NG Phaselis Bay, Kemer, Antalya in Turkey, Review
Should you go? A resounding yes. The adults only pool is an oasis of calm for those without children. The hotel is stunning the food and drink are of an extreme high quality and the location is jaw dropping. One of the best, if not the best, holiday I have ever had. Go you will not regret it.
Introduction To NG Phaselis Bay
So how the hell did we end up in Turkey. It’s a first so how did it happen?
For a number of reasons Turkey had never appeared on our list of “must visit” destinations mainly for some difficult to explain reasons. We had always had the view of Turkey being a little downmarket and (bear with me) coming from Leeds following an incident at a football match in 2000 where two Leeds United fans got killed, visiting Turkey was, and still is, frowned on a little.
Having seen some of the complexes whilst browsing through the holiday sites we were really impressed and thought its about time we gave it a try.
Having done the usual research (tripadvisor, facebook groups) there were two that were starting to standout for us The Cullinan Belek and The NG Phaselis Bay. The Cullinan was swinging it but there started to be a raft of comments about ongoing construction work so we ended up plumbing for NG Phaselis Bay and we were not disappointed and we still have the Cullinan on our “to do list” btw!
About NG Phaselis Bay
Opened in April 2021 this really is a top class destination. Situated at the foot of the imposing Peristera hills, this modern hotel enjoys a splendid view over the bay and the Gulf of Antalya.
It feels like it has been carved into the mountains and the views are to die for. Not just out towards the bay and sea but also behind the hotel to the mountains.
With it only opening in 2021 it has a real new hotel feel to it. Everything is very clean and tidy and staff are constantly sweeping up and cleaning areas it is all very impressive.
Check In At Phaselis Bay
We were on a late flight out of the UK and didn’t get to the hotel until the early hours of the morning. We actually arranged a private transfer through Antalya Hermes Transfer and for £50 each way was well worth it. Transfer time was c30 mins and we were in a modern Mercedes Vito (the disco bus as we called it) the driver was waiting for us when we landed and picked us up bang on time for the return.
So having arrived late and tired the last thing we needed was a convoluted checking in process and thankfully it was the smoothest check in we had ever experienced. We were sat down with a drink whilst all the check in formalities were handled at the desk and then escorted up to our room.
One neat feature they have at the hotel is that they set you up with a designated concierge person on WhatsApp, so if you have any problems or want to reserve a restaurant you can just send a WhatsApp rather then go to the front desk. They also used it to send a daily events and activities post so if you wanted to get involved in the activities you knew where and when they were happening. Got to say it worked really well and the response time was really quick.
Rooms At Phaselis Bay
We stayed in a Deluxe Room with Sea View (if you look at the hotel almost bang in the middle of the horse shoe overlooking the main pool and sea – Room 3215) which was in the main building and although we were directly above restaurants and bars there was never any issue with noise at all. We actually upgraded to this room for £1,200 and it was worth it just for the view from the balcony it was stunning. The balcony had a small table and two chairs and had screening between the rooms either side so was very private.
I generally don’t get too carried away about hotel rooms on holiday as long as the room is clean, the bed is comfy and the shower has a strong flow I am usually fine with it on the basis you spend so little time in the room. Mrs K has some additional must haves including Does it have a hairdryer? (yes), is the hairdryer any good (yes), is there a mirror that has good enough lighting to apply make-up (yes). In saying that the rooms were spectacularly impressive.
They were just as they appeared on the website (which is not always the case!), they were spacious, modern, well equipped, plenty of storage space and super clean. The beds were enormous and so comfortable.
The minibar is well stocked with premium drinks and if you want anything specific just ask (yes you guessed it on WhatsApp!) they might sometimes forget to restock but don’t worry about it you are on holiday!
I genuinely believe you will be hard pressed to find rooms with views that match what the Phaselis Bay has to offer it was a view I never got bored of and enjoyed every single day.
Phaselis Bay Features
Now this is where our reviews are going to differ to other hotel reviews as we are reviewing from the perspective of over 50’s who are not travelling with any kids (hooray!) So although this hotel will have many amazing features tailored at families with kids we tend to avoid those parts and even give advice on how to avoid them. Ultimately what we are trying to achieve is an Adults Only Experience in a hotel that also caters for families!
So this hotel has a purpose built water park, we didn’t go in it! It also has many other features specifically for kids that we didn’t notice or see either. It has an amazing pool at the front of the hotel which looks amazing, but we never went in it because of all the kids!
We generally vacation outside of school holidays and on this visit we arrived just at the start of September. So we had a couple of days where there were lots of school age children but they rapidly disappeared and were replaced by families with pre-school children.
What this hotel does have is an absolutely stunning adults only pool that is located just in front of the hillside accommodation complex, with the forest running along one side. We found it to be amazing and with it being set back from the action at the front of the hotel it was very peaceful. The adults only requirement was also enforced on the rare occasion children either on their own or with adults arrived. We loved it and there were many times that we were there on our own for good chunks throughout the day. If you want noise, activities and excitement it wouldn’t be the place for you, or go to the main pool at the front of the hotel. But if you want to chill and relax it was heaven. It was one of our favourite features of the Phaselis Bay.
Other than the location and the looks of the adults only pool anther stand out feature was Mert who worked at the bar. We wanted for nothing and he made sure we were kept hydrated throughout the day with what can only be described as impeccable timing. He is a legend!
One thing to bear in mind is that between 4 and 4.30pm the sun starts to set behind the accommodation block on the hillside which results in pool being in shadow relatively early. All is not lost as we would either re-locate for the final rays on the beach or have some sundowners in the beach bar.
Food at The Phaselis Bay
The hotel scores a big thumbs up in terms of the quality and range of the food and drink. We along with many others are not massive fans of buffet food but in the instance of the Phalisis Bay the quality and choice was amazing. If anything the choice was too much, 20 different types of tomatoes for breakfast anyone! All the food in the buffet is glassed off and served to you which is great from a hygiene perspective but sometimes you found yourself in a queue just because the person in front of you is overwhelmed with the choice.
As with most buffets there was an issue with some of the food not being hot enough for us, but there were enough fresh food stations to ensure you got a piping hot meal.
Again not just an issue for the Phaselis Bay, but the buffet room was noisy it is just the nature of the beast in reality. There is a large outside terrace to sit in as well which is slightly better but had another problem. The vast majority of the outside terrace allowed smoking and there was a small section of c15 tables that were marked as non-smoking. The problem was that the smokers seemed to congregate on the boundary between the two sections so if you want to be completely free from smoke my advice would be to sit in the smoking section at the opposite end to the non-smoking section!
Drinks service and table service in the buffet area is very good and there are an army of staff constantly sweeping up around all the seating areas. Cleanliness and hygiene standards are extremely high.
As well as the buffet there are a number of a la carte restaurant options to choose from. Some come with an additional charge and others were part of the all inclusive package. Now having read the above and my statement around not really liking buffet restaurants I am sure you are expecting a review of all the a la cartes. Sorry we only went to a few and here is the reason/reasons why.
The seafood restaurant was a no go as Mrs K is not a fan. Although I have got to say its location looked amazing (on a rock outcrop overlooking the sea) and people we spoke to said it was well worth a visit.
We visited the Tapanyaki twice and loved it. The service lead by Aras is amazing they cant do enough for you and the cooking show that the chef Jonny puts on is worth the cost of the meal in itself. They even made non fish sushi for Mrs K! Highly recommended and well worth the 30 euro charge.
So why didn’t we visit the other a la cartes?
Two reasons, firstly they were dead as in completely empty. We actually did go to the Burger and Beer (which is free btw) and even that was a little intense with staff constantly hovering as we were the only ones there. We walked into a couple and although the restaurants themselves looked lovely there was zero atmosphere. It might be down to the time of year we visited and the hotel not being at capacity. The exception was the aforementioned Tapanyaki restaurant which was popular both times we visited.
The second reason was that if you wanted a steak or Italian there were stations in the Buffet restaurant gthta did both of those options (and more besides) so you could get a similar option at no extra cost and with an atmosphere.
There is another reason and this is the main one actually! Up near the adult pool in the Hillside complex where we ended up spending most of our days, there is the Nautilius 24hr a la carte. Now the prospect of a 24hr a la carte filled me with dread I expected curled up sandwiches and pizza that had been sat around for hours. It’s safe to say I was wrong. It is amazing.
We ended up going for breakfast every day (everything cooked fresh) and went for most evening meals again great menu and everything cooked fresh. Genuinely I couldn’t fault it, so why would you pay for the a la cartes when there is a free one available at any time to suit you?
I highly recommend the lamb chops btw I ended up having them as a side with every evening meal!
Drinks at The Phaselis Bay
Again wow, all premium brands all beers are bottled (with the exception of local lager) so are high quality and not watered down. Spirit measures can be a little large sometimes making the drinks difficult to drink, neat gin anyone!
You also have to visit the Monte Cristo Bar for cocktails they are mindblowingly good. On our first couple of days we completely missed this bar in the main building as it looked permanently closed. Trust me it isn’t just the smoked glass gives the impression no one is home. The head mixologist works like Gordon Ramsey and what he produces is not only amazing to drink but it is great to watch the process and the attention to detail and the perfection he is striving for.
Something else worth noting is that the glasses are glass even around the adult pool, you often find in public areas especially around pools that plastic glasses are used which are never the same especially when compared to an ice cold glass.
Entertainment
After feeding and drinking yourself to bursting point on an evening the fun doesn’t stop there as the Phaselis Bay also lays on some world class evening entertainment. Generally speaking we can take or leave hotel entertanment and usually the quality isn’t that high and our preference is a quiet bar and a lovely cocktail or night cap. But in fairness to the Phaselis Bay the evening entertainment is something else and is well worth a visit whether it be music or acrobats you will be engrossed and there is something for everyone. There is even entertainment earlier in the evening for the little ones (we gave that a wide berth though!)
There is even some more laid back entertainment at the beach bar if the razzmatazz of the main shows are too much for you. They really do cater for everything from those looking for a quiet night all the way up to techno rave ups. The main show area is tucked away from the main building and noise isn’t a problem, not sure how they manage it as it can get pretty load but it certainly never affected us when we had a quiet night.
Another massive tick in terms of great things this hotel does well.
Price and Value
So including our upgraded room that was nearly £1,200 extra the total for our 9 night holiday was £7,700 with Jet2 from Leeds. So sticking with a standard room would have brought that down to £6,500.
I appreciate value is relative but from my perspective comparing it to other hotels we visit at this price range and higher I think it represents great value. Based on visiting this hotel we probably wont be visiting a hotel we visit every year in Gran Canaria because the service was so much better.
Next time (and I am pretty sure there will be a next time) I would stick to the standard room as ironically the places we spent most of our time (adult pool, Nautilus, Tapanyaki) were all based up at Hillside anyway! In spite of the risk you might not get a sea view room at Hillside having visited I would be more than happy with the Mountain view and pocket the difference!
Its worth mentioning is that is you stay for longer than 4 days you get a pass to use the lounge at the airport (yes you guessed it the lounge pass was delivered via WhatsApp!) This was a nice touch and really needed. Antalya Aport like every other airport was undergoing some upgrades. I am sure when it is finished it will be amazing but when we visited it was absolute bedlam with far too many people for the available space. Being able to escape to the tranquility of a lounge was amazing!
Any Complaints?
We did find it strange for a hotel of this standard and quality was that there was no evening turn down service. Ultimately it was no big deal but on a couple of occasions we ran out of towels.
Another bug bear with the rooms was regarding stock replenishment. It would appear that one team would clean the room (and they did an amazing job) and then a completely different team would replenish everything. This team was not so good. So if you had a cup of coffee or a drink from the mini bar your used cups and glasses would be cleared away but it would be hit or miss as to whether you got them replaced. A quick call or WhatsApp sorted it out and it wasn’t a massive issue but just seemed like such an easy thing to get right and it was constantly wrong.
Finally after a near perfect stay we feel the hotel let itself down right at the every end of our stay. Late check out was not available, which is not a big deal and happens almost all the time, but the provision for those guests that have a late flight is poor in our opinion. To have a shower and get changed you need to use the changing rooms in the Spa. Now we probably should have gone to look before hand but we didn’t expect the changing rooms to be just like those at a leisure centre with no lockers large enough to hold a case. They were also the changing rooms for the gym (it looked very well equipped btw!) so the changing rooms were quite busy.
We ended up having to take turns getting showered and ready whilst the other person stayed with the case. Again not the end of the world and it wont stop be going back, but frustrating and would it be so difficult to have a few late check out rooms made available.
Summary
Stop thinking about it and get it booked. We appreciate that things are tight currently but if you can afford to go it is certainly worth a visit and if you do go I am sure you will be like us, desperate to return!