Having never done an all inclusive holiday before, I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about but as I got searching, I realised that there was so much choice.
Even after selecting 5 star, I saw prices range from a few hundred quid to a few thousand and so there was only one thing to be done – pick a budget, a mid-range and a luxury all inclusive hotel and give them all a go!
The plan was to stay 2 nights in each hotel to contrast, compare and find out which hotel is the best value all inclusive. But first, how did I decide where to go?
What Country is The Best Value For All Inclusive Holidays?
Value was at the front and centre of my mind, so I was very keen to choose a country that gave great value for money and time and time again, Turkey kept coming up.
Why is Turkey a good option for all inclusive holidays? I think the crux of it is that it has so much choice. Whether you’re on a super strict budget or looking to splash the cash, there’s going to be something for you.
Combine that with the fact that the Turkish lira has dropped in value against pound sterling, and you’ve got yourself the perfect concoction for a great value break.
The Budget, Mid-range and Luxury Hotels I Chose to Compare
After a lot of research, I opted for the following 3 hotels to compare for the best value all inclusive holiday.
The prices are for the week between 14th – 21st May 2023 and are for flights plus hotel.
All used the same flight, which if booked separately, would have cost £137pp.
£££
Hotel
Package Holiday Cost Per Person
Cost Per Person Per Night (minus flight)
Budget
Goldcity Hotel, Alanya
£376
£34.14
Mid Range
Limak Lara De Luxe Hotel & Resort
£754
£88.14
Luxury
Lara Barut
£1329
£170.29
The Best Budget All Inclusive 5 star in Antalya?
Goldcity Hotel, Alanya
After much research, I settled on Goldcity Hotel in Alanya for our ‘budget’ option. It has 5 stars meaning lots of facilities including six pools, a buffet restaurant, an a la carte restaurant, several bars, a spa, gym and a shuttle bus that runs several times a day to the beach and the resort town of Alanya.
£376
package pp
£34.14
pp/night
I’ve been covering the trip over on Instagram – you can check out the ‘All Inclusive‘ highlight for a more detailed review but here’s what 24 hours looked like at Goldcity Hotel.
We stayed in a ‘Room with Side Sea View’ during our stay and whilst it was a little dated, it was clean, comfy and had plenty of storage.
You can take a look around the room yourself!
Finally, many had warned us about how cheap all inclusive resorts water down your drinks and so we thought we would do an investigation of our own, using a refractometer which measures the strength of alcohol!
Overall thoughts
It was cheap and cheerful and given the price, much better than I expected! Even James, who I like to call a holiday snob, was impressed and agreed that it really is great value for money.
My highlights were how clean it was, the Efes beer on tap and the aqua park! My areas for improvement included some of the food, the cocktails and the rooms could do with a bit of love – but nothing was awful.
The key thing is to not expect luxury – remember, 5 stars are awarded for facilities rather than standards. We’ve written an explainer on this here.
However, for a cheap family getaway or a place to catch up with friends where time spent away is more important than the food and drink, I think it’s a really decent choice.
How to book Goldcity Hotel
I found the £376pp deal via TravelSupermarket who compare the price of holidays across a range of different providers. Here’s an example of how that looks with a date in the future.
If you’re not after a package holiday, you can also book the hotel only.
The Best Mid-Range All Inclusive 5 Star in Antalya?
Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel & Resort, Lara
It was the reviews that sold Limak Lara to me, with strong ratings across every platform I checked. As well as being close to the airport – just a 20 minute drive away – it’s also on the beach. It’s got three pools, a buffet restaurant, a choice of a la carte restaurants, spa, gym, kids club and its own patch of beach.
£754
package pp
£88.14
pp/night
I’ve been covering the trip over on Instagram – you can check out the ‘All Inclusive‘ highlight for a more detailed review but here’s what 24 hours looked like at Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel.
We stayed in a ‘Junior Suite’ thanks to a cheeky little free upgrade on arrival – we only paid for a ‘Deluxe Room with Sea View’! Whilst the amenities were the same, the big difference between what we got and what we paid for was a King Size bed instead of a Double and a single, extra room space, a jacuzzi bath (so random!) and a bigger terrace.
The rooms are much bigger than the budget room, so that was lovely, but they were still a little dated. Absolutely loved that they have a little walk in wardrobe and the mini bar complete with snacks and beer was fantastic! The soft drinks in there were all branded too.
You can take a look around the room yourself!
What was better than the budget hotel?
Since we were there to compare, I thought it would be helpful for me to share what I noted as key differences between Goldcity Hotel and Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel.
- Closer to the airport
- Closer to the beach
- Bigger rooms
- In general, longer opening for food, snacks and drinks
- Can drink 24 hours a day thanks to the Sports Bar that opens throughout the night
- Better quality of food
- Toiletries in room
- Minibar in room with beer
- Coffee and tea in room
- All Inclusive ends at 11pm on the day of departure
- Bigger range of activities
- Better entertainment
- Generally speaking, more staff understood basic English (though it was more than fine to get by at Goldcity)
What was the same as the budget hotel?
There were also some things that I felt were similar to Goldcity Hotel, including:
- General service (not that either was bad, but it was similar)
- Machine coffees at breakfast (slightly better machines at the bar and patisserie though!)
- Fruit juice (it said it was fresh – it was not!)
- Local spirits
- There are still periods of time when there is no food available
- No irons available
- Lovely and quiet by the pool after 5pm!!!
What was worse than the budget hotel?
This one really surprised me!
- The drink!
Whilst the offering was exactly the same as Goldcity – local beers, wines, spirits and cocktails – they just weren’t very good. James and I were happy to drink local spirits and mixers at the budget hotel, but they just were not nice at this hotel and the cocktails we tried were not the one. You know it’s bad when we leave a full margarita behind! However, I will say that the mojito, thanks to copious amounts of fresh mint and soda water, was okay! Otherwise, we stuck to Efes beer which was a disappointment for us. We were hoping for a step up, not down.
Overall thoughts
You can easily say that Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel was better than Goldcity Hotel, our budget option, however… We did expect it to step up more than it did given the fact we were paying more than double.
True, you’re paying for the location – getting a 20 minute taxi to this hotel versus a 2 hour 15 min taxi is a big difference – but we did expect a little more.
However, it’s still a really strong option and I can see why people love it. It’s particularly popular with families, thanks to their kids and teen club, and there is a lot of variety when it comes to activities and entertainment which I thought was great.
As well as an improvement in the drinks area, I’d also like to see a bit more thought put into the fact that it’s an ‘Asian’ themed hotel – something we hadn’t even known before booking. You see this theme throughout the hotel in the decor, architecture and some food choices, but when I asked staff, no one could explain the why. It’s simply a theme, much like next door the hotel is a ‘concorde’ theme, but it could also be a great opportunity for people to learn about the Japanese, Chinese and Thai cultures that you see glances of during your stay.
How to book Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel
I found the £754pp deal via TravelSupermarket who compare the price of holidays across a range of different providers. Here’s an example of how that looks with a date in the future.
If you’re not after a package holiday, you can also book the hotel only.
The Best Luxury All Inclusive 5 Star in Antalya?
Lara Barut
When deciding on the best luxury 5 star all inclusive in Antalya to try, there was one clear choice: Lara Barut! So many of you told me you’d been and loved it, and some platforms even give it the full 5/5 rating. It’s just a 17 minute drive from the airport and has six pools, eight a la carte restaurants, spa, gym, kids club and its own private beach. It also went through a renovation in 2022 so is looking very modern.
£1329
package pp
£170.29
pp/night
I’ve been covering the trip over on Instagram – you can check out the ‘All Inclusive‘ highlight for a more detailed review but here’s what 24 hours looked like at Lara Barut.
Once again, we got incredibly lucky and got upgraded on arrival from a ‘Deluxe Room Side Sea View’ to a ‘Deluxe Room Side Sea View & Pool View’.
I was super happy about this as the room set up was the same as what we booked, but we did get a better view and on arrival, we realised that we’d been placed in the last room on the corridor meaning we also got some extra space – I definitely recommend requesting room 1526!
Thanks to the recent refurbishment, the rooms are incredibly modern and very well considered. I loved that we had separate spaces for storage, and a separate toilet and shower. Whilst initially wary of the fact you could see into the shower, I realised there’s a button to frost it over – very clever!
This was the first place we had an iron and a coffee capsule machine, and the minibar was stocked with branded soft drinks and a couple of beers – the same as the mid-range hotel.
The bed was incredibly comfy and the couch is a sofa bed too – you could stay in this room with 1 child and it wouldn’t cost you anything extra.
What was better than the mid-range hotel?
Since I was there to compare, I thought it would be helpful for me to share what I noted as key differences between Lara Barut and Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel.
- Closer to the airport (by 3 minutes – ha!)
- Private beach
- Bigger rooms
- Welcome drink
- Explained the hotel concept at reception
- No wristband needed
- Welcome gift of snacks in room
- Iron in room
- Coffee machine in room
- Straighteners in room
- Better quality of food
- Ability to each a la carte for every meal at no extra cost
- Adult only area in buffet restaurant
- Fresh fruit juices
- Food options available continuously though out the day
- App that allows you to book meals and shows activities
- Branded spirits and in general, much better quality drinks
- Swim up bar in the lagoon area!
- Barista coffee in coffee shop
- Free delicious chocolates!
- Opening hours were longer for snacks
- Bigger range of activities
- Better waterpark with inflatable rings
- No towel cards needed
- Nightclub (there was one in Limak Lara but it wasn’t open during our stay)
- Much better service in general
- All staff (that we spoke with) understood basic English (though it was more than fine to get by at the other hotels)
What was the same as the mid-range hotel?
There were also some things that I felt were similar to Limak Lara Deluxe Hotel, including:
- Similar size rooms
- Minibar in room
- Similar levels of entertainment
- Fresh omelettes (yes we are obsessed)
- Vegan & gluten free food area
- Kids club and teen club
- Lovely and quiet by the pool after 5pm!!!
- I saw a lot of wheelchair users at Lara Barut and assumed that it meant it was more accessible, however after researching I can see that Limak Lara also has a high rating for accessibility, which is great to see!
What was worse than the mid-range hotel?
I really had to think hard for this one – ha!
- Minibar wasn’t restocked without asking
It literally didn’t affect us in any way, but I did find it surprising that the minibar wasn’t restocked the day after we’d drank items. I’m sure if we had called or messaged them on Whatsapp, they would have done it in moments so it really wasn’t a problem.
Overall thoughts
As someone who loves a bargain, I was really hoping I wouldn’t love it but… It was so good 😭
The food and drink was miles ahead of what was on offer at the other two hotels, and I just felt like every day was treat day – which it should when you’re paying that much money.
I was also a little apprehensive that the vibe would be a bit ‘White Lotus’ with people thinking they were better than others, but I didn’t get that at all. There were a lot of families across generations, younger families and for those who were there without kids, they tended to be a little older than us – I’d say in their forties and upwards. I saw quite a few groups of adults too.
Going forward, it is a place I would consider again but probably only for 3 or 4 nights in the off peak season – as to bag a great price! – which I’d then combine with staying elsewhere and exploring the local food and area. However, even then, I’d probably only do this sort of thing once a year max.
How to book Lara Barut
I found the £1329pp deal via TravelSupermarket who compare the price of holidays across a range of different providers. Here’s an example of how that looks with a date in the future.
If you’re not after a package holiday, you can also book the hotel only.
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Explore Antayla's Best Value All Inclusive Hotels
When it comes to value it all depends on what type of holiday you’re looking for. Antalya, Turkey offers a range of all inclusive hotels to meet different holiday needs!
