Palmiye Turkey

We spent the last week of October at Club Med Palmiye as a family of four and had a fantastic week overall, despite not being particularly lucky with the weather. We had two days of very poor weather out of six, and the evenings were quite chilly. The resort is not particularly well suited to rainy or cold weather. Most of the restaurants are outdoors, which can be uncomfortable on chilly or wet evenings, especially when the resort is at full capacity (around 1,600 guests during our stay). Having more indoor dining options would definitely make a difference.

The resort itself is absolutely beautiful and offers an incredible range of activities for everyone. From tennis, paddle, archery and other sports facilities to the water sports offering (water skiing, sailing, boat trips, etc.), there really is something for everyone. The Mini Club was fantastic, with an exceptionally professional and friendly team. Our children had a wonderful week, regardless of the weather.

We also really enjoyed the food and ate very well throughout our stay. While perhaps not quite as refined as what we have experienced at some of the Club Med ski resorts, the overall quality was very good. The spa and traditional Turkish hammam were also great experiences.

There are just two things worth bearing in mind. Firstly, the resort is quite isolated. Antalya is around an hour away by car, so if you enjoy exploring the surrounding area and going on excursions, this may not be the best location. It is very much a resort where you spend most of your time enjoying the facilities on site.

Secondly, we felt that the activity programme could have been adapted better to the weather forecast. For example, some sailing activities and tennis sessions could have been rescheduled to make better use of the limited good-weather windows. Similarly, the traditional Under the Stars dinner would have been lovely on one of the beautiful evenings we had earlier in the week.

Finally, we stayed in the Vilagio, which we felt was the best area for families, but it is also quite noisy. Even from our room (308), which was relatively far from the outdoor theatre, we could hear the evening entertainment and general noise until 10.30–11 pm. This is worth considering when choosing where to stay. If peace and quiet and a good night’s sleep are priorities, the Hotel area is probably a better option.

These are relatively minor points, however, and overall we had a wonderful family holiday. A beautiful resort, excellent facilities, great food and a fantastic Mini Club. We would happily recommend it to families looking for an active and enjoyable holiday.

The resort is beautiful.Food is excellent.Hotel cleanliness amazing.Children activities varied.
However we have 1 negative comment to make
Snorkeling is no longer offered (boat ride does not replace snorkeling unfortunately)

Despite unexpectedly cold temperatures and rain, our family group of 10 had a wonderful week. The sports offerings are the best of any club med, including, amazingly, water skiing. The mini club (ours were 4 and 7) is incredibly organized, professional, nurturing, and loads of fun, with kids doing everything from circus trapeze to a variety show.The food is out of this world, with an incredible variety and surprises with every meal, including delicious local Turkish fare. My favorite was daily grilled fish. The coordination of the food services is phenomenal. The rooms were impeccable and the daily service was amazingly accomplishment before we got back from breakfast. Our only complaint is with the third-party excursion organizers. Our "Cruise and Phaselis" outing was amended to exclude the stop at Phaselis, but we were not told until we went to confirm the night before, even though the tour folks knew at least two-weeks beforehand that Phaselis would be closed. Getting a refund became a moot point since the entire excursion was cancelled due to weather.We also wished there were more sheltered spaces, beside the big hotel lobby, for large-group gatherings in bad weather. But overall, a wonderful family week.

I've been to many club meds over the years. So far, The Palmiye branch is probably the best one I have been to in terms of facilities. The pools, beach and sports areas are truly amazing. Even though the hotel was fully booked, the common areas did not feel over crowded except for the main lobby area on rainy days (of which we unfortunately had a few). As my kids are trapeze enthusiasts they were disappointed with the very little opportunity to enjoy this activity. The queues were very long and they had to wait for more than an hour and a half every day to have one go at it.

The food was great especially the Turkish barbeques which were outstanding. Great to see them focus on the local Turkish food as this is really their strength.

On the minus side, this is the only club med so far where I was disappointed with the quality and hospitality of their staff. On several occasions (including the person at the hospital desk) we felt that they were less than helpful and did not live up to what we had come to expect from clubmed staff. One particularly unfuriating incident occurred when a front desk member refused to help us to check for a valuable item in the room after we had checked out of the hotel. Instead of sending somebody to the room, they told us to check in the next day at the lost and found! Part of this hospitality issue is probably due the local staff not speaking a word of English or French. This is particularly surprising given the international nature of the guests at the hotel.

Overall, I would recommend this hotel but do not expect too much from their staff.