I stayed at the Alba Royal 11th of August to the 25th with my girlfriend & it's been the best holiday yet!
By God Colakli is hot & humid here in high summer - 40-50+ degrees Celsius during the day the whole two weeks, never rained once, the high humidity is unpleasant at night (I was hoping for a sea breeze being on the beach but there honestly is no "air" in Colakli). Fortunately there's an excellent pool to spend your time in in-between activities thankfully! If you want uninterrupted sunshine to top up your tan then this is the place. Don't bother packing "heavy" clothing, jeans, trainers etc for that possible "odd chilly night time." doesn't exist, way too humid if you're at the pool bar / amphitheatre for shows, save the allotted baggage kg for other stuff!
The reserving pool-side loungers with towels situation here is horrendous; mostly all gone by 7am, approx. 200 loungers for a 450 capacity hotel. Blame your fellow selfish holiday goers though rather than the hotel - people reserving loungers & not using them for 4-6 hours at a time while they were at the beach - selfish & ridiculous. Fortunately only needed one lounger for gf to sunbathe on so didn't have to bother waking up at 6am to grab one as always guaranteed to find a single lounger somewhere.
For fellow fitness freaks, the gym in Alba Royal is absolutely fantastic for a hotel. Unlike other resorts who consider a few ancient derelict pieces of equipment to comprise a gym this fitness suite was spacious, well equipped with new kit & air conditioned (2 treadmills, elliptical cross trainer, 2 cycling-type machines, stair master, free weight bench press, lat-pulldown machine, shoulder press machine, knee-extension / hamstring curl machine, good range of dumbbell weights in metal stack etc) better than some of the gyms / fitness suites back home!
Good mix of British, Germans & Eastern Europeans / Russians here, Brits arguably the majority here & it shows - very sociable 2 weeks, enjoyed the company of many UK couples here of all ages & UK regions; thanks Will, Lynn, Jeff, Theresa, Trevor, Breech (sp?), Colin, Elaine, Steve, Karen etc., your company always a pleasure! With one exception - cheers Joachim - Germans stereotypically dour faced rude bunch as usual. Girlfriend & I employed "the lift test" with uncanny accuracy; if they acknowledge & greet you back with a smile & a hello/joke they were British, if they frowned / glared & looked their nose down at you then usually German ;-) !
We were given a standard room (2 single beds, no sea view etc) which although a pity one of the hotel staff fixed up to make a reasonable make-shift bed with a sheet. Hotel currently at full capacity so understandably a room upgrade (for double bed) was looking highly unlikely. Basic mini-bar stocked daily (soft drinks & water) & room cleaned & towels changed daily. Air conditioning was a godsend - you have a duvet on the bed & that you sleep comfortably under - so AC is very effective. Generally can't fault the room, wish they'd provide you with a kettle though to brew hot drinks, only complaint regarding the room. Toilet seat cracked one day, repaired promptly by hotel staff when highlighted. Room service if you want it, 5TL per item, very reasonable.
Entertainment staff are second-to-none. They work 6 days a week, 9am to midnight, always sociable, put on great shows in the amphitheatre. Thanks especially Nikolai, "Mr Bean", Hugo & Kaya, enjoyed your company immensely whether at archery, air rifle, darts or during a meal / bumping in to you in the resort.
Hotel staff are fantastic as well, great service, never prompted for a tip, crazy Mehmet sticks in my mind especially at the pool bar, I'm pretty sure working in the sauna-like pool bar all day all week has driven him half insane but very charming, funny barman. All the bar staff in Angora Bar which we found ourselves in most nights were fantastic as well.
Last day of holiday, concerned we'd find ourselves without a room for 14 hours while waiting for our flight, one phone call & reception manager gave us VIP room for the day (until 10pm) for 50 Euros, so cheers for that, very flexible of Hotel Alba Royal :-) !
Al a Carte restaurants; Turkish, Cuban & a fish one. Tried all but the latter. Absolutely fantastic dining experience if somewhat drawn out. Excellent variety during breakfast, lunch & dinner, couldn't fault the food.
24 hour AI drinks here. Lager served here is chilled Tuborg (Danish), tastes like Tennents lager to me, decent enough beer, I don't think the Turkish have heard of lime cordial or even limes in general though! Couldn't find the stuff anywhere in Side hahah. Unfortunately the girlfriend converted me to lager & lime on a previous holiday so had to make do with shandies. Cocktails as usual are potent but enjoyable, brand name spirits served, girlfriend stated wines also very agreeable.
Popped in to Side on the dolmus (sp?) 3TL each visiting the ruins & the markets. So much for Turkey being the place for cheap fake goods; clothing, footwear, fragrances etc all extortionate, didn't even bother bartering with the merchants for 2/3rds of asking price they'd priced themselves so high. Like Spain etc high quality all-inclusive resorts like Alba Royal are going to kill the markets, bars etc outside & quite right as the prices they want for goods / booze are ludicrous (6-7TL for a 500ml bottle of Efes, 69 Euros for a bikini top, 40 Euros for a T-Shirt, 250TL for fake Ugg boots, uhm yea nice one, no thanks!) don't think they appreciate how expensive the Euro actually is?
In conclusion, absolutely fantastic resort. My only 2 very petty negatives - no kettle in room or lime cordial in bar, just goes to show how absolutely faultless Alba Royal is if that's my only 2 gripes during whole 2 weeks. I'd genuinely come back here next time!