Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resor

Where do I begin. We had an absolutely amazing stay at this hotel. We travel to a lot of places but always end up back in Turkey, as the people and the country are just great. We visited another hotel in Sarigerme a few years back and heard that Hilton was the best, so we decided to give it a try. It came at a premium but was worth every penny. The staff here are genuinely amazing and can’t do enough for you, from the reception staff (Samet?sorry, im terrible with names ) to the kids club manager Hakan, to even the hairdresser Abdul. All genuinely great people. The food is amazing, and varied every day. The pools are great, and we had a swim-up room, which is 100% worth the upgrade. The cafe is really cool, and the ice creams are really nice. Honestly, just a great place. I’d happily come back.

Lots of positives for this hotel, the staff, the cleanliness and spacious comfortable rooms. Also lovely pools and gardens. The less positive aspects were the alcoholic drinks quality (better in the inside bars) and the repetitive buffet food. Whilst the food was tasty and mainly hot and fresh, after 2 weeks we had had enough. This is where the main bug bear comes in. After paying 20k for 2 weeks for a family group of 4 adults and 3 children in standard rooms, we did not expect to be charged 40-45€ a head to dine in the à la carte restaurants. At a cost of 280€ per sitting, we were not prepared to pay for additional dining. As a couple and as a family we have stayed in many 5* resorts across the world and have never paid a supplement for additional restaurants. And to charge for children who will in all likelihood have a pizza meal, it is really against the grain. Shame on you Hilton! However we did go into the town and have a couple of meals there instead to break up the monotony. Thought it would be nice to give the local economy some business rather than the large conglomerates. Would we return? Possibly for a good deal. Would we recommend? Again at the right price and with advance warning of the downside. Would also agree that it is starting to look worn and tired in certain areas and aspects.

Hilton Dalaman Lake Houses – Honest Review We’ve just arrived home after an amazing week at Hilton Dalaman in the Lake Houses, and overall, we genuinely had such a lovely holiday. The resort is beautiful, the grounds are stunning and the Lake Houses themselves are incredibly peaceful and quiet. We were travelling during the school summer holidays and I was actually surprised by how uncrowded everything felt because the resort is so spread out. That said, I do agree with some of the comments I’ve seen. We stayed in a Deluxe Swim-Up Room at Anda Barut last year, so naturally we found ourselves comparing the two. I also think some of the newer Turkish 5-star resorts have really raised the bar in terms of what people now expect from a 5-star experience. The Lake Houses are beautiful and we had a fantastic week, but there are definitely a few areas where I think Hilton could make some relatively small changes that would make a huge difference. 🏡 The Lake Houses The Lake Houses are gorgeous. They’re spacious, peaceful and the whole area has such a lovely atmosphere. However, our room was already showing some signs of wear. We had wallpaper peeling in places and there were areas where you could tell the room was starting to look a little tired, pillowcases with small holes in them. For a 5-star resort, I think keeping the rooms looking fresh is important. The biggest issue for us was the lack of bathroom privacy. Something as simple as having a proper bathroom door would make such a difference. We were travelling with a toddler who would constantly run into the bathroom, and obviously after showering the floor could become slippery. Our teenage daughter also had very little privacy. The glass isn’t completely see-through, but when you’re a teenage girl sharing a room with your parents, you naturally want some privacy when showering. We would all have to sit in the living room while she showered. Even the toilet door is partially see-through and has no lock, so there was absolutely nothing stopping our toddler from wandering in to pay her an unexpected visit! 😂 Also Perhaps small freezer stations around the Lake Houses with ice creams and ice lollies would make such a difference. I also think some noticeboards around the Lake House area would be useful. Because you're away from the main hotel, you sometimes have to make the journey around to find out what's happening. These are such simple things, but I think they would make a big difference. 🍽️ Food & À La Cartes The food was nice overall, but for us it wasn’t quite on the same level as Anda Barut. The evening buffet can be very busy and feel a little chaotic and I always felt it was a little repetitive so if you are staying longer than a week this is something to consider. I also found the £40pp charge for the à la cartes quite expensive, especially considering the overall price of the holiday. At Anda, we paid less for our stay and the à la carte restaurants were included, as well as being excellent and better quality. The Turkish restaurant here was a highlight though, and the setting and views were absolutely beautiful. 🐢We seen loads of turtles and they bring you bread so you can feed them.🐢 Ensure you have mosquito repellent as after 8pm they can get bad if not wearing any. 🍰 Patisserie This was probably one of the biggest differences we noticed. I personally found the patisserie quite disappointing in terms of the variety and quality of the cakes. A lot of what was available could also be found on the main dinner buffet, so it didn’t really feel like a special treat. Having experienced the patisserie at Anda Barut, and also at XO Arnnа, the difference was noticeable. Those patisseries felt like a real experience in themselves – beautiful cakes, cookies, homemade chocolates, a huge variety of drinks, iced coffees and different syrups. We would easily visit three times a day because there was always something different to try! 😂 I would love to see Hilton really elevate this area because it could be such a lovely feature of the resort. 👧 Kids Facilities The younger kids' facilities were another area where I think there is room for improvement. The park could definitely benefit from some investment or a refurbishment. I’m not sure if one is planned or already been done, but compared with Anda where the children's park was under a huge shaded canopy with soft rubber flooring, the park here was mainly sand and grass with very little shade. It was also extremely dark at night. The trampolines being closed at night was also a shame, as this is often when children would naturally want to use them after dinner. For our toddler, there wasn’t a huge amount to do outside of mini disco. The mini disco was great, but I think there could be more activities for younger children or certainly more of an indoor or outdoor play area. The larger water slides could also do with a little bit of a refurb for the older children/teenagers when comparing with some of the other hotels as a few were shut during our stay and looked a little tired. 🏊‍♀️ Pools The Lake House pools are absolutely gorgeous and definitely one of my favourite things about the resort. I particularly loved the shallow edges in the main pools, which are brilliant for younger children or if you want to cool down without fully going in. The kids' pool was extremely slippery when we first arrived, even with pool shoes, although we found it seemed better by our final day. The pools themselves are beautiful and the swim-up Lake House set-up is lovely. 🥞 Food Highlights There were definitely some standout food options. The pancakes were amazing – lemon and sugar was my favourite despite the fact I don't even like lemon! Nutella was a huge hit with our teenager and myself too. The waffles and jacket potatoes were also great. The beach bar was another favourite. It was such a lovely place to sit, have a drink, play cards and relax. Again the Turkish was lovely if you fancy paying for a meal but I found the rest a little disappointing for the price. 📱 App & Guest Relations The app really needs updating and modernising. We also found guest relations very difficult to contact. On several occasions they didn't answer through the app, and when we went to reception, we were sent to guest relations, who then weren't particularly helpful. This was very different from our experience at Anda, XO and other hotels where we were provided with a WhatsApp number for our own guest relations contact. He/She would reply within minutes and could arrange or sort things for us so easily. I actually lost my phone during our stay. Thankfully, someone had picked it up, (huge thank you) but when I went to guest relations they didn't seem particularly interested and didn't even want to take my room number in case it was handed in later. I was simply told to come back and check again in 24 hours. I think having a more personalised guest relations service would make a nice difference. ☀️ Service Service was definitely a bit hit and miss. There were times when the service was excellent, but other times we would order drinks at lunch and they simply wouldn't arrive. We'd have to ask again or eventually get up and get them ourselves and just have water. QR codes on the sunbeds would be a great addition, as would having a few more staff around the pool and restaurant areas. That said, the majority of our interactions with staff were good, so this definitely didn't ruin our holiday. It was just inconsistent. Shout out to Yusuf who was amazing with our 2 year old son. 🌴 Grounds & Atmosphere The grounds are stunning. The resort is so spread out that it never felt overly busy, which we absolutely loved and the Lake Houses are SO quiet and peaceful. It's such a lovely environment to come back to after spending time around the main resort. The buggy service was also fantastic. Our toddler absolutely loved being driven around in the buggy and, honestly, I think it was one of the highlights of his holiday! 🦟 All of us were bit despite having Jungle Spray on. I only had 3/4 bites but my partner had about 30 although this was his own fault has he didn’t wear it on a few occasions and he’s been fine apart from itchy. I do believe they spray the grounds and have witnessed this so not the hotels fault. 🎶 Entertainment This is one area where I actually thought Hilton was better than many hotels we've stayed in. The entertainment was fantastic. Everyone gets involved, people are dancing and having a great time rather than simply sitting watching a show. The popcorn was a lovely touch and some of the singers we saw were genuinely amazing. The White Party was a particular highlight – such a good atmosphere and definitely one of the best nights of our holiday. ⭐ Overall Honestly, we had an amazing week and I absolutely wouldn't tell anyone not to book the Lake Houses. You would not have a bad holiday here. The hotel is impressive, the grounds are beautiful, the Lake Houses are incredibly peaceful, the pools are gorgeous and the entertainment is fantastic. I just feel that, having stayed at a Deluxe Swim-Up Room at Anda Barut last year, there are a few little touches that Hilton could introduce to bring the Lake Houses and Hotel up to the level of some of the newer 5-star Turkish resorts. These are all first-world problems and absolutely none of them stopped us having a brilliant holiday. But when you're paying 5-star prices, I think it's fair to expect those extra touches. For us, Anda Barut and XO Arnnа have really set the benchmark for what we now expect from a 5-star Turkish resort, particularly when it comes to food, patisserie, children's facilities and personalised service. The Lake Houses have so much potential. They're beautiful, peaceful and already a fantastic place to stay. I just think with a few tweaks, a little investment and some modernisation, they could genuinely be up there with the very best.