Hotel Side Star Elegance

Excellent! Love the location, evening entertainment was good and the mini club with the mini disco was good too

On arrival we were met by a cortège who took our luggage to the main reception whilst we checked in. Check in was quick and painless, and the front of house reception staff were extremely kind and respectful. However, we were left walking to the room confused as to where things were. The hotel is really big, so a little more direction on arrival wouldn’t have gone amiss. On getting to the room, we identified that what we had purchased from the JET2 website was not the room we were allocated. The room we were allocated was dated and a little tired in areas, however it was clean, tidy and was cleaned to a good standard throughout our stay. The hotel offers a free safe within the room which was really good and easy to use. The hotel mini bar (juices and 2 cans of beer) is topped up daily, with clean towels provided again daily. Aircon is provided with the lowest temperature dropping to 19c. The cleaners turn this off daily whilst you are out and the room is being cleaned, so the room can be a little warm when you return. However, this does cool down quickly. UK channels are provided on the TVs within the room which is a massive bonus and made this stay a lot better when coming up from the pool around 1600/1630. Sometimes you just want to come back from the pool, shower, put the aircon on and watch some UK TV! If you are given a hotel room on level 2, this is ground level facing a road which at times can be busy. If you are a light sleeper, ideally bring earplugs. The hotel itself is really big and can be quite challenging for people with prams, or older people with Zimmer frames. The hotel offers several lifts around to get up and down the floors, however they can take a very long wait time if you are on the bottom floors as it sort of just skips this and goes between the middle levels. We found ourselves waiting around wondering if the lift had actually forgotten about us! Food & Drink The breakfast wasn’t really my style at this hotel even though it offers an outrageous amount of food. All at a decent quality but again not my sort of vibe. There is definitely plenty of choice and I can’t see many people going hungry. The variety of food stalls around the Pesto area is really good. The pizza slices were really nice, also the small toasted sandwiches and crepe with ice cream were all high quality. The Pesto pepperoni pizza gives that proper authentic Turkish taste and was a massive highlight among guests. This was definitely one of the better food options during our stay and seemed to be very popular. The all inclusive buffet meal option at dinner can be hit or miss. This does not really offer much for children outside of the usual chicken nuggets, pizza, burgers etc. However, the food that I did get was nice, fresh and warm. Being a fussy eater in places like this and with the large variety of what is served, this could easily be broken down into stations such as Italian, American, steaks etc rather than it being random throughout. I would say a little attention to detail and this could be really quite good, not saying that it is not. The drinks that are on offer are pretty good, with the local beer and a strawberry syrup Piña Colada being the favourites during our stay. Both definitely got plenty of attention! The additional food facilities around the pool, such as Ficus, were ok, nothing special. During our stay we had a burger and a chicken donner-type thing which were lacking taste and attention to detail. The one meal that we did get from the Veranda poolside bar was tagliatelle with mushrooms and the fajita combo. Both were rather bland, seemed rushed out of the kitchen and were lacking in taste. We did not go back to the Veranda again during our stay for meals. We booked 2 à la cartes during our stay over the 3 you can have. On our second to last night we went to the Chinese. Overall the food was a lot better as expected, however the service was slow. When ordering soft drinks these come from a bottle and not a machine so can be flat when received. Pool Area The pool area was clean throughout our stay. The gentleman, Ali, cleaning continuously goes round without stopping, cleaning the area you have chosen to sun lounge in. He works extremely hard and is constantly keeping the area clean, so credit where credit is due. Both bars allocated around the pool have a serious amount of wasps that fly around the drinks section. When queuing for drinks I personally witnessed one of the staff get stung on the leg. Ideally the hotel needs to implement something to stop this from occurring. They do not offer a frozen cocktail option for any lovers out there. The pool can get really busy at times. They advise against reserving a sun lounger, however we were getting up around 7.30am to get the spots that we wanted at the larger pool area. There were still loungers available after the allocated breakfast time, however these were limited. At the weekend a large inflatable course was brought out which appeared to be a real hit. The pool staff are really good at getting everyone involved with daily games such as darts, water polo, aquarobics and any form of sports. During our stay there was also a pool party for all guests to attend. This really seemed popular with hotel guests and created a good atmosphere around the pool. The water slides around the pool are really good for children and of all ages. Two slides are available, a smaller white one and a more challenging orange one for older guests. The orange one definitely gives you a little more to think about before going down! Due to the high use of the bottom poolside toilets these can become quite unhygienic at times as they are only cleaned at certain times. Bring a nose peg and some extra grip sliders! The indoor pool located next to the spa area was closed for renovations during our stay, from what was seen once reopened it will probably be quite nice and extremely deep. Guests & General Experience Guests around the hotel, due to the large volume of people from all nations, can be a bit of a mixed bag. There are a lot of rude people continuously trying to jump in front of the queuing system that is clearly there for a reason. Unfortunately, some people seem to forget how a queue works once they arrive on holiday! As expected for a 5* hotel, the spa facilities can be on the tad expensive side. Do your research if you are looking for a Turkish Hamman. Instead of paying €120/€160, both my wife and I walked 5 minutes along the beachfront and had a full Turkish experience for only €80 for 2 hours. Definitely worth doing your research before booking this through the hotel. The hotel appears to have a large number of stray cats which are no problem with guests and generally just laze about. People are advised not to feed them but guests continued against the advice. I have honestly never seen so many cats in one hotel in all the countries I have been to. Overall Overall, there are definitely positives and negatives to the hotel. The staff are generally friendly, the hotel is kept clean, there is a huge amount of food and drink available and there is plenty going on around the pool to keep guests entertained. For me, the biggest issue is that the hotel is trying to do everything, and it really does offer a lot, but sometimes the attention to detail gets lost amongst the sheer size of the hotel and the number of guests. The room we were allocated wasn’t what we had booked through JET2 and was dated in places, although it was clean and maintained well throughout our stay. The food can be hit or miss depending on what you choose, but there are definitely some good options, especially around Pesto. The pool area is probably one of the stronger parts of the hotel. It is clean, there is plenty going on, the staff are involved with the guests and there are plenty of activities for both adults and children. With a little more organisation and attention to detail in certain areas, I think this hotel could be really quite good. Not saying that it isn’t already, but there is definitely room for improvement. Would I come back? I’m not sure I would. We had a good holiday overall, and there are plenty of positives, but for a 5* hotel I think there are areas where it could be better. If you are looking for a huge all inclusive resort with plenty of food, drinks, pools, activities and entertainment, then you certainly won’t be bored!

We had been to the Lara Beach area 3 times before but we heard so many good things about the town of 'Side' in the Manavgat area. So in August 2026 we decided to go there from Canada. This vacation was to be for our 46th anniversary. We chose the Sidestar Elegance Resort with the outdoor jacuzzi category. The resort did not disappoint, from check in to check out. Turkish people are very respectful towards tourists. The resort is an older resort, built on a cliff with lots of stairs but we already knew this before booking. It was interesting as we have travelled the Caribbean and this was a different experience for us, which we very much enjoyed. The entire resort was very clean. Our room maid was not the best, there were some stones in our room when we arrived and they were still there when we checked out. She didn't clean corners and edges in the room. But we didn't bother to complain. Other than that, nothing to complain. Air conditioning worked well. We only did one a la carte, the Turkish restaurant and it met our expectations. It was air conditioned. Service throughout the resort did not disappoint. We only speak a few words in Turkish but we stood out being english speaking guests and we felt the staff showed a lot of respect towards us. We did read reviews about other resorts where the staff paid more attention to the Turkish guests but that was not the case at this resort. The food, what can we say, amazing. The buffet, huge with a wide selection and variety. We don't drink and lot, occasional wine with a margarita or mojita once during the day. But they had everything you wish or want. One of the bars was open 24 hours, which we had never seen before. Of course european guests took advantage of this, don't really want to specify though. As for the weather, hot hot hot! We knew this too. The beach in 'Side' we found is much better than in the Lara area. No seagrass, brown sand with minor waves. Although transportation is about one hour from the Antalya airport but we were aware of this as well. This resort is along the boardwalk which we walked into the City centre about 3 times. There were so many staff that served us throughout the resort but it's hard to remember all their names. Burak at the front desk checked us in. That was the first person we met upon arrival and only remember his name. Very pleasant and professional young man, which left an everlasting impression. Thank you to all the staff for a memorable 1st time in Side, Turkiye. We hope to return some day even it is far for us from Canada.

Great food. Nice room Nice swimming pools And a lot of choise for drinks

Just home from 7 days all inclusive at the SideStar Elegance and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We arrived late at night, check in was quick and everyone was helpful at Reception who we dealt with. We booked one of the basic double rooms, which overlooked the main road. This did mean it was pretty loud with traffic, which if you are going to be annoyed at this, i would recommend you upgrade to a pool or sea view. Our room was cleaned daily, with fresh towels. Fridge well stocked with water and juices. Robes are also provided which is a nice touch. The hotel is huge so be prepared to get lost trying to find things. Lifts can also be quite slow. We were never in a rush so you just have to embrace this at times. We switched between both of the larger pools and loved both. The biggest with the animation team was good fun, you are never forced into anything and it was a great atmosphere. Food was great. You are entitled to 3 x A La Cartes and we chose the Fish, Chinese and Italian. The Fish restaurant location was by far the best. The buffet was nice with lots of options. The snack bars by the pool were also lovely, very fresh. The alcoholic drinks did not disappoint. All brands we know so you honestly can have whatever you wish. Fridges dotted about too so you can help yourself to water and fizzy juices. Side Old Town is beautiful! It was very hot when we were there, but if we were to go back in milder temperatures we would visit more often. A 20-minute walk along the promenade or you can jump on a Dolmus at the front of the hotel for a couple Euros. Would definitely recommend the SideStar Elegance!