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 Lara Barut Collection in late April was our 21st all inclusive holiday in Turkey. Recent visits to the Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum regions have included stays at Anda Barut Collection, XO Cape Arnna, Regnum Carya, NG Phaselis Bay, Voyage Torba, Residence Fethiye, Cullinan Belek, Delphin Imperial. 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 7 night stay in a deluxe garden area double room was booked through easyJet Holidays for a highly competitive package price which was considerably less than we usually pay for a 5* AI holiday in Turkey. With no additional supplement for dining in the a la carte restaurants at Barut Collection hotels, we considered this holiday to represent outstanding value for money.
When travelling we typically opt for contemporary (often newly constructed), upscale hotels with a choice of a la carte dining options. Whilst Lara Barut is an older build, the renovations completed in 2022 have brought it more up to date but, for us, it lacked the aesthetic external architectural appeal of the newer build hotels we generally book.
Highlights:
• Service was of a high standard, and the staff (particularly in Turunc and Tirmis) were very friendly, welcoming and conversational. We really enjoyed lunch every day from the extensive menu in Turunc
• Housekeeping and minibar services were faultless. Thank you to our Housekeeper Yasemine who was friendly and professional
• We were lucky enough to eat twice in Akdeniz but enjoyed all our evening a la carte dining experiences and found the choice, quality and presentation of the cuisine to be excellent. Due to the cool evening temperatures and breeze, we found it to be uncomfortably chilly eating in Sandal and Turunc in the evening though
• I deliberated over whether to book a slightly more expensive room category in the main building but I am so glad we did not. Our garden view room was lovely and we enjoyed being located near to the Lagoon pool and Turunc. I also appreciated the dressing table and mirror in the room for styling my hair as I hate standing to do this in hotel bathrooms
• The gym was very well equipped
• The Cat House is a wonderful project and undertaking by the hotel to care for local strays
• We really enjoyed the DJ sets and entertainment at the beach bar in the late afternoons, the night club, quality of the shows (held indoors due to the cool evenings) and a couple of the bands on the Meltem stage (others were not so good)
Additional observations:
• Our check in experience was very underwhelming in comparison with other hotels. We arrived in the early afternoon, so there were plenty of staff around, but we weren’t greeted or shown to the reception desk or seating area or offered a welcome drink. Not a big deal but not a particularly positive first impression either
• For a Barut Collection hotel we were disappointed that the sun loungers around the main pools were not cushioned. As we were there early in the summer season, we were lucky enough to find sun loungers around the lagoon pool each day as this pool was not heated. Later in the day we would head down to the beach bar and use the padded loungers on the beach for an hour or so
• Daily live music in the lobby bar (where would have a drink before dinner) would have been welcome in the early evening
• As mentioned in other reviews, our garden view room did, intermittently, suffer from an abhorrent odour from the drains in the shower/bathroom
• Drinks service around the lagoon pool was inconsistent and so a couple of times we returned to our room to fetch drinks from the minibar or we walked around to the steps that the staff use to enter the swim up bar (which are located next to Turunc) to request service
• Probably due to the time of year the air conditioning in the gym wasn’t operational, so it was too warm. The window was sometimes open a crack but then cigarette smoke from the external seating area outside the café would waft in
• The Lara beach area is the least scenic of all the regions we have visited in Turkey and, although there are a few shops nearby, the immediate area is not an appealing place to take a walk
In summary, for the price point we paid, this holiday represented supreme value, and we enjoyed our stay but, unfortunately, Lara Barut did not blow us away. Admittedly we have been blessed to have stayed in some outstanding hotels which have had a far greater wow factor in terms of design, setting and range of bars, entertainment and services so we are hard guests to please. Overall, due to the picturesque and spacious setting, theatre layout, choice of bar areas, contemporary design, superb gym and quality and comfort of the sun loungers (which is a priority for us), we much preferred Anda Barut where we would return in a heartbeat.
CA