Hi there, we booked fairly last minute with Thomas Cook as they were the only place that had a family room left. I don't think this is the cheapest way to do it and next year we are going to try and book direct with the hotel (while you are there you can sign up for their loyalty card and you get points for your first stay which you can then use on the next visit - 50/60 euros off I think). We paid £3000 for a week last week just as it was about to go high season for 2 adults, 2 children and a baby (!). Tbh though the Scottish and Welsh schools had already broken up so I think we paid high season prices. Having seen how easy it is I will try and contact the hotel directly next time to book the room (there is a UK phone number kicking around somewhere on the internet), then book flights to Dalaman in advance when hopefully they will be cheaper (there were hardly any left when I booked) and then arrange direct transfer from the airport again. This is really easy and excellent value for money I think - we used Fethiye Airport Taxis on the way there which was £43 one way and they were excellent - met us straight off the plane, bottles of cold water, air-conditioned Mercedes mini-van with 3 good quality car seats already in there (not like the falling apart ones you get from Hertz etc in most of Europe). It was really easy to book, just emailed them from their website a couple of days before. Our flight arrived late at night so was well worth the money - we arrived at the hotel on our own about 1 am, where we had the undivided attention of the reception staff who were friendly and helpful, played with the kids etc. When the Thomas Cook coaches roll up with a load of people much later it is bedlam. We took the included TC coach on the way back which was really tedious - took hours, lots of hanging around, here's some water but you have to pay for it, no seat belts, rickety old coach etc.
Most of the activities are included - including the kids clubs. You have to pay extra if they want to paint a t shirt, go on a banana boat etc but this is optional (though heavily pushed) (5-10E). Adult activities like classes etc seemed to be free, evening ents all included. Drinking and eating is, basically, free from breakfast right through to last restaurant closing after dinner (9.30pm Marina restaurant). After that, you have to pay for drinks at the bar in the evening which is very pricey of course (2 for 1 happy hour 5-6pm) but not really much different from top end hotel bar prices in the UK. If you work out all the times at the restaurants there is not really much call to spend during the day apart from maybe the odd drink round the pool - but large bottles of water were only 65c or something so wasn't too bad, and if the kids wanted ice cream we just made them wait for one of the (long) lunch or dinner servings where it is free (good quality ice cream stand - cornets or bowls). There are obviously a lot of things around designed to get some more money out of you - mostly centered around things you find hard to resist with the kids - eg Sand Painting in the evening which is great fun and they beg to do but is 7E a shot and, even more so, they go round taking nice photos which you can then select from at the end but are £5 per print!!! (cheaper to pay in £ than E - you can pay for everything including bill in E, £ or TL - TL cheapest, E most expensive but we did £ as took it with us so no commission costs). Saying all that, I was a bit worried about the final bill but at the end ours was only £96 which I thought was fine - kids had done 2 t shirts, 2 sand paintings, one speed boat ride, we had had a couple of beers each in the bar every evening (after a few free with dinner, wine also included with dinner but thy keep it quiet and you have to ask for bottles) and a few bottles of water round the pool. You could rack up way more than this if you just didn't care but with a little restraint and waiting for meal times it was fine. I think here NOT being an alcohol drinker is actually a big advantage as it is Full Board Plus not actual AI so it was the big evening drinkers who feel the pain (can get magic cards for drinks but this would not have been worth it for us as would have been over £400 as you have to buy them for a minimum of 7 days for all parties in your booking when our final bill including other activities was only 100 quid - maybe worth it for big drinkers though).
Overall it is a great place for a family holiday - if you book now for October with TC you may get a good deal? Or try direct if flight costs are lower (I did get a quote to do this but as we were only 3/4 weeks away from going the flights were £900 so it wasn't any cheaper). Caveats are mealtimes can be a bit of a bun fight, some of the other guests from our Russian European neighbours have non-existant very different ideas about manners and social niceties, but overall it is one of those places where the kids will be so happy you will be able to relax by the pool. And even be able to escape to the (really relaxing) adult only areas if your children are ok with going to kids clubs (any that go to Nursery/school at home would be fine I'd say) (this also a bun fight at 10 am booking in time - go early). I think we will go back again next year which is unusual for us and I think we would go for 10 days so would have time to go off-site for a couple of day trips. Any questions, feel free to ask.