Hotel Baia Lara Antalya – Beach Cabana

Our first ever trip to Turkey was going to be the ultimate in rest and relaxation. We spent a lot of time researching the perfect 5* all inclusive holiday resort and with the help of Thomson Holidays, opted to stay in the chic Hotel Baia Lara in the Antalya region of Turkey.

And we weren’t disappointed! We enjoyed a 10 night stay in mid September this year. We chose this time as it would still be hot (was 28-35 degrees during our stay), but there’d be less kids and families on holiday (sorry, but we wanted a romantic trip away). This hotel was also recommended by Thomson for being a good couples resort with adults-only areas. Winner!

I will write a separate post about the hotel itself, but one thing that deserves a special mention is their private beach cabanas! This was the ultimate in luxury and relaxation for us.

Beach Cabana

The Hotel Baia Lara had a number of stunning pools to laze by, but also had an impressive private beach and jetty. The loungers and parasols lined-up for people to enjoy were always taken early doors, but one thing we noticed was the 20 or so beach huts (or cabanas as they are called) lined-up along the back. They must be for the rich and famous, or privately owned we thought. But then we saw a little sign that said they could be hired by the hotel guests for the small sum of 30 euros per day! And up to 8 people could use them! Wow!

Well that’s all the persuading we needed. We signed-up for 3 separate days’ hire hot-footed it down the next morning to enjoy our luxurious day on the beach.

And the result was even better than we’d hoped for. We were greeted by our personal waiter – Shamus (despite the name, he was Turkish!) and welcomed with a bowl full of fresh fruit, pastries and water and beers chilling on ice! We settled in, tied-back our billowing curtains, turned on the fan and lazed around all morning until Shamus asked us what cocktails we’d like! Woohoo – I was in heaven! Unlimited free cocktails, wine and beer all day, as part of our all inclusive package, brought to us without even slightly moving a muscle.

So we sunbathed, read, blogged, emailed, sunbathed some more and napped our way through the day until lunch-time. That was when we’d head to the array of buffet stations available for consumption, fill our plates with chicken, salads, breads, rices and more and make our way back to our home for the day to enjoy. Shamus would always be there just as we were starting to feel thirsty or to offer us a much needed ice-cream!

With intermittent dips in the sea (the warmest I’ve ever been in!), we whiled-away the rest of the afternoon and before we knew it, it was 6pm and time to start thinking about getting changed for dinner. It’s a hard life! Surprisingly the days flew by doing nothing and we were hooked. The beach cabana gave us the perfect amount of relaxation space, shade and privacy to really make the most of our romantic, luxurious holiday. We could have easily spent all week there, honestly!

So if you ever consider a holiday in Antalya, Turkey, make sure you consider Hotel Baia Lara and certainly ensure you book a day or 2 in their private beach cabanas. It’s certainly worth the 30 euros (or £10!) it cost for the 2 of us to feel like royalty for the day.

Have you been to Antalya before? Where did you stay?

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