With eyes closed, I stood in a pool under the hot midday sun, cold beer in hand while a gentle mist danced on the breeze and a hydrotherapy jet massaged my legs. Bliss.
Except it wasn’t. As my daughter snapped me back to reality with a pull of my leg, I opened my eyes to find myself standing in the middle of a children’s splash park. The mist was coming from a cluster of nearby pirate-themed water slides and the stream pummelling my legs was shooting from a grinning turtle bolted to the tiles.
We were on our first family getaway at Mövenpick Resort Antalya Tekirova on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast, my wife Freya and I, and our one-year-old daughter, Effie.
Not so long ago, an all-inclusive resort with shrieking kids and colourful plastic was my idea of holiday hell. But I was converted by seven nights at this five-star hotel, courtesy of Jet2 — it turns out cherished memories are easily made when everything is taken care of for you.
Getting to Turkey with a tot
Travelling with a child changes everything, from how you get there to where you stay. But the apprehension of heading into the unknown with our little one proved to be unfounded.
Fears of a meltdown on the four-hour flight from London Stansted were removed by a busy book (which I can’t recommend for parents of toddlers enough), and a severe turbulence warning mid-nappy change also kept Effie more than entertained as dada’s head smashed off the plane’s toilet door.
A private transfer from Antalya International Airport to our hotel came with a car seat, air conditioning and fridges stocked with cold drinks. The 75-minute return journey adds about £180 to your trip, but if it’s a luxury you can afford, it’s worth every penny.
Mövenpick review
Most of my recent hotel experiences have been in a Travelodge, booked for a cheap place to crash after a wedding. Our stay at Mövenpick was the opposite.
Perfect for young families, the ‘Experience’ mini-apartment has a living room, separate bedroom, two bathrooms, two TVs, a Nespresso machine and a balcony where Effie could indulge in cat-watching.
For the first year of Effie’s life, we endured sleep deprivation similar to what I imagine is inflicted during SAS interrogations. A change in time zone and routine could have thrown us back onto the front lines, but instead, the room provided the perfect sleep environment for all three of us.
A cot set up at the end of our bed meant that once Effie was down in the evenings, Freya and I could sit on the balcony and have a drink, or relax on the sofa without fear of waking her.
Red flags
As much as I tried to avoid it, the splash park got us eventually. The main pool was too deep for Effie to play in with freedom and paddling in the shallows of the sea on the stony private beach was less fun without the sand.
We spent hours playing there each day, with Effie running from one thing to the next, content and safe, while making new international friends using the universal language of toddlers.
She braved some of the children’s water slides in the next pool, and demanded daily that I did the ‘big ones’ next door while she watched from her sun lounger. Despite my reservations, after a couple of sheer drops – plus a couple of souvenir bruises – I was converted.
The personal touch
As Effie is allergic to dairy and sesame, we were worried about access to food that is safe for her to eat while we were away.
Our fears were assuaged on the first morning when Hassan, a member of the guest relations team, spoke to us about our daughter’s allergies and asked us to construct a menu we would like her to be served in the restaurant, which the chefs would cook separately for her each day.
Hassan met us before every meal, walked us to a table and waited until Effie’s food was served. It went above and beyond anything we could ever have expected.
Tekirova and beyond: What to do outside the resort
To avoid a long drive and a costly taxi to Antalya, head to nearby Kemer instead. Kemer has a wide beach and a marina with mountain backdrops, as well as shops ranging from known brands to independent stores.
We dined at Kitchen, a Turkish Mediterranean fusion restaurant with positive reviews that recommend the chicken shish and steak. Main dishes are around 350 Turkish Lira (£7.60) while some meat dishes go up to 600 Lira (£13). With two beers, a bottle of water, a sharing salad, flatbread starter and two mains, our final bill came to around £40.
Tekirova is about a 15-minute drive from Phaselis, which was once a Greek and Roman city where you’ll find well-preserved ruins dating back 2,600 years, including city walls, a theatre and Roman baths. Entrance is £8 per person and it’s a £30 return taxi fare from the resort.
The picturesque Mount Tahtalı, part of Beydağları Coastal National Park, is also nearby, and you can explore it by cable car at a cost of roughly £33 per adult.
As vegetarians, Freya and I did find ourselves running out of options by the end of the week. But for everyone else that’s where the resort’s other offerings come in.
There’s a choice of a speciality fish restaurant, Chinese and a pool bar serving doner wraps and burgers that looked good enough to turn anyone carnivore.
Also on-site are mini ‘food villages’ – small huts serving up everything from wood-fired pizzas to chips and chocolate waffles.
The bars served brands from Becks to Aperol but my best discovery of the holiday was Bomonti, a smooth Turkish beer. The bartender was keen to show you can shake the bottle as much as you want without it exploding in your face. Find it, buy it, drink it.
In the end, a package at a resort that included my biggest red flag turned out to be the perfect choice for our first family holiday.
It’s a far cry from the days where all-inclusive meant all the tequila, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Don’t knock something until you’ve tried it. Give the waterslides a go.
Luke Matthews was a guest of Jet2.
Seven nights all-inclusive at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in September 2025 from £1,607 per person with Jet2. Based on 2 adults sharing, including a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers. One child can holiday for no extra cost. Standalone flights from Stansted to Antalya with Jet2 this month start from £51.
