurants are not huge canteens. The facilities are well distributed and the two pools mean that they are not overly crowded. Its not just the food and facilities what makes me rate this hotel so highly, its the staff that make it stand out. In other hotels there were some staff that were really good, the problem at Barut Goia is that ALL staff are really good its really hard to identify someone who stands out! Some examples: The guy who meticulous looks after the sun loungers (sorry don't know his name). The cleaner in the restaurant (Emine) who happily welcomes you every morning, the cheerful Restaurant staff (Anastasia, Aysel and Berfin) can't do enough. The bars staff (Latif, Musa and Latif) are always smiling even on the hottest days and the Imagination/Entertainment team (Ais, Ferhat and Özi) who make sure guests are looked after and entertained. We enjoy our time so much here we've already booked our next stay.

We searched through a range of hotels before deciding on Barut Goia, and to our delight we definitely made the right choice. The hotel ia fabulous, clean, tidy, friendly, fun and welcoming. We found the food and drinks amazing, fabulous cocktails, great to have the option to order from the menu for lunch. We visited both al a carte restaurants and loved both. We were based on the noisy side, which for us was better as we were closer to the slides, park and kids club. The kids club was fabulous, the staff Yami jasmine and beggy made our girls holiday so special. They are welcoming, caring and super fun. Our girls enjoyed face painting, pizza making, games, crafts, sports and baking; Yami was simply the best! The kids disco at nigbt was always so much fun and the nightly entertainment if high quality. The room is air conditioned, comfortable and the kids loved the popcorn. Each night they also then have live music or a dj outside. We also really enjoyed the sunset rooftop bar. Beach easy to get to, we loved the water sports, especially the jet skis. Areas for improvement- include ice lollies on the all inclusive. We can't wait to return 🙌

Barut Goia hotel just wasn't what we were looking for, and we won't therefore be returning. We are regular guests to Barut Hotels so thought we knew what to expect from a 5* Barut Hotel. For transparency, the price was much less than our other Barut holidays, so perhaps it's "my bad" thinking it would be comparable, but I trusted the 5* rating. The hotel is much smaller than others we've visited and we definitely felt cramped, especially around the pools, with sunbeds virtually touching each other. The food options were limited, with only 2 a la cartes, (which could only be accessed every 3 days,) offering very similar options, alongside the buffet. Oh, the buffet! was by far the poorest we've experienced for many years. It reminded me of 3* hotels in Spain in the 00's, with staff pushing trolleys around scraping uneaten food into it's bin next to tables, rather than doing so away from dining guests. Food was often cold, choices limited and worst of all there were so many flies. They especially liked landing on the place mats on your table and were persistent, coming back immediately after a swipe away. The hotel needs to address this. I know it's a hot country, but I'm comparing it to our twice yearly visits to Turkey over the past 20+ years. Entertainment was indoor and often unbearabley hot and stuffy. More fans are required in outdoor bars to deal with Turkey's temperatures in the summer months. Daytime entertainment for us was poor. We like to play Boules, offered here on the beach, a short bus ride away, we went twice and never saw anyone there? Darts, again went twice, but it was predominantly young kids rather than adults. I can't say if this is usual, but can only comment on how we found it. Rooms were nice and spacious. Had slippers but no robes which I've not experienced before. We'd emailed the hotel prior to arrival advising we'd be celebrating our wedding anniversary whilst there and they had decorated the bed with towel art and petals, but had allocated a room with 2 single beds which was strange! Hotel was spotlessly clean throughout. Staff were friendly especially Soylap in Olea restaurant who went over and above on every occasion and was lovely to talk to. Hotel, I felt, was more geared to families with young kids, who looked to be enjoying the pools. Liked the fact the pool had a zero entry for small kids to stand in the pool. This has been an honest review, based on my experience and holiday requirements and it just wasn't what we look for in a 5* holiday.

Excellent value, brilliant staff and a great family atmosphere – but the à la carte experience needs work For context, over the last six years we have stayed at Lara Barut Collection, Anda Barut Collection and Barut Hemera. Barut GOIA isn’t marketed or priced at quite the same level as those hotels, so I think it’s important to review it with that in mind. Overall, we were very impressed. The staff were excellent throughout our stay. A special mention has to go to Nisa, the young waitress in the restaurant, who was incredibly friendly and chatty and spoke excellent English. The beach bus driver was another real character – always smiling, friendly and welcoming. He is a real asset to the hotel. As you would expect from Barut, the pools were immaculate. The pool party was great fun and very well organised, and the entertainment team in general were exceptional. The live entertainment was good overall, with The Drifters being the absolute highlight for us. We had previously seen them at Anda Barut and they were every bit as good here. Fantastic musicians who created a brilliant atmosphere around the bar that none of the other acts or DJs quite managed to match. The relatively small size of GOIA was actually one of its biggest advantages for us. In the intense heat and humidity of Side in midsummer, being able to get around the whole hotel very easily makes a huge difference. Having previously stayed in Didim on the Aegean coast, we definitely find Side and the other hotels on the Mediterranean coast considerably more humid. The journey to the beach didn’t bother us at all. The shuttle is easy and Side beach itself is absolutely beautiful. However, anyone who has stayed at some of the larger Barut properties should be aware that the beach bar here is very basic. We definitely missed the atmosphere that DJ's Muscians and comfotable sofas and facilities of a proper beach bar. Another huge positive was our suite. In terms of space, it was probably the best family room we have stayed in. There was loads of storage and an enormous amount of room, and overall the standard was very good considering the price point of the hotel. The bed was okay, although it was essentially two singles pushed together and felt a little small for us as we're used to a super king at home. We also unfortunately had problems with the air conditioning on two nights, which disrupted our sleep and meant we ended up sleeping in on two mornings. Sunbeds were not an issue. There was always plenty of space around the quiet pool and usually around the main pool during the morning. By early afternoon it became busier, although quite a few loungers appeared to have simply been left with grey towels on them by guests who had gone elsewhere which is always annoying but not a fault of the hotel. Food quality was another major strength. The Turkish and Italian themed buffet nights were exceptional – genuinely some fantastic quality food and another example of where Barut standards really shine. Unfortunately, our biggest disappointment was the Turkish à la carte at Olea. This is now the second time at a Barut hotel where we have felt rushed through the Turkish à la carte, particularly during the meze. One of the reasons for going to an à la carte restaurant is to escape the hustle and bustle of the buffet and have a slower, more relaxed meal. Bringing the main courses out while guests are still eating their meze starters simply shouldn't happen. The exact same thing happened to us at Anda Barut. We had an 8.30pm reservation and were the final table to be seated. Unfortunately, it felt as though the priority had become closing and cleaning the restaurant rather than giving us a memorable dining experience. We have also stayed at Hilton Dalaman, Liberty Fabay and Titanic Belek, and all three provided a significantly better à la carte experience, with more personal and relaxed service. My feeling is that Barut perhaps needs to rethink this part of its Ultra All Inclusive concept. If including the restaurants within the package means they have to turn over too many tables every evening, I would personally rather pay a supplement and receive genuinely excellent à la carte service as a special part of our holiday. At the moment, the food may be good, but the experience doesn't feel special enough. One of the nicest surprises about GOIA was actually the atmosphere created by the guests. The hotel was full of lovely families, our daughter made some great friends, and there was a very relaxed and friendly feel around the whole resort. At some of the more expensive hotels we have stayed at, we have occasionally found the atmosphere slightly pretentious and witnessed guests being unnecessarily rude to staff. We saw none of that here. It was simply a hotel full of nice families enjoying their holiday, which gave GOIA a really nice vibe. Overall, Barut GOIA offers excellent value for money. It doesn't have all of the luxury touches of the more expensive Barut Collection hotels, but importantly it still has the things that really matter: excellent staff, exceptionally high standards of cleanliness, very good food and quality entertainment. For us, it retains the class and standards associated with the Barut name but at a much more accessible price point. We would happily return for a week's holiday. Personally, I think a week is probably the perfect length of stay given the relatively compact size of the resort, but for a high-quality family break in Side it represents a really strong value proposition. Well done to the GOIA team – just please have another look at the à la carte experience, because with better pacing and more personal service this hotel would be very difficult to fault.

Had a brilliant family holiday. Food was great, lovely clean pool and the rooms were cleaned everyday. Begi and Yasmin are absolutely amazing! They are fantastic with the mini disco and kids’ club, and they are both so warm, friendly and wonderful with the children. They really go above and beyond to make sure the kids have a great time, and their energy and enthusiasm made our experience even more special. We have now returned twice, and on both occasions the team have been brilliant. Begi and Yasmin made the experience so enjoyable and my children enjoyed being around them. They truly made our holidays fantastic. Would definitely return.