Martins B
5/5 – Brilliant family holiday – highly recommended!
Calimera Hane Garden, Side / Evrenseki, Turkey
Reviewed: April 2026 (just back from a 2-week stay)
We’ve just returned from a fantastic 2-week family holiday at the Calimera Hane Garden and we absolutely loved it!
The hotel is perfect for families with kids. There were loads of things to do every day – the children were entertained from morning till night with the kids’ club, pools with slides, playground, and non-stop activities. They didn’t want to leave!
The food was really great – plenty of variety, fresh options, and something for everyone. We especially enjoyed the evening entertainment, which was lively and fun without being overwhelming.
A special thank you goes to the amazing staff who made our stay even better:
Murat
Eyup
Little Elif
and the lovely girl with glasses (sorry, I’ve forgotten her name!)
Muzaffer
Nadine
Azize
Gurkan
They were all so friendly, helpful, and always smiling. It really made a difference having such caring people looking after us.
Overall, we had a very relaxing and enjoyable 2 weeks. The hotel has a lovely atmosphere, good facilities, and everything you need for a proper family holiday on the Turkish Riviera.
We would definitely come back and would happily recommend Calimera Hane Garden to other families. Thank you for a wonderful holiday!
Reinis Vazdiks
We’ve just returned from a week very well spent. There are, however, a few things worth keeping in mind, and I’ll try to explain them in detail.
Please note that this hotel is not exactly suitable for everyone - roughly 80–90% of the guests here are elderly German people, and the environment and activities are mostly tailored to them (darts, pétanque, bingo, water aerobics, etc.). For us, as a family with two small children, this was the ideal setup: we really appreciated that the hotel had a fairly quiet and harmonious atmosphere, with no noise or parties at night. But if you’re looking for a particularly active sports scene or wild parties, this is probably not the right place for you. The staff also mostly speak German fluently, while their skills in other languages are somewhat limited, though we managed just fine with basic English.
The German pensioners themselves are a very good-natured and harmless crowd - polite, smiling, mostly happy to sit quietly by the pool, sip a beer, and have a smoke. Before the trip, I was worried about an influx of vacationers of one certain nationality, but they were very much in the minority here. Of the few groups that were around, some did behave exactly as stereotypically expected - arrogant, loud, constantly swearing, dragging around their vodka bottles and bluetooth speakers blasting bad music, proudly wearing symbols of the long-collapsed occupiers’ union or the current terrorist state. But overall there were only a few of them here; as I said, the place is mainly focused on Germans.
There have been negative reviews in the recent past about flooded sewage, roof leaks, and renovation work at the hotel - it seems the consequences of the heavy rains have been dealt with, and we didn’t notice any such problems anywhere. Some areas are freshly renovated, while others have clearly been in use for a long time (like the gym), but nothing critical, and overall everything was clean. The pools are not heated and could have been a tiny bit warmer, but we still used them, as well as the water slides, which the children absolutely loved.
The hotel room itself may not have been the freshest or most modern, but overall it was clean and in normal condition. I could complain that the air conditioner worked rather weakly. We were here in April and the nights were not hot, but if the cooling works the same way in the height of summer, sleeping at night could be very sweaty. Another thing, which is not directly the hotel’s fault, was that our room overlooked a huge construction site where a new hotel is currently being built. The view is not particularly scenic, and there was loud construction work during the day, but a sign indicates that the hotel is due to open in May, so this inconvenience may soon no longer be relevant.
The variety and quality of the food seemed excellent to me (except for the rather mediocre Friday-night sushi and quite terrible sausages for breakfast). There was a wide and constant selection both in the main restaurant, the grill area, and all the snack bars by the pools and nearby private beach. Drinks were available free of charge until midnight, and the waiters were very diligent in bringing refills. In April it also wasn’t overcrowded - you could get whatever you wanted either immediately or after a short wait in a line (max. 5 minutes). In the summer months, perhaps the waiting times would be a bit longer.
What is truly top-level here is the attitude of the staff - the waiters, bartenders, cleaners, and especially the entertainers were SUPER friendly and helpful, and they gave a lot of attention and kind gestures to our little ones as well.
For those who want to dive into shopping - there are loads of different shops and market stalls in the hotel and next to it. The shopping experience there is quite unique, because everywhere you can only buy counterfeit versions of well-known brands; original products or even just “plain clothes” without fake logos are nowhere to be found.
Rafał
I had an amazing stay at Calimera! The rooms were clean and cleaned every day, which made our stay even more comfortable. The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming, always ready to help with a smile.
One of the highlights was the food – there was so much variety! It's served almost every hour, and there’s something for every taste. If you can’t find something you like, well... maybe you’re just too picky! :)
The location is perfect! Very close to the sea. And if someone has sore legs or doesn't like walking... The bus goes to the beach every 5 minutes. I felt like a king! :)
Don't like the sea? No problem, the pool was just as warm! Clean! And the staff provided drinks! Snacks at the bar served all afternoon. I think I gained 15 kilos after one week... 😆
The friendly cats roaming the grounds added a lovely touch – they never begged for food but were always around to greet us. The hotel also offers plenty of activities and events, so there’s never a dull moment. Whether you’re looking to relax or have fun, this place makes you feel like royalty.
I’ll definitely be back! A truly great experience! Really recommend!
Natália Ondrášková
The service was very nice and friendly. The cleaners were also great and always smiling. Well, as for the program, unfortunately it was very boring. For us the animators were the weakest part of the hotel. In other hotels, there was constant music and activities, and Hane Garden was already quiet at 11pm. We had the most fun with the waiters, they always tried to joke around and made our stay pleasant. Otherwise we would be really bored the whole time. Food was nice but I would appreciate more pasta and sea food. The breakfast were slightly weaker. But dinners and lunches were good. Sunbeds around the pool were always full so we had to woke up early to "reserve" some. That was really annoying to be honest. The location of the hotel is great and it's close to the beach and bazar as well. The hotel is more family friendly.
Dimiter Georgiev
Nobody speaks English, but instead, they speak German. German-focused animation. The food was, at best, average. It was clean, the pools and beach were great. Sometimes water and towels would be under-delivered.
