I don’t know about anyone else, but I absolutely live for a nice holiday abroad, and I’m lucky enough to be able to go on a ‘main’ family holiday a year, with a couple of city breaks thrown in here and there. One of our favourite destinations as a family has always been Turkey, so it’s no surprise that’s where we jetted off to!
We visited the Antalya area in October last year for a work trip, so I knew October in Side would bring some lovely toasty weather, and it was just right for our trip with two young kids. We travelled as a big family…myself, my boyfriend and our daughter, my boyfriend’s brother and his girlfriend, his other brother and his son, and their mum! It was really nice to have a group of us all together, and we all have some amazing memories to look back on together.
Beautiful Hotel Days
Although one of my favourite things about jetting off to another country is getting the chance to explore a new place, I do secretly love a day of relaxing. And, when you’ve got a little one, finding any time for peace and quiet can be a bit tricky, so it’s nice to enjoy it when we get the chance. We stayed in the Paloma Orenda in Side, which was an absolutely beautiful beachfront hotel.
The hotel’s facilities were second to none, everything you could possibly need was inside the hotel, so if you wanted a break where you could totally switch off and relax, this is the perfect place to do that. Rather than being one huge building, the hotel really made the most of its vast grounds and everywhere was split up into smaller buildings, so it felt like you were staying in a village more than a hotel.
The pool area was stunning, although the water was a little chilly! It was kitted out with a swim up pool bar that had a normal bar section behind it, a snack bar nearby, ice cream counter, and plenty of sun loungers to soak up the sunshine. Most days when we wanted to enjoy a splash about, we found a spot right next to the kids pool so we could enjoy some fun with the kids and also enjoy a couple of minutes in the sunshine when they were napping.
Seeing Sunny Side
The closest town for us to visit was Side, so we decided to venture out and see what it had to offer. It was about 12 euro in a taxi, which wasn’t too bad for a big group of us, and it was really easy to organise with our hotel. When we arrived in Side Old Town, it was more beautiful than we could ever have imagined, it was like stepping back in time! As we approached the Old Town, we had to drive through a security point which only allowed certain vehicles through like taxis and tradesmen. This meant that when we were wandering through the streets, we didn’t need to worry too much about looking out for traffic as it was all pedestrianised.
The Old Town was filled with stunning historical sites, with lots of ruins to explore. There was even a museum that you could take a look in, but we decided to just wander around ourselves. We were dropped off by our taxi at the top of the main street, which took you all the way down to the harbour. Along the main street, there were little side streets jutting off and everywhere you looked there were clothes, shoes, accessories and perfume shops. As a self proclaimed shopaholic, this place was like heaven to me! I loved popping in all the different shops and seeing what bargains I could find, and it made it an even nicer experience that all the shops had so much character.
Magical Manavgat
Another one of our day trips took us to the town of Manavgat, and we headed there because we wanted to check out the market. In Turkey, haggling is a big part of their culture, so heading to a market and grabbing bargains for the best price is definitely something I can recommend if you’re into shopping or want to bring home some presents for loved ones.
When we arrived, the market was absolutely bustling, and there were stalls after stalls for what felt like miles! Sellers were offering everything from homemade Turkish delight to spices, leather handbags to clothes, there was something here for everyone. We shopped ‘til we dropped, and definitely made the most of our trip to the market, however my haggling skills left much to be desired.
Wet And Wild
Back at our hotel we were lucky enough to have access to a waterpark, just outside of our hotel gates, which was shared between our hotel and the neighbouring Paloma Finesse. Paloma Aqua is a fun filled water park which has 12 full size slides to enjoy, with a further seven in the separate section for smaller children. Dotted around the pools there are lots of sun loungers with parasols, so when you fancy a break from the water you can relax in the sunshine. We found the pool temperature was a little chilly when we visited, so it was nice to be able to sit back and relax in the sunshine between slides.
I took my little girl on a couple of the smaller slides, and it was nice that we were able to go on together as she was a little nervous at first. Although she wasn’t a fan of getting dunked in the pool at the end of the slide, she did really enjoy herself. The big ‘kids’ (my boyfriend and his brothers) decided to give some of the bigger slides a try and it was rave reviews all round.
Foodie Feasts
Our hotel has four restaurants for us to choose from, three were included in our all inclusive package and one of them had a surcharge. There was also the bistro which served late breakfast, snacks and ice cream throughout the day, and midnight snacks for when you were feeling peckish! The main buffet restaurant had a lot of choices, and often did themed nights. One of our favourite nights was the seafood nights, and in the speciality station the chef cooked up some delicious, spicy prawns. We were even given gloves so we could get stuck right in with our hands!
Everyone’s favourite a la carte restaurant at the hotel was definitely Wabi Sabi, which served up Japanese, Chinese and Asian food. As soon as we were seated, we were brought a tasty sushi sharing platter, and offered some drinks. Then our friendly server explained the menu to us, and wow, we were in for a treat. We could have a hot starter, cold starter, salad, main AND dessert…if we could find enough room for it all.
The next a la carte restaurant we visited was the Curio BBQ restaurant, and this one comes with a surcharge. We are a family of steak lovers so we knew we had to try and get a reservation here, and we weren’t disappointed. The sharing starter, a blooming onion, was complimentary, and so were your side dishes and steak sauces. The steak, desserts and wine were an additional charge, and you could only get wine by the bottle, but we didn’t mind as there were quite a few of us to share.
The final a la carte restaurant was the Quentine beachfront restaurant, which serves seafood and Turkish mezze. During the daytime, this place is open for a sit down lunch, serving crowd pleasing options like pasta, pizza and burgers. Come nighttime, this restaurant is lovely and picturesque, with the sound of waves in the background.
Pretty Paloma
We had such a lovely and relaxing holiday, and we all said we would definitely visit the Paloma Orenda again. If this hotel sounds like a bit of you, check out this amazing deal!
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