Travel

Retro-chic Excels for Service

Two weeks at the Hillside Su, and we were still overwhelmed by the fantastic service of the hotel especially the Pool and Beach staff. With Victoria, baby Sophia and nanny Albina, we all had a fabulous stay at this designer hotel

Hillside su Antalya Turkey

Antalia is a region known in antiquity as Pamphylia, meaning "the home of all races," was my destination. You can sunbathe for 300 of the year's 365 days in Antalya, and it is a popular destination for wind surfing, water skiing, sailing, mountaineering, hunting, caving and canyon walking. So visitors have the choice of a lazy vacation of swimming and sunbathing or an active vacation where they try their hands at a range of outdoor activities. In March and April, visitors can spend the morning skiing in the Toros Mountains and the afternoon swimming in the warm, crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean.

The flight from Sheremetyevo SVO to Antalya International AYT takes three hours and economy roundtrip costs from $800 to $1300 depending on when you buy.

The 1960's-inspired Hillside Su, a 25-minute ride from the airport, opened in April 2003. It is located in Konyaalti and considered to be one of the most exclusive hotels in Antalya. On a green bank overlooking the Mediterranean, the hotel offers a clean white stage on which guests are invited to live out Turkish designer Eren Talu’s dazzling disco dream. An ultra-modern designed hotel, the Hillside Su mixes minimal retro and futuristic chic in brilliant white; and is only 1.5 kilometers from bustling Antalya.

Minimalist Rooms

The rooms really have no furniture; just poured concrete with a bed, floors painted in slippery white. 294 rooms that are minimal white retro-futuristic decor and furnishings, punctuated by red lava lamps, adjustable multi-colored mood lighting and bedside tower lamps. Bathrooms have designer fittings, bathrobes and toiletries. Balconies include double daybeds for those who wish to sleep beneath the stars or relax in private in the sunshine. Rooms also have separate sitting areas, air conditioning, safes, wireless and dial-up Internet, hair dryers, slippers, and mini-bars containing at least a hundred products.

In the hotel you experience an everchanging composition in light and tone. The colors shift continuously to reflect your moods.

Hillside SU has an outside cinema where we were offered beds or large bean bags, popcorn and a good choice of films with the stars above you. The pool area is wrapped in teakwood and includes tennis courts, a huge gym, two squash courts, indoor heated pool with Jacuzzis, and a Balinese Spa that offer a range of massages. You can also walk down the promenade next to the hotel and sample some of the neighboring facilities, or take a ride into the old city to check out the great shopping and night life that are hallmarks of Antalya. Children have their own supervised area with pool and slides.

Dining options

Include the hotel's most colorful room, Kirmizi, which features deep red decor, and a chic sushi bar set against the stark white backdrop of the first floor, complemented by aprivacy hedge. Four massive disco balls hang from the ceiling in the hotel lobby, where colored lighting and long, cushioned sofas provide a striking setting in which to lounge with cocktails and dance the night away to a DJ. The Beach Bar serves drinks until 2 a.m. During the daytime, sunbathe by the long, narrow pool, with an underwater music system or relax with Balinese and Oriental spa treatments, including lipo-sculpting, firming and purification, treatments.

Guests may also go souvenir hunting in the shopping arcade or drop into the hair salon, while the more active will appreciate the well equipped fitness room as well as squash and tennis courts, and a game room with table football. The hotel's private blue flag beach offers a number of opportunities for water sports and, during the summer months, guests benefit from unlimited free access to Aqualand, next door to the hotel, as well as the opportunity to swim for a fee, with dolphins.

Area Activities

Aqualand Leisure Park - next door
Migros Shopping Centre - 800 meters
Glass Pyramid Conference Center - 800 meters
City Center - 1.5 kilometers (1 mile)
Kaleiçi Old Town - 1.5 kilometers (1 mile)

Things to do in Antalya

The hotel is a short drive from the superb National Golf Club, and less than a kilometer from the ‘Glass Pyramid’ conference and exhibition center which caters to a vast range of events, including conferences, meetings, fashion shows, weddings and gala dinners. Antalya city center is easily accessible from the hotel and features several restaurants, shops and bars as well as cultural and historical sites such as the Antalya Museum with 14 exhibition halls and an open-air gallery. Natural attractions such as Cirali, (known as the ‘burning mountain’), Düden waterfall and Saklikent Canyon, where skiing is possible in winter, are all a day trip away. Historic towns nearby include Phaselis, which was settled by Rhodians in the seventh century, and Olympos, an antique city established in the second century.

Night Life

Antalya’s nightlife is renowned in all of Turkey. Much of Antalya's entertainment is situated in the very heart of the city where it is literally packed with bars and clubs offering quality entertainment. Drinks are a bit pricey although you will be able to find places that will not go beyond your budget limits.

Dining

Regional specialties along the coast include mussels stuffed with rice, pine nuts, and currants dolma, ahtopot salatasi, a cold octopus salad, tossed in olive oil, vinegar, and parsley; and grilled fish - palamut (baby tuna), lüfer (bluefish), levrek (sea bass), kalkan (turbot)