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)

Where to stay in Alanya?

Alanya is one of the most beautiful and popular tourist destination in Turkey. Located at the end of Pamphylia, Alanya is famous with its white sandy beaches, clear waters, ancient Roman ruins, watersports and giant luxury, all-inclusive resorts dotting the long coastline.

Alanya is a favorite vacation destination for many Turks as well as Europeans and Russians. The city and nearby coastline is filled with German, Scandinavian and Russian tourist during high seasion of June - August months. The large resorts with almost everything are marketed in cheap, all-inclusive holiday packages where a resort stay plus flight tickets from Europe can cost as low as 400 Euros.

We will answer the question of the title (where to stay in Alanya?) by providing information about the neighbourhoods. You can have two major types of hotels in Alanya to choose from : large hotels and resorts outside Alanya and concentrated around nearby towns like Konakli, Avsallar and Okurcalar or hotels in Alanya city. Alanya has a fantastic beach to the west of the historical peninsular (housing Alanya Citadel) named Cleopatra Beach (Kleopatra Plaji) and recently, boutique hotels converted from town-houses are also increasingly becoming popular alternatives to big resorts.

Alanya City Center- Cleopatra Beach, Saray District and Alanya Old Town (Historic Peninsular)

Lying from the Alanya Castle to the west on the waterfront of Alanya city center, Cleopatra Beach is one of the most beautiful and popular beach in Alanya. With its white sandy beaches and clear waters, Cleaopatra Beach carries Blue Flag. The beach is named after the infamous Egyptian Queen because it is believed that she was once using it as a place to swim when Alanya was given as a gift to her.

The hotels near the beach, especially in the Saray District behind it offers an excellent location from where you can both access a fantastic Mediterranean Beach as well as the colorful center of Alanya. This location is for those who want to be away from noisy, large resorts (couples indeed) and near Alanya shopping centers and Alanya night life.

For hotels near Cleopatra Beach, hotel prices and details like customer reviews, you can check Alanya Cleaopatra Beach hotels or Alanya Saray hotels pages.

Another popular location in Alanya is the historical peninsular which also houses the Alanya Citadel. Although this place is a little of the Alanya center, it is still near the center and offers fantastic views of Mediterranean Sea. In the past few years, this location is getting popular among couples as a romantic holiday destination in Alanya, similar to Antalya's Old Town (Antalya Kaleici). The demand is met by a supply of boutique hotels converted from historic town houses.

For hotels in Alanya old town, you can check Alanya Tophane hotels page.

Map of Alanya. The best places to stay in central Alanya are near Cleopatra Beach (to the west of
peninsular here) or Alanya old town (on the historic peninsular).

Konaklı, Avsallar and Okurcalar
The coastline of Alanya to the direction of Side and Antalya houses many seaside hotels and resorts. Some of these resorts are quite big with large and luxurious facilities. There are three towns in the region around which the hotels are clustered : Konakli, Avsallar and Okurcalar (in the order of their distance from Alanya). Families will love the resorts here with facilities and activities catering to both adults and children. From these towns, Alanya is still quite near.

Konakli is probably the most popular town near Alanya. Just 12 kilometers to the west of Alanya center, Konakli is a cluster of 4 and 5-star hotels and the area is almost entirely invaded by Russian tourists during summers. There is also a significant European expat community here, permanently staying or using the place as a summer house location.

22 kilometers to the west of Alanya Center is Avsallar, another popular tourism village in Alanya. Huge Alanya resorts are clustered here and usually used by Germana and Russian tourists as a holiday destination. The small town here has a quite long history. Avsallar probably takes it name from a Turkic clan who came and built the village here. Originaly the town was to the north of the current location but that town was destroyed by a far in 19th century.

The coastline to the west of Alanya is dotted by luxury, all inclusive resorts.
(Photo : Granada Luxury Resort in Okurcalar)

Okurcalar is a little far away from Alanya (30 kilometers or 30 minutes by bus) but is still quite popular. Although there are many resorts on the coastline now, the sea is still beautiful and there is still a green pine tree forest behind the shoreline. Other than a small town center and beautiful hotels, the place also has a large aquapark.

For resorts and hotels in Alanya's Konakli, Avsallar and Okurcalar villages, you can check Alanya Konakli hotels, Avsallar hotels and Okurcalar hotels pages. 

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.