Having read some harsh reviews, I can only assume we had a completely different experience! This place is genuinely brilliant.
Travellers: 2 adults, a 17yr old boy, a 16yr old boy and a 4yr old boy.
Heading down the road on the lead-up to Club Tuana, I had a bit of a "Oh no, what have I done?!" moment. The wife and I had some interesting conversations about booking this holiday, with me being "It's cheap, it looks amazing!" and her being very "It's Turkey, it borders Syria and has regular earthquakes." She let me make the final purchase which was via EasyJet, 8 nights, late June, costing just over £5k.
Once you get to the site gate though, that feeling dropped immediately, the place looks awesome. We were greeted by a happy reception clerk who checked us in and made the comment "Ah, you have one of the really nice family rooms, with two bedrooms, you'll love it." and love it we did. It was the top floor in apartment block 1700.
What we learned is the site is split into nice newer blocks, which are located close to the pool, shops, activities, arcades, sea, etc - and then there is the Park Rooms, which is basically across the road from the gatehouse in its own community. They do not advertise this area any longer, I think it was probably their first hotel with pool, and kids pool. It's certainly less maintained garden wise, and the pool has slippery marble-effect around the area. Even though Club Tuana do not advertise the older area, they should as it's still lovely, if not more antiquated/classic. It's around a 5-minute walk from that part of the resort over to the food-hall and main pool.
If you're a foody, you're in for a treat. Everything is freshly cooked and prepared, including breads and pastries. I once found what I believed to be mould on a piece of bread, and spoke about it to the chef who was almost hurt I thought it was mould, explaining that the bread was baked fresh daily and what I'd seen was charcoal from the oven. A main evening will have a theme such as seafood, or Italian. However, every day they will give you a classic British chips/fries/wedges/chicken nuggets to keep the kids (and some of the less food-adventurous adults) at bay. You'll also find an Indian area (a rice plus 2 other dishes - usually a chicken and a vegetable) and a Vegan section (different vegetables cooked in olive oils, mostly). Most nights, there are around 8 dedicated chefs constantly cooking and preparing different dishes on the front counters, but behind the scenes there are loads of kitchen staff preparing a plethora of foods including cheeses, meats, fresh fruits (the melon is amazing!), salads (another dedicated area), soups, you name it. The table staff are generally awesome, and plates and used glasses are whisked away at lightning speed, ready for you to go up for seconds, thirds and fourths. I'd like a special shout out to Ülkü who made our table service top-notch, bringing drinks and wipes whenever she saw that we were in need. On top of this, there are a few included and bookable restaurants which have a special set menu. The wife and 16yr old experienced the PELAGOS restaurant and said it was some of the best food they've eaten. The presentation was excellent, but there was too much for them to get through.
The pool bar is great, with a swim-up section. I will state that getting service on the swim-up side of the bar is very hit-and-miss, it isn't manned. The staff on the other side of the bar, the dry side, are always engaged there and occasionally look down to see if anyone is waiting on the pool side, but there are only 2 seats viewable from the dry-side of the bar, hence service is not good if you won't leave the pool to get a drink. I'd like to say a big thank-you to Mert for his amazing Mert-Special drink, it was delicious, and we still have no idea what it was. I will say for all staff at the resort, there are two types: those who know hospitality and are lovely, and those that are super direct and don't care for the guests - those people are just showing up to work to get paid. Unfortunately, they are about evenly distributed in all areas, so expect great service and some not-so great service. You usually find the non-so-great service staff congregated together, scrolling phones.
The Entertainment Team are AMAZING. There is always something going on and to do, no one should be bored throughout the day. The Kids Club is pretty much 10am to 5pm, with a lunch break. It's the same hours for the Chameleon Aqua kids play area, located on the back of the central complex. My 4yr didn't want to get out from that pool. It's 40cm deep with 3 slides, 2 of them are slow and the fast green one. This is manned with a staff member keeping an eye, but it can be a little boisterous if the older kids show up without their parents, which happens a fair bit. The 10am dance that the Entertainment Team do is also brilliant, make sure you're at the main pool for that one. Don't forget to have a look around the main complex at the darts, archery and air rifle going on as well. You'll also bump into some funky characters such as Shrek and Elsa along the way.
I did a fair amount of walking and exploring of the resort, due to its size. The sheep and bird enclosures are a nice-added touch, although the sheep could do with some extra care. Extending their paddock wouldn't be a bad idea as there is some hidden-abandoned space to the left side of the enclosure that is beautifully green... hint hint!
There were some more significant issues along the way, though they were handled well. The room we were given was lovely, however it came with a family of jumping spiders in the top corner, which were removed pretty swiftly after a call to reception. By family, I mean a full nest. The extractor fan in the bathroom must make a wobble noise when the bar of soap wedged behind it is removed. There is also a large piece of toilet paper being used as a buffer in the curtain rail. The apartment block had an air conditioning leak which was in the stairwell, at the bottom. The ceiling was open as it was being investigated, but that allowed for water to pool on the marble tiles, creating a really bad slip hazard. Again, a message in the Tuana App and they rearranged a huge plant pot to catch the water. By the time we had left, that had been repaired and already had been plastered over. The one which I never reported was the safe: It wasn't even bolted down in the wardrobe, so your belongings were more of a false sense of security.
The grounds are kept VERY well. Every morning, the maintenance crews are out doing something. Mowing, bedding new flowers or weeding, slicing off old palm tree leaves, it's just constant and the place looks lovely because of it.
The beach isn't white sand perfection, if that's what you're looking for. It's a grey grit, with stones and sand. There are so many beds with shade on this private beach, and wooden walkways so you do not burn your feet (always have shoes at the ready, the sand gets RIDICULOUSLY hot). The sea is steady, no high and low tide to worry about. There is a nice pier with sun loungers and private areas you can rent, and you'll find a lot of kids pier jumping into the sea. They've even added a dive board so you can go even higher on the dive.
Located on the beach is the amazing Tuana Water Sports company. They are independent of Club Tuana, and family run. They're extremely nice people who took my 16 and 17 year sons out parasailing, sofa-ring surfing and jet-skiing, as well as the whole family booking a nice 7 island cruise with them; that was beautiful and allowed for three stops to swim and snorkel in crystal clear waters. We left at 9:30am, back for 1pm for lunch, drinks included at €50 a person, and they let the 4yr go for free.
There is so much more I could write, and most of it would be extremely positive. I'll sign off saying that this is a beautiful and relaxing holiday destination. You can never be bored if you do not wish to be, and you can also just veg-out on a sun bed the whole day if that is more your thing.