We’ve just had the most fabulous week in 2023 at a family friendly hotel in Kalkan, The Kalkan Regency Hotel, hosted by Simpson Travel.  This is the second time we have visited and it was just as amazing this time round. I already know we will be going back.

I’ll leave at the bottom of this review some pictures of our trip in 2018 if you’d like to scroll down and see what our trip was like with younger children.

The Kalkan Regency Hotel is an adults only hotel for the majority of the year but turns into a Family Friendly hotel in the school holidays. Check Simpson Travel’s website for details of the actual dates.

Our time at The Kalkan Regency Hotel reminded me of the amazing weeks we have had at other Simpson Hotels including Mousses in Lefkas (two years in a row) GK Beach, Crete (three times now) and Bella Mare, Corfu with good food, great company, and beautiful restaurants close by.  While at Mousses it was the incredible British nannies that entertained the children for 3 hours every day allowing us some precious ‘me time’ at The Kalkan Regency Hotel it was all the other children that provided the entertainment.  The children absolutely loved it and as we all know happy children means happy parents. It defined family friendly hotel in Kalkan for me.

So what was it that worked so well about The Kakan Regency Hotel?

The size of the Kalkan Regency Hotel.

The Kalkan Regency Hotel is small enough that the children and tweens can have the freedom to explore the hotel.  From the large pool to the games room it really does provide some great space to hang out.  With only 41 rooms, it really is the perfect size.

Room types at the Kalkan Regency Hotel

There are a variety of room types and sizes of rooms at the Kalkan Regency from rooms with just a double bed to, an extremely large family suite with 2 bedrooms, a lounge and its own pool like we had in 2018 or the gorgeous two suites adjoining each other Lyra & Lynx that we have just had in 2023.

Lyra & Lynx – Villa but not a Villa

These suites can be rented separately but when rented together we thought it was the perfect family space for a family with tweens. We often have the debate as a family about renting a villa or staying in a hotel, and renting these two properties gave us the best of both worlds.

We had our own room and the girls shared the room right next door. This gave us two large spaces with a lounge area each and two bathrooms, both with a shower and a bath.

The location at the hotel, also gave us the privacy and space of a villa with our own pools and the best view across the bay, but with the facilities of the hotel including my personal favourite, an amazing breakfast.

ad| Our amazing view from our room Lynx at @KalkanRegency with @simpsontravel – combined with Lyra these make the perfect Villa style space with hotel facilities! #Kalkan #SimpsonTraveller pic.twitter.com/QnqXc1Ptgq

— Mini Travellers (@minitravellers) November 8, 2023

The Large Pool

The large pool could fit two giant flamingos, a giant unicorn, a batman body board, two lilos and plenty of other pool toys all at once with room to spare.  It also had plenty of sunbeds around it and whilst always busy there was never a time when we couldn’t get two sunbed to use so no towel reserving necessary. Parts of the pool were also in the shade during parts of the day which meant the kids didn’t always have to be in the sun, but you could be if you wanted too.  Countless pool towels were provided and refreshed during the day and the sun loungers were comfy too. No cheap plastic rubbish ones to contend with.

We of course had our own pools to be beside too, with four comfortable sun loungers. I have no doubt that if I’d asked for a 5th for the 5th member of the family one would have been brought down, but we were never all in the same place at the same time.

Food

It’s bed and breakfast at the Kalkan Regency and breakfast is plentiful with most options you’d expect being available.  Whether it’s poached eggs on toast that you want to start your day, or Nutella with strawberries and heart shaped pancakes you will most certainly enjoy it.  I’m also assured that most dietary requirements can be dealt with too. Gluten Free bread was made every day for one of the teenage girls staying during our week there, and they even made gluten free pizza bases for her too.

We ate in a couple of nights during our stay at the Kalkan Regency and whilst at times we found the service to be a little slow, this didn’t detract at all from the fun we had.  Dinner is served on the hotels terrace overlooking the sea so it’s a pretty wonderful spot.

We also ate lunch by the pool most days and everyone found something they liked on the large menu ranging from nuggets and chips, to pizza, salads and tuna wraps.   Prices were also reasonable and you certainly didn’t feel like you needed to leave the hotel to get a good deal.

BBQ Night at The Kalkan Regency

The Kalkan Regency runs three different themed nights during the week. Seafood night on Monday, BBQ night on Wednesday and Spit Roasted Lamb on Friday. Ideally you need to book to attend these but I’m sure they’d fit you in if you didn’t manage to.

BBQ night at The Kalkan Regency is legendary in Kalkan it appears and lots of people arrived just for the night.

In 2018 the kids all ended up having a pool party and dancing on bar stools until we carried them off to bed. They were more restrained this year but enjoyed dancing with all the team and their Dad.

Friendly Staff

The Kalkan Regency Hotel is family run and it shows. There is a really family friendly atmosphere around the hotel and you begin to feel like part of the family as the week goes on. The staff look out for the kids and whilst the fact that the kids feel happy to order their own drinks and ice creams means your bill may be larger at the end of the week, it does make them feel grown up and independent.

Massage Treatments and Turkish Baths

I had two very powerful Turkish massages (or perhaps they were Thai) whilst I was staying at the Kalkan Regency Hotel which was intense but certainly got rid of a lot of the knots I was carrying around. Such a treat to leave the pool for 45 minutes or longer if you can negotiate it and take some time out whilst the kids carry on playing.  All guests in 2023 get free access to the Turkish Baths but I’d highly recommend getting a treatment too.

The massage can take place inside near the Hammam but I’d highly recommend having one in the outside area, as you get the gentle breeze and a stunning view.

The Location of the Kalkan Regency

Set on the hillside with beautiful views of the bay, but a short ten minute walk down into Kalkan (£1 taxi home due to cardiac hills)  meant we could explore the fabulous restaurants of Kalkan on a nightly basis. There must be over 100 different restaurants in Kalkan and we tried and loved Trio and Lal definitely check them out if you’re heading to Kalkan.

What else did we do whilst in Kalkan?

The Boat Trip

During 2023 every guest staying at The Kalkan Regency Hotel gets a free day trip on the hotels gullet. You leave the hotel at the very civilised time of 9.45am for the short 5 minute drive to the harbour and don’t come back until 5.30pm. With a glass of champagne to start the trip, grilled sea bass for lunch (chicken strips and pitta fo the kids) a wonderful meze and three different places to dive into the sea it was such a lovely day.

Indigo Beach Club

Simpson Travel guests in Kalkan also all receive complimentary entrance into Indigo Beach Club on the harbour.  If you love swimming in the sea then it’s the perfect spot for you. We had an amazing time on the Giant Mable.

We also loved the cinema night at Indigo Beach Club which usually takes place at 8/8.30pm on a Thursday throughout the season. We watched Barbie in October half term and loved it. Sitting by the sea, wrapped in a warm blanket with a cocktail. What’s not to love.

Patara Beach and Ruins

You are transferred to The Kalkan Regency Hotel by private taxi (takes around 2 hours) so if you want to do any exploring whilst you are there you will either need to hire a car or book some transfers. It’s about £35 a day to hire a car so you can weigh that up against the cost of a taxi to wherever you want to go. We chose to head to Patara Beach in a taxi.

On the way to the beach you drive through Patara Roman ruins. You pay a fee to get into the national park area of the beach, and slightly extra to visit the ruins.  It was incredibly hot so we only managed to convince the girls to visit both of the amphitheatres and the main street but it was worth it. They have re-instated one of the amphitheatres so you can see what it would have looked like and you can test out the acoustics.

Patara Beach itself is eleven miles of glorious sand. In October and when we visited last time in May it wasn’t too busy and it’s a short walk from the car park to the beach front where there is also a café with OK food, showers and toilets.  We hired a couple of sunbeds so we could take advantage of the umbrellas – we actually needed these as the sand got too hot to stand on later in the afternoon –  I actually wish we had visited the beach earlier in the trip as I would definitely have liked another day there.

If you haven’t already worked it out, we absolutely loved our trip to the Kalkan Regency Hotel and Kalkan and hope that we get the opportunity to return one day soon.  Put it on your list of places to go!!  You can check out the website here!

With thanks to The Kalkan Regency Hotel and Simpson Travel for hosting us. All views and opinions are, as always, our own.

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