Resort was beautiful,good restaurants and bars,the harbour area was really nice. only complaint was you couldn't pass a shop or restaurant without the hard sell to get you in there, never once got peace to wander round the shops browsing.Lots of good quality fake goods.

the resort of alanya was lovely. i didnt know what to expect when i went to alanya, id heard about all the shopping and all the fake makes of bags etc, but there is so much more to it.i went on a jeep safari (£24 each off the rep)which took us around the mountains it was absolutely gorgeous, i ahve never been to a more beautiful place.there is so much history and so much culture, there is a lot to see so i wouldnt advise going for only a week because i left after a week dissapointed wishing i could stay for longer.again the resort entertainment in the centre looked good but we just went to the blue parrot (i highly recommend).cleopatra beach was apparently the best beach and although we did mean to go there we simply didnt have enough time, we had a look at the beach by the hotel and it was a bit pebbly but it was copable.when shopping all of the shop keeper want to barter, dont give in! even if they offer a high price offer them a low one and you will be sure to get it for a low price. if they are having non of it walk off and they will call you back.the fakes are brilliant copies, you would think that they were real.i would definately visit this resort again, i am currently looking for a job as a travel rep there because i loved it so much.

This was our first time to Alanya and we loved it!!

Restaurants I recommend are Crusoes and Big Ben (owned by the same people) and Penderosa. There's another lovely restaurant near the bazaar called Queens Garden. As well as nice food there is also great entertainment!!
We were told to visit the New Elvis bar which is across the road from Big Ben. What a let down! The whole place was grotty, ants crawling over left over food on the floors. The waiters were very slimy and over the top. Sounds like its gone downhill over the last few years!

If you like clubbing the harbour is the place to be. We only went a couple of times (got lost on the first night and this put us off a bit) but found drinks to be very expensive. We found it better to drink in the restaurants away from the harbour were happy hours started at about 9pm. We stuck to cocktails which were 15 lira each but buy one get one free which we didn't think was too bad. Many of the clubs there were full of drugs which put us off going in them!

Before visiting Turkey I heard a lot about hassling. However, we saw very little of this. I think they are trying to cut down on it this year. Many places are been closed down for a couple of days if they are found to be hassling people and there were posters up around the harbour saying it was hassle free. Some of the restaurants would try and get you inside but a simple no and they would soon understand you were not interested. The only thing I didn't like was on our first night (after getting lost and trying to find our way back to our hotel) a little boy followed us for a couple of hundred yards trying to sell us something. However as soon as other people came up the road he started pestering them instead.

There are plenty of shops. Jewellery is really good quality, as are clothes! For the good designed fakes be prepared to pay quite a bit though. The market in Alanya is on a Friday but is quite small and mostly fruit & vegetables. Apparently the closest large market to Alanya is in Side but we never had chance to go for a look.

Make sure you do the turkish bath when in Alanya. Book it (and any other trips you do) through one of the shops in the centre and NOT through your travel agent. Other trips we did were the waterpark (brilliant) and the boat trip.

Will definetly be visiting Alanya again in a couple of years time!!

Nice area, hotter than further north in Turkey. The travel time between airport and hotels, 3 hours minimum puts us off from Alanya. This is also our second visit and we do like to go somewhere new, albeit in Turkey.

loved alanya so much the people are so friendly but as we were a group of young girls the lads could not keep staring but that was fine we liked the attention the beach was fantastic the sea was calm and cold which was nice although the sand was red hot and i burnt my feet lol the bars re wicked and im coming bk in 2009 so u best be ready.

The resort was fair to poor in my opinion as there were lots of shops but you wouldnt visit them as everything was so over priced! for example i asked how much for a pair of gold flip flops for my 4 year old and they wantd 45 lira nearly £20 which i could buy here for £4-£5. The shop owners harassed you all the time to buy buy buy and it put you off looking one chap followed us for about a mile trying to sell aftershave to my brother for 50lira and in the end he was that bad my brother had to give him 5euro to go away!! Also as i mentioned befor my brother went sight seeing up a hill which had a castle on and two youths offered to show him the way to the top, but as he got there they demanded money (for guide) and shouted to a hut where they lived for family and picked up a rock to hit him with lookaly he only had 40euro on him!
A nothe time we were walking back to our hotel and saw a woman and 3 men with a camel and they asked if we wanted to stroke it my brother did and one of the men put him on it and took him 20 meters and back and wanted 45lira for it we lookaly only had 18 between us.
T he beach was nice but was not amazing and would recomend cleopatra beach as its more sandy and really clear but it is very deap really quickly!!
We had a early morning flight so booked departure day wet(waterpark) which was good but also very expensive!! i think i cost £6 for a can of pop and you wernt alowed to take your own drinks or food inside! The dolphin show was very good though but they stop after white whale and seal show so you can buy a drink at £6 and then when the dolphins were on they made it paint a picure and again stopped the show to auction it off! money money money all the time i loved turkey 2 years ago but dought very much ill be going back as it just isnt the same!!

Only went once, was ok but felt a bit big for us, didnt have much time there though so cant say very much really and I know lots of good reports.

There were lots of shops and kids had fun bartering.

Beach 5 mins down the bank only untidiness is by holiday makers on the beach! coast road to left you can view humming birds outside football ground on the orange and yellow flowers! and then notice them by hotel.

Main shopping area 'town' is a 5 minute bus ride right along coast 65 cents! Or as you leave hotel and go down towards beach, turn left at front of Ali Babas cafe over the humpback bridge, watchout for bright coloured kingfishers or bats at night!Bear left and you will come into a village, post office fashion shops, bars and restaurants at best prices!

The street behind the water slides will lead to a taylors and shoe shop customised clothing made up for you in 3 hours!

Above the hotel on main road is Carrefors a shopping complex!

We've been to Alanya 6 times before and tried everything now from self-catering to all inclusive.

The standard of the beach varies greatly and at best is shingly sand (Kleopatra beach near the Riviera Hotel is nice and clean) as is the beach opposite the Grand Kaptan and the Syedra Princess (quite a way out of the resort on East beach).

Entertainment-wise there's not much happening at the end of season but we've been as a couple before in September and enjoyed the bars and clubs in and around the harbour (although these can tend to be quite expensive).

There are quite a few good steak houses around and we can recommend Don Corleone for their pasta and steak dishes. The Big Ben 5 minutes from Bonapart also serves a great range of dishes - there should be something there to please everyone - and the New Elvis bar just across the road is nice, say hello to Murat from Big Rambo and Mini Rambo!!

We got the bus from near the Big Bazaar to Side via Manavgat - it took us almost 2 hours and was painfully slow at times but we enjoyed the adventure, and got the little tractor train from Side bus depot into the town (just outside the roman ruins). Lunch at the Beach House Hotel overlooking the sea was lovely.

Alanya itself doesn't seem to cater so much for the Brits anymore, although there are plenty of English-speaking waiters willing to help. We travelled with an 11 week old baby and had no problem at all (we found nappies and nappy cream in the Afra supermarket just up from Big Ben) and had no problems breast-feeding him whenever I needed to. The Turks are very family orientated and made a real fuss of the baby every where we went.

Alanya itself is a shopper's paradise and you can't come away without treating yourself - whether it be a genuine fake handbag, sportswear or jewellery, mobile phones or computer games, you're bound to find something that takes your fancy.

I'd go again but not back to the Bonapart. I can only rate it as average although the staff were all lovely. If we go again we'll try the Grand Kaptain - a little further out of town but it's got a pool with water slides which is ideal for the kids, and the annexe rooms are very spacious.

The Grand Kaptan is situated in Tosmur which is a very quiet resort with just a couple of bars. We walked along the seafront towards Alanya for approx 10 mins and came to Oba. The people there are very friendly and prices a lot cheaper than Alanya town centre. We went into Alanya but never again it was extremely busy and hot. The shopkeepers did not seem to like Brits and on a number of occasions we were insulted because we wouldnt buy off them. Not our idea of fun