Alya Villa Butik Hotel

The setting is peaceful and picturesque, with mountain and sea views. It takes about 10 minutes by taxi to Turunc, and the place feels secluded. The drive from Dalaman Airport is scenic and takes around 90 minutes. Our villa was large, spacious, clean, and cool. The bathrooms were clean, the garden was well kept, and the kitchen had a stove, dishwasher, washing machine, microwave, fridge/freezer, samovar-style two-part kettle, toaster, and oven. There was plenty of mineral water in the fridge, along with some chocolates and a few fizzy drinks. The air conditioning worked, and there were several TVs, a safe, and Wi-Fi. Our private pool was great for a family of four, with enough room to swim and play. The staff were very friendly and did their best to meet requests. Their English wasn’t fluent, but it was enough to get by, and Google Translate helped. Merve, who ran the office, responded well to our requests and arranged taxis. We could also sort questions quickly over WhatsApp. Dinner changed daily and included soup, a main, dessert, and tea. It was varied and tasty. Breakfast was the same every morning, but there was a wide selection, from nuts, olives, dried apricots, fruit, salad, cream, butter, jams, honey, cocoa spread, tahini and grape molasses to eggs, Turkish sausages, cheeses, mini pastries, cake, bread, tea, and juice. Turkish coffee would’ve been a nice addition. Meal service was attentive, though the staff could get busy and sometimes there was a wait. Room service was available, including breakfast in the villa, but we didn’t try it because it cost extra. We had cleaning once during our six-day stay. It was fine and unobtrusive. A few things could be improved. A simple multilingual guide for the appliances would help. We stumbled across the safe and had to experiment to get the washing machine started. Basic supplies like washing-up liquid and laundry powder would be useful too. The biggest concern was maintenance. One toilet kept running and couldn’t be fixed, so we had to turn off its water supply, leaving us with two toilets. The second toilet had the same problem, but I could fix it each time by fiddling with the flush, which wasn’t ideal. A parasol was partly broken, and a chair had a wooden arm that looked ready to fall off. Some TVs and air conditioners may need attention too. We couldn’t get the TVs working, though we didn’t mind as we weren’t interested in watching. The air conditioners kept the villa cool, but we couldn’t change the temperature on some of them. These issues are why we gave four stars instead of five. The villa was still good, partly because most things were in good condition, we didn’t need to use much of the equipment, and there were four of us in a villa for six. I wouldn’t be unhappy to return if nothing had changed, because it was a great place and our kids loved it. But I would be unhappy if things had got worse or if there had been six of us.

A lovely villa hotel, with private pools.

The breakfast was the one part I enjoyed, especially the taste, though there wasn't much variety. The rest of the stay was disappointing. I can't recall the exact length, but I think we were there for four nights and five days. The pool didn't look clean to me. They said it was cleaned early each morning, but when we went to check, I couldn't believe that had happened. The bottom already looked bad. We stayed out, though my son did get in, and unfortunately his ears became infected on our way home. The staff cleaning the pool also seemed more interested in keeping people away than welcoming them. Our rooms had no keys when we arrived, including the bathroom and toilet doors. We asked, and were told they were looking for them. The next day they said the keys were lost. On a family holiday, not having a bathroom key was especially frustrating. After breakfast we ended up spending the whole day away from what was described as a hotel. I wish the staff had been a little more cheerful, too.

We keep choosing this place and have happily returned for two years. The villas are spotless, and the team will arrange extra cleaning or fresh linens if you need them. They're in a lovely setting with great views, and the surrounding beaches are easy to reach from this central location. You can also use the hotel's beach. Chef Erhan and the whole kitchen crew, Mr. Zeki, and the family who look after the villas all deserve thanks for their care and hard work. They were always ready to help and share information. We enjoyed the food. The desserts were amazing last year, though only average this time, and the breakfast and appetizer portions felt a little small for the number of people. That could be improved. Even so, we recommend staying here wholeheartedly.