Royal Dragon Hotel

Fantastic hotel perfect for families, food was brilliant all week, on arrival I asked about price of room upgrade and the brilliant reception staff and manager offered this free of charge! Ignore the negatives, yes there aren’t many English families here but everyone is friendly, great location also will book again!

We travelled as a family of 4 with myself, my husband and my 2 teenage daughters (17 & 15). Having been to Turkey several times in hotels like Aska Lara, Sherwood Dreams, Baia Lara and Limak Atlantis meant we were typically used to a high standard, however had not been to the Side area before this. Before we arrived, not going to lie we were very concerned after seeing many negative reviews regarding this hotel but we can honestly say we had an excellent time and can't understand what everybody is complaining about! We would say the hotel was predominantly 80% German guests but this did not affect our stay at all. Although towards the back end of the holiday more English guests seemed to be arriving which was nice! Despite this, all of the staff we encountered could speak English and were always so so helpful. Arriving at around 4am after a long journey we were generally tired but we were pleasantly welcomed by reception and the bellboy, who swiftly took our suitcases upstairs. They also offered us a chance to grab some food at the midnight restaurant if you wanted but we were that tired we just went straight up to bed. We had a family interconnecting room which consisted of 2 large rooms with a double and 2 singles. The balcony was small but still had enough room to fit a couple of chairs and a table in, however this didn't bother us at all. Due to our room type, it meant that we were unable to get a full sea view but I requested via email beforehand to have some sort of view, and we were granted a side sea view where you could also see the pool clearly. The beds were the comfiest I've ever slept in at a hotel and the aircon was perfect, especially with the heat being around 45 degrees on some days it came in handy (some nights even became to cold). Lovely walk in shower, very modern! The food in the main restaurant was brilliant, with so much variety. They had themed nights so different foods each night, but always had your basics like pasta, chips, burgers, salads, etc. We never had a problem finding a seat at the night time, we often came down at 8pm and this was never a problem but not sure what earlier would be like for getting a table. Big shout out to Tahir who was so helpful and friendly to us, making our stay even more enjoyable. A little tip goes a long way. Not really big breakfast eaters but for what we usually eat it was plentiful, cereals, yoghurts, toast, pancakes, doughnuts, even onion rings! For lunch, we never went to the main restaurant because the pool bar had everything we needed. A selection of KFC type chicken, pizzas, chips, kebab wraps (the man at the kebab stall was lovely and always willing to chat), fruit, crepes, pancakes, ice cream. Slushes and ice coffees were nice at the aqua bar, should definitely try. Pool was massive and stretched from the hotel down to the beach, with loads of bridges overhead to make it easier to get across to places instead of walking around. There were stairs dotted all around fr

Currently staying at the Royal Dragon, and going home in two days. We are from the UK in Wales and I can’t believe the negative reviews! Yes most people here are German but everyone is nice. Very different to other resorts with lots of Brits getting smashed at the bar constantly. The staff are great really friendly. I have been tipping the staff as they can’t do enough for you - hardly big change if you are spending 5k on a holiday. Plenty of food - the beach bar is great for lunch. So much food at the pool restaurants eg kfc style chicken, crepes, ice creams, kebabs, jacket potatoes, fresh doughnuts etc. No idea what people are complaining about! The lobby bar is great the cocktails are all freshly made and bar staff are lovely. This hotel and the staff are great - do not listen to the negative reviews re. people from the UK moaning that so many people are German. In my opinion / based on my experience they are far better behaved than people from UK abroad, and both of my daughters have said how everyone looks a lot slimmer lol! The pool is awesome loads of areas and the water slides are brilliant. You do need to get up early to put towels down to secure a sun bed - the best spots are gone by 6:30 but still plenty to get if you are down by 8am. This is the best hotel we have stayed in with the nicest staff! We had a family room that is basically two full size rooms seperated by the bathroom. One side has a big double bed, and the other side has two single beds. Perfect for a family with older kids who want their own space!!

Date of Trip - 9th July 2025. To begin, we booked this hotel as it looked very much like Royal Wings Hotel (Lara beach) which we stayed in 6 years ago. We loved the Royal Wings, but this hotel is nowhere near as good. Everyone speaks German. We have come to expect this in Türkiye. However, all entertainment is in German, 80% of the staff cannot speak English, only German. We went with 2 children [7 & 4] and they couldn't do any of the evening entertainment as they couldn't understand it. Further to this, if you have children the entertainment is a no go. It is all on far too late. e.g. 2130hrs for a show was not pheasable so we missed all evening entertainment. The hotel itself. The lobby is beautiful. However, the rest of the hotel is very dated. We did expect this as it is a themed hotel so it may not be to everyone's taste. All in all it was clean where it mattered and the housekeeping ladies were lovely. the spa is a no go. We used the shower there and it was essentially falling apart. The indoor pool was so incredibly cold you couldn't use it and had no lighting so you couldn't actually see. The main pool area was lovely and we really enjoyed this. What ruined the pool experience was (as expected) nowhere near enough sun loungers and these were all taken by 0800hrs every day. Further to this, you have a constant flow of hotel staff trying to sell you tack e.g. personalised t shirts, bingo tickets , massages the list is endless and it ruins your relaxation time by the pool. Food - consistently cold, poor quality ingredients and bland. Absolutely NO FOOD OPTIONS FOR CHILDREN. (unless they like completely plain pasta. How hard is it to put on chicken nuggets etc ? To add to this, the air con in the restaurant is poor, leaks on the table and leaves everyone uncomfortable. The floor in and around the pool is a serious HAZARD. We lost count of how many people fell and seriously hurt themselves. The cleaning staff do try and negate this by mopping but it does almost zero to fix the issue and the material they have paved the floor in is the danger. So many little ones were hurt as well as fully grown adults. KEEP HOLD OF YOUR CHILDS HAND AT ALL TIMES. Cocktails. TERRIBLE. They have a menu but not a single bar staff member knows what they are making and they al taste awful. The ingredients are never what they should be and they essentially end up being alcohol and grenadine 50% of the time. if you have booked already and cant avoid the hotel, go with a pina colada as this seemed to be the only thing they didn't completely butcher. Hotel Occupancy - DO NOT GO IN THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS. we went the week before the summer holidays and the hotel was a nice level of busy. However as we were on our last few days the INFLUX of new guests (who have booked for the summer holiday dates) WAS CRAZY! For example, dinner opens at 1900. the first 3 nights it was us and 5 or 6 other families waiting for the doors to open. on the last few nights there

Great experience, clean hotel, lots of food options. As for special diets, there is a small corner for diet food (that's what it says), another for vegan, but not more specific than that. Sandy beach, bars at the pool and at the beach, you can eat something at any time of the day and night. Would definitely recommend!

Arrived Saturday, now Monday morning. After a few previous reviews nearly didn't book. So glad we ignored them. Travellers are myself and 23 year old daughter, holiday 3-4 times a year. So the language barrier. Rubbish. Every staff member we have spoken to reception, bars, restaurants, shop...understood us just fine. Yes the majority of customers are German, and....always find they demand good food and service so happy to be amongst them, no problem there. The room and public areas beautifully clean, pool gorgeous, plenty of sunbeds, food so far has been great, one of the best and biggest buffet restaurants ever been to. Both nights Entertainments were good, not seen animation team yet as day off yesterday. Daughter says gym is great. As a comparison been to Turkey 12 plus times, Caribbean, Europe, cruises, etc and so far this must be in my top 6, incidentally beats Royal Taj Mahal next door we went to last year. Will review fully on return.