Club Med Palmiye

About the Hotel

Based in a wonderfully scenic position between the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus Mountains, Club Med Palmiye is a great place to come and stay. It offers a wonderful venue with an 800m beach nearby to relax on as well as pools in the hotel to enjoy. Likewise, you can enjoy numerous events such as tennis on 12 different courts, flying trapeze events and even a CARITA spa to enjoy whilst you are here!

As far as luxury goes, this makes sure families can truly enjoy Turkey.

Hotel Accommodation

Like any hotel you would wish to stay at, the quality of the accommodation is brilliant. With 724 rooms in total with both hotel and bungalow sections to pick from, you’ll have no problem finding somewhere that ticks every box. With the bungalows in five semi-circular rows around the resort with stunning gardens adding to their feel, you can definitely feel at home in the accommodation here.

Each suite and club is going to give you a wonderful view of the world around you, making sure you can look out on the sea with ease.

Hotel Restaurants

Trying to find a bite to eat? Then Club Med Palmiye has you covered. The Phaselis is one of the main restaurants here and provides you with meals during the day at any time from breakfast to dinner. It’s got low-caloric selections for those who want to avoid going overboard.

You also get wonderful restaurants like The Topkapi, a restaurant that sells awesome roasted and grilled meats. Le Bosphore is another good choice with breakfast and lunch choices galore. Come back at night and you’ll get some amazing local cuisine to try.

Hotel Bars

If you fancy a little refreshment during the day, then the Tulip Bar is the place to start off. It can fit as many as 100 people and it has everything from pool games to kids sections so you can all stay together. The Turkuaz is another great place to go and check out, giving you a wonderful view of the site and the chance to try some excellent Turkish cocktail drinks.

Lastly, the Efes bar is another major place to check out here. With excellent cocktails and a more low-key atmosphere this is a good place to sit if you want to try and avoid too much chaos around you when having a drink.

Hotel Facilities

From table tennis and swimming pools to lounges and kayaking, you can enjoy so many different features and activities here thanks to the wonderful selection. You can even join a fitness school, or take up archery! Just don’t forget to bring all the essentials like that replacement bowstring.

The people who run this hotel have done a wonderful job of making sure it’s highly inclusive. There’s even a facility for babies up to 23 months old, meaning that you can have the youngest looked after whilst you relax a little.

Childcare is first rate here, and alongside the excellent bars, venues, sporting locations and social sections you’ll find this hotel captures everything you may have expected to see.

For anyone wanting to find a scenic view in Turkey that delivers on quality and consistency, Club Med Palmiye is the place to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz_Pn5XetCM

In summary:

Club Med Palmiye is a truly amazing resort and the team of staff from the GO’s to the waiters and chefs are second to none. There are at least 250 GO’s (guest organisers) in the resort.
There is so much included in the price of the holiday with lots of sports and watersports including:

Tennis
Power Walking
Aquarobics
Football
Beach Volleyball
Ping pong tables
Fitness Room
Pilates
Archery
Zumba
Sailing lessons
Windsurfing
Kayaks
Paddle Boards
Snorkelling
Water Ski-ing

Read all about my stay at Club Med Palmiye and My Visit to Club Med Palmiye

If you would like more information on Club Med or To Book Then Please Call: 0114 3273436 or Email: jackief@travel-pa.com

Ship: Eclipse
Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises
Departures: 30 September 2016
Duration: 3 nights
Ports: Southampton, Zeebrugge, Cherbourg, CRUISECO CHARTER
Airport gateway (Arrival) :Southampton
Airport gateway (Departure) :Southampton

After 5 hugely successful years rocking the waters of Australia – Rock The Boat has arrived in the UK for the very first time! Boasting a star studded line-up like no other ever assembled on water. The very best British legends of rock are coming together onboard Celebrity Eclipse for 3 glorious nights of pure Rock & Roll. Join us onboard for the most iconic music festival at sea and let’s Rock The Boat!

The Rock the Boat Cruise Experience Includes:

• 3 night cruise aboard Celebrity Eclipse
• Ports of call include: Southampton, Zeebrugge, (for Bruges) Belgium, Cherbourg, (for Saint Mont Michel), France
• All meals(exclu. specialty restaurants), entertainment and gratuities onboard (excluding drinks)
• Port charges and government taxes

The Stars

Gerry and The Pacemakers

The Searchers

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

Brian Poole & Chip Hawkes

The Troggs

The Merseybeats

The Fortunes

Antonio & Kate Villano

The Fourmost

Captain Howdy

The Dakotas

Plus many more!

The Entertainment

• Live performances from the very best in British Rock ‘n’ Roll artists
• Daily Rock ‘n’ Roll dancing lessons and performances
• Artist signing/ meet & greet
• Fortunes Casino
• Piano Bar
• Poolside

Our journey to the Seychelles started at Heathrow where we had booked the Skyteam Lounge in Terminal 4. Very impressed with the lounge which is on two levels. There was a hot and cold buffet on offer along with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages which you can just help yourself too.

We then flew on Ethiad Airways to Abu Dhabi which is around a 7-hour flight. This was on the new A380 Airbus so a huge aircraft with bigger than average seats. We went for a look in business class with the full flat bed seats and then into First Class which has compartment seating and looked so comfortable and expensive ! There is also a Residence onboard which is catered for two people at around £18000 return – very nice

We had around a two-hour connection in Abu Dhabi which was just long enough to look around the Duty-Free and then onboard for the flight to Mahe. This flight was around 4 hours 45 minutes, it is amazing how quick the flights seemed to be, I think the break in journey helped a lot

On arrival at Mahe we were met by the Rep from Masons Travel and transferred to our first hotel of our five night stay.

Banyan Tree on Praslin – We were taken straight to our Beachfront Pool villa. Wow! what a beautiful villa in a beautiful setting. You walk in through the front door where there is a massive double bed which looks straight out onto the private pool. To ensure that the double bed is soft, options from the Bear Mattress Reviews may have been chosen. The bathroom is at the back of the villa with a separate shower cubicle and a walk in wardrobe. Slippers and bathrobes are provided for your comfort. The villa feels very spacious with a seat on one side and dressing table and chair on the other side.

Outside there is the private pool which is a great size for two people with a covered seating area with sofa and table just to the left of it. There is alos an outside Jacuzzi and outside shower if you want to try al fresco washing.

There are two sun loungers in the garden and the best bit is that you can walk right onto the beach from the garden. The beach is absolutely stunning with crystal clear water and perfect white sand. There was an absence of sun loungers on the beach but we found out later that the law in the Seychelles prevents hoteliers from having them on the beach due to the high tides and to preserve the ambiance of a beautiful beach.

We spent a couple of hours on the beach and in the sea although the sea was very rough and you couldn’t swim in it. There was a storm in Madagascar which was causing some very high waves and rough sea in the Seychelles.

In the evening, we had a hosted dinner in the Saffron restaurant  which is Thai Cuisine in a very Asian-inspired setting. We were served a three-course Thai menu with a mixture of different dishes which went went down very well with everyone, some were a little hotter than others and I had to gulp some water down a few times during the night. The wine glasses were huge!!
After dinner we went to the hotel bar for a night cap before bed. The average price for a glass of wine was around 230 Rupees which works out to around £10 and a cocktail was around 300 Rupees which is approx. £15

 Banyan Tree Opinion –

First impressions was that the Banyan Tree is really for people who want to get away from it all and to do absolutely nothing. According to the manager of the hotel a lot of people choose to stay in their accommodations rather than venture out.

To get around the resort as quite spread out,there are little golf buggies to take you and there is a variety of accommodation to choose from.

There are a few dining options here together with in villa dining options. After dinner we sat in an area overlooking the fabulous beach whereby you could have a good variety of drinks to choose from whether hot or cold. After having visited some other hotels after the Banyan we did pick up that it is more expensive drink wise at this hotel.

There is also a dive centre nearby if you wish to go on boat trips, snorkel or dive.

The Banyan Tree is only recommended for people who want an extremely quiet hotel and would recommend it for a few nights combined with another hotel. They confirmed that most customers stay on average 3 to 5 nights.

We transferred over to the Four Seasons Hotel for a site inspection. This is a very impressive hotel and fairly large.

Four Seasons – Mahe

First impressions were that this resort is very spread out with the accommodation dotted around on the hillside. At the top the views are stunning with total greenery and the turquoise blue sea lifting the colours of the land and a white sandy beach. The only way to get around is the golf buggies as it is extremely hilly. There are all types of villa and suite accommodation all very spacious and some with infinity pools. The views from the rooms will not disappoint.
The beach offers snorkelling, surfing and stand up paddle boarding these are just some of things available. Not forgetting families as the hotel caters well for children and there are programmes for children aged 4 to 12 and also aged from 9 to 15 years. The area is also great for walkers and joggers .
There are a couple of restaurants here offering fine dining/ international cuisine and cocktails.
The spa offers all sort of treatments even a night spa is possible . It’s location overlooks all the greenery.
To conclude this hotel is very much all about the views. We did not stay here but it looked like it had more going on than Banyan Tree.

We left the Four Seasons resort and hit quite a downpour of rain, when it rains in the Seychelles it rains!

Then we went for lunch on Eden Island to the Bravo Restaurant. This sits on the edge of the marina with fabulous views across the bridge and the island of Mahe.

The restaurant is very casual and has a great lunch menu. The portion sizes were huge and very reasonably priced too.

Then we had a tour around Victoria the Capital city and went to look at the local market where they sell fish and spices and fruit and veg. Not as big as I was expecting – nothing like the markets back home.

H Resort Hotel

Our room was a Junior Suite with views of the garden. It had a large balcony with big table and chairs and a sofa. Twin four poster beds with drapes. Lovely sized bathroom with his and her sinks, large shower and bath tub.

We had drinks in the garden of the H Resort before having dinner in the buffet restaurant. There was so much to choose from including freshly cooked pizza. The small portion size little desserts were lovely.
After dinner we went to Traders Restaurant which is on site of the hotel and had drinks and listened to the live Cuban band. Great place to have drinks and a boogie.

The H Resort Conclusion

Situated about 10 min’s drive from Victoria, and situated just off the main road, the entrance to the hotel is over a wooded walk way to the main reception area, which is a large open area, which also has the lobby bar, and walk out to the pool & beach area.
The rooms are spacious and comfortable, but please remember the bathroom in not enclosed the toilet & shower have glass semi frosted doors, and the bath tub is open, although a French shutter style blind can be used between the bath tub & beds.
The balcony has table & chairs and a large day bed to lounge on
Jnr Suite Rooms are situated in block and offer garden view rooms, although sea facing none are advertised with sea view due to trees obstructing view. Villas are more to the beach and have their own pool, but not private.
All rooms have Tea & Coffee facilities which are complimentary, Mini Bar payable
There are lots of choices of restaurants& Bars (7 in total) offering a mixture of cuisines, even to private dining where the Chef cooks what you want to eat !
Mainly booked on Bed-Breakfast with an HB upgrade, HB can be used in A la Carte restaurants, where you will get a credit towards meals (drinks not included)
Trader Vic’s opens until 1am and becomes a music bar (Cuban ) if you want a little entertainment and a late cocktail
Children Club & Spa available at hotel This hotel is would be great for families or couples which still like a little something happening in the evening, it is reasonably priced and the bar prices are similar to London prices in my opinion

To Enquire or Book Your Trip To The Seychelles Call: 0114 3273436

Slept well and they have black out Curtains too so you forget that is morning when you wake up.
Went down for breakfast in the main hotel buffet restaurant. Which opens from 7.30am to 10.45am or you can go to the Bosphore Restaurant for waiter service late breakfast 10.30am to 12pm. There was a very good selection of hot and cold food. Plus a drinks machine for hot drinks. Sat at a table on my own. Wasn’t sure if they would sit me with other people but no I sat very nicely on my own with a view of the pool and sea.
Someone did try to sit at my table but then realised I was there. When I saw her later she said I looked very sophisticated, far too sophisticated to be English! I said she wouldn’t have said that if she’d seen me in the bar last night lol

Went to have a look at the Zen pool in the main hotel. Absolutely stunning but the beds were all in the shade at around 10am so I went round the main hotel pool which faces the sea. It is was a lovely 24 degrees at the start of the trip but towards the end of the week after a day of rain,  it went up to around 36 degrees.

Around 12ish they serve little pastries and sandwiches near all the pool areas – nice little snack

Then lunch at the Olympus Buffett restaurant in the village part of the hotel. Fantastic choice of food – really really impressed. The desserts were so good. Lunch is served here every day from 12.30pm to 02.45pm or you can have a late lunch in the Bosphore Restuarant.

Then we had site inspection of the hotel. It’s such a massive complex. Went to see a suite in the main hotel which has a separate living area and two balconies. Plus a bath and shower in the bathroom

We had a go at tennis and I surprised myself by actually getting the ball over the net!! There are free tennis lessons every day for beginners and intermediate, or you can just  go and use a court whenever you wanted too.

We were then taken to the archery courts – I really enjoyed this but hard work. Managed to hit the board so was quite pleased with myself. Your arm would arm if you did it more than a few times so that’s my excuse for not doing it again. Again you can go along whenever you like to practise and it is all included in the price.

In the evening they always have a dress code which is not compulsory but it adds a nice feel to the evening. Again you can either eat in the main hotel restaurant or you can book a reservation at the Bosphore Restaurant for an a la carte meal, which 4 of us did one night.

Went to the Efes nightclub most nights and it was always busy with guests and GO’s. There was a beach party one night with fires on the beach and dancing.

Went on the snorkelling boat trip from the hotel which is included and goes twice a day at 10am and 3pm. Around a 30 minute journey which was nice and smooth and quite relaxing. Then anchored up for an hour to do snorkelling. The sea was a bit rough so not much to see in terms of fish but it was good to go out and about for a couple of hours.

Ate in the specialty restaurant Bosforus which was really lovely. Had a Turkish mezze and then pumpkin soup – didn’t really taste of pumpkin soup which was good as I don’t actually like pumpkins. Then had shrimps in an asparagus sauce omg they were delicious. Then had beef and roasted vegetables that came out on a steaming hot skillet. Followed by chocolate fondue – the presentation was fabulous with a little spoon shape sprinkled out on the side. The chef came out to see us, to check if we had enjoyed our meal and to find out what the service was like.  It was a nice change from eating in the Buffett restaurant.  We had forgotten to make the reservation so one of the GO’s who we speaking to the previous night in the club booked it for us.

A few of us went into Kemer to watch the football in a local pub. Kemer is lovely with lots of shops and bars with a market once a week. It is a shame it is so quiet as so many tourists are staying away from Turkey.

When we came back to the hotel I noticed how good the security is. You had to walk through a scanner to get back into the hotel if by taxi. If a coach was dropping guests off then they check under the car with mirrors. It is the same at Antalya Airport too the bags go through scanning machines twice and you have to go through two lots of passport control.

On the last night the theme was White night – amazing.  Displays of fruit and vegetables cut out to look like flowers. There was a violin band playing. It looked absolutely stunning as they saw this first at nt-instruments.com cecilio electric violin and brought them at affordable price. All of the tables had been moved around the pool area and covered with white cloths and white center table decoriations.

Dinner as always was fantastic, I have never stayed anywhere with so much choice of food. They really do work so hard in the kitchens. There is always such an array of desserts on offer, every night I made the decision not to have any until I walked past the dessert table and then of course it would have been rude not too.

After the white night dinner there was a firework display which had me filling up as it was so emotional with it being the end of the trip and how much trouble they had gone too to make it so wonderful for us

We then went down to the Amphtheatre where they have a show every night and we watched the Michael Jackson concert which was the best show I’ve ever seen. Every one singing along and so professional. Again the entertainment staff and GO’s work so hard to put these shows on for people.

As if that wasnt enough we then went to the Efes nightclub and one of the pople on the trip  had booked the VIP area in the club with champagne. It was fabulous and made a real finish to the whole wonderful trip. The club look superb with everyone in the club dressed in white.

In summary:

Club Med Palmiye is a truly amazing resort and the team of staff from the GO’s to the waiters and chefs are second to none. There are at least 250 GO’s (guest organisers) in the resort.
There is so much included in the price of the holiday with lots of sports and watersports including:

Tennis
Power Walking
Aquarobics
Football
Beach Volleyball
Ping pong tables
Fitness Room
Pilates
Archery
Zumba
Sailing lessons
Windsurfing
Kayaks
Paddle Boards
Snorkelling
Water Ski-ing

The food is 5* with so much choice and fantastic quality. You get breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and a kebab place is open from 10pm to 1.30am

There are 4 pools in total: Two Zen pools, one in the main hotel and the other at the village side. The party pool is in the village, this is where the animation team are based to get people joining into the activities.

You can ask for any drink you want including cocktails (champagne is extra) and if you are in the restaurant and ask for a glass of wine they will bring you the bottle.

The setting is out of this world with the most stunning views and it has such a great ambience in the whole of the resort

The kids club are fantastic and run throughout the day with lots of things to keep the little ones busy.

You can do as little or as much as you want at Club Med Palmiye, the choice is completely up to you.

I have left a little piece of my heart at Club Med Palmiye

 To book your stay at Club Med Palmiye please call 0114 3273436

Arrived at Birmingham airport for the meet and greet service about 5.30am.
This is not what I would class as meet and greet. You Park in the car park  opposite the terminal after you have drove around to find which bit you are supposed to be in. You then leave your car there and walk across the car park to the terminal.

The terminal was very busy. There were two queues for Thomas cook, one for bag drops and the other to check in. A word of advice would be to make sure you check in online the day before as the queue for bag drop was much smaller than the check in queue. At 5.50am there was a chap who was flying at 7am and was in the check in queue. He would have struggled to get his flight

There was a big queue for passport control but it did go down very quickly. You can also buy a fast track ticket for this to get through quicker. There were machines for this just before you go through security

Quite a choice of shops in the terminal including a champagne bar. Got my boots meal deal for the flight. Much cheaper than buying a meal on the flight

It’s 6.40am now and I’m tired already lol. Will see if I can kip on the flight, forgotten my ear phones for my phone !!

Turkey is two hours ahead of the UK so will land 1450 local time.

Flight took off pretty much on time. Looked through the duty free magazine and decided to treat myself to a two pair set of prescription sunglasses to replace my good old primark ones. So on the flight I was picturing myself wearing these stylish glasses round the pool while reading the new book “Me before you ” that I bought at the airport which I have now read nearly half way through it on the flight,  only to find that the duty free magazine I was looking at was for one that you preorder for the return flight home !!! What ?! So the fabulous sunglasses I would not be able to wear until I got back to the UK!! Suddenly the appeal of them diminished as quickly as I slammed the magazine shut. Will just have to make do with my primark ones for now.
The stewardess just announced its a nice 26 degrees in Antalya. Lovely…

Flight arrived on time and we were greeted by Club Med staff for our transfer to Club Med Palmiye which took about 40 minutes. When you walk into the foyer the view is stunning.

My Deluxe Sea View Room is on the first floor in the main hotel section and the view is amazing. You can see the pool and the sea too very panoramic.  Couldn’t have wished for a better view. The room is a good size with a double bed which could harmonize with products like the customize blanket with In2Green. Plenty of wardrobe space with dressing gowns and slippers. Bathroom is on the small side but does have a very big shower. All in all it is a lovely room that I will be happy to stay in for the next 7 nights

As we didn’t get here until around 5pm I was very hungry so went to find somewhere to eat. There is a restaurant called Bospherous which is just to the left of the main hotel. It is waiter service and I had a lovely kofta kebab and a delicious cheesecake dessert. I asked for a glass of wine and they gave me the whole bottle !!

So now back to room to get ready for tonight. Very tired so I am expecting an early night but who knows.  Went down to the main bar which is in the hotel part of the resort and got talking to some of the other people who are on the trip. The main hotel bar closes at 12am and if you want to carry on drinking you can carry on to Efes nightclub which opens until 2am

It was a lovely night and fairly cool too as the hotel is north facing,  the staff come round with blankets in case you get cold on an evening which is a nice touch.

Went to bed around 12.30 ready for a good nights sleep