- Turkey Holidays
- Side
- Castival Hotel
Castival Hotel is located about 50-minute car ride away from Antalya airport and just about 10 minutes from Side and Manavgat. The modern rooms have been nicely decorated and equipped with all the needed amenities to make travellers feel comfortable and pleased during their stay. The hotel welcomes guests to their beautiful property that has a wide variety of activities and spaces where to have a fun and rest. Visitors can eat with friends or family at the on-site restaurant that offers inside or outside dining in a luxury atmosphere. If they prefer, they can visit the bar, relax, and have delicious drinks. Business travellers can take advantage of the multifunctional conference hall that accommodates up to 600 people. The pool area will be everyone's favourite place since they can rest, sunbathe, swim or have fun in the water slides. If guests desire, they can visit the spa where they will be spoilt and pampered.
Arrived at 22.30 pm 10/09/2026 with Jet 2 holidays on an inclusive holiday - allocated room 1015 - as my pictures will show this was clearly a disabled room specifically for disabled people , the room had extra wide outward opening doors- the bathroom was a wet room and the toilet had handles with a pull chord - the wardrobe had clothes rails which were only 4 feet from the floor I would imagine for better wheelchair access When going onto the balcony the view was limited but had a very noisy generator for the hotel air conditioning right outside the balcony This was noisy all night which made sleeping difficult ( images attached) There was no safety deposit safe in the room which meant carrying our money and passports around with us We asked to change rooms and initially was told that the hotel was full and a change was not possible but to come back to reception at 11 am which we did again to be told that no room was available but again to come back to reception at 1300 - again we returned and were given a different room on the second floor looking out onto the road !! We did contact Jet 2 via the jet 2 app and a rep contacted us after we had been allocated a new room . This hotel is given a 3 star plus rating by Jet 2 but I’m afraid in our opinion it is lower than that - the pool area although nice was very dirty underfoot and we were forever finding cigarette butts and Ashe around the floor To be fair this hotel caters mainly for German and Eastern European guests - the food is based around those nationalities - food was repetitive - mostly Luke warm and to be honest not to our taste or liking Unless you like having salad with chips and broccoli for breakfast
Most places like to be paid in euros including the hotel and clearly dislike being paid in Turkish lira
But if you like fake designer clothing or hand bags this is the place for you
But as for the hotel, our experience was not a good one and not helped by unpleasant unhelpful staff
We wouldn’t be returning here Thats a fact
The hotel was great,nice atmosphere,entertainment was daily and very fun,definetly a great place to have your holiday!
Unfortunately unable to stay here as had booked in advance only to be told 48hrs before travelling that they had overbooked and we can no longer stay here, despite paying for our stay!! Awful
Writing this review as I wish there was one like this when we booked this hotel. Overall, a nice stay, staff are helpful when needed and pleasant, not pushy, if you say no they will leave you be (entertainment team). No major concerns with the hotel and if you are not fussy you will be fine! Dont listen to terrible reviews, people who are looking for terrible will always find something to complain about.
Rooms - spacious, cleaned regular, bed was comfy, bathroom quite dark but manageable, balcony is a little small and not a lot of privacy especially if in a corner room, can hear entertainment until around 11pm at night time and then goes quiet so also manageable.
Guests - very very german and russian focused. Maybe only 2 other british families during our stay. As british people we struggled a little with this as there were 0 etiquette around the buffet and bar, as british people we queue and wait our turn, we found it very frustrating to have people pushing in front and found it very rude although probably not aimed that way it comes across this way. Also it seems everyone smoked, smoking around the pool and outside area, no designated smoking areas, if you have children the other guests will still happily light a cigarette next to you which we struggled with as non smokers.
Pool - pool is lovely, clean and spacious. Temp is good too. You are allowed inflatables but can be quite expensive if bought in Turkey so bring with you. 1.4m depth in the 2 main pools, other pool is 1.2m and unsure of the kids pool with the slides. Designated times where slides are open during the day.
Entertainment - overall a good entertainment team. Starts at 10am with a good morning song and dance, aqua gym regular, other pool activities some times for adults and kids. Regular darts games. We didn’t really watch the evening entertainment so cant comment but timings range from 9-11pm for this. T-shirt making, games to win cocktails etc.
Bars - great bar service and always happy smiley staff, range of AI cocktails is good, pinas/on the beach/mojito/tequila sunrise/long islands this was at the pool bar, in the lobby bar there is a bigger range of cocktails. Beer is efes. Also get your local spirits etc. Cocktails are also not pre mixed which we liked, they are made infront of you and served in decent size cups ! same with beer. I had ice in my drinks all week and was absolutely fine. They also would fill up my stanley cup when asked which was nice so bring a refillable cup with you if you can !
Buffet and food - overall snack bar is good, food is made for you and not already done, range of burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, onion rings, chicken quesadillas, jacket potatos between 2-3pm. We mainly used this. The evening buffet food we found awful. There is not a big range of food like other AI we have been to and if you are a fussy eater you will struggle here! chips and pastas served every night which is practically what we lived on. They do a live bbq in the evening but only a range of 2/3 things and not what we expected (turkey, bbq vegetables, meatballs). Dessert section is what you would get at every AI. Overall we did not like the evening buffet. Very busy also at certain times and as mentioned earlier, people will push in. Waiters do bring drinks to your table. You can get ice cream from the ice cream bar next to the cafe between 2-4 i believe. Cafe is also AI and has a small range of sandwiches (cheese salad) and sweet treats like cookies and cakes. You get 1 free al acarte per 7 day stay and can choose from italian, asian and turkish although book early at guest relations to get a space. We went to the turkish one and it was okay.
Location - very close to the beach and there is a free beach shuttle at the back of pool area every 15 mins on a golf buggy, can get busy at times so the walk to the beach is short around 8-10 mins. Beach is nice, sea is nice, close to water sports, private beach area for hotel guests and you get a beach bar and snacks included. Hotel is opposite lots and lots of shops so if you like this come with a half filled suitcase !!!! cats are not a big issue. Security also on site.
Shops in hotel - in the hotel there is a mini market to buy your snacks, inflatables, activities, gifts etc, it is small but a nice touch. There is an opticians where you can also get sunglasses. There is a bag store in hotel with decent prices and decent quality. As hotel is local to shops there is a migros supermarket just up the road which would be a lot cheaper !!!
Mini fridge- mini fridge in room is restocked regularly and you get this for free. water, cartons juices, sparkling waters.
Check out- check out at 12, can ask for late check out but this is not likely in busy season. They have a luggage room and you can take showers in the spa downstairs if you have a late flight. this is what we did and it was fine.
Overall, i would not say this hotel is a 5 star, I would say 3.5/4stars. It was a nice stay and nothing major to complain about. If you are not a fussy eater you will be fine and even so it is close to shops to eat out if needed. snack bar is much better. Unsure if i would return to this hotel for another stay as i’m sure there are likely ones where you would get the same experience with better food. But minus the evening food and pushing in guests/smoking, everything else was good!
Our stay at Castival Hotel was overall good, but definitely not what I would expect from a 5-star hotel.
The biggest disappointment was actually on our first day. When we arrived, we were told that there was no room available for us and we were moved to another hotel. This was extremely disappointing after travelling and expecting to check into the hotel we had actually booked. The hotel we were sent to (side village hotel) was in my opinion a 3-star hotel and, honestly the condition and appearance were quite poor. It was a very unpleasant way to start our holiday.
The next day coming back to Castival they did try to compensate us by offering a free trip and a separate area by the pool. However, even the pool arrangement didn't work out because the area had already been taken by someone else. So, although we appreciated the effort, it didn't really make up for the inconvenience.
Once we were finally at Castival, things were much better. The food was good 10/10. There was a good variety and the quality was probably the best part of our stay.
The rooms were cleaned every day and housekeeping was good.But a big minus it was the unpleasant smell from the toilets and as well the lack of space around the pool. The animation was average, around 6/10, and could definitely be improved. The cocktails were okay, but nothing special and not what I'd expect from a 5-star hotel.
One thing that really deserves a special mention is the guy who organises the club parties in Side ( his name I think it's Junior ) — 10/10! 👏 He was very friendly, energetic and did a great job creating a good atmosphere. Definitely one of the highlights of the entertainment.
Overall, we did enjoy our holiday, but I think it's important to be honest about the experience. In my opinion, Castival is closer to a 4-star hotel than a 5-star hotel. The food and daily cleaning were good, and the club party organiser was fantastic, but the problems on arrival, the poor alternative hotel, the average animation and drinks, and the overall service level meant that it didn't fully meet my expectations of a 5-star property.
Good holiday overall, but I wouldn't rate it as a true 5-star experience.
