Where to stay in Antalya?

Where to stay in Antalya? You actually have two options: You can either stay in Lara Beach area which is the “all inclusive” jumbo 5-star luxury beach hotel capital of Turkey or nice and mystical Antalya Old Town (Kaleiçi(*)). The Old Town is in the Antalya city center and is a beautiful place with some nice restored buildings, small guest houses and some luxury boutique hotels. Lara Beach on the other hand outside Antalya city and about 17 kilometers away from Antalya. It offers a beautiful beach and sea as well as luxurious 5 Star hotels.

Lara Beach in Antalya takes the lion share of the tourists. The hotels here operate “all inclusive” system. Despite this, Old Town is still a very charming alternative for tourists. There are many hotels (or Pansiyon) in Kaleiçi with quite high facility and room standards. And thanks to Lara which is sucking out foreign and local tourists from Kaleiçi, supply of nice hotels with relatively low prices are high in old town. Even if you go to Antalya without booking a hotel (not advisable anyway) you can still find a nice room with quite good standards and price here.

Otantik Butik Hotel Antalya (from €29), Elegance East Hotel (from €29), Mediterra Art Hotel (from €25) and Puding Suite Antalya (from €98) are high-end hotels you can find in Antalya Old Town. There are also many nice 2 to 3 star hotels in Kaleici with very high customer ratings such as Urcu Hotel (from €22), Candles House (from €19), Tuvana Hotel (from €49).

If you really want to dig into more information on hotels in Antalya Kaleici, you can refer to Antalya Old Town hotels page which compares the prices and compiles ratings from many online booking sites.

Antalya Marina in the old town (kaleici)

Antalya Lara Beach is full of 4/5 star beach hotels that cater for the all inclusive holiday market. These large hotels offer large pools, restaurants, private beach, see view rooms, many activities and easy access (tours) to many attractions around Antalya.

Some hotels which are topping the list in Antalya Lara Beach based on guest reviews are Barut Lara Resort Spa & Suites, Delphin Diva Premiere, Liberty Hotels Lara, Delphin Palace Hotel, Limak Lara De Luxe Hotel & Resort, Royal Wings Hotel, Delphin Imperial Hotel Lara, Saturn Palace Resort and IC Green Palace.

If you really want to dig into more information on hotels in Antalya Lara Beach, you can refer to Antalya Lara Beach hotels page which compares the prices and compiles ratings from many online booking sites.

And Aladdin wishes a 5-star luxurious hotel from the jinn.

(*) - "Kaleiçi" means inside the castle (kale)

Turkey has the third best beaches worldwide

The Blue Flag Awards are certificates of quality which are given to beaches based on the cleanliness and beauty of the sand as well as the bathing quality of the sea (i.e. no waste) flow. Other factors include the environmental management of the area as well as coastal protection.

Judges last month awarded beaches in Turkey a total of 387 Blue Flag awards, ranking the country among the top three who applied. Only Greece with 408 Blue Flags and Spain with 571 scored higher. France (where the awards originally started) was just behind Turkey with 379 Blue Flags while Portugal was next with 298.

Oceanwide Properties MD Suleyman Akbay said: "We are delighted, but not surprised, to hear of Turkey ranking so highly in the beautiful beach awards. Anyone who comes here is always amazed at how clear and clean the water is while many of the beaches are so secluded they are almost pristine. Certainly if it's miles and miles of white sand you're looking for then Turkey is the place to come.
"Fethiye and Kalkan in particular have always been popular with Turkey property investors looking to secure a holiday home in the area, and this news of even more highly praised beaches can only widen their appeal I'd have thought."

Turkey has always enjoyed a highly rated presence in the Blue Flag Awards table. The ranking takes into account European nations as well as South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil,
Canada and the Caribbean. This year, a further eight Turkish beaches, in the Mugla region, were awarded the distinction. Beaches in areas such as Kalkan, Fethiye and other Mediterranean coastal towns and villages have already had a beach bill of health for a number of years now.

Antalya meanwhile boasts 197 Blue Flag beaches - the highest number for a Turkish province - in addition to six marinas with the award. The latter were introduced in recent years.

The Blue Flag awards have been in existence since 1985 and are currently promoted by the European Commission.

Meanwhile, Oceanwide Properties has been marketing and selling properties in the Mediterranean coastal resorts of Turkey since 2005. They are particularly active in the Fethiye, Side and Antalya areas. The company have also recently moved into the increasingly popular Istanbul. UK property investors meanwhile can call into the company's London office for convenience and to make an initial appointment.