| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Lucyy from Turnford travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
low cost beds
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2008 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: well i stayed in the hotel lara beach this year and it was the most amazing holiday i have ever been on!
i would recommend this hotel to anyone! the staff were lovely couldnt be more polite. and it was soo clean! the food was gorgous you couldnt ask for more it was all well cooked and me and my family enjoyed it. The aniamtion team was absolutly fantastic they made my children's holiday! they was fantastic they played with my kids and the shows were brilliant. the pool games you were always occupied!the animation team could not have been any better! they were young happy andd good fun!the room was very nice too, clean nice balcony and big wardrobes all over this hotel is the best!
Goo too The Laraa Beach ! You will have an amazing holiday!
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Sheppard from Norfolk travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2008 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Worst holiday i've ever been on!! Been to Turkey twice before this and loved it. Lara beach is awful, nothing to do, hotel in itself fairly clean although toilet seat in our room was so stained it was disgusting. Practically lived on crisps bought with us for the week we were there as food in buffet restaurant was always cold and horrible. Having said that the pizza, pasta and italian ala carte were all to a good standard but no way would i class this as a 5* hotel... been to better 3*. Little girl sent to hospital on a drip from food poisoning.
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Lara beach, Antalya from London travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2008 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was the best holiday we've had.
The food was unlimited, varied and well cooked. There were too many dishes to choose from and too much to eat. They have a main restaurant with buffet and a never ending range of dishes, most nghts eemed to have an extra themed element too.
Then there's a Pasta restaurant with excellent dishes. A Pizza restaurant that can't be faulted. There are special restaurants for dinner, Italian and Turkish, and a barbecue restaurant also, that are included once each week, (or you can pay, not too much) but you need to book quickly to get a table.
This is the first holiday that I haven't got bored with the food eventually. But, this is not the hotel for people who only like English Stodge food. You won't get pie and mash here. You will get good Turkish and international food. And plenty of snacks, too. (Did I mention the cake "shop"? Free of charge of course).
The included local drinks, ice cream etc. were mostly known brands, so no unidentified "Cola" it's the real thing.
Our family room was more than large enough. (But our friends had to move to a bigger room, because their's was too small for three people). The view, though, was obscured by the new hotel rising next door. This is currently a building site, with a bit of noise over the "silence pool" and the outdoor tables at breakfast time.
The TV has a few English channels, which makes a change.
The hotel lobby is large, beautiful and of course there's an unlimited supply of soft and alcoholic drinks there too.
The hotel was very clean and was kept in perfect condition. Standards of service were always high, though some staff seemed to try that bit harder than others.
The pools are brilliant. The "Silence pool" is supposed to be reserved for the over 16s. The hotel did try to enforce this, but some of the adults staying at the hotel didn't seem to be too bothered with keeping to this.
The main pool is enormous, winding and beautiful.
The staff are almost all very friendly, helpful and attentive. They seem to really enjoy working there.
The entertainment team seem to work their socks off and are all really talented. I'd give them the full five, except that they do seem a bit understaffed and the nights that they don't do the production standards are lower. Also the "Mini Disco" was so mini that it ended almost before it had begun.
Getting sunbeds could be a bit of a struggle if you need enough for a family, with shade. But hey ho, if you don't mind being down at the pool by 7:00 am there's no problem.
There's a gym, which is a bit basic.
The hairdressing/beauty service and laundry are all really good.
The photographers were a let down. The work was good, but they price pictures as if they were studios portraits, not holiday snaps. They are not employed by the hotel, though.
The sand on the beach is soft, but a bit too coarse. The sea was warm and not too rough.
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D Savage from Wrexham travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2008 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My husband,two daughters 10 and 12 and I have just retuned from two
weeks at the Lara Beach Hotel. It is the best AI we have ever stayed in. The food is fantastic with plenty of choice for everyone.The hotel staff are very welcoming and friendly. The grounds are spacious as are the pools. My daughters loved the 3 water slides. There are plenty of sunbeds and
sunshades for everyone. Everywhere is kept spotlessly clean. The entertainment staff work tirelessly all day and put on some good shows in the evenings. I would recommend this hotel to everyone and am looking to book again for next year!
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Mrs J Taylor from Leicestershire travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland Direct
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Lara Beach is a beautiful hotel and the staff are very friendly and the place is spotless. Unfortunately there is building work going on either side of the hotel, although it was not too noisey the views weren't too good. The food is good with a wide selection and three speciality restaurants.
The resort is a bit isolated with nothing much else around and also there are very few British people there are mainly German, Dutch as in most resorts and there are a lot of Russian + Ukrainians who do not seem to like the British and can be rather rude.
If you are going to Lara or Side take euros rather than Lira as the shops prefer them. We wouldn't go back there again because its isolation and lack of other British tourists.
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Neil, Sue & Lou from Manchester travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Lovely hotel, well furnished.
Staff are lovely, well mannered and patient. On the downside, they all seem to speak German but little English.
Food is excellent, fantastic choice, all well cooked and beautifully arranged. Anyone who goes and can't find something to eat is just plain faddy! They had a BBQ every night - chiocken, steak, lamb tuna etc.
My only complaint and its a big one, the building work next door is VERY VERY intrusive.
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d. willetts from grays travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
portland
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My wife and two children and I visited Lara beach hotel on the 12th august 2006.
The hotel Lara beach is a very nice hotel and staff very friendly.
Rooms cleaned daily but what lets this hotel down is having to get up at 7 am in the morning to put your towels on the sun loungers, otherwise you had no chance of sitting around the pool or getting a parasol for the children.
As for the food, the hotel does not cater for the English so apart from chips its mostly continental food, even the children’s food section is the same. Thank god that the snack bar served pizza and chicken salad.
Also it’s not a proper all inclusive hotel ice creams only served daily for a hour and on several occasions my children were refused drinks. It was like they were trying to cut back. Milkshakes were free to all the children and became very popular with the kids my eldest daughter ordered a shake then 5 minutes later my youngest daughter ordered a shake, but she was told we don’t have any. When I questioned this and explained my older daughter had just had a milkshake I was told that she didn’t get it from this bar. I explained that she did and I was told they are not a free drink I would have to pay. I explained all the kids have been getting them including my own. I felt really cross and explained I have paid for these drinks and that they cannot stop and start free drinks when they want and that I will have a word with the management. Five minutes later a milkshake was bought over to my table for my daughter.
One evening we were drinking with some lovely friends we had met and ordered some drinks. At 11.30 pm we ordered a round of drinks and we waited and waited then my husband went up to the bar and asked for four drinks and the bar man said four drinks in disgust. Bearing in mind the bar shuts at midnight and that’s it you can’t order anymore I think they were hoping that we would keep waiting for our ordered drinks until it was too late. They seemed to be trying to cut back on what we were entitled to and had paid for.
The entertainment every night was a show for about 1-2 hours and very good but then the evenings were very boring as there is nowhere to go outside the hotel at all, its miles from any bars or cafes .
There is a small shopping centre that costs 5 euros each way by taxi but don’t get too excited the prices are so expensive as all the hotels in the area are five star they are charging five star prices so don’t expect any cheap designer copies.
The views from the hotel are not that good waste ground with rubble on one side and a hotel part built on the other side.
The beach is fair but the sand is like old building sand and hard on the feet and the water not that clear but was very warm.
I must also add that there seemed to be some guests with upset belly’s in the hotel including myself not sure if it was the water or the change in food or the heat but I have never suffered like that before, and if you wanted to see the doctor in the hotel it cost £40.00 and then extra if the doctor had to be called out of hours.
The swimming pools are lovely and the water slides fantastic, I think the hotel has a long long way to go until it becomes a true 5 star hotel and perhaps in 5 years the surrounding areas outside would be a little better but I think Marmaris and Bodrum are the better places to go, so I have been told.
We were ready to come home after just one week, so the second week dragged in the evenings and we couldn’t even watch much television in our room, as the only English station was BBC World news. That was not that exciting for the kids so we were in bed by 10 pm most nights.
I don’t think that its value for money compared to other five star holidays we have been on, but hey got a great tan.
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mrs kerry timbrell from redditch travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 5 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Lara Beach Hotel was superb. Our 1st time in Turkey was wonderful. Staff were excellent. Hotel clean & smart. Food was very good, something for everyone. Turkish gozelmes(think that's right) were lovely in the Yoruk Tent. Buffet catered for all. Restaurants good too. Always found an available table even though there were 6 of us.
Entertainment was good, entertainers very nice.
Location not suitable for all, but as we have mad skiing holidays twice a year all we want to do is stay put in wonderful surroundings.
You can truly relax here.
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Mrs Shenton from Milton Keynes travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We went to Lara Beach Hotel for the first two weeks of the school holidays we were returning to Turkey after a lovely holiday at The Montana Pine Resort in Olu Denis last August.
We thought this hotel would be really nice as it was rated a 5 Star. This hotel is definitely not a 5 star by anyones standards it has a long way to go to reach that!
The staff in the main are excellent and hard working polite and friendly especially if you are not British! The room was pleasant although too small for family of four and a very small balcony and awful view of building works but then how much time do you spend in your room to be fair.
The food was dreadful, no we are not too fussy just have some standards, although the food in the a la carte Italian was wonderful and we left a good tip and personal thanks to the chefs - the best food we have had anywhere in a long time. This is a rather sad state of affairs when their chefs are obviously more than capable of offering some fabulous food but are limited within the all inclusive budget. My whole family were ill whilst we are away and this continued after we returned home with me actually having to visit my local A&E department with uncontrolable stomach cramps and it wasn't due to too much alcohol and too much sun as 1) I don't drink and 2) we were extremely conscious of the temperature and wore hats/stayed under parasols etc. It was definately due to the food/hygine of the food, put it this way my son took 4 chicken wings from the bbq as deemed cooked by the chef and every one contained blood.
The size of the swimming pool is fantastic beating ones we have been to in the Dom Rep however there were so many ungrouted and cracked tiles we saw numerous injuries to children, our own son cut his hand.
The slides are great and the lifeguard at the top does a great job and was lovely to all the kids.
The entertainment team work tirelessly and are always smiling - if you want to join in you can if not no pressure.
The evening entertainment was hit and miss - mostly miss if I am being really honest - cheesy and second rate.
Paragliding and jet skis were good fun but 1 pedalo for the whole hotel is just a joke.
There are lots of different nationalities at this hotel and although I am sometimes ashamed to be British when you see some behaviour on holiday and on the TV this time I most definately was not - the high amount of Russians here was almost unbearable and I am sad to say they are probably the most rude people I have had the misfortune to meet and I was not alone in thinking that and indeed I saw German families reacting exactly the same way towards them. The have no comprehension of personal space, the acknowledgement of thanks, queing and the icing on the cake is when a full lift reaches a floor and everyone is trying to get out they decide no you will let them get in first - many a row almost broke out.I am not a racist and I love other countries and cultures but I do not like rudeness from anyone - especially to my children and when I am on holiday!! Anyway once again in fairness to the hotel their behaviour is not the fault of the hotel but I feel Thomson would be better off removing this hotel from sale to their british clients.
I wouldn't go back to Lara Beach hotel and I wouldn't recommend it either in fact it has really put me off Turkey at all which is a shame but we paid a lot of money to stay here (school holiday dates don't forget ) and it just didn't offer us value for money.
So I guess what I am saying in my opinion and I realise that's all this site is just peoples personal experiences and opinions.... if you have booked take a DVD player to entertain yourselves with in the evenings and some snacks in case you hate the food as much as we did (the shop is quiet expensive but it has a captive audience) and make the best of it - if you haven't booked it yet then think again and look on this website for somewhere with better reviews!!
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Jane Gadd from Lincs travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Portland direct
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2006 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My husband, daughter and her friend visited this hotel for a week end of May/beginning Oct.
Very clean and on arrival treated like V.I.P.'s, the food was o.k but like many hotels much of a muchness, the Italian a la-carte was always fully booked but went to the Turkish one which made a change.
The location of the hotel is a bit of a let down as lots of constuction going on nearby but when all finished in a few years should be the turkish las vegas.
All of the staff where very hospitable and happy and did their best to entertain you, if you don't want the noise at the main pool the silence pool is good for a chill.
I would possibly visit this hotel again but in a few years as if you want to take a stroll you only have the hotel grounds at the mo. Lots of mozzies we all got quite badly bitten.
Overall good for the mony although had a bill at the end as the all inclusive finished at midnight and drinks got charged after then( who stops drinking at 12am on hols?)
If you are going to this hotel say hello to Borris the entertainments guy he is great fun and have a good one!
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Jeff Nail from London travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Thomson
on a 18-30s holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The food was good however by the 2nd week it was too much.
Hotel was very clean with staff cleaning all day around the clock.
Several places to get the food, however the drinks could have been nearer the pools.
The location is Ok
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C McGuinness from London travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
cosmos
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My family and I stayed in this hotel towards the end of July beginning of August.
On arrival we were impressed with the interior of the hotel and despite the late time the helpfulness of the receptionists. The hotel rooms were clean with good air conditioning. The hotel offers a wide range of food for breakfast and dinner in the buffet style restaurant, catering for all individual needs. The local brand wine and alcoholic beverages are all free, with extra charges for imported brands. Tthe hotel provides 3 eating areas for lunch from a fresh pizza tent, a grill bar, and the main Jasmine restaurant.
The hotel is based on the beach, with lots of covered areas for shade. the hotel has three swimming pools, 1 specifically for over 16's called the silence pool, one for young children with small slides and an extremely large pool for all the family, this area is where the animation team spent their time, encouraging people throughout the day to join in the many activities and games. Alongside this pool were 3 waterslides the white one being the slowest.
The hotel staff were extremely friendly and welcoming and they all work extremely hard. The animation team were excellent from the kids club to the day and evening entertainment. There are watersports available on the beach, you have to pay extra for motorised watersports, including the banana boat.
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Dani from Nottingham travelled to Lara Beach Hotel with
Thomsons
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 |
rated the Lara Beach Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When we arrived we were really pleased with our choice we had made. The hotel was absolutely out of this world from start to finish. The Turks were very friendly, however, not many spoke good English. They had three beautiful glass lifts to take you to your room. We were made very welcomed. The only problem was if you did not put a towel on a sunbed about dawn it was hard to find one but apart from that it was FANTASTIC.
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