Barut Hemera - Ultra All Inclusive★★★★★

✓The grounds and outdoor areas are genuinely nice and comfortable, with good quality sunloungers, lovely green lawns, and palm trees — you can tell someone cares about the gardens. The pool area is a real plus, and the kids club was good. The rooms are pretty good, and when we had an issue at check-in, they moved us without fuss. The à la carte restaurants were pretty decent and enjoyable, and guest relations were genuinely helpful getting these booked for us across the week. Drinks were decent in variety across the board, mostly cocktails made with cheap alcohol, soda, and flavoured syrups, and drinks service was fine in general. The staff themselves are good — friendly and hard-working.

!Honestly, this was not what I expected for the price we paid. There’s a general feeling of underinvestment and a lack of management/leadership across the hotel, and staff are clearly overworked and often left running in chaos mode rather than being properly supported. The hotel building itself is looking dilapidated and needs a refurb, which doesn’t match the price point. Entertainment was really average, and some nights were flat-out bad. Food was very average — nothing to call home about — with lots of cheese and tomatoes in different forms but not much real variation, and meat options were extremely limited, with the lamb or beef consistently tough and chewy. At the à la carte restaurants we often felt rushed once seated. Drinks were never measured, so the same cocktail ordered twice in a week never tasted the same, and the drinks cut-off times of 12-2pm made no sense and were genuinely annoying — the same applies to the waterslides and children’s pool area also closing 12-2pm, a strange, frustrating choice if you’re travelling with a child. The biggest disappointment by far was the beach and sea access: the first few metres into the water are covered in large, sharp rocks — I injured a toe and gave up on swimming in the sea entirely — and while there’s a plastic pier, it’s mossy, uncomfortable, and not a real alternative.

✓Restaurant staff, water slides, pool and bars..

!Difficulty getting sun loungers near pool early in stay. Poor availabilty of a la carte restaurants. Tired decor in some areas.