The best family friendly hotels in Turkey
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There’s a laidback simplicity to the Turkish Coast which makes for the kind of seaside family holidays which are timeless. Long, hot summers mean days and nights are lived outside: daytimes are about exploring the ragged coastline’s uncountable islets and inlets, messing about in sailing boats, swimming in bays of bright blue water, walking coast paths scented by thyme and umbrella pines. In the warm evenings, the generations come together to eat under the stars on waterside terraces, families sharing stories and meze of superb local produce and Aegean seafood. Turkey is also exceptional value for money for family beach holidays compared with other Mediterranean destinations.
Where to head on a coast almost 1,000 miles long? The Bodrum Peninsula – long the retreat of Istanbul’s intelligentsia, and on our radar since Mick and Bianca Jagger holidayed there in the 1970s – appeals to older kids, with its glam restaurants and clubs. Further north on the Cesme Peninsula, the smart set’s worst-kept-secret, Alaçati, works for all ages, with enough beach bars and surfer hangouts to keep teens happy, and welcoming boutique hotels with the feel of a family home. Then there are the barely-there spots in between, home to sleepy fishing villages, rustic homestays, ancient ruins and stretches of wild sand where turtles nest. It’s a coast that’s best revealed from the water, and its calm waters are heaven for learning to sail.
Here are the best hotels in Turkey for families, whether yours are beach babies, pint-sized sailors or night-owl teens.
hotelMaxx Royal Bodrum
Best for: a family stay in Bodrum
The latest address to open along the Bodrum Peninsula. This new complex takes all the lauded elements of Maxx Royal's two other Turkish resorts and packages them into a bed-and-breakfast complex with an extravagant, all-inclusive feel. Suites and villas line the resort’s edge, not rooms. Suites are ideal for families, offering one to two bedrooms and spacious balconies or terraces. Our three-bedroom laguna villa outsized the average London semi-detached. All suites and villas provide glimpses of the sea – but secure top-floor positions for uninterrupted Aegean vistas. Parents can forget what they know about kids’ clubs and prepare to feel a pang of jealousy as little ones head into the gargantuan Maxxi Land – the largest space of its kind in Bodrum. While parents devour seafood suppers and mingle over punchy daiquiris, children run free in dedicated age-appropriate areas. From dance classes to craft sessions and video game stations, there’s something to entertain even the trickiest tots. Maxx Assistants can arrange babysitting. Connor Sturges
Price: From around £750 per night
Address: Gölköy Mahallesi, 312 Sokak No:3, 48483 Bodrum/Muğla, Türkiye
Hillside Beach Club, Fethiye
Best for: innovative kids clubs
On a private cove of white sand, lapped by turquoise water and bookended by pine-forested cliffs, Hillside Beach Club is a completely dreamy beach hideaway designed with families in mind. Suites have adjoining rooms with shared terraces; there are six restaurants and bars, three beaches (one adults-only), and two spas, and the whole spot is utterly sublime… but the stand-out is the innovative roster of workshops and events for children and adults, among them BFI screenings, drumming workshops, silk painting, jazz yoga, live music on the beach and on a floating stage, while three kids clubs offer ents as diverse as DJing sessions for tweens, piano lessons for primary schoolers, plus sailing, diving, ebiking and tennis. A great option for only children who can meet new friends easily. Fethiye and all its outdoorsy diversions (hiking, paragliding, diving, ruins) are nearby.
Price: Family rooms from £998 for three nights
Address: Belen Cad. No:132 Kalemya Koyu, 48300 Fethiye/Muğla, Türkiye
Bodrum Loft
Best for: multigens
There’s a grown-up feel to Bodrum Loft, a recent addition to the peninsula’s stunning north coast, but its villas are brilliant for families. Designed by the same architect behind the nearby Macakizi, the five-star resort is stacked like a village on the hillside amid evergreens: sunny indoor-outdoor dining terraces and bars, pools, gardens, down to waterside sun decks floating on the Aegean. 36 large, light stone villas each have two-, three- or four bedrooms (plus a room for the nanny) – ace for multigens and family groups.
Price: Two-bedroom villas from €589
Alavya, Alacati
Best for: beaches and culture
A favourite of the Istanbul cognoscenti, Alaçati is still something of an insider secret among UK travellers. They say this comely fishing town is akin to Bodrum 30 years ago – but actually Alaçati is prettier, with more of a boho-chic vibe in its cobbled lanes, lit with artisan boutiques and smart restaurants with gardens where rattan lanterns swing from fig trees. The peninsula has a flourishing local wine-and-food scene; and nearby are the honey-toned remains of ancient Ephesus.
Alavya encapsulates the spirit of Alacati. Charismatic couple Rana and Erol Tabanca created this warmly welcoming hotel out of six old houses, beautifully decorated with antiques and interesting art, at its heart a garden and pool terrace lined with parasols. Their children have very much helped inform the place – daughter Selina is their sustainability ambassador, and the name itself came from son Emrecan, who as a child used to say “Alavya Mummy”. As well as rooms and suites (which have cute wrought iron balconies), the lofts are perfect for families.
Price: Rooms from €300 B&B for two (€200 per extra person; children under 6 stay free)
Address: Alaçatı, 13003. Sk No:1, 35937 Çeşme/İzmir, Türkiye
Bey Evi, Alacati
Best for: surfing families
While much is made of Alacati’s bohemian cuteness, its beaches sometimes get overlooked. There are dozens of them, varying from quiet coves of warm turquoise shallows to wild and windy stretches of sand that draw keen windsurfers and kite surfers (hold onto your hats).
Bey Evi is a gorgeous, family-run 15-room bolthole created from two historic houses, with a serene garden and pool hidden at the back, and an excellent restaurant at the front (plus a poolside woodfired oven for kid-friendly pizzas and burgers). It’s run by the extremely helpful Merve Umur and her husband Yigit, a young couple who know all the best surf instructors in the area, can arrange (discounted) classes and advise on where to find the best breaks. Premium rooms sleep up to four; and they have interconnecting rooms too. (Children aged eight and above only.)
Price: Premium rooms from €190
Address: Alaçatı, Kemalpaşa Cad. No:126 Yeni Mecidiye Mahallesi, 35937 Çeşme/İzmir, Türkiye
D Resort Goçek
Best for: young sailors
There’s a nice, nautical air at this resort of two halves, set within the snoozy sailing town of Gocek – Turkey’s answer to Salcombe. Modern rooms (plus breakfast room and spa) are set around various pools; then hop on hotel bikes or a golf cart (invariably a child’s favourite thing ever) to pootle through the marina to the beach, gelateria and wonderful D-Breeze restaurant overhanging the water. Sailing is the thing in Goçek (the town swells with tanned-and-tousled gap-yah crews, but don’t expect much nightlife – it’s mainly lowkey outdoor restaurants), and this part of the Turkish coast is just made for learning, with uncountable islets, inlets and bays to explore by boat, and calm, warm, blue-green waters heaven for rookies.
Price: Rooms (sleeping 3) from €180; two-bedroom Presidential Suite from €1,098
Address: Göcek, Sıtkı Koçman Cd No : 8, 48300 Fethiye/Muğla, Türkiye
Six Senses Kaplankaya
Best for: primary schoolers
Six Senses Kaplankaya’s raison d’etre is its extensive spa, but families love the place too. The resort is the size of a small town, built on a hillside on an empty stretch of coast west of Bodrum. At the top, standalone suites and villas have the feel of an immaculately groomed suburb; some have private pools and gardens, and knock-out views of the Aegean. Golf carts ferry you to various exquisite, sandy beaches. There’s a beach club just for families, fabulous meze and grill restaurants. Kids clubs (for ages four to 12) lay on loads of sports, but also mindful and artful pursuits; there are activities for teens, too; and also babysitting. And while there’s some serious detoxing going on here, you wouldn’t know it at breakfast – mountains of breads, homemade pastries and the most delicious local cheeses. Just try explaining to an eight-year-old why they can’t have six types of cake for breakfast.
Price: Deluxe King rooms from £341 B&B for a family of three
Address: Bozbük, Merkez Sokak No:198, 48200 Milas/Muğla, Türkiye
Biblos, Alacati
Best for: teens
Alacati is also bliss for teenagers, blessed as it is with markets and trinket stores and a lively (but not unrespectably so) nightlife in its bars and glam beach clubs. The glitzy new Biblos resort is a sign of ‘the new Alacati’ – big and slick, with several restaurants, cocktails bars and a beach club; and while the aesthetic – palms, cactus, white interiors with brass accents – suggests glam young things, there are a whole bunch of family rooms, up to two- and three-bedroom residences and the party-sized Beach Villa.
Price: Family rooms (sleeping 4) from £415
Address: Alaçatı, 18012 Sk No:2/A, 35930 Çeşme/İzmir, Türkiye