Paloma Pasha Resort

Rooms: If I had known before, I wouldn’t have paid extra for the swim-​up rooms. I had requested (by mail) rooms facing south or west for maximum afternoon/​evening sun but our request was not granted. We got two rooms in the inner circle (111 and 113) that had just a little sunshine early in the morning. So, don’t bother with swim-​up rooms unless you get a room in a good location. The rooms were a good size, be it that there is a sofa (bed) that takes up too much space. The bathrooms were really small. There was a good rain shower but unfortunately in my son’s room the bathroom was always flooded when they had showered. Rooms at the outside of the ‘circle’ are larger. Mattresses were too hard for our taste. The rooms on the two top floors have the best views and they seem larger as the balconies are smaller than on the lower floors. WiFi was very unstable. I had to log on time after time and still it wouldn’t work in our room most of the time. It did work fine in the lobby and at the pool.
Pool & beach: If you care for a nice long beach, this is not your place. The beach is small, narrow and rather unattractive. The picture on the website is somewhat misleading. If you care for an awesome, amazing pool where you can really swim great lengths, this is your place! The pool in fact is wrapped around the buildings. It took my son, who is a good swimmer, 20 minutes to swim the full length and back. We loved it! Unfortunately all the sunbeds were dirty and when they have a full house, there are definitely not enough sunbeds.
Activities: Some of the activities of the hotel were very limited in time, such as the water slides that were open from 11 to 12 and from 3 to 4 only. Furthermore they advertise daily waterpolo on the activity board but when I asked where it was, I was told that they didn’t play waterpolo anymore because ‘the water was too cold’. Duh … this was September and temps were high 20’s!
Food & drinks: Good food with plenty of choice. We tried Safran (Turkish), Seasons (Italian) and Ada (fish). We especially liked the Italian restaurant. But also the buffet in the main restaurant was of good quality despite the boring display. One thing that could be improved is the coffee. It was very weak and it didn’t taste good. Also the butter smelled and tasted weird, as if it was over its ‘best before’ date, which was not the case. Maybe it is not stored cold enough? The bars are nice, especially the open air Terrace Bar. Branded liquors (Bacardi, Smirnoff Vodka, Gordon’s Gin, …) are available at no extra cost. You need to ask explicitely, though. High end drinks (like Chivas Regal) have to be paid extra.
Wellness: there’s a nice wellness area with many treatments (not run by the hotel). The sauna and steambath are nice (ans free), and the hamam is just fabulous.
Both the staff and the animation team were friendly.
General: Very nice resort. Maybe not five star quality but a good four star. This was our first time in Turkey. We really liked our stay here.