During our recent beach holiday in Turkey, we stayed at TUI BLUE Palm Garden, an all-inclusive beachfront hotel near Manavgat. Having previously visited several all-inclusive resorts in Turkey, we both agreed that this was the best one we have experienced in the country so far.

From the outstanding food and service to the relaxing beach setting and beautifully kept gardens, there was a lot to love about our stay. In this review, we share our full experience to help you decide if TUI BLUE Palm Garden is the right choice for your next Turkey all-inclusive holiday.

1. Why We Chose TUI BLUE Palm Garden

We spent a lot of time comparing all-inclusive hotels in Turkey before booking our holiday.

Food is always important to us when choosing an all-inclusive resort. There is little point paying for all-inclusive if the food becomes repetitive after a few days or if we constantly want to eat outside the hotel.

TUI BLUE Palm Garden caught our attention because it is branded as a Foodie hotel. Reviews repeatedly mentioned the food, and the photographs showed much more than the standard buffet selection.

We also prefer village-style hotels rather than one large accommodation block. Smaller buildings surrounded by gardens usually make a resort feel more spacious and give us somewhere pleasant to walk after meals.

Our main reasons for choosing TUI BLUE Palm Garden were:

• Its reputation as a TUI BLUE Foodie hotel
• Beachfront location
• Village-style hotel layout
• Positive guest reviews
• Good value for money

When comparing all-inclusive hotels in Antalya, Turkey, this one seemed to offer the right balance of food, beach access, activities and price.

The main compromise was the beach, which is a mixture of sand and pebbles rather than completely sandy. We usually prefer sandy beaches, but the other aspects of the hotel ticked the right boxes.

It turned out to be the right decision.

2. How to Get to TUI BLUE Palm Garden

We flew into Antalya Airport and had a shared coach transfer included in our package holiday.

The journey to TUI BLUE Palm Garden took approximately an hour and a half. The exact transfer time will depend on traffic and how many hotels your coach visits along the way.

It is not one of the closest all-inclusive hotels to Antalya Airport, but we did not find the transfer too difficult. After the flight and airport formalities, we were ready to arrive by the time we reached the hotel.

Families travelling with babies or young children may want to factor the transfer into their plans. A private transfer could potentially make the journey more direct, although we were satisfied with the shared transfer included in our booking.

TUI BLUE Palm Garden is in the Manavgat area and works well for travellers researching all-inclusive holidays in Side, Turkey, or the wider Antalya coast.

We also used the hotel as a base for a day trip to the Green Canyon near Manavgat. This allowed us to combine a relaxing Turkey beach holiday with a day of sightseeing away from the resort.

3. Reception, Lobby and Check-in Experience

Our first impression of TUI BLUE Palm Garden was excellent. Rather than completing the whole check-in process while standing at a busy reception desk, we were invited to sit down and fill in the necessary information.

The receptionist explained the hotel facilities, talked us through what we needed to know and answered our questions. The welcome felt personal and organised rather than rushed.

This was one of the best check-in experiences we have had at an all-inclusive hotel in Turkey.

We arrived late in the evening, after the main restaurant had closed. Once we had completed check-in, the receptionist showed us where to find the 24-hour snack bar in the lobby.

We had some food and drinks before making our way to the room. After travelling for most of the day, it was reassuring to know that we did not need to wait until breakfast.

The lobby also has a bar that stays open 24 hours a day, so it remains a useful part of the hotel throughout the stay rather than simply somewhere to pass through on arrival.

4. Hotel Grounds and Village-Style Layout

The village-style layout was one of our favourite things about TUI BLUE Palm Garden.

The rooms are spread across smaller buildings positioned within landscaped gardens. A long palm-lined path connects the accommodation buildings with the restaurant, swimming pool and beach.

The gardens were very well maintained, and we enjoyed walking through them each day. Our room was close to the main reception and lobby but was one of the furthest from the restaurant, swimming pool and beach. It generally took us around seven or eight minutes to walk to the sea.

This did not bother us because the route passed through the attractive hotel grounds. However, room location could make a difference if you have limited mobility or are travelling with very small children.

Guests who want to be closer to the beach may wish to request a room in that part of the resort. Others may prefer being near reception and the 24-hour snack bar, as we were.

The grounds made the hotel feel spacious without being difficult to navigate. After our first day, we knew where everything was. For anyone looking for a Turkish Riviera all-inclusive resort with gardens rather than a large high-rise building, the layout is a strong reason to consider TUI BLUE Palm Garden.

5. Our Room at TUI BLUE Palm Garden

Our room was spacious, bright and practical. We had a double bed, sofa, armchair and desk, with enough room to move around comfortably. Even with the additional seating, the room did not feel crowded.

The desk was useful for charging our devices, sorting photographs and checking the schedule in the TUI BLUE app.

There was also a large wardrobe with plenty of hanging space, shelves and drawers. This made it easy to organise our clothes, beachwear, shoes and day-trip essentials.

A safe was located inside the wardrobe and came in handy for storing our passports and valuables.

The room received plenty of natural light during the day, while the blackout curtains worked well when we wanted to sleep. They were particularly useful after our late arrival and on mornings when we did not want to wake up too early.

We had a garden-view balcony with a table and two chairs. It was an adequate size, although we mainly used it for drying our swimwear and towels overnight. The garden view suited the relaxed surroundings and was generally peaceful.

Our room was well positioned for reception but further from the beach. This meant we had easy access to the lobby and 24-hour snack bar, although every beach visit involved a short walk through the resort.

Overall, the room offered plenty of space and storage for an all-inclusive beach holiday in Turkey.

Bathroom

The bathroom was a decent size and included a walk-in shower, toilet with a bidet and a large mirror. The layout was practical, and there was enough space to get ready without feeling cramped. The walk-in shower was particularly useful after spending the day at the beach.

Standard toiletries were provided, although there was nothing especially memorable about them. They were perfectly adequate, but we would suggest bringing your own preferred shampoo, conditioner and other products.

More importantly, both the bedroom and bathroom were kept clean throughout our stay. The standard of housekeeping matched the cleanliness we saw across the restaurants, public areas and wider hotel grounds.

6. Food and Drinks at TUI BLUE Palm Garden

The food was the main highlight of our TUI BLUE Palm Garden stay.

People looking for an all-inclusive hotel in Turkey with good food should certainly consider this hotel. It offered one of the most varied and carefully presented all-inclusive dining experiences we have had.

TUI BLUE Palm Garden is marketed as a Foodie hotel, and in our experience it lived up to that description. At some all-inclusive resorts, the buffet appears extensive at first but quickly becomes repetitive. That was not our experience here.

The dishes changed regularly, the roast and live-cooking sections were consistently appealing, and the presentation remained impressive even during busy meal periods.

There was also a dedicated vegan section in the main restaurant. We did not explore it in detail, but it appeared to offer more than one or two basic options.

For families, there was a separate children’s buffet at lunch and dinner. It was very cute and displayed food at a height that younger guests could reach more easily.

Drinks were served at the table, so we did not need to leave our food every time we wanted water, wine, beer or a soft drink. We simply ordered from our waiter.

Support CheckinAway

Add us as a preferred source on Google

It helps our guides show up more often when you search.

Add now

→

6.1. Main Buffet Restaurant

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served in the main buffet restaurant.

There was a large choice at every meal, with indoor and outdoor seating available. Despite the number of guests, the dishes were replenished regularly and the displays remained tidy.

The quality was consistently high throughout our stay.

We never felt that the best dishes were limited to one themed evening or that the selection became noticeably weaker towards the end of a meal service.

Breakfast

Breakfast included a broad selection of homemade breads, pastries, eggs, omelettes, pancakes and waffles. The egg and omelette station allowed guests to order freshly prepared options, while the pancakes and waffles were popular with adults and children.

We particularly liked the freshly squeezed orange juice and the changing selection of smoothies. I had several glasses of orange juice each morning, while Paul usually ordered at least two strong Turkish coffees.

There was an excellent selection of fresh vegetables, salads and local cheeses, making it easy to enjoy a more traditional Turkish-style breakfast. We loved the extensive bread selection too.

The fruit selection was also extensive. During our stay, this included strawberries, watermelon, melon, apples, bananas and prepared fruit salads, among other options.

Cereals and muesli were available alongside overnight oats and chia puddings. Whether you prefer a cooked breakfast, pastries, fresh fruit or something lighter, there was plenty to choose from.

Lunch and Dinner

Lunch and dinner offered a varied selection of meat, fish, seafood, poultry, salads, vegetables, side dishes, fruit and desserts.

There was usually fresh fish alongside chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and other dishes. The roast section was particularly impressive and regularly included options such as roast beef, slow-cooked lamb, turkey and duck.

This did not feel like a buffet filled mainly with less expensive dishes. The hotel served a good range of higher-quality meat and seafood throughout the week, and most dishes were cooked well.

At dinner, we recommend looking out for the chef’s plate. These were smaller plated dishes prepared separately from the main buffet. Our favourites included lamb chops and meatball pasta served inside a Parmesan basket.

These dishes added a restaurant-style touch to the buffet and were definitely worth trying.

An outdoor Turkish section also opened in the evenings. It served local dishes, shawarma and other freshly prepared food. This was a good opportunity to try Turkish flavours alongside the international buffet selection.

Ice cream was available at both lunch and dinner.

Desserts

The dessert selection deserves its own mention. Inside the restaurant, there was a beautifully presented range of cakes, éclairs, puddings, banana toffee desserts and pastries.

An additional dessert station opened outside at dinner, serving different options freshly prepared for that evening. We particularly enjoyed the San Sebastián cheesecake and panna cotta.

Pistachio baklava was also available at dinner, although quantities were limited and it could disappear quickly. Other varieties, including walnut baklava, were more widely available.

There was always something appealing, although choosing only one or two desserts was often the bigger challenge.

6.2 Purple Turtle Beach Restaurant

Purple Turtle is located close to the beach and swimming pool. It serves lunch, afternoon snacks and drinks. At lunch, there was a choice of meat, salads, burgers and freshly prepared jacket potatoes.

The jacket potatoes were surprisingly popular. They were prepared to order, and guests could choose their preferred toppings.

We ate lunch at Purple Turtle twice, although we generally preferred the wider selection in the main restaurant.

Our highlight was the freshly prepared gözleme. Several fillings were available, including cheese, potato, Nutella and apple with cinnamon. We usually chose the traditional cheese version or the apple and cinnamon one.

These often became our pre-lunch snack. No judgement, please.

A good selection of fruit and desserts was also available, including baklava.

During the afternoon, Purple Turtle served homemade cookies, biscuits, fried desserts and fruit. We sometimes visited at around 5pm for a small snack before getting ready for dinner.

One advantage of a good Turkey all-inclusive holiday is not needing to organise your day around strict meal times, and Purple Turtle made it easy to find something between the main restaurant services.

6.3 À La Carte Restaurants

Guests staying for more than five nights receive one included visit to each of the hotel’s two à la carte restaurants.

Reservations are required, and it is worth booking early in your stay so you can choose suitable evenings.

Levante Restaurant

Levante offered the more traditional à la carte experience of the two restaurants. We started with a selection of mixed starters before moving on to prawns and beautifully cooked lamb and beef steaks.

We finished the meal with a lava cake dessert.

The food was well prepared, the service was attentive and the experience felt different enough from the buffet to make the reservation worthwhile. It was a relaxing evening and one of the more special meals of our stay.

Barbecue Restaurant

The barbecue restaurant is served outside near the beach. The setting was lovely, particularly as the evening light changed and the smell of the barbecue drifted across the dining area.

The format was closer to an upgraded self-service buffet than a conventional à la carte restaurant. Guests selected their own starters, meat, side dishes and desserts, while waiters took care of the drinks.

A lot of the food had appeared individually in the main restaurant during the week. However, the barbecue brought many of the more expensive meat and seafood options together in one place.

The selection included different cuts of beef, lamb, prawns, chicken and kebabs.

There was also a smoker serving smoked beef. I enjoyed it enough to go back for seconds, although Paul regularly uses a smoker at home and already treats us to some very good smoked meat.

The experience did not feel particularly exclusive because of the self-service format. However, the quality of the meat, the beachside location and the atmosphere created by the open barbecue made it an enjoyable evening.

We would still recommend booking it, but it is better to think of it as a premium barbecue buffet rather than a formal à la carte dinner.

6.4 The 24-Hour Snack Bar

The 24-hour snack bar is located in the main lobby and was one of the most practical facilities at the hotel. It serves sandwiches, fruit, chia puddings, desserts and other light snacks. Bottled water, juice, beer and additional drinks are also available.

The adjoining lobby bar is open 24 hours a day as well. We used the snack bar several times during our stay. It provided our late-night meal when we first arrived, and we picked up drinks and fruit before our Green Canyon day trip.

Before leaving for the airport, we also took some sandwiches and bottles of water for the journey.

It may not be the most glamorous part of the hotel, but it was one of the most useful. Knowing we could find food and drinks at any time made arrival, departure and excursion days much easier.

6.5 Bars and Drinks

TUI BLUE Palm Garden has several bars around the resort. The main bar is positioned between the restaurant and amphitheatre. It serves a wide choice of drinks and cocktails, which were consistently well presented and carefully prepared.

I regularly ordered the hibiscus lemonade, while Paul tried different cocktails and drank plenty of Turkish coffee.

The Purple Turtle bar serves both the pool and beach. Guests can walk to the bar and collect their own drinks, but there is also a much more convenient option.

You can order drinks directly to your sunbed through the TUI BLUE app. We loved this feature. Being able to order without leaving the beach made the days even more relaxing and was a genuine highlight of the service.

During the day, we drank Turkish coffee, Turkish tea and ayran. We also tried a surprisingly refreshing matcha drink made with ayran and orange juice.

There is another bar inside the main restaurant, as well as the lobby bar that stays open 24 hours. The drinks selection was varied, and we appreciated that cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks received the same attention to presentation as the food.

7. Beach at TUI BLUE Palm Garden

We spend most of our time at the beach during an all-inclusive holiday, so this was an important part of our experience. TUI BLUE Palm Garden has a long and wide beach with a mixture of sand and pebbles.

We strongly recommend bringing aqua shoes, particularly for entering and leaving the water. We usually choose a sandy beach, so the pebbles were the main compromise we made when booking. However, the facilities and beach service helped compensate for this.

We did not struggle to find sunbeds during our stay. The standard sunbeds had overhead shade, providing protection during the hottest parts of the day.

There were also hammocks and beanbags around the beach.

A pier extends into the sea and provides another way to enter the water. This is useful if you want to avoid walking across the pebbles, or you can simply sit on the pier and enjoy the view.

We spent every day at the beach. Paul regularly went paddleboarding, while I used one of the kayaks. There were also inflatable structures in the sea that hotel guests could use without paying extra.

For those interested in additional activities, there is a water sports centre at one end of the beach. Some of these activities cost extra. Beach volleyball courts were available too.

The beach service was one of the best parts of this beachfront all-inclusive hotel in Antalya. Having drinks delivered to our sunbeds through the app contributed significantly to our experience.

Paid premium loungers were also available. These included additional facilities such as a small refrigerator, safe and enhanced beach service. We did not book one, as the standard sunbeds and included service were more than sufficient for us. However, we saw quite a few guests using them.

Despite the pebbles, we loved our time at the beach and would happily spend our days there again.

8. Swimming Pool and Waterslides

The hotel has a large main swimming pool with waterslides.

We did not spend much time beside the pool because we nearly always prefer the sea. The main exception was a pool party held as part of the evening entertainment programme.

The pool area was noticeably busier than the beach. A towel station is located nearby. Guests receive a towel card and can exchange it for a fresh beach or pool towel each day.

Families searching for an all-inclusive hotel with waterslides in Turkey will probably use this area much more than we did. It was lively and conveniently positioned near Purple Turtle, but the quieter beach suited us better.

9. Entertainment and Activities

The daytime activity programme was one of the most varied we have seen at an all-inclusive resort in Turkey.

Alongside familiar activities such as beach volleyball, darts, archery and aqua gym, the hotel offered several classes and experiences that we had not regularly encountered elsewhere.

These included:

• Tai chi
• Belly dancing
• Trampoline fitness
• Aqua cycling
• Aerial yoga
• Bungee fitness
• Kinesiology taping
• Mountain biking at an additional cost

We joined some of the activities and appreciated having more unusual choices alongside the standard resort programme. Schedules could be checked through the TUI BLUE app, making it easier to plan the day.

We also joined a tour of the hotel kitchen. Unfortunately, this was much shorter and less detailed than the excellent kitchen tour we experienced at TUI MAGIC LIFE Redsina in Sharm El Sheikh.

Considering how impressive the food operation was, we would have liked to learn more about the kitchens, preparation process and teams working behind the scenes.

9.1 Evening Entertainment

The evening entertainment was good overall, but not amazing every night.

Our visit coincided with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and many football matches were shown on the large screen in the amphitheatre. This affected the usual entertainment schedule.

We ended up with three bingo nights during our seven-day stay, which felt repetitive. The strongest performances were delivered by external professional acts. We particularly enjoyed the acrobatic dancers and the Turkish Anatolia performance.

Live music followed the main entertainment each evening.

Different singers, musicians and bands performed during the week, so there was a good variety of styles. We often stayed to listen and found the live music a pleasant way to finish the day.

The entertainment programme was not the main reason we would return, but we enjoyed several of the performances. Outside a major football tournament, the schedule may also be more varied.

10. Other Hotel Facilities

TUI BLUE Palm Garden has several additional facilities that are useful during a longer stay. These include shops, medical services and a hairdresser. Thankfully, we did not need to use the medical facilities, unlike during our stay at TUI BLUE Palm Beach Hammamet.

I did, however, have a haircut while we were there.

The most useful facility for us was the Farewell Lounge. Our return flight was in the evening, leaving several hours between checking out and travelling to Antalya Airport.

Instead of paying for late checkout, we spent the day at the beach as normal.The Farewell Lounge has showers, toilets, changing facilities and lockers. We were able to shower, change and get ready for dinner before our airport transfer.

This was an excellent facility and made our departure day much more enjoyable. We did not have to spend the afternoon sitting in the lobby or travel home after a beach day without being able to freshen up.

More all-inclusive hotels in Turkey should offer something similar.

11. Service, Cleanliness and Overall Experience

The service was consistently excellent throughout our stay. Our personal check-in created a positive first impression, and the same standard continued in the restaurants, bars, lobby and beach areas.

Staff members were friendly, efficient and attentive without being intrusive. Drinks orders were handled promptly, while food stations were regularly replenished and cleaned.

The level of cleanliness across the hotel was reassuring. Our room, the restaurant areas, gardens, beach facilities and public spaces were all maintained to a high standard.

We also noticed the attention paid to food presentation and hygiene. The buffet remained organised and appealing, including during busy services.

For us, this combination of good food, cleanliness and genuine service separated TUI BLUE Palm Garden from several other Turkey all-inclusive hotels we have experienced.

12. Is TUI BLUE Palm Garden Good for Families?

TUI BLUE Palm Garden is very well suited to families, including those travelling with babies and younger children. During our stay, we saw many families with small children.

The children’s buffet, swimming pool, waterslides, beach activities and entertainment programme all make the hotel a practical choice for an all-inclusive family holiday in Turkey.

Baby facilities are also available, although we did not use them ourselves. Despite being family friendly, the hotel still worked well for us as a couple.

The grounds are large enough to find quieter areas, particularly around the beach, and the quality of the food and drinks gives adults plenty to enjoy.

Couples wanting a completely adults-only atmosphere may prefer another property, but we never felt that the hotel’s family focus prevented us from relaxing.

13. BLUE Palm Garden Frequently Asked Questions

14. Final Thoughts: Is TUI BLUE Palm Garden Worth It?

We had an excellent stay at TUI BLUE Palm Garden and would happily return.

The food was the biggest highlight. From freshly squeezed orange juice and Turkish coffee at breakfast to chef’s plates, slow-cooked meat, gözleme, pistachio baklava and carefully presented desserts, the hotel maintained an impressive standard throughout the week.

We also loved the beachfront location, village-style layout, attractive gardens and sunbed drinks service through the TUI BLUE app.

The room was spacious, storage was generous, and practical facilities such as the 24-hour snack bar and Farewell Lounge made both our arrival and departure easier.

There were a few areas that could have been better.

The pebbly beach will not suit everyone, some rooms involve a longer walk to the main facilities, and the evening entertainment became repetitive because the football disrupted the normal programme.

The kitchen tour was also much less detailed than we expected.

However, these points did not significantly affect our overall experience.

TUI BLUE Palm Garden is a particularly good choice for travellers looking for a beachfront all-inclusive hotel in Turkey with excellent food, attentive service and high standards of cleanliness.

It works well for families, but couples can also have a relaxing and enjoyable stay.

Of all the all-inclusive hotels in Turkey we have visited, this was our favourite so far.

We would recommend TUI BLUE Palm Garden without hesitation and are already inclined to return.

---

---

---