Balmy Foresta

Just got home from our one week stay. This is a genuine honest review of our experience The location is great, excellent access to the beach the only negative is its a 25min taxi ride to Kemer( the yellow taxis out front will take you, wait for you and bring you back for £40) which was handy. Theres a lot of things advertised in the brochure that arent correct, like the patisserie being open 24 Hours, a Barvarian Bierhaus style bar thats not there, The Irish bar( thats doesent stock Guiness) has no air con, and is unbearably hot also wasnt open the whole time we was there, we just walked around it. There is a handful of staff that are fantastic and made extra effort over others, Ibraham makes the best cocktails he is dotted around the hotel from day to day so we ended up following him.Cengiz in the garden house is very attentive and made our lunchtimes memorable and was always smiling,the food is also really good in there too) Mustafa in the restaurant was greatZ Isa in the Kids Club is a great guy and went out of his way to put the football on.( beat him at pool too) The singers at the top bar are really good, this was a highlight to the evening but its very busy and very hot! There was a pop up circus on our last night this was brilliant and we genuinly really enjoyed it. There is no music on anywhere around any pools so if you want a lively vibe this isnt the place for you, we used a small speaker and had no complaints. Some good sunbeds around the pool with nice cushions, but her there early to secure one. Lifeguards are extremeley strict, FORBIDDEN to go down a slide with a watch on, but its ok for them to throw your child in the pool:/ whilst on the topic of slides they have opening times and opeb and close throughout the day:/ very odd. Try and order drinks that come in a bottle or can as the Tuborg cups are filthy. The chinese was amazing though, although this was £25pp worth every penny. The food in the main restaurant is ok, but its really not layed out the best, make sure you get there early to avoid disappointment. There is only one person serving ice cream in there and they only give you one tiny scoop. No chocolate fountain i know its a gimmick but all inclusives need one 🤣 The room was big and tidy enough, we stayed in one of the apartments( could hear the people above stomping at all hours) tvs did not work and the sink was hanging out. The pillows were very very soft, and the pull out sofa beds were rock solid. Spa is great, have a lovely Hammam and massage but expect the sales pitch 5 mins after finishing to return i did return on my last day and explained it was my last day and was still sold the sales pitch. There seems to be a common issue of staff shortage but it seems more for profit than anything. Sunrise at 6am is nice but the coffee machine in Lobby bar isn’t up to Temperature. The indoor pool is lovely and cool if the sun is too much. Would i stay again? No Would i recommend? Yes Is it worthy of 5 star? No, 4 at a push. 🫡

I will start with the positives first :) The grounds are lovely and well maintained. There wasn’t any sun bed wars when we were there but more towards the end of the week it started to happen. The Chinese Wao was the best food there. (Extra cost at 25 each) The garden house at lunch was the best for Lunch. (Cengiz) was fantastic always smiling and really couldn’t do Enough for you. Ibraham lobby bar makes the best cocktails, (After trying different people some cocktails tasted like paint stripper) Teen club great icer is fab Spa good but expect a sales pitch at the end for (medical purpose massage) Rooms are a good size in the garden villa but aren’t 5 star standard. Pillows aren’t comfortable. Coffee is good. No English tea. The Beach is good and the sea is great for the swimming. Trikes outside the hotel are great £10 for a hour for 3 on. Shows and the love music is great but a clash of which you’d like to watch. Tennis and volley ball great. You need To book. What wasn’t the best. The bed wasn’t comfortable/ pillows are poor Cats roamed every where and Tom cats sprayed up things - our balcony smelt of cat urine and the middle pool did also. The cats would roam the restaurant jump on tables ect. Not hygienic. The buffet was chaos- we didn’t know there was an outside food area as just thought was seating. I would say food isn’t aimed at British, some foods were poor quality meats. Ice cream was nice but the line was ridiculous. No sun bed service like on the brochure, The patisserie wasn’t 24 hours which is advertised and would mostly decline to serve coffee and would send you to the lobby bar, I think they under staff the hotel as the wait for drinks is crazy and mainly only have 1 to 2 people serving very busy nights , I never saw the pool being cleaned and towards the end of the holiday the bottom of the pool was dirty, Also a big hole at the bottom of the swimming pool where the tiles had come away and you could even see the concrete and mesh. They have signs about towels being moved after 1 hour it wasn’t enforced. So beds left all day. Paddle boarding were advised 2 days before leaving and only do once a week and 18 plus. Garden house coke and lemonade not branded unless in the can so ask. Some life guards are great but one particular Life guard was rude and just stood blowing the whistle at you, he doesn’t let you go down the slide if you have earrings necklace on - others don’t care. He was very rude waving goodbye if you had them on, The times of the sides is very odd the splash pool and slides should be open all day instead of 2 hours for the splash park and 5 hours for the slides. The Irish bar has no air con and was never open. We booked the al la carte the day we arrived and would only give us the 1 Turkish (wasn’t very good) There was no space for the seafood which should have been our free al la carte (make sure you get your 2 al la cartes. Becareful near the double doors near the out side food it’s slippy The water sports are very expensive £40 a person for the crazy sofa .. the pools have no music so no atmosphere at all, you get people playing speakers around the pool instead which isn’t ideal when you have different music from different directions. Lost a day of the pool due to a Child having an accident. Which they still left the splash pool shut when you Needed it open due to the heat. it has potential but unfortunately I wouldn’t return.

Stayed at Balmy Forest with my family (10 people) for 7 nights. It was a great experience overall. All meals are tasty and vary over the week. Staff is always smiling and happy to help you. 3 pools and the beach give you many opportunities for relaxing however you like. Sports activities are fun and everyone can find something for themselves (great workouts with Omar). The entertainment program has very high quality, and takes place 5 days a week. One of the best performances I’ve ever seen in a hotel. There are 2 disadvantages that we found during our stay. 1. Reservations of sunbeds are theoretically limited to 1h, however the staff doesn’t pay attention to this rule and there’s been many instances that someone reserved a sunbed and didn’t use it for the whole day. As places by the pool or on the beach are limited, this was very frustrating. 2. The hotel offers 1 a la carte dinner out of charge during your stay. Unfortunately the availability of those restaurants is highly limited and we were not able to book a table even though we attempted to book it on the 2nd day of our stay. Besides the 2 points above, overall impression was great and we can recommend this hotel!

2 adults and 2 teen kids stayed for 11 nights. Room Very clean and cleaned daily. We had 2 doubles and a sofa bed and there was just about enough room. The balcony was tiny. Pool Clean and a bar in the middle so wherever you are on a pool day you don’t have far to go for a drink. Not much in the way of atmosphere as no activities or music in or around the main pool. Not much chance of a lounger unless you reserve early which you’re not supposed to do. I’m disabled however and when asked the manager did arrange for two loungers to be made available which was great. Slides only operate for a couple of hours a day, the kids slides even less. Main Restaurant Far too busy and doesn’t open for long enough in the evening (fitting everyone in 7-9pm is a challenge). The food is nice, not quite 5 star though. Advice - get there early or at least keep to the food under lids only as there are loads of flies around the food and the tables close by. I was stuck in the room for the last 3 days of our holiday… Garden restaurant was very good. The seafood restaurant is a lovely setting overlooking the beach. We didn’t use the others. Staff Friendly enough but the vast majority can’t speak English beyond “enjoy, you’re welcome…”. Entertainment We didn’t use the amphitheater but the evening entertainment by the main bar was great if you could get a table. Overall Having been to many 4 star hotels I was disappointed that this hotel was no better or worse than those. I was very disappointed with the amount of flies in the buffet restaurant, I’ve never seen it anywhere near that bad before.

We had a fantastic stay at Balmy Foresta. The hotel is set in a beautiful natural environment, with delicious food, lovely pools, and well-organized entertainment for all ages. Everything was truly enjoyable — but the Mini Club was the absolute highlight for our children (ages 5 and 9). They looked forward to it every single day and came back full of stories and excitement. As parents, we were especially impressed by the warm, personal approach of the Mini Club staff. They were caring, involved, and clearly loved working with kids. According to our children, these were the best parts: – Cats and kittens visiting the club – Drawing and crafts – The playground – Playing with the supervisors – “they really like playing with us” – Making magic potions – The staff entertaining them the entire time – Being free to choose their own activities – And above all: stone painting was their absolute favourite! A special thanks to Bilge, Damla, Diana, and the rest of the Mini Club team – you made our kids feel at home and gave them a week full of joy and unforgettable memories. Thank you, Balmy Foresta, for a great holiday. We’ll definitely be back!