La Blanche Island

I aim to be as honest as possible in this review and all views are my own, Stunning location, the drive down to the resort was beautiful and we couldn't wait to explore. On arrival, friendly staff greeted us, took our bags instantly and handed us champagne or soft alternative. Quick check in. ROOM: We were in room 6212. 1 double bed and 2 single beds. balcony with 2 chairs and a small table and good air conditioning. - PROS: 1. stunning views of sea and pool with sunset view every night. 2. Clean and everything you needed. 3. comfy beds. - CONS: 1. Housekeeping was good, but there were 2 days, one where it was not cleaned at all and another where they forgot to replace towels. Although called to reception and they were brought up within 10 minutes. 2. Balconys' are small and if you are non-smokers and the neighbours are, your room can smell of smoke, but this is unavoidable. FOOD: - PROS: 1. Lots of variety. BREAKFAST ranged from eggs of all varieties, pastries, meats, cheeses, breads, olives, salads etc. cereals, fruit, pancakes, chocolate spread. but also the random addition of chicken nuggets and chips!! EVENING MEAL included a variety of fish, chicken, beef, pork, all cooked in many ways, salads, pastas, rice etc. DESSERT consisted of baklava, soooo many different varieties, lots of different cakes, fruit etc. Lunch - we always ate at the poolside cafe where you order on a QR code, the kebabs here were delicious, burgers etc. We didn't try anything else so can't comment, We did however have waffles and filled flatbread from the sweet spot by Starbucks. these were a great hit! A LA CARTE: You have one a la carte meal included in your stay. we chose the Italian. The staff here were lovely, so attentive, the food was delicious. the food took a little while to come out but the staff ensured we were topped up with drinks and served bread and olives at the table. TEPYNAKI: For our final night we decided to book the asian, chefs table, tepynaki. This was totally worth it!! Hans, our chef was wonderful! very entertaining, friendly and a wonderful chef! The kids loved it and the steak was one of the best we've ever tasted!! You only get 1 and a half hours at the table so can be a bit rushed if you get chatting, but again still worth it. - CONS: 1. There seemed to be little change each day between what was served at the all inclusive buffet and became very samey, very quickly. 2. It was extremely busy and what can only be described as a cattle market. if you have manners, leave them at the door because every one else seems to. people don't care about pushing in even though you're in a queue. DRINKS: There is a wide range of all inclusive drinks including some branded. There is no cocktail list as such but you can ask for anything and they will make it for you. - POOL BAR: The staff here are great and are very good. Beer, spirits, soft drinks etc. Tip: Ask for a vodka for the slushy machine and they will give you a large glass of vodka for you to top up your drink! The lobby bar was the best at night, all included including brands. presented beautifully in actual glasses, we even questioned if this was on the all inclusive as felt we should've paid for them. The other bar where the evening entertainment is, was also a good hit. ask for anything and they will make it for you. they even have a table of cocktails ready for you to pick up on your way in. POOL: The pools are very clean, not overly busy and there is no need to get down at the crack of dawn o put towels down. We did however, take towels with us when we went for breakfast but there was always plenty of free loungers available until mid morning. Kids loved the slides. BEACH: The beach was beautiful. mainly sandy, some small stones but nothing major. the sea was lovely and warm and calm the majority of the time. SHOP: There is a couple of shops on site on your way to the pool. Day 1 the kids wanted a float for the pool. We picked one up, he inflated it for us. then we paid.......our mistake we should've asked how much, but just be warned a simple rubber ring was £45!!!! We also needed to top up our suncream one day, so popped in there thinking it can't surely be that expensive. only to be told it would be 50 euros!!!! so safe to say, we waited until we went into Bodrum! PHOTOGRAPHER: The photographer Chris came by the pool everyday and took random photos, friendly guy, trying to drum up business. we decided to have a sunset shoot with him, which was lovely! he spent about 45 minutes with us ensuring he got some beautiful photos. no pressure sales, he leaves you to look through the photos in the studio and pick out what you want. they are priced at £15 each, if you buy lots then he would do a package deal. we had them printed and he also sent them to us digitally. SPA: We didn't use the spa but met Andy, the spa rep every day who tried to sell us treatments, again no pressure and he knew when we weren't interested. He was able to offer really good deals, but we just decided we would rather spend our time outside. WATER SPORTS: Jimmy is the rep for watersports and you will see him daily around the pool trying to drum up business. Again no pressure sales at all, very friendly guy. Some of our party chose to do a parasail which he did for 130euros. This was about 10 minutes in the air and 20 mins on the boat approx. Sadly on the day the wind was wrong so had to be cancelled but asked us to go back the next day. For an extra 20-30euros, the rest of our party could go on the boat too which was nice. CABANA POD: We hired one of the round cabana pods for one day. There were 6 of us so we had 2 pods. they specify the pods are only for 2 people but they will definitely allow more so always ask. We paid 150 euros from 10am till 6pm. All inclusive drinks, waiter service, lunch served at the cabana, beautiful fruit platter included. This was one of the highlights of our holiday. It was so beautiful and lovely to have your own space and private access to the sea. The kids were nervous because they couldn't touch the floor from the pod we were in but they had floats and soon felt really comfortable. ENTERTAINMENT: We walked by the kids entertainment one night, looked fun, but too young for the children in our group. We headed over to the main entertainment which was different everynight and of good quality. BODRUM: We wanted to arrange a shopping trip into Bodrum. The concierge put on a private taxi for us (6 of us) for 130 euros return trip and advised us of the best time to go which was the evening as it would be cooler. you can probably get a taxi cheaper but bare in mind there were 6 of us so we needed a mini bus and also we wanted the security of knowing it was already organised and trusted by the hotel. the journey took approx 30 minutes and they dropped us into Bodrum by the plaza. We found somewhere lovely to eat on the harbour, again very reasonable. Then we hit the shops. Everything was very reasonably priced, but definitely get your bartering hats on. WARNING: Watch out for pickpockets, they are around, so be very mindful of your bags. We also saw a lot of beggars on the street, women with very young children that seemed to be unconscious :( . This broke our hearts and when we've looked into it, they are known to drug the children or get them to act as though they are unconscious to get more money. We also saw a dog that appeared unconscious in the street with a money bucket infant of it, we can only presume the same thing :(. but all the stray dogs appear to be well fed and happy. Overall: Beautiful location, friendly staff, stunning views, great pools, beautiful sea, good selection of food. Will definitely be back!

The entertainment team were brilliant so friendly and welcoming my little girl loved them, they always made her feel included at the disco

First time at this hotel, and had an absolutely wonderful holiday. The hotel was stunning, staff were helpful, when you could find one who understood any English, there weren't many, but even when they didn't, they were always friendly and would try to help. Our room was great, had desperate room for the girls, which they were happy about, And they were cleaned daily, towels changed daily, and the sheets got changed once whilst we spent our week there. Toiletries replenished daily. There are 2 large pools, and a small pool for the slides, children pools, splash park for younger children, and play areas. The food was great, plenty to choose from, and there was a slight variation in food every day, pool bars, snack bars even a free Starbucks by the pool area. For younger people there was a disco most nights, there is an amphitheatre by the pools, that had something on every night. As for the beach, it was great but a lot of stairs to get down there. I have spine pro lens, can't climb many stairs, which disappointed me at first, until we were told there. Were escalated stairs down to the beeches opposite to the reception area. So for anyone with mobility problems, you. An still go down there. On the 3 beeches there were plenty of beds with brolleys, we never had any problems finding a bed on the beach or around the pools. Also down there there is a lovely pier with a restaurant that serves snacks, and there is also an area there for shows each night, including Live bands and entertainment some nights, there is a bar there and an Ice cream stall that serves delicious ice cream, especially the lemon flavour ice cream. There is a lovely lounge area in reception where you can sit on an evening after you have had evening meal, and relax with a drink from the nearby bar, with comfortable seats and sofa, The Spa was good, but a little pricey. A jewelry stall on level one with some lovely stuff, plus some clothes shops, a couple of gift shops on site, but the one downer at these shops is the price of everything, it's really pricey, for even the simplest of things. All in all the view was beautiful, the hotel was beautiful, the people were beautiful, the sunsets were beautiful, so we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. We are looking at going back next year.