Family hotel recommendation for Greece/Turkey please!

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Hi, would love some help on finding a hotel in either Greece or Turkey for a week in June.

Two adults, 4 year old and 9 month old
Good swimming pools, particularly for pre-schooler (toddler pool or something to splash in)
Near to a beach with shallow water for paddling and sand for sandcastles
A suite/room/apartment that allows the adults to sit and have a conversation in the evening rather than having to creep around - 4 year old a light sleeper!

I was hoping for all inclusive so I don't have to do any food prep for a week but would consider something different.

Not bothered about entertainment or kids clubs or anything like that.

I am driving myself mad looking at TUI etc! I thought narrowing down the countries would make it easier but apparently not!

Thank you in advance 🙂

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If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best hotels Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

Greece

😎Arminda Hotel & Spa, Crete

😎Blue Sea Beach Hotel, Crete

😎Lyttos Beach Resort, Crete

Turkey

😎Liberty Hotels Lykia, Dalaman

😎Club Tuana, Fethiye

😎Magic life Masmavi, Belek

For more inspo, check out our guides to the best family hotels in Greece, the best Greek islands for families, and the best family hotels in Turkey, all featuring recommendations from Mumsnetters.

MNHQ

What kind of price range?

About 3000, which I thought was really decent until I started my research - I'm a bit out of touch with how much hotels cost I think! I'd happily go for self catering or B and B if it was an area with lots of restaurants/cafes around. I'm more into a lovely beach and places to easily visit and it being young child friendly. If it were Turkey, I've no idea where is best in terms of area even! Thanks!

There are hotels in Turkey that fit your criteria within your budget but they’re a fairly long transfer from the nearest big airport. What time of year are you thinking of?

Thanks, I hadn’t thought about that. Was thinking of June for a week, probably one of the first two weeks

We went to Arminda Hotel in Crete in June last year with 3.5 and 1.5 year old. It was great for their ages. Good toddler pool under a sun shade, few slides, splash park, play area under a shade too, mini disco in the evening which our eldest loved. They did have a children's club for older children but younger children could go along and play with the toys and get face painted. Beach just a minute away and completely calm. There wasn't much to do locally though, we took a taxi to an aquarium and dinosaur park on one day but otherwise just spent our time in the pools.

Would you consider Canary islands? I think there's more to do in terms of sightseeing or days out for young children if you want to be out exploring.

As PP said, just watch the transfer times. We're looking at Majorca this year but everything child friendly seems to be 2+ hours from airport which I'm not sure I can face with squirming children on our laps! Might be worth budgeting in private transfers if you find somewhere you love that's a bit too far by coach.

Hi, thanks, this is so helpful! Will look that hotel up. I actually started with Canary Islands but then found out pools and sea are freezing! I was also worried they are tacky in places and couldn't work out which areas are best (we have family members who go there for very different holidays to what we are looking for!) If you could recommend anywhere though, I'd definitley be interested, it also seems a bit cheaper, which is a big plus!

We had a similar wish list to you & We've booked Stalis, Crete for summer

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/greece/crete/hotel-blue-sea-beach-by-melia?esl-k=sem-google%7Cng%7Cc680312316910%7Cmp%7Ckhotel%20blue%20sea%20beach%20melia%7Cp%7Ct%7Cdm%7Ca137497914453%7Cg14804758028&&gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADjC5K1AsXO9wHmTTpWvbDd4GFy-d&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwvKtBhDrARIsAJj-kTgDGHIR6jQfHJB0jJl3tH61cVHI9wgdYu1rI6I99sMqcgotXZwqp5QaApf5EALww_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's AI, pretty much on the beach, with a couple of nice pools. The bonus for us was being able to book a family room which has a sliding door to separate the sleeping areas.
We booked with easyJet but it's available through Tui too.

Lyttos Beach in Crete would fit the bill OP. The prices rocket in school holidays but you may get a good deal during term time.

Liberty Hotels Lykia in Turkey. Tui is the only holiday company that go there. It’s amazing, you would have a great time there with your kids and should be reasonable price in June. If you get a family room it’s a 2 bedroom suite. This would probably be an upgrade as I think they would put a couple and 2 young kids In a big standard room. Worth the extra for the family room

Are you only open to booking with TUI? I usually fly with EasyJet holidays as they are often much cheaper. I used to be loyal to TUI. We went to Turkey with EasyJet last May. We stayed at Club Tuana. It was AI and cost £3300 for the May half term week. If you are flexible on dates within June I think it’s doable for £3000

Thanks everyone! Definitely not just looking at Tui - we normally tailor make our holidays but just wanted ease and have found Tui’s website the easiest to navigate. Thanks so much for these recommendations - am going to bank them for future years too! Wish I had a lot more money than I do, haha!

Magic life Masmavi in Antalya lots for kids to do
Barut Hamera in Side nice location
Both Turkey.