The hotel is lovely and clean, food is nice but not very english, drinks r fine. The weather was fabulous, very hot tho.. The waiters an bar staff r really nice and friendly, Serkan the barman in particular was so lovely!!! The pools an slides are great fun, we wer in the water 24/7 2 cool us down a bit cos it was bout 40'c most days, really hot! Overall a great hotel just a shame ther was no other english an the entertainment was mainly in german aswell but we still enjoyed it!! xxx

We have just come back from a 10 night stay at Monachus Park, it was great! There was nine of us and we all really enjoyed ourselves. The teenage boys loved the disco at the fun park till 2 am and they felt safe there too. The food was very good; a selection of many different dishes. The hotel was very clean and the staff friendly.
We wont be able to go next year if the hotel is sold as a new one is being built; adults only.

1 week stay, first week of Aug 2011 - Family with 3 children, 10, 8, 4 year's old.
We chose Side primarily for the weather, we were not disappointed with 35+ every day, 29 at night, and 28-29 deg in the water!
This hotel is a big machine and located a bit away from the beach. This means most rooms have poor views. The best ones have a view over the main pool. The walk to the beach is about 200m, which doesn't sound that much but can be a pain with almost 40 deg heat and 3 young children.
On the beach, each large hotel has its area with a restaurant and many deck chairs, with always plenty available. The sandy beach is clean and very kids friendly, with shallow waters and small surf. The all coast is full of peaple, in fact I had never seen so many deck chairs in my life.

Guests of the Monachus are entitled to borrowing a windsurf (against international certificate ??), a kayak or a pedalo, once a day at the watersport center. Their staff was particularly unwelcoming though, and I was never allowed a ride, as they are too busy selling rides behind their power boats. Quite disappointing for us...

The service was generally very good is the hotel, with friendly staff that doesn't overdo it either. Impeccable room service. The food was really the high point there, with a very large choice of salads, vegetables, fresh fish every day, soups, wide choice of deserts and plenty of junk food as well (chips, sausages etc.)
Drinks are available all day, soda dispensers, lager and wines. There's even ice-creams give aways twice a day!
The pools are cleaned every night and open until 19:00.
The Spa was quite good with friendly and well trained staff. We tried Turkish bath and hot stones massage. Both are recommended. Good value.
There is a young animation team trying to get you to silly pool games. They're not pushy though. They have a show in the evening, involving kids. The whole atmosphere is pretty laid back.

Hotel population is mostly german. There are a few Brits and Dutch as well as Russians. Mostly families. Everyone is "well-behaved" and I haven't witnessed anyone behaving improperly, being drunk.
All prices are in Euros and I advise you to avoid the TRL as prices will be higher if you use the local lira.

The area around has very little cultural interest. Side has some nice ruins but the village is really just a gigantic shopping center, with hundreds of shops selling pretty much the same. If you're into counterfeit goods, you'll find happiness there, from fake watches to copied designer clothing. Knockoffs joints as far as the eye can see...
The coast presents little interest as well, as it is basically one long beach.

If you want a week by the pool, with nice food and guaranteed sun, go ahead. But beware, the place is purely functional and has no charm what so ever.

We have never been to turkey before so didn't quite know what to expect! We have cOme home totally elated with experiencing such a lovely country! Whilst we were there temperatures were high 40's so certainly a sun lovers destination.
The hotel was lovely, rooms were a little basic but have exactly what you need. They are well serviced everyday no matter what time you vacate your room.
The food was lovely lots of fresh salads and varying main dishes throughout the day. Perhaps a little more catered for young children with an ever supply of pizza and chips if you so wished.
The hotel was very family orientated and the staff were all exceptionally very good at integrating with all ages.
The hotel has been a main stay for German tourists for the past 20 years so you don't really hear an awful lot of British accents- which we found actually quite nice! I don't speak German however all the staff basically have it as their second language, signs in the hotel are also in German, entertainment can be in German and also the tv's in the bedroom have many German channels.
Side itself is 20 mins in a bus and very definately worth a visit! Such a beautiful town with so much to offer. History, restoration, sites, shopping and a vibrant night life.
We will
Definitely go back to visit!