The holiday hotspot dubbed the ‘Turkish Riviera’ with temperatures of 27C and cheap flights
IT’S my first girls’ holiday (well, middle-aged women’s trip) in 20 years – and a lot has changed.
Two decades ago saw four of us crammed into a Tenerife studio apartment, drinking the cheapest vodka available, dancing until 6am and surviving on a Pot Noodle a day.
Now, the tick box for Emma, Clare and me includes decent food and cocktails, but also a bit of relaxation and exercise, too.
After a lot of searching, we opted for the “Turkish Riviera”, in the south of the country, which includes the resorts of Antalya, Bodrum and Belek.
We chose the latter, which has temperatures of 27C even in October.
And if it is good enough for Premier League footballers and Hollywood actresses, we knew it was certainly good enough for me to celebrate my “big birthday”.
Within ten minutes of landing in Antalya Airport we were at our hotel for the next three nights, the new, all-inclusive resort of Cullinan Belek.
And it has an instant wow factor, with the glitzy, flower-filled reception pumping posh scents through the air-conditioning system.
We were checked in by Yulia, who set up a WhatsApp group for us all in case we had any queries.
Then we were swiftly shown to our room.
And what a room it was. Forget that crammed Tenerife apartment.
We had two king-size beds in adjoining rooms.
There were Etro products in the shower, fluffy dressing gowns, buttons to control the blackout curtains and a massive pile of fruit.
A large balcony, with day beds to sprawl on, stretched between the two rooms, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the resort’s 1km of white sandy beach.
One hundred of the 600 rooms are swim-up — and there are eight pools, 11 restaurants plus numerous bars and food outlets to choose from.
After a lot of discussion about whether we were too old for bikinis, we stuck on our two-pieces and went down to the pool.
This was top-notch fancy.
Sun loungers are half-draped into the pool so you can cool down. And watermelon, grapes and strawberries are deposited (as part of your all-inclusive price) to all guests.
Ours were brought by a delightfully chatty Turkish lady who whizzed around on roller skates.
Another smaller tranquil pool is surrounded by woodland and reminded me of Bali.
All bookings for restaurants are done on your phone.
We opted for Yamas Greek restaurant by the sea for that night.
Smash plates
You don’t feel like you’re in a regular all-inclusive, because it feels so exclusive and fancy.
Our waiter brought us Greek mezze, which consisted of prawns in garlic and tomato, hummus, taramasalata, squid and a herb-filled salad.
It was great. But the best bit, after a fair few cocktails and Ouzo, was when we all got up, enthusiastically, to smash plates. An amazing way to get rid of any stress.
The next morning we went to the gym first thing to try and work off our taverna tummies.
If you’re feeling really enthusiastic, they even do personal training.
We, however, did a quick run, a few weights, knocked back a smoothie from the juice bar area and had a swim in the impressive indoor pool.
Food is a big focus in this hotel, from posh patisserie kiosks with fancy cakes to a chocolatier dishing out bags of almonds and chocolates.
To walk it all off, we went shopping . . . in the hotel.
There are boutiques selling designer gear, swimming costumes, luggage and kids’ clothes.
There’s even an optician.
Next stop was the C’espace Spa, which at 8,000 square metres is one of the largest in Europe.
We congregated for a natter in the steam room before plonking ourselves in the relaxation room for a sleep.
That evening we went to the Mare Main restaurant and sat outside overlooking one of the pools.
We tucked into steaks, fresh fish and salad plus a large amount of wine before heading to the amphitheatre to watch an amazing acrobatic show.
It was so good in fact that even Simon Cowell would have been impressed.
We rounded off our final evening with cocktails in the Azure Pool Bar, vowing we would have to do a trip like this again.
After all, it takes just as long to visit each other in Manchester and London as it did to get to reach our relaxing Turkish reunion.
GO: Belek
STAYING THERE: A Superior Room With Golf View is from £154pp per night based on two adults sharing on an all-inclusive basis.
See cullinanhotels.com.
GETTING THERE: Flights from Gatwick to Antalya are from £23.99pp one-way with easyJet.
Flights from Manchester are from £29.99pp one-way with easyJet.
See easyjet.com.