Hotel Aska Lara Resort Spa

Our stay at Aska Lara Resort & Spa was honestly one of the most miserable holiday experiences we have ever had as a family. The hotel is extremely noisy, every single night people were shouting on the corridors and floors until at least 1am, making proper sleep almost impossible. The entertainment was also very poor and the overall atmosphere felt chaotic rather than relaxing. The cleanliness standards were shocking. The rooms looked outdated and dirty, and we even had to request a room change immediately after arrival because one of the single beds literally looked like something from a prison. Housekeeping was far below what we would expect from a resort claiming this standard. Another major issue was hygiene and food quality. All 4 members of our family ended up needing Piriton for 2 days due to rashes that appeared after eating at the hotel. The hotel also has cats everywhere across the resort, which may be an issue for families with allergies or children. Most concerning of all was our experience regarding privacy and handling of medical information involving our minor son. We have raised a formal GDPR/data protection complaint after confidential medical information appears to have been shared inappropriately by the hotel doctor/staff without our consent. This matter is now being escalated further. On top of everything, many staff members were dismissive and rude during what was already an extremely stressful situation for our family. Sadly, this hotel completely ruined what should have been a relaxing family holiday.

Family of three- two adults in our mid 30s and 7 year old son Stayed in various all inclusive resorts from 3-5* previously in different places in the world Food Very repetitive and lack of variety which you do expect from an all inclusive but honestly didn’t find it very accommodating for British and/or plain taste palette Lack of choice for kids- chicken/turkey nuggets, chips that’s it Requested simple changes to the menu and these were not accommodated. Nothing taxing- literally asked to not have salad on a burger and salad in a chicken wrap and repeatedly told it comes as standard and couldn’t change À la carte restaurant was included within the stay and food was absolutely beautiful. Would have paid good money for the meal we had. Didn’t try any of the additional ones Drinks Felt watered down, low quality and flat(beers) Another example I love an iced coffee and this was done by using coffee syrup and milk- not good Location Never stayed in Lara beach area before and would not return. Have been to various parts of Turkey before and we love the country but this was not turkey to us. Lots of big hotels otherwise area is derelict and run down. Various constructions projects, some abandoned, lots of rubble and holes in the walkways- would not be allowed in the UK. Aska Lara has one small group of shops in short walking distance. They were over priced- £7 for a can of coke and a magnum ice cream Airport Only a 30 minute transfer which was brilliant. However antalya airport itself was just madness. Felt like a cattle market with inadequate seating and good options for food. Prices extortionate- one medium Big Mac meal and one triple cheeseburger meal £38 Airport was enough to put us off returning to the area Hotel Layout Felt a bit upside down and unwelcoming. Restaurant/shops/starbucks/spa/pool all located on ground floor. No light or windows so was dark and felt like you were in a basement Rooms Stayed in two rooms as we upgraded when there as we weren’t given a balcony in original standard room. Out booking stated we had a balcony, however it was a full length window that opened with no space to sit. Paid €10 per night for the exact same room, just including a balcony Lots of wear and tear visible Entertainment Very repetitive. Didn’t seem interested in entertaining guests or have the usual friendliness we have experienced in other hotels Pools Good sized and variety of pools, however despite the climate being cool, no pools were heated or turned on. Many people were unable to use the pools, including us which impacted the experience. Climate was around 26/27 which was perfect, however too cool to heat the pools to a good temperature, so needed the heaters on which weren’t A lot of people went to indoor pool so that was then overcrowded Starbucks Think this will be a big selling point for the hotel, however drinks are not like normal Starbucks- from the UK or abroad. Dispensed from a machine with milk added fresh. Only come in one small size. Staff serving are miserable and queues are always ridiculously long Staff Didn’t find any staff cheery or friendly and a massive put off for us as the staff often make the holiday. Felt they were short staffed and therefore overworked and burnt out from working long hours. Not their fault, just didn’t make any positive impact on our experience unfortunately Also found there to be a big language barrier in with staff- not many spoke English

The buffet has endless food options and there is also unlimited Starbucks included! You could never be bored. We really enjoyed the evening shows and activities during day like Pilates

Hotel has a wide range of food, drinks and entertainment for all as well as friendly staff.

We stayed here from 11th May to the 15th May just a quick few days of sunshine with our children. Overall 3.5-4 rating long detailed review below! The staff we found were not as friendly as pervious times we have visited Turkey. We have been coming to Turkey Every year for the last 11 years and always feel staff are lovely and friendly and remembering your order your names friendly with your children. But we found some staff gave no interest it felt like they didn’t want to be there at all this was mainly at the bar and restaurant areas and specially the daytime towel guy at the wet and wild he couldn’t put his phone down or even crack a smile. We only bring money to tip with and the only tip we actually gave out was to the luggage man on our arrival which is a shame really We stayed in a standard room with land view which is what it was we looked onto some apartment blocks but you could see the sea we were offered an upgrade at €15 a night but this wasn’t something that bothered us since we were only here for such a short stay over all the room was lovely and clean fine for the 4 of us my only gripe would be I think the outdoor furniture could do with a little upgrade to something maybe not plastic and in pervious hotels along with the mini bar in the fridge. There would be some little snacks left like crisps or biscuits or chocolate which the kids love to snack on while in the room but the little shop was pretty reasonable so we just bought some ourself Atmosphere if anybody is worried about current world situations is absolutely fine you wouldn’t know anything is going on only thing I noticed with our hotel and hotels around us during daytime hours all the lights are off the restaurant lobby, and lower ground area seemed so dark as everything was turned off but other hotels around us that normally have big lights on the roofs also had them turned off. Seemed odd to have stuff turned off but understand if it is an effect from the war and energy prices What I will say the food was great great selection at night for the adults kids choices did lack somewhat but my children also turn fussy on holiday the snack bars down at the wet and wild are fab great food special shout out to the pizzas donner wraps and the meat pide you really don’t need to leave there once you are down. My biggest gripe for the holiday tho after unfriendly staff was the drinks they really let the place down. They were not good at all just really basic cocktails the mojito was literally just a rum and soda with some Mint thrown in no flavour. It really let us down. At dinner I think out of the whole stay we were only asked once if we wanted a drink the rest of the time we had to walk to the hatch and ask in which you couldn’t ask for wine you had to get that from a server. Never never never enough staff working on the bar areas either it was to constantly Que and I wouldn’t say the hotel was busy during our stay so in peak time if the staffing is the same it’s going to be a nightmare Also the icecream bar at the pool is only open 12:30-4 which is okay but would be nice the they just had a help yourself freezer dotted at a bar. Nighttime entertainment was okay. The Michael Jackson was good if you like that kind of thing which we do but the other nights were okay. It was a shame that you had to pay if you wanted to take part in the bingo night. I will say the karaoke night in the garden bar was a laugh Always seemed to be lots of entertainment going on in the day we don’t really like to take part in that but everyone who did seemed to have fun! I will say the entertainment staff are super happy and friendly. I will quickly add and this is just as a warning the whole hotel when the floor is wet is soooooo slippy would definitely get your children some slipfree shoes This holiday was for our girls to enjoy the slides and the sunshine and they loved every minute. I would say we enjoyed it a little less then them and our previous holidays but it is still a great place to visit it was clean and food was good