i have a daughter of 15 and 12 and one is very fussy but chips were available every lunch and the cake were nice a cake time!!! the people would bring your cups to bar so you didn't have to.
The maid service amazing every day and she would tidy her the only down fall is that the Lyra is very confusing there is also a free shuttle bus to the beach and shops a minute away.

It is apparently a 3 star but I would say it has lots in place to be like a 4 star. The rooms are very spacious, we had booked through Low Cost Holidays and requested a double and a twin room with pool view if possible. All rooms have pool views with balconies, no horrid outlooks here! This is the first time we have been to Turkey and would definately go back. We stayed in a 5 star last year ok different country but wasnt quite sure what to expect when read reviews for a 3 star in Turkey, as a number of aspects on the 5 star had been failing last year. Our apprehension was put to rest when we arrived at after midnight to be met the very friendly receptionist and a man to carry our bags to our rooms. We were on the second floor of C block and we had a triple room and a twin room which were both very spacious and clean with air conditioning and safes and shower cubicles in the bathroom. There are hairdryers fixed in the bathroom and liquid soap dispensers by the sink which was useful when arriving that time of night didnt have to hunt out soap for sink! There is tv (ok not that many english channels but you dont go to watch tv in your room when on holiday do you!). There is a full size fridge and is restocked with 2 bottles of water each day. Each room has a balcony over looking the pools. Yes I said pools as there is a large swimming pool and a toddler pool and also a further pool for the slides. We were in C block which probably is the best to be in although possibly B block would be okay too. A block is over the entrance to hotel and yes opposite there is a restaurant which has a number of dogs in its garden. This is not the hotels fault, you cannot dictate what your neighbours do anywhere can you! The accommodation blocks are 4 storeys. There are no lifts only stairs.

The maid came in every day and replenished the water in fridge and put the sheets in different patterns on the beds each day, nice touch especially for 3 star we thought, never had this before. We went in October half term and thought that it would be relatively busy but were quite surprised to find on the first morning of getting up about 30 or so people in the whole of the hotel! We had it explained to us that it was the end of the season and that the hotel and shops would be closing at the end of the week and in fact we would be the last guests in the hotel from Wednesday! We did wonder how this would affect the fact we were all inclusive with just 4 people in the hotel. I have to say it didnt, in fact it made it better really at meals because the chefs and rest of kitchen staff seemed to love cooking and making it special for us. They would ask what time would we like lunch and our evening meal and then explain what they were going to cook up along with salads and chips etc brought to the table plus of course what they plated up for us, much more than we would have eaten had we been serving ourselves but the food was sooo tasty and all the meat cooked so tender you couldnt help but eat till you were stuffed. My son who is 13 and always has been a fussy eater said one day when the chef had cooked up steak in a gorgeous mushroom sauce "if you could cook like this mum, I would love you"!!! I think he meant that he really was enjoying the food and would love it if I could cook this well but that he still loved me anyway, at least I hope this what he meant!

At breakfast you would have choice of cereal, cheese, olives, ham type (they muslims so no pork dont forget), salami type meat, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs or he would could omlettes, which were great, fried eggs, pancakes, it varied each day. Also there was like a big George Foreman type grill thing for doing toast so you could do a cheese toastie, lovely. Lunch was various salads, bread, chips, rice, and hot dishes and these lovely sweet things that were quite sticky but very nice and a type of mousse or apples. In the afternoon there was cake and coffee time (coffee too strong for my taste but I think that is how it is drank there) (also tea is fruit tea again what is drank there). The cakes were gorgeous although the size of the pieces they cut them into were huge!!!! Evening meal similar to lunch and really nice homemade soup too.

There was just the one bar outside the restaurant and pool area when we were there although I suspect in height of season they have another like a cocktail bar thing. Good size glasses which in the evening were proper glass but during the day were large rigid plastic cups (like you get for bbq's or picnic sets), so when you got a drink you got a proper drink and didnt need to constantly go back. All the staff were very friendly and helpful and jolly. Even though as the week went on there were less people in the hotel the standards of service and food did not falter and even when we were there on our own they still made our holiday special. The water slides were a great bonus and the whole pool area is in the sun all day. There are shady areas on the grass under trees and the pool bar area and tables outside are under cover. The temperature was minimum of 26 degrees during the day and probably went up to 30. It did go chilly in the evening when sitting outside by the bar at this time year though.

They do have a water cooler which we thought was a great thing and again have never had this before in any all inclusive hotels.

Its location is probably about 15 - 20 mins walk to the beach, the shops and the dolmus bus depot and the ruins.

The ruins are brilliant and lovely beach area. Great for shopping for teenagers especially as loads of "designer" gear. Make your own mind up are they real or fake but the quality is bang on and the price fantastic. Want new converse get them here!

This area I would say is quite a lot of german, the signs in the hotel were in english and german. Although when we were in the hotel it was only brits there. The hotel took english pounds for the safe and so did some of the shops etc. Although I would say that it is best to go with Euros and Turkish Lira for this area. Dont forget your £10 visa entry at the airport per person.

Also having a blond teenage daughter I would mention that the Turkish men do seem to like blonds so be aware although there is no harm in it just maybe they come and speak to you more and maybe winks!

They seem to enjoy haggling so maybe know your prices of what for example a pair of converse would be and how much you are willing to pay and then go a lot lower and you will probably end up with a good bargain.

As for the tip that everyone writes about on here and how you "have" to walk past it. No you dont, the receptionist will tell you two directions to get to the shops and bus station. The short cut is across the road and through a gravel road which does take you past the tip although not that close. What people fail to mention is that between the tip and the hotel is what I think is a small football ground with stands and a main road and a field/piece of wasteland, then the edge of the hotel grounds. Quite how you would smell the tip from the hotel is strange even in extremely hot weather as we smelt nothing when as I say temp was up to 30 degrees and we walked past it and smelt nothing! Anyway there is another was to walk which takes marginally longer which is down the pavement of the main road so it may take 20 mins instead of 15 mins. Your choice which direction you take. I will put pictures to show the shortcut past tip.

Almost forgot that the hotel has a Turkish massage place and although we didnt use it was extremely tempted to. A lot of people seemed to use it. You could get if I remember correctly an hour and half full body turkish bath/massage with hot stones for 20 euros, certainly wouldnt get it for that price in UK. If go back to this hotel would definately go have a turkish massage.

To some up the hotel, would recommend it most definately, great people, great food, great rooms, big pool, water slides. Great location.

For my boyfriend and I our holiday was brilliant. The staff at the Aral are lovely and can be a right laugh if you treat them with respect and not just as slaves. The food was lovely, although there was salads everyday there was variety in the hot choices. We heard a few people moaning about how crap the food was but they obviously expected 5 star food for the price of a 3 star hotel. Our room was on the top floor of C block and although it was a lot of stairs to walk up each day, it was worth it. The room was big and spotless, with a fridge stocked with water each day. The beach and Side were both only about a 15/20 minute walk away from the hotel. The landfill site did not bother us on the way to the beach and I can't say that I even smelt it when we walked past. The entertainment on friday, the snake show and belly dancing, was very good. I would definately recommend this hotel to others and would love to return next year.

This hotel was one of the best 3 star i have ever stayed in, the rooms were clean and very spacious, they were cleaned every day, the bed sheets were made into different shapes like animals everyday, free complimentary water every day and the air conditioning was that good we had to turn it off as we were getting cold.
The resteraunt area was always clean the extremely hard working bar staff made sure of that, the food was brilliantly cooked and always had variety aswell as stable food for the kids or fussy eaters ie chips, burgers etc
The bar although had no imported alcohol was always refreshing and the bar staff were always happy to help, the young kid who was serving deserves a medal for how hard he tries to please everyone.
The pool area was always clean and the only down side was that not many sunbeds were available due to selfish people getting up and putting there towels on them to save them
The beach was although you do have to walk on rough terrain not through a landmill sight that was people walking the wrong way and actually the long way round and there is a free bus hotel drop off service that takes 3 minutes anyway.
Side town is a 10 minute walk or a 5 minute taxi away but the walk is cultural either way you take, the left way takes you through the ruins and the right takes you through the old town.
One other thing you must try in the hotel is the turkish bath package, for £18 each!!! you get a half hour turkish bath, facial mask, and a half hour full body massage!!!
The only let down was the thomas cook rep Rachel, she spoke that fast that you could tell she just wanted to get the conversation over with so she could go back to her bed.
Overall i would reccomend this hotel to anyone i know,