- Turkey Holidays
- Lara
- Aska Lara Resort and Spa
This amazingly decorated hotel is located 25 minutes away by car from Antalya, Turkey. The airport is conveniently close, just about 15 minutes by car. In the surroundings, guests may find various restaurants ideal to have a lovely meal. The beach, which is at a walking distance, will be every visitor's favourite spot since they can relax and enjoy the sun while listening to sound of the waves of the Mediterranean Sea. There are also many shopping opportunities for the ones who look for the best souvenirs. The property is perfect for both business and leisure travellers alike. To have fun and be entertained, visitors will love to take advantage of the different activities as well as the outdoor swimming pool and spa. For business trips, the hotel offers venues to host private events, business meetings and conferences. The rooms have been elegantly decorated and are equipped with all the essential amenities to make each stay feel the most unforgettable and pleasant one.
Annex guestrooms are located in Aska River Suites, 328 feet (100 meters) away from the main resort building.
Honest and impartial Review. Not posting anonymously so you know its real! We stayed at Aska Lara for 7 nights from 30th August with our daughter, SIL and grandchildren aged 10 & 14. My husband and I are well travelled and as our kids are all grown this is not the normal choice of holiday type for us. The hotel has had a mixed bag or reviews but here is ours. Room, Double, Pool view 1st floor: spotless, cleaned every day, comfortable bed and pillows, fridge filled every day. Sound proofing not great. Food: something for everyone, huge buffet, varied selection, clean, staff very efficient including drinks service. Snacks between meals always available. Pools: clean, plenty of beds both at the hotel pools and water park, dangerous flooring, very slippery so be careful. Some people putting towels down but not a big issue like some hotels. Beach: very quiet, loads of empty beds, gorgeous pier if you want some quite time. Dark sand so gets hot, bring swim shoes and its gravelly getting into the sea. Bars: good selection of alcohol and non alcohol, nuts and crisps available, decent cocktails, plenty of top shelf spirits if you ask. Decent table service in the lounge areas, plenty of seating. Spa & Gym: lovely staff and treatments and decent gym facilities, couldn't fault it. Area: Only the usual fake goods shops/malls and a few super expensive bars ( £8 for a pint and £8 for a can of coke) Antalya town is 40 minutes away by car/taxi but beautify Belek is only 20/25 mins away. Please watch the taxis, they refuse to use the metre even though it is illegal, they don't care, but they're not too expensive. The hotel is run like a well oiled machine, bearing in mind it is a big, busy, complex they do a great job. Downsides: Disappointedly, noisy and inconsiderate neighbours. We had young children running the corridors most nights till gone 1am, shouting, banging on each others doors, playing knock-a-door run, letting doors slam etc. Not their fault, just no parental supervision and/or control (all nationalities I must add). Adults talking loudly on their balcony till the early hours and also being really loud on the corridor till gone 1am ( again all nationalities). People dragging furniture around their room, screeching along the floors at like 07:30 ( come on people!!) Parents not supervising very small children in the main restaurant, letting them play chase, catch or play with footballs (really, in a restaurant?) terrifying when you're carrying hot black tea/coffee and they're running into you. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the food but this is the most muti-cultural hotel we have even stayed in so we must understand that food needs cater for every nationality and culture, not just us Brits. People keep saying this is not a 5 star hotel and it's not by our standards but Türkiye rate their hotels differently. Facilities are good though and I'd say 4*.
Beautiful hotel, but definitely not 5-star and I wouldn’t return with a teenager
I’ve gone backwards and forwards on what rating to give Aska Lara because there were definitely good things about the hotel, but unfortunately there were also quite a few things that really let our holiday down.
I travelled alone with my 13-year-old son for 7 nights. This was our first holiday abroad just the two of us and something I’d saved hard for, so I was really looking forward to it.
Firstly, the hotel itself is beautiful. It’s very clean, the grounds are lovely and there are plenty of pools. The Wet’n Wild area across the road is great as well, especially the water slides, and there’s a regular shuttle so getting backwards and forwards isn’t a problem. I can completely understand why families with younger children would love it here.
However, if you’re travelling with a teenager, I personally wouldn’t recommend it.
There just wasn’t enough for my son to do or anything that really brought teenagers together. There are loads of things for younger children, but at 13 he seemed to fall into that awkward gap where he was too old for most of the kids’ activities but there wasn’t a proper active teen club or enough organised things for teenagers.
This was probably more noticeable because it was only the two of us. He wanted to meet other kids his age, but there wasn’t really anything helping that happen. He would see teenagers around the pool and want to join in with them, but that’s very different from having a teen club where they naturally meet each other. After a few days we were both getting a bit bored of doing the same pool/beach/waterpark routine every day.
The food was another disappointment for me. There was plenty of it and you certainly wouldn’t go hungry, but I found it repetitive and expected better quality and more variety from a 5-star all-inclusive. Food is obviously very personal and other people may love it, but it just wasn’t for us.
Overall, I definitely wouldn’t describe Aska Lara as a 5-star hotel. For me, it felt much more like a 3.5-star. It looks impressive and the grounds and facilities are lovely, but a 5-star hotel is about more than how it looks. The food, rooms, entertainment and overall experience just didn’t feel 5-star to me.
The biggest problem, though, was our room.
We had booked an Economy Room and when we arrived we were given one with a balcony, which I really appreciated.
Unfortunately, it was a connecting room and the soundproofing through the connecting door was awful.
For four nights in a row I was being kept awake by the people next door. We could hear their TV, conversations, laughing, arguing and FaceTime/video calls, sometimes until around 1am. They also had a baby who cried at times, but I want to be completely fair here — I would never complain about a baby crying because obviously that can’t be helped. It was all the other noise and the fact that the connecting door seemed to provide virtually no soundproofing. At times it honestly sounded as though they were in our room.
After the fourth night I’d had enough and asked to move.
The hotel did agree to move us to another non-connecting Economy Room and the new room was absolutely fine. However, that meant packing EVERYTHING up halfway through a 7-night holiday, leaving the room by 12, putting our luggage downstairs, waiting until around 2pm for the new room and then taking everything back upstairs and unpacking again — only to pack it all again a few days later to go home.
Unfortunately, I just didn’t come away feeling that the impact the whole situation had on our holiday really mattered to them.
It’s a shame because there genuinely ARE good things about Aska Lara. It’s a beautiful resort, the pools and waterpark are great and I think families with younger children could have an amazing holiday here.
But for us, the lack of things for teenagers, disappointing food, four nights of disturbed sleep and the disruption of having to move rooms halfway through the holiday means I wouldn’t return.
If you’re travelling with younger children, I wouldn’t necessarily rule Aska Lara out. But if you’re travelling with a teenager, especially an only child or a teenager who is hoping to meet other teenagers while they’re away, I would personally choose somewhere with a proper dedicated teen programme instead.
I am staying at this hotel at first when I came into the room, I see little spiders and mosquitos. I told reception they said to come tomorrow morning to get a plug in mosquito oil. I spent most of my time in the nights killing mosquitos after getting bitten by them. Then when they put that plug in my room there was still more and more mosquitos. I complained again and after they done a spray . then again more mosquitos. Which is so annoying. I was sleeping 3 nights covering myself in a duvet worried not to get bitten. I even went to my parent’s room and they had mosquitos. They don’t have proper cleaning method. It’s not nice at all. I wouldn’t recommend to come to this hotel. Moreover the male staff at guest services was very rude with my Dad. I don’t like this place. I would not be coming back to this hotel. We complained about that staff and he showed so much attitude. The person in guest services says to us we are trying to look into a matter just wait or if u want go to the police!!! It was about my swimming bed I put outside my room which got stolen. I was just getting ignored. I went to them to ask for them to look in the cctv camera and it took them 3-5 hours. Anyways it was not only about the matter being resolved. It’s the way ur being treated in this hotel. It is not a 5 star hotel experience.
We stayed at the resort from 1st–8th September as a family of five — myself, my husband, and our sons aged 21, 19 and 19. We were placed in the Annexe, and despite some of the negative reviews online, we actually preferred this building. It was peaceful, quiet, and a lovely retreat away from the busier areas of the main building.
I completely understand why some guests mention the walk over the bridge. For us, as able‑bodied adults, it was genuinely no more than two minutes, but I can see how it may be difficult for families with pushchairs or anyone with mobility issues. For those guests, the Annexe might not be ideal. but for us, it was perfect.
Rooms: 10/10.
All of our rooms had French balconies with beautiful river views, and they were spotless, comfortable and well maintained. I am deeply grateful to the hotel for arranging a family room for our twins rather than the double room I originally booked. There was a slight inconvenience on the first night because only two rooms were available instead of the three I had booked, meaning all three boys had to share. However, knowing they would each have their own bedrooms from the next day made it a very small sacrifice.
The reception team truly delivered a wow factor. As promised, the twins kept the family room, and our eldest son received his room the following day which was upgraded to a double instead of a single. Their effort to accommodate us so smoothly made our holiday feel extra special.
A special thank you to Daria (CRM Assistant Manager) who supported us before our arrival. She was professional throughout and is a true ambassador for Aska Lara.
Dining:
The buffet offered a wide variety, and our family favourite was the grilled section, which was consistently delicious. I really appreciated the clear labelling on all dishes, especially as both myself and one of my sons have severe nut allergies. The QR code system made checking ingredients quick and easy , a huge bonus.
The dining area does get busy, but we always found a table, and the staff were excellent at clearing and resetting tables quickly while also taking drink orders. You could see how hard they worked, and we were grateful every time.
My only small negative is that for the last three days, all the sliced cakes contained nuts, so I couldn’t have dessert, but in a way, they did me a favour because I switched to watermelon, which was incredibly refreshing.
Beach & Pools:
We always found sun loungers at the beach. A tip for future guests: do not walk barefoot on the sand when heading into the water, it was scorching, and we learned our lesson on day one! Wear suitable footwear and leave it near the water’s edge.
There were plenty of bars open day and night, offering a great selection of drinks, and it was a nice touch that the bars also provided crisps and nuts.
Entertainment & Activities:
The evening entertainment was very good, with professional performers and plenty of seating available. A practical tip: using mosquito repellent with DEET, along with Avon Skin So Soft, meant none of us got bitten while watching the shows.
The shuttle to Wet & Wild ran frequently and always picked us up and dropped us back at the Annexe. Because of this, we didn’t find the daytime entertainment being across the road to be an issue at all.
As the hotel is more geared towards families with younger children, we kept our older boys entertained by going on trips most days, which worked perfectly for us.
Overall, we had a wonderful stay. The Annexe suited us beautifully, the staff went above and beyond, and the resort offered everything we needed for a memorable family holiday. We would happily return.
We spent the 1st to 8th September at Aska Lara (Me and Wife) Firstly, the hotel.... fantastic. We were in the annexed building which despite some negative reviews, we actually preferred. Even got a little little pool area right outside our ground floor room, and was a nice quiet little spot, nice pool, even had a bar and towel station there, was a very nice surprise. Room was nice and clean, mini fridge restocked every day, building was nice and quiet. The food, cannot complain, plenty variety, you have the main buffet area but definitely walk through the it all to an outside grill area to get slightly better meat options. Breakfast, lunch and tea were all superb. The shuttle to the water park is great and despite me being a bit dubious of the every 5mins claim, it definitely does come and go that quickly. The beach is nice and clean, same as the sea and the water temp of all pools and sea was just perfect this time of year. Nightly entertainment was great, caught a couple of shows (the Michael Jackson one was very very good). We had a couple runs out to do a couple bits, got a taxi to Land of Legends. Be wary of booking a taxi from reception, our taxi driver over charged us and was very very pushy on trying to get us to agree to a return fare. We ended up using Uber for the return, which sent us a taxi which was half the price of the initial trip. There is also a gun range a 2min walk from hotel (if that's your thing) and that was enjoyable. Also.....the Starbucks.....fantastic little treat to have this on the all inclusive. Maybe could do with a larger staff to cut waiting times, but, the drinks are superb. Me and the wife aren't really big alcohol drinkers so, a nice cheeky one or two caramel frappes by the pool was great. All in all, we had a great time, relaxing, fun, and superb hotel and weather. Would definitely recommend to others.
