"Overall, we were happy with our stay at Rixos Park Belek. The accommodation was good, the hotel has plenty of amenities, the main pool is nice and the drinks were absolutely fine.
One thing I particularly liked was the use of WhatsApp for communication with the hotel. It made things really easy when you needed anything, and being able to message rather than having to find someone at reception was very convenient.
However, there are definitely areas where the hotel could improve.
Food & restaurants
The food in the main buffet restaurant was, in our opinion, mediocre. We were told there was a different theme every night, but the themed food only seemed to apply to a relatively small section, while much of the rest of the buffet remained the same.
As part of the all inclusive you get access to 1 Al a carte restaurant as part of your stay and then you have to pay if you want to go to the others, however you need to book on the app and when I went on the day we got there everything was fully booked…
The main restaurant is too small and can become absolute chaos at busy times, with people not queuing and the hotel doing very little to manage it.
Unfortunately, some of the other guests also made the experience more frustrating than it needed to be. There were occasions where people were extremely rude, pushing in front of others and showing very little consideration for anyone around them. I appreciate that the behaviour of individual guests isn’t necessarily the hotel’s fault, but better management of queues and busy areas would certainly help.
We also tried the Italian à la carte restaurant and unfortunately found it very disappointing. The menu was very, very limited, with virtually nothing suitable for children. When we asked staff about some of the dishes, they seemed unsure themselves about what they actually were.
We asked if our six-year-old daughter could simply have some plain penne pasta. We were told no, as they only had linguine. I then ordered a risotto, only for a pasta dish to arrive instead — and bizarrely, it was made with penne pasta.
The one thing they did do brilliantly was bring out a birthday cake for our daughter, who turned six that day. It was a lovely gesture and genuinely appreciated.
Kids Club
The kids club was a real positive. There were plenty of activities throughout the day and our daughter absolutely loved it. The staff were good and she was always excited to go back, which made a big difference to the holiday.
Kids’ Club pool
The pool area next to the kids club really needs some investment. It just doesn’t feel like a Rixos-standard facility at the moment.
The pool is surrounded by pine trees, which look lovely, but unfortunately means the pool becomes absolutely covered in pine needles. Later in the day, a member of staff comes along and has to net out what can only be described as a mountain of pine needles.
More concerning is the decking around the pool. It is looking very worn, with boards lifting in numerous places. There are also what appear to be exposed or potentially protruding nails in places, which is particularly worrying around a children’s pool where kids are running around barefoot.
A refurbishment of this area would make a huge difference and would bring it more in line with what you’d expect from a Rixos property.
The main pool is very nice with plenty of sun loungers whatever time of day you arrive.
Orient Village shuttle buses
The shuttle buses themselves are useful, but there is not enough of them with long waits and no real control of the queues at the Orient Village stops. We would wait in line, only for people to arrive and simply push in front of those who had already been waiting, a number of occasions I had to challenge other guests to use some etiquette..
What was particularly frustrating was that staff were present but didn’t challenge people who were pushing in. This meant that people who had been patiently waiting could easily end up not getting onto the bus and having to wait for the next one.
A simple, properly managed queue system would make a big difference here. Again, it’s not necessarily the behaviour of the guests that the hotel can control, but staff should be managing the queues and ensuring people who have been waiting aren’t simply pushed aside.
Accommodation
We were in orient village which was about a 10 minute walk from the main hotel or around 5 minutes on the bus. Good as it was close to kids club and the room itself was fine, no issues and had everything we needed. The mini bar is included as part of the all inclusive. Beds were comfy and AC worked great as it was boiling 24/7.
Overall
We enjoyed our holiday and there are plenty of positives about the hotel, particularly the accommodation, main pool, kids club, general facilities and the excellent WhatsApp communication.
However, the food, à la carte experience, condition of the kids’ pool area and management of busy areas are things where I think Rixos could do considerably better.
For a hotel carrying the Rixos name, there are certain standards you expect, and some parts of this property currently fall short of them.
Would I book this hotel again?..No."
