Akra Didim Resort & Spa

🌴 Family Review (2 teenage girls) 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Having been to Akra Fethiye twice and absolutely loving it, we were a little unsure what to expect from Akra Didim, especially as it’s a brand new hotel. We were completely blown away! 🤩 From the moment we arrived, we were made to feel so welcome. The staff were attentive, friendly and genuinely seemed to care that we were having the best holiday. The hotel itself is absolutely stunning and has such a luxurious feel throughout. Even the toiletries in the room were gorgeous - you genuinely don’t need to pack anything in that respect! 🛁✨ 🏖️ Adult Pool We spent every day around the adult pool and honestly… wow! We’re not people who enjoy being crammed in amongst lots of others, so this was perfect for us. There were always plenty of sunbeds available - even the luxury day beds and the beds actually in the pool. If you saw my previous post, the photo taken at around 10:40am on an average day says it all! One of our favourite touches was the drinks service. Simply scan the QR code from your lounger and your drinks arrive… often delivered by waiters on roller skates! 🍹🛼 A special mention to the lovely gentleman with glasses (sorry we never caught your name!) and the young lady with dark hair - both were so friendly. We also regularly visited the pool bar where Efe was brilliant. By the end of the holiday he knew exactly what we’d be ordering and always welcomed us with a huge smile and asked how we were. ❤️ The Staff The staff really are one of this hotel’s biggest assets. 95% of the time service was incredibly quick, and everyone was so polite and attentive. A massive shout out to Ramazan and Çağatay, who genuinely went above and beyond for us throughout our stay. They were exceptional. 👏 There were so many others too, including Dilek in the buffet restaurant, who looked after our morning avocado requests with a smile every day! 🥑 🌊 The Beach We’re not normally beach people, but we actually liked the family beach. It’s pebbly, so pool shoes definitely help, but the sea is crystal clear, beautifully warm and shallow enough to see fish swimming around your feet. 🐟 There’s a drinks and snack truck, towel station and you can jump off the wooden jetties into the sea if you’re feeling brave! We also went to the weekly beach parties at the adult beach after the evening entertainment and they were such good fun! 🎉 🍽️ À La Carte Restaurants We visited: 🍴 Bafa 🍴 Ocakbaşı 🍴 Livar 🍴 Incir Every single one was fantastic, although Incir was definitely our favourite. The buggy ride down there is a lovely little bonus too! 🚙 🍕 Food This deserves a mention… I generally become unwell on holidays after being hospitalised whilst abroad back in 2017, so travelling always makes me a little anxious. This is the first holiday since then where none of the four of us had any sickness or dodgy stomachs whatsoever. That alone was amazing! ❤️ 🍸 Drinks The best cocktails were definitely in the Lobby Bar. The other bars were nice enough, but nothing quite compared. Special mention again to Efe, whose Espresso Martini with a little vanilla extract was absolutely perfect! ☕🍸 The random purple welcome drink at the beach party was surprisingly delicious too! 😂 On a few occasions we saw a cocktail cart setting up at the lovely seating area by the fire pit. They seemed to do two special cocktails which looked lovely. However that started at 8.30pm, just after we would go to dinner each evening. After dinner we then went straight to the entertainment so we never managed to get one of these drinks. Would be nice if this started earlier so we could have had a pre-meal drink. 🍸 We also loved that premium brands were used throughout the hotel and the wine was genuinely really good - far better than we’ve had at many all-inclusive hotels. The only thing we missed from Akra Fethiye was the lovely light strawberry sparkling drink they served there. ✨ Cleanliness Honestly… Wherever you looked, someone was cleaning. Constantly. The hotel is absolutely immaculate and the staff work incredibly hard to keep it that way. 💃 Entertainment Team This deserves its own section because WOW!! In all our years of travelling, we’ve honestly never seen an entertainment team this talented. Every evening they performed professionally choreographed dance shows and they were absolutely outstanding. We actually wished the shows were longer because we didn’t want them to end! They were also so friendly and regularly stopped to chat with us around the pool, at the beach parties and during the DJ sets at Livar. The team included: • Varvara 🇷🇺 • Niamh 🇬🇧 • Esma 🇬🇧🇹🇷 • Chloe 🇬🇧 • Budi 🇪🇬 • Freya 🇬🇧 • Canan 🇹🇷 • Izzy 🇬🇧 • Aaron 🇲🇽 • Kimberley 🇿🇦 • Geyser 🇲🇽 • Nathalie 🇸🇪 • Baran 🇹🇷 A huge thank you especially to Varvara, Chloe, Freya, Esma, Aaron and Budi, who were all so lovely. ❤️ They also run dance classes during the day which are definitely underused and well worth joining. 🎤 Guest Entertainment For us, the visiting acts weren’t quite as strong as the entertainment team’s own performances. We often didn’t stay until the end. (And sorry… Pink Floyd just isn’t really a family holiday show! 😂) However, Ezgi Alas was absolutely brilliant! She sang such a wide variety of songs that appealed to everyone and it was lovely seeing entire families up dancing together. Once the entertainment team joined in on stage, they then came down and danced with everyone for the rest of the evening, creating such a great atmosphere. 🎨 Daily Activities We’re normally happy just relaxing (we both work incredibly hard and live very busy lives!) but it was lovely having activities available when we fancied them. We really enjoyed: 🎨 Pottery making and painting 🧘 Sound Therapy at 5pm (so relaxing) 🏊 AkraFit in the adult pool most mornings at 11:30am We also tried perfume making one evening at 9pm thinking it would be aimed at adults… We couldn’t have been more wrong! 🤣 It was hilarious, but we were a little lost as most of it was in Turkish. The only activities we really missed from Akra Fethiye were the afternoon garden parties, carnival games and games like Kubb. 🎧 251 Sound Club This is a lovely little nightclub but sadly felt underused. It opens at 11:45pm, but between midnight and 1am it was still very quiet. People seemed to walk in, see it empty and then leave. Personally we’d open it a little earlier. We’d also been looking forward to some live jazz (which was advertised) but unfortunately never managed to catch any during our two-week stay. One thing we really missed from Akra Fethiye was the Piano Bar, where different singers and musicians performed throughout the evening until midnight. We spent every night there in Fethiye. Whilst the DJ sets at Livar were enjoyable, they became a little repetitive over two weeks. 🎱 Arcade, Sports Bar & Karaoke These are fantastic additions. Everything in the arcade is free! We loved the air hockey, basketball games, pool table and table football. The only shame was that the bowling lanes weren’t open later. 🛏️ Rooms We stayed in a family room and absolutely loved it. It was incredibly spacious with two bathrooms (which is a lifesaver with two teenage girls! 😂), plus sliding doors separating the bedrooms. The beds were unbelievably comfortable. Fresh towels and pillowcases were provided daily, the housekeeping team were lovely and the dressing gowns, slippers and luxury toiletries were a lovely touch. 🧖 Spa Definitely worth visiting. There are loads of complimentary facilities available and it’s such a relaxing place. If you’re thinking of booking a treatment, look out for Aladdin. He’s such a lovely guy, speaks fantastic English and has a great sense of humour. Book through him if you can! 🚕 Taxis Use Kent Taxis if possible. They’re a lovely family business (Dad and four brothers) and were the cheapest we found. Their details are on this Facebook page. The concierge also advised us that using the meter usually works out cheaper than agreeing a fixed fare. 🛍️ Trips During our stay we visited: 🛍️ Altinkum 🛍️ Saturday Market 🌙 Night Market We also booked a buggy adventure (£50 for a double buggy for around two hours including transfers). Just be warned… If you do the 4pm trip and ask to be dropped at the Night Market afterwards, you’ll arrive absolutely covered in dust! 😂 The photos were excellent though and cost us just £20. 🛒 Hotel Shop Lovely shop with some really nice things. The only slight downside was that nothing had price tags, so everything had to be scanned individually at the computer to check prices. 📸 Hotel Photographer We had a family photoshoot which was fantastic. The photographer was lovely and the photos came out beautifully… although he did have to Photoshop our windswept hair! 🤣 As expected, the starting prices were eye-watering, but after negotiating we paid around €230 for all of the digital images plus a beautiful album containing 20 printed photos. 💶 Tips This is one of the few hotels where you genuinely don’t feel pressured to tip. That said, we absolutely did because the staff work incredibly hard and thoroughly deserved it. ❤️ Would we return? Hell yes!! We’ll absolutely be back. Yes, there are still little improvements that could be made - but the hotel actively asks for guest feedback and is already implementing many of the suggestions people make. For a brand new hotel they’ve achieved something really special. The staff… The cleanliness… The facilities… The atmosphere… The entertainment… It all adds up to one unforgettable holiday. Thank you Akra Didim for giving our family the most amazing two weeks and memories we’ll never forget. None of us wanted to come home… even after 14 days! 🙌☀️❤️

Efe und Ramaz really nice workers. They immediately see when we need something. Also really nice talks and amazing drinks they taste excellent.

For context, my husband and I have been incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed extensive worldwide travel and have stayed in many luxury 5* hotels. This trip to Akra Didim in June was our 22nd 5* all inclusive holiday in Turkey. Recent visits to the Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum regions have included stays at Lara Barut Collection, Anda Barut Collection, XO Cape Arnna, Regnum Carya, NG Phaselis Bay, Voyage Torba, Residence Fethiye and Cullinan Belek. Elsewhere in Europe we have been privileged to have enjoyed holidays at the Ikos resorts, Crete (Stella Island), Rhodes (Mayia Exclusive), Balearics, Canaries, Portugal, Cyprus, Egypt, the UAE and various Caribbean destinations where we have stayed at Excellence and Secrets Resorts, Royalton and Hyatt. Our stay in a deluxe sea view room was booked through easyJet Holidays, before the hotel opened, for a competitive package price. The cost was less than we usually pay for a 5* AI holiday in Turkey or Greece in June and, with no additional supplement for dining in the a la carte restaurants at Akra Didm, we consider this holiday represented excellent value for money. When travelling we typically opt for contemporary, (often newly constructed) hotels with a choice of bars and a la carte dining options and Akra Didim more than met our preferences on all counts. Highlights: • Our check in experience was very good in comparison with other hotels. We were seated and offered a welcome cocktail and given details of the resort facilities. • Service was mainly of a high standard, and the staff were very friendly, welcoming and conversational • The Guest Relations What’s App service was prompt and responsive • We enjoyed all our evening a la carte dining experiences and found the choice, quality and presentation of the cuisine to be excellent • The gym was very well equipped • We enjoyed the beach party • The bar at Salkim is a lovely setting for cocktails • We enjoyed the DJ at Livar bar in the late afternoon • The hotel has a varied choice of different indoor seating areas for cooler evenings or wet weather • Similar to Anda Barut and several of the Ikos resorts we have visited; we loved the setting of Akra Didim and the spacious and uncrowded feel of the resort and the picturesque views Additional observations: • We booked our holiday at Akra Didim prior to the hotel opening. Due to the highly misleading pre-opening visuals of the hotel and grounds, it was disappointing to discover that the individual sun loungers around the pools and on the beach were not cushioned as pictorially advertised. I have a leg injury and back pain, and the mesh sun loungers were not comfortable. The adult pool area was extremely busy during our stay, and all the Bali beds were, understandably, taken very early. Even so, we prefer to have individual loungers so we have the freedom to separately move in and out of the shade of the umbrella and also lie flat comfortably • The sun loungers around the indoor/outdoor spa pool are cushioned and comfortable, however the outside area does not have any umbrellas so we could not make use of these loungers either • To avoid standing in the bathroom to style hair/apply make-up, a dressing table or desk with a mirror would have been a welcome addition to the spacious and otherwise well-appointed room • The quality and variety of evening entertainment fell short in comparison with other hotels we have visited In summary, for the price point we paid, this holiday represented remarkable value, and we really enjoyed the wonderful food and service and many other aspects of our stay. Whilst I am sad to say that the lack of cushioned sun loungers and good quality live music would deter us from returning, there is much to recommend this hotel and I wish future guests a happy and memorable holiday.

We stayed for 2 weeks in a Family Deluxe Swim Up and overall had a wonderful, very relaxing holiday. Akra Didim is beautifully designed and the architecture is impressive. I really wanted to give this resort 5 stars because, when we asked for something, we generally got it and the staff were consistently polite, friendly and helpful. However, there were enough inconsistencies that I felt it fell just short of a true five-star experience. Our room The Family Deluxe Swim Up was huge and beautifully designed, with plenty of wardrobe space, two bathrooms and even 2 Dyson style hairdryers which was a lovely touch for a family of 4. The terrace was also a really good size. Unfortunately, the housekeeping was inconsistent. The cleaning was average, even after we raised this with the hotel. The sofa on our terrace was visibly grubby and stained, which really let the otherwise beautiful room down. On several occasions our bathrobes were taken away but not replaced, and the evening turndown service was hit and miss. It was fine during the first week but seemed to disappear altogether during the second. I didn’t want to spend my holiday complaining, so in the end we simply accepted these things but they are details that you wouldn’t expect from a luxury 5 star resort. Food & service The food was outstanding! The best food we’ve ever experienced at a resort. There was a fantastic choice and the quality was consistently excellent. The staff were also wonderful: polite, friendly and very helpful whenever we needed anything. A special mention has to go to Berke, who was fantastic throughout our stay and went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed. He is a real asset to the hotel and I only wish that level of personal attention was more consistent across the resort. Spa The spa is stunning. It is beautifully designed and feels luxurious and peaceful, definitely one of the highlights of the hotel. The swim-up This was one of the reasons we chose the resort and although the views were lovely, we ultimately stopped using the swim-up because it didn’t feel very exclusive. The rooms are quite close together and, unfortunately, some guests seemed to have very little awareness of personal space, which meant that our little area often didn’t feel private or relaxing. Sun loungers — a big disappointment! For me, this was probably the biggest negative and ultimately one of the reasons I wouldn’t return. The sun loungers were so uncomfortable. I actually ended up with a bad back from them, which is not what you want when you’re paying for a luxury beach holiday. For a resort of this standard, I really think the loungers need to be upgraded. The beach The adult beach area was a little disappointing and in our opinion, nothing particularly special. The family beach is so much prettier, but again it didn’t quite have the luxury feel we expected. The pebbles are extremely uncomfortable to walk on without beach shoes, very painful so come prepared! Entertainment & activities The buggies were brilliant and always seemed to be around when needed, which made getting around the huge resort much easier. The evening entertainment was a real missed opportunity. The resort has so much potential, but the entertainment was often just singers and we found it quite boring. There was very little atmosphere in the evenings and it often felt like the resort was sending everyone to bed rather than creating somewhere you’d want to stay and enjoy the evening. Our children also found the slides became boring after a few days and wished there was a proper waterpark with more variety. The overall feel Akra Didim is a beautiful resort, but it is very spread out and, for us, that took away from the atmosphere. It is so large that it doesn’t always feel intimate or exclusive. We also missed having that personal touch — a manager or someone from the hotel checking in to ask how our stay was going and whether we needed anything. That warmth and personal connection makes such a difference at a luxury resort. Here, you could get almost anything you asked for, but you generally had to ask first. We never really felt that someone was proactively looking after us. Would we return? This is a difficult one because there is so much we loved about Akra Didim. The architecture is incredible, the food is outstanding, the gym is absolutely fantastic, the spa is beautiful and we had a very relaxing 2 weeks. But for us, the uncomfortable sun loungers, lack of exclusivity around the swim-up, inconsistent housekeeping and lack of atmosphere mean we probably wouldn’t return. That said, I really hope the hotel takes these comments constructively because the potential here is enormous. With a few improvements and more consistency in the small details, this could easily become an exceptional luxury resort. And finally, a huge thank you to Berke for making sure we had everything we needed. He really did go the extra mile and was one of the highlights of our stay.

We chose Akra Didim after staying at XO Cape Arna last year, thinking it would be a similar experience. We’ve had a lovely two weeks as a family, but if I’m being honest, there’s just been something missing for us. The resort is huge, beautiful and has some amazing facilities, but the service is very inconsistent and, for us, it just hasn’t matched the standard of XO. The good bits The size of the resort and the grounds are fantastic. Lots of different pools, plenty to explore and the buggy service is brilliant. Livar and Incir were probably our favourite restaurants with great service and very little waiting around. The buffet was good too. The unlimited à la carte restaurants for a two-week stay are a great idea, although with children we found only one that really suited us and had a proper children’s menu. The Arts & Culture Village is brilliant and something a bit different. We loved the painting and ceramic workshops and it gives families something to actually do together. However, we were disappointed when we were turned away from a music workshop because we didn’t have a reservation, despite only one other child attending at the time. The gym is really well equipped and the resort is perfect for running. My husband enjoyed going out for a run around the grounds every morning. The hairdresser deserves a special mention too. I had blow dry appointments during the holiday and at €15 each, they were fantastic value and as good, if not better, than at home. The biggest issue for us has been the inconsistency with service. We also felt that children don’t always get much attention from staff. On one occasion my son stood at the lobby bar waiting for a soft drink and was repeatedly ignored, which was disappointing. The resort also feels quite adult-focused overall. There are large adults-only pool areas which seemed completely underused during our stay. Meanwhile, the family pools could feel very busy with limited sunbeds available at times we visited the pool areas. For a resort aimed at families as well as adults, we felt the balance wasn’t quite right. Around the pools, the QR ordering system worked well in some areas but not others. At times our orders would simply not arrive. Some pool areas and floors were also quite dirty, with spilled drinks left around, and one area seemed to be attracting a lot of ants. We didn’t always see lifeguards around the pools and when they were there, we frequently saw them on their phones. We also saw buggy drivers using their phones while driving, which didn’t feel particularly safe or professional. There was also building and excavation work going on behind the tennis courts in the mornings, which frequently woke us up. Obviously some development is expected with a new resort, but it was quite disruptive during a holiday. The à la carte booking system could definitely be improved. Having to queue in person at 10am every day isn’t ideal when you’re on holiday. The buffet restaurant was very busy once the hotel was at full capacity, and service depended quite a lot on where you were sitting. The drinks were another frustration. Mixers and soft drinks were often poured from large bottles and were regularly flat, so we started asking specifically for individual bottled drinks. Housekeeping was okay but not amazing. Linen was changed regularly, but some areas weren’t cleaned as thoroughly as we’d expect. We had to ask for shower gel and minibar restocks a few times, although the minibar service did improve later in the holiday. One day our towels weren’t replaced and we waited around 45 minutes for them, which meant we missed an à la carte booking. We also had an issue with stray cats around some of the beachside à la carte restaurants. Unfortunately, one scratched my daughter from underneath the table while she was eating. There is also two stray dogs that roam the resort. The beach is lovely and has a really chilled vibe, but it’s very pebbly. Our children were fine in Crocs, but adults would definitely benefit from beach shoes. One odd thing for families is that Magnum and Cornettos are only available at the beach locations, rather than around the main pool areas where most children are. Our daughter normally loves kids’ clubs and used the one at XO all the time last year. Sadly, after one visit here she didn’t want to go back, so we didn’t get to use it for the rest of the holiday. Location The resort is very secluded. We visited Didim but weren’t particularly impressed compared with Fethiye. There isn’t a mini-market nearby either, so bring snacks and little treats for the children if you don’t want to pay hotel prices. The shops on site are also expensive. Havaianas were around double UK retail prices, and pool toys weren’t cheap either. We ended up going into town to buy a pool ball after seeing the hotel was charging €30 for a volleyball. There really is a lot to like about Akra Didim. The grounds, pools, facilities, gym, activities and some of the staff are fantastic. It’s a beautiful resort and you can see the potential. But for us, too many little things added up. The inconsistent service, cleanliness around some pool areas, drinks, housekeeping, disruption from building work and lack of attention towards children made it feel less polished than we expected. The overall balance also felt more adult-focused than family-focused, despite the resort having plenty of facilities for children. We’ve had a lovely family holiday, but compared with XO Cape Arna last year, Akra Didim just doesn’t feel as established as they were for the opening of a new resort and the service isn’t consistently enough or family focussed.