This was our fourth time at this hotel and loved it again.
We have previously stayed here with our 2 older teenagers who did not come with us this time only the three youngest kids came again, we have seven kids.
We have travelled around the world with our children and only started going to Turkey 3 years ago when our youngest girl Jasmine was only a baby and now we love it there, its a great place for families and there is loads to do and see if you want to.
Eating out is really good and great value as we only go on a BB basis there are loads of resteraunts and bars within 10 to 15 mins walking which is nice to do when you have spent a day lazing by the fab pool with loads of sunbeds. We dont have a favourite as most are really good but try JIMMYS across the road from the reception foods really good and the Turkish meat ball dishes are probably the best around, also try the Salhan Hotel just down the road the food is good there as well as its owned and run by the same family as the Grand Ucel.
The exchange rate was really good this year so was great value for money where ever we went.
The water park is great for the kids and well staffed the only thing to warn the kids about is to walk carefully as the floors get very slippery around the water park but still great fun for all.
The staff and the owners of the property are all really nice and help full and cant do enough for you.
There was some entertainment on this year but not every night which were Turkish nights but were good value as you have pay if your on BB as there is food included ,we enjoyed it.
We have gotten to know the owners and they remember us soon as we arrive by name my little girl was even invited to there little boy Omars first birthday party which was really nice and she had a great time and a massive slice of cake.
The bar area goes quiet at night but this is relaxing and makes it easy to get served and plenty of choice of where to sit.
We have always met plenty of nice families each time weve been and stayed in touch with some, and the kids have always made friends including this time.
We have stayed here in both May / June and August / September the summer is a lot busier at the hotel which caters for the Turkish people as well so can get pretty busy but they are really friendly and pleasant most stay on a full board basis so its pretty busy in the evenings but soon goes quiet after around 10.30 local time.
May / June School holiday is a really great time to go and the weather is really good as well but its not as busy everywhere so really nice and cheaper as well.
We book direct with the hotel owners one of which lives in Manchester and we contact her direct, Rhiannon, and do our own flights they also do your transfer which is a private minibus and cheaper as well.
We are already looking for flights for next May / June to go back this time with some of the other family.
We have not had one bad experience in our last 4 times at this hotel its brilliant and friendly and kids just love it.
Tony and Amanda Meehan, Thomas, Nathan and Jasmine.

We have just come back from staying at The Grand Ucel Hotel. We had a lovely time although there were a couple of things that could have been better. The breakfast in the morning was definitely "geared up" for the Turkish people. This consisted of cold meats, cheese, eggs etc. There was cereals, melon and fresh bread, but after two weeks of melon and bread it did get a bit tedious. During the second week when there were more Turkish than English, additional fruit was provided. There was a big problem with flies and it did put you off a little - a few fly nets over the food would stop this. Also there was next to no entertainment the first week, but then more was laid on the second week. This could have been to mark the end of Ramadam.
The rooms were really clean and spacious, we had a bath and a shower and a minibar and hairdryer are included. There was a kettle with cups and saucers but you do need to take your own tea and coffee.
The pool was extremely clean and there were plenty of sunbeds, We never had a problem getting a bed which was a relief from previous holidays having to get up at 6.30. The waterpark was brilliant for the kids although the only thing to look out for was the slippy marble. The food and drink was expensive as the poolside bar, but there was a good selection on the menu.
There are loads of restaurants nearby, our favourite was Friar Tucks which had televisions a pool table and internet access. Opposite is a chinese/indian restaurant which is co-owned with the manager from Friar Tucks. The food was lovely and not too expensive. Another nice restaurant was The Kings Arms, further up the road.
Hisanarou is a short bus ride away and there you will find loads of shops, bars and restaurants and also a small fair.
We booked a boat trip (6 island tour) which only cost £5.00. pp. They picked us up from our hotel and dropped us back after and it also included a lovely lunch. This was booked through Pioneer Travel in Hisanarou. We also had a Turkish Bath for half price when booking this trip.
The beach is shingle and I would definately recommend beach shoes as it can be very painful to walk on.
My children want to go back next year as they had such a good time.

We have just returned from a 2 week holiday at the Grand Ucel, this is our second visit to Ovacik, the first time we stayed in the YEL (more like HELL)!! and we spent most of our time here and decided to stay at the hotel this year> what a good decision this was.
The hotel rooms are massive, we stayed in a gold family room which is 2 ajoining rooms one with a double bed and the other with 2 singles, loads of wardrobe space and small bedside tables with cupboards, 2 bathrooms with showers which was excellent for us with a family of 4 with 2 kids aged 11 and 13, they had their own space and so did we which was great. Our room overlooked the waterpark which only opens at 10am so we had a lie in every day, the pool to the hotel was just down the pathway from our room too, a couple of days we went round the waterpark to sunbathe and the rest we stayed round the hotel pool and the kids just went to the waterpark on their own, this is an ideal place to stay as you have the choice of the hotel pool or the waterpark or both! we never found a problem getting sunbeds whatever time we got to the poolside so there was no rushing to get up and be like a german!
The staff at both the waterpark and the hotel we couldnt fault so friendly and always smilling. They would go out of the way to help whenever they could.
The airconditioning is excellent too in the rooms and easy to work. The rooms have a fridge and tea/coffee making facilities and a hairdryer in the bathroom which for a change was good too.
The food for breakfast was a general continental breakfast, breads meats salads cereal(loads of dif types) condiments jams/honey/yoghurts, juices and water tea and coffee enough to fill you up for lunch. The water park has a great cafe with plenty of choice pizza burger sandwiches anything really and they would make you somat not on the menu if they could. Drinks beer or soft drinks available too (loads of choice) and they would take it wherever you wanted it if you didnt want to eat at the tables. Really the staff there were fab!
The pools were crystal clear day after day.
We promise we are not the owners of the hotel, it was just that good and deserves this review hence we have just booked again for next year.

We could'nt really complain although our first impression was that the staff were a bit off hand and the signs all over the place gave it a prison camp feel...once we found our feet we enjoyed our stay ...we did a five day stay and the access to the waterpark was fabulous. The waterpark was great fun and our children had a superb time on the slides..three of the six slides however, are not meant for children under age ten, (but there is no enforcement of this!) and we let our nine year old on some of them you might need to consider this if you have children under ten years who are not confident. The children do need to be relatively competent swimmers unless you wish to go on the slides with them. The water park had no queues to speak of..especially if younstay at the hotel and can dip in and out. The hotel room was fine..silver family suite although the shower was a very teeny quadrant cubicle. Rooms were clean, relatively basic and tasteful enough. We were on the ground floor with a waterpark view. Nice. We did all inclusive and probably wouldn't again, although rooms good value, as we are not big drinkers and kids only 5 and 8, local alcohol if you like the occasional cocktail is a bit restrictive and the water park food is generally not included. The breakfasts were fine, great choice but the remainder of the food whilst very healthy was pretty much Turkish, salads and stews (only) not even even kofte or kebabs or such, limited European type food choices and so after three or so days we started to tire of the food on offer especially as there is a huge range of local restaurants on offer on the doorstep. The hotel is clean, the pool space lovely and no problem with sun beds etc., some nice comfy sofas to relax on although the facilities in general appear a bit tired. We would consider returning if the deal was right as we all had a fab and relaxing time.