ORANGE COUNTY BELEK

Hotel is absolutely amazing! From walking in the door to the hotel to leaving on check out, nothing was of any trouble to staff. They catered to our every need. The facilities were fantastic, the cleanliness of the entire resort was incredible, your finished drinks were cleared within a couple of minutes of you finishing them. Cleaners were around the pools and the beach regularly, clearing up any mess left from people. The family double room were great, spacious and again very clean. Mini fridge was refilled every other day, although it was not needed really because there was everything available to you on site. The waterslides were great along with the loungers around the pool & beach. The park on the beach and children's mini beach is a great addition to making sure adults can relax while watching the little ones enjoy some time on the slides/climbing frame in the shade. The kids club we did not use as my daughter was not old enough, and my other daughters are too old, but I did take them in to the area regularly to use the softplay, climbing frame and other ride along toys. I could not fault anything, the only negative I have of the facilities was the upkeep of the softplay. One step of the softplay had came away and there was a sharp nail sticking out, the nets at the top of the softplay had a whole in which could be dangerous for younger children, who are not aware of the dangers. But other than that, could not fault the play facilities for the children. There was not much entertainment on during the day, like other hotels I have been to. But I guess this could be due to it being end of season and it being quiet. It was very relaxing being quiet and less people meant there was very short to no queuing for drinks at the bar. The food was OK, there was always something to eat even for us fussy eaters. The only issue I have with the food is that it stated that there was an Al carte restaurant and another restaurant as well as the main one. There was not. The Ayra Restaurant was the main restaurant and the only one open for breakfast, dinner, and evening meal. There was no ice cream either, which was disappointing for my children as they looked forward to being able to get it when they wanted. Breakfast was not great, serving pizza and chips at Breakfast time just made it feel like there was left over food being served (although I know it was fresh), it was the same thing for breakfast, lunch and evening meal every day but there was always something to eat. It would have been nice if there was an option of things like pancakes for breakfast or at another time of day as it was advertised but there was no sight of them at all throughout our stay. The pastry and cake bar was great - the staff, especially the young girl who works in the pasty bar on the till most days and works in the Ayra restaurantat breakfast and evening mean(I didn't capture her name) works endless hours and still always appears to love her job. Overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel and I would go back here in the future, as long as it was in tbe October again as any high peak time I would imagine that the place becomes quite busy simply due to tbe size of the resort.

Firstly, this hotel did exceed our expectations. We booked this for the kids half term break, expecting it to be overcrowded and noisy, and it really wasn't. The Shuttle transfer took 45 minutes with one drop off. However it took 1 hour 10 minutes with 3 pick ups on the way back to the airport. We booked through our provider (Love Holidays). The Receptionist on arrival (around 9:15pm at night) was friendly and helpful, with excellent English. The Family Room was lovely. With 3 single beds in the first bedroom area, then a wardrobe and shelves with the bathroom opposite, followed by a separate double bedroom with a lockable door leading to the balcony. The side view wasn't AMAZING but you could see the sea. The room was super clean with 2 large TVs (in each bedroom (not really any English channels (standard)). The rooms do have individual air con, but only until midnight and then it is centrally controlled. It is still hot through the night so you only have the option to open the balcony door - which lets the mosquitos in. So be bitten, or be hot! Not sure why the hotel choose to take the option away from the guests to decide if they want the air con on in the night. Our Family room did have a fridge which was stocked with free drinks every day. We raced down to the sunbeds at around 8am on the first morning expecting chaos, but no, all of the beds were still free with just a couple of them reserved. We soon learnt that even coming down at 10:30am you could still easily get beds. People do reserve beds for the whole day and never come down to the pool. The Guest Relations and Lifeguards won't do anything about it as they have been accused of touching people's personal belongings previously. So if you think you might want a sunbed at 3pm, just pop your towel on at 9am and you'll be good. :/ The breakfast was.... weird. We are very used to travelling in Turkey but this is the first hotel that breakfast was just plain odd. There is cereal, a crap toaster (standard), yoghurt, salad, cheeses and eggs. Understand not to expect sausages and bacon, but there's so many flavoured breads, which barely get touched by anyone, and freshly baked pizzas! Why? I get people have fussy kids, but this should not be a thing. No normal tea, just flavoured, so if you're a crazy tea drinker do take your own bags. The pool is FREEZING. No one swims in it because it is just too cold. The main pool is deep at all ends, so if your kids aren't strong swimmers keep them in the kids pool area. The music round the pool area is relentless. It is loud and constant. There are no areas to escape it as the pool area is quite small. If you want to rest and get some peace, take a 30 second toddle down to the beach. it's much more tranquil. The beach is right there, and there's a drinks bar there too. Lunch and dinner had good choices with something for everyone, and there's still pizza! One thing that is just plain waste is the knives and forks on the tables are put in plastic sleeves and they are not recycled or recyclable. Also the water comes in these weird small plastic cubes, there are no water bottles. You need almost 3 cubes to fill an individual water bottle so the huge amount of plastic used for these (and likely not recycled) is insane. The cubes are tricky to open for kids and drink out of. Same with the paper place mats - just such a waste. The restaurant is clean and tidy with ample seating. It can get a bit chaotic at around 7pm, so go a bit earlier or after 7:30pm. he restaurant opens at 11:30pm for night time food. This is great if you're a late arrival. The snack bar has burgers, pizza(!), pasta, crispy chicken, onion rings, fries, and salad. One down side, there was a number of cockroaches wandering around the snack bar floor. The waiters just tell you they won't hurt you :/ Not really the point. There's also quite a few cats roaming around. They seem tame enough, but not sure I want them in the snack bar or indoor restaurant. The Ice Cream hut was closed (I think this is just a seasonal thing though). The spa is reasonably priced and the massages are really good. Would definitely recommend. The girls in there work crazy long hours every day. There are a few shops in the hotel. There's a fur and leather shop (not sure who has the case capacity for anything this big or heavy). There's a souvenir shop, trainers and clothing. We did have an incident with the guy from the clothing shop who offered to repair my husbands watch. In short he took the watch, and kept promising he would bring it back "tomorrow". When my husband asked for it back the day before we were leaving he was still promising to get it back to him. The discussion did take a turn with the shopkeeper shoving my husband around. When Guest Relations got involved it transpired he had the watch in his pocket the whole time - he just had no intention of returning it before we were due to go home. Although these shops are rented and the staff are not employed by the hotel, they do represent the hotel and have soured our stay at the Orange County. Aside from the clothing shop keeper, we found all of the staff friendly, helpful and happy. The seating area outside the restaurant is a nice place to sit if you prefer it to the entertainment area on an evening. I was concerned about people saying this place was noisy, but other than the music during the day by the pool, we didn't experience any noise. The bars close at midnight so everyone is pretty much in bed by then. Would we visit again? Maybe. What would we do different? Take my own tea bags and Private transfer from the airport (just personal preference). Room tip upgrade to Family Room, even if you have just one child (the space is so much nicer). If you want a full on sea view there are double rooms right at the front of the hotel (but there are no Family Rooms at the front). Ask Reception for a breakfast bag if you have a flight before the restaurant opens.

I have just came back from Orange County in Belek staying there for one week and here are my thoughts about the hotel: Good things: - Nice looking hotel, clean and well maintained in my opinion. - My room was not outdated. Very nice in deed. - Well designed in terms of space, did not feel overcrowded but it can be very different during holiday peak time. - Good swimming pool area, although the water was a bit cold. - Nice private beach, but the pier slightly disturbs the sea experience - Very nice SPA - 5 min walk away from Turkish bazaar which, although pricey, is well supplied. Bad things: - English is not spoken in the hotel. Even basic level conversations end up very quickly with clear confusion on staff member face. The reception is slightly better but don't try to go outside of standard check-in or check-out lines. More about that latter. - reception is very... very unprofessional. No "Hi" on arrival nor "Thank you" on departure. No smile or welcoming behavior at all. I asked for wake-up call on my departure day and if you think they actually called me, I suggest to think again. - room cleaning service does a good job. However, once accidentally I left some money on the table, which was stolen. It was only 2 euros in coins so did not bother to report this incident but it left strange feeling about the hotel staff. - very bad food in the main restaurant. Mostly cold or slightly warm at best - almost never hot as it should be. Very repetitive with barely noticeable variations. No exotic fruits. You need to ask staff for fizzy drinks, which I found very annoying. - The restaurant is one big area with tables placed very close to each other. It is quite difficult to enjoy a meal there. You can only eat the food quickly and find a place somewhere else. - repeatable evening entertainment. How many times can you actually enjoy dancing/acrobatic show or DJ music? The hotel hires live singers as well - with questionable singing skills. I cannot sing either but at least I do not keep trying. Also, the entertainment area is close to the rooms and it is very noisy during showtimes. So you can forget about having a sleep before midnight or so. - and lastly ... but the most importantly, the Orange County hotel in Belek is invaded by Russians and I mean guests, as well as staff. At least half of the hotel staff comes either from Russia or ex-Russian states (think Kazahstan and you know what I mean). Unfortunately they only speak their language. So if you don't speak Russian, you will feel isolated. To be completely fair, I heard other languages perhaps 3 times and I felt really privileged. Another thing is that having so many guests from same country encourages certain individuals to feel more important than any other guests. During my stay, I witnessed 5 unsocial situations, typically involving lot's of alcohol, big ego or lack of understanding, that the hotel is a shared establishment. This is not what I call a relaxing holiday experience. But that's the way it is in Orange County. So in summary: - Would I recommend this hotel? - No - Would I go there again? - No No (neither myself nor with family) - Did I have a good time? - surprisingly Yes, but mainly because of the weather and not the hotel. I visited Turkey several times so far and the Orange County Belek was not the experience I expected to get. It is just an average place with problems, which for Turkey standards is actually a very low score and should be concerning for the hotel management.

Staying at this hotel now the kids pool is so cold they can not stay in it very long .no ice cream for kids .arrived at 3am after 10 pm there is no food anywhere had to wait until breakfast next day with 2 children. Unless you pay for room service .no heated pools anywhere the big pool is empty all day

This is the first time in Turkey but not the last time :) People are very very kindly. Foods are also great . I tried the spa and the hamam massage on my second day. Everything was perfect for me. The hotel is absolutely clean and wonderful. The evening programs are exited for all ages.