Eftalia Blue

A Fair but Honest Review Let’s start with what the hotel genuinely does well: - Fantastic room quality — The rooms are impressive: extremely comfortable beds and genuinely one of the best showers I’ve ever used. - Reliable internet — The WiFi works well for general use, although it struggled a bit when we tried streaming with our Firestick. - Freshly made omelettes — Breakfast includes made‑to‑order omelettes, which were a real highlight. - Spotlessly clean public areas — Everywhere you walk feels well maintained. - Excellent housekeeping — Rooms were cleaned to a high standard every day. - Lovely pool area — The pool itself is great for relaxing. - Great water slides — Fun options for both adults and children. --- Where the hotel really falls short - The location — This is the biggest drawback. There is nothing to do in the surrounding area, especially after dinner. It feels isolated, and unless you’re happy staying on‑site every night, it becomes limiting very quickly. - Sunbed situation — The sunbeds are packed in extremely tightly, and despite signs saying reservations aren’t allowed, many are “claimed” overnight with towels. The hotel doesn’t seem to enforce its own rules. - Food quality — Aside from the omelettes, grilled items, and fresh fruit, the rest of the food is disappointing. Many dishes lack flavour, the coffee isn’t great, and the juices taste more like sugary squash than actual juice. - Overall atmosphere — This will come down to personal preference, but the general vibe around the hotel wasn’t for us. The atmosphere felt quite chaotic at times, and it didn’t match the relaxing holiday environment we were hoping for. --- Final thoughts The hotel does have strong points — the rooms, cleanliness, pool, and housekeeping are genuinely excellent. But the combination of the isolated location, the food, and the overall atmosphere means it’s not somewhere we’d choose to return to. If you’re someone who’s happy staying on‑site all day, enjoys a lively environment, and isn’t too fussy about food, you might still have a great time here. For us, though, it just wasn’t the right fit.

We recently stayed at Eftalia Blue and, while the hotel itself is still relatively new and kept to a good standard, unfortunately the overall experience was disappointing. The biggest issue is that the complex is simply far too overcrowded for the size of the hotel. At times it felt more like a cattle market than a relaxing holiday resort. The same applies to Eftalia Island there are just too many people packed into such a small space, making it stressful rather than enjoyable. Another frustrating point was the way food and snacks were managed. Ice lollies were only available for around two hours each day, which resulted in people swarming the area the moment they opened. It genuinely felt like vultures fighting over scraps, which completely ruins the atmosphere for families trying to relax. The staff situation also seemed stretched. The maids were lovely, friendly, and did a fantastic job keeping the rooms spotless and tidy throughout our stay. However, the bar and pool staff were the complete opposite most appeared miserable, rarely smiled, and often came across as rude. One of the most annoying experiences involved the water slides. My little boy had been allowed on the “big” slides for the first three days without any issue. Then on day four we were suddenly told he wasn’t allowed on them unless he was over 10 years old or supervised by an adult despite the fact he was already being supervised by me the entire time. The inconsistency was frustrating and disappointing. Overall, this hotel may have potential if it were smaller and less overcrowded, but in its current state it simply isn’t enjoyable. I dread to think what it must be like during peak season. Sadly, we won’t be returning.

Şefvözlem numan and ayse have done a wonderful job of cleaning the rooms and everyday it’s been immaculate. Karim abd Jenny in to spa were fantastic and always ask for Jenny as she gives the best massages ever! Food is plentiful and mixed although the queue for the chips was embarrassing to watch!

Absolutely fantastic hotel! We were even upgraded on arrival, which was a lovely surprise and really made the stay feel extra special. The pool facilities were brilliant, and having access to the private beach with all its amenities was a real highlight. There was always food and drinks available throughout the day, plus free ice creams for the kids which went down really well. There was so much on offer that we honestly didn’t feel the need to leave the resort at all. Everything was well thought out for families and made for a really easy, enjoyable holiday. We’d absolutely love to return, which says a lot as I’m usually someone who likes to try new places each time!

Lovely hotel, rated a 5 star hotel but would say more of a 4 star in UK standards. Stayed in a large standard room in the smaller building above the swim up apartments in front of the hotel and it was lovely and quiet. The rooms are decorated nicely and have nice little touches (tea and coffee, free mini bar with water and soft drinks, free slippers). Air con is really powerful, beds and pillows are super comfortable. We were lucky enough to stay during Turkish Independence Day and experience lots of Turkish dishes in the restaurant. That was the best of the meals we had during our week. The meals are a bit hit and miss, more european than Turkish but always plenty of food and always extremely busy in the restaurant. The snack bar was open 1130am to 4pm every day and served premade sandwiches, waffles with toppings, Pide (Turkish pizza), Pasta and then something with chips, we had 2 different kebabs and they were beautiful, other days they had kofte and burgers. You can get Gozleme from the beach bar between 2-4pm daily, and ice cream is available at the entertainment booth at the pool 2-4pm daily too. No sunbed wars unless you specifically want a pool space, there are plenty of sun loungers that the staff are happy to supply on request, tip the guys daily and they will even reserve your spot for the rest of your stay. There are premixed cocktails (not particularly nice) and beer, wine, vodka and whisky along with draught soft drinks available with all inclusive. Cherry juice, lemon, apple and pineapple juice available from self serve machines along with tea and coffee. You can buy imported spirits and cocktails, cocktails start around 550tl. We had a free a la carte experience with our booking and we chose the grill restaurant (Italian is the other choice). The menu is fixed and honestly I didnt really rate it. Soup was amazing as a starter, followed by a meat pastry, mixed kebab grill and then huge fruit platter followed by Baklava. It was actually too much food for us. You need to book Mon-Fri between 9am and 11am at guest services for a sitting the next day. There is a patisserie and Burgerland on the main terrace which both serve cakes/food outside of main dining hall hours. Burgerland is open past midnight, serving, not surprisingly, burgers and salads and a soup of the day. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere really so you are restricted to Eftalia Island if you dont want to get a bus or taxi elsewhere. The island is a bit hit and miss (excellent Mongolian circus show at the amphitheatre, dont miss that, really worth seeing). The island vendor stalls/shops are overpriced and a little underwhelming, but the island is only 10 minutes walk from the Hotel and your all inclusive gets you all the food court outlets free, as well as the drinks you'd get at the hotel with your band. Staff are great, really cannot do enough for you. My recommendation to get the best service is tip the staff, all inclusive doesn't mean tip free service, Turkey has a heavy tipping culture. We tipped the cleaning staff and our room was cleaned daily and mini fridge restocked, our sunbeds were waiting for us every morning and everyone was lovely and eager to please. Try to learn simple thank you and please, good evening, morning etc in Turkish, it definitely makes a difference to how the staff interact with you. The facilities are 5 star, but because its a jet2, easyjet location its not exclusive enough to warrant 5 star and the packages are rated 4 star by both companies, you'll still find people shouting across the pool at their kids, playing music loudly from their own devices, smoking etc... so if you're looking for exclusive this isn't it, but the staff really do make it a pleasant experience. We probably won't return to Eftalia unless we want another holiday where all we do is late by the pool, purely based on location, but that said we had a pleasant time there and really enjoyed our interactions with all of the staff that engaged with us.