Just returned from a 10night stay at La Blanche Island and enjoyed lazing by the pool in the sun, we were very lucky with the weather averaging 26degrees daily! We had originally booked elsewhere but easyJet cancelled the hotel and picked this one for us. After reading the reviews I was a little sceptical but decided to stick with it. The hotel is unfortunately not worthy of its 5* rating and after staying in other hotels between 3-5*, we feel this sits comfortably in the 3.5-4* range. General upkeep - the hotel is a little dated, but mostly the room blocks. The lobby and bars etc were all fine. Everywhere needs a good lick of paint and tiles replacing around the pool areas. Rooms - They are in need of a good lick of paint, tidy up and overhaul. They are a good size (we had a standard for 2 adults and 10yo), but the carpets are old, the walls are marked and the bathrooms aren’t kept well, again with marked walls and dirty skirting. Our minibar was restocked daily though with water, beer and soft drinks, which is a great touch. We stayed in Block A, 5th floor and overlooked a building site at the Lujo and had some noise late from one of the clubs. This didn’t bother us as hardly spent time there but I know some other guests asked to be moved and this was accomodated. The balcony doors are mostly soundproofed though so that does help. Cleanliness - couldn’t fault the cleanliness around the restaurants, snack bars and bars; these were all kept very clean and I had no concerns. The pool areas are not kept well. They aren’t hosed down every morning (like every hotel we’ve ever been at), and the beds were cleaned once in our stay. There were spilt drinks that had dried and gone sticky, the little bins they put by your bed weren’t emptied daily, and one day someone cut their foot and left a trail of blood from the bottom pool, all up the stairs and across the bridge - which was still there 4 days later! Food - the buffet is what you’d expect with plenty of choice. They have a fresh grill area outside that serves all three meal times and whilst a lot of people commented on there not being enough for kids, we had no problems with our child. All tasty, some of it not very warm. Could do with labelling everything though as we were guessing what half the food was! Snack bars - excellent. All the food we had from them was great. Easy and quick, plenty of choice and tasty. Pulcinella - best pizza’s! Mexican - excellent, nice and spicy - best cheeseburgers too! Sunrise - great doner kebabs! Vira - incredible views! A la Carte - we had one a la carte visit included so went for the Elegance restaurant. We wanted Sakura (Asian) but it was fully booked so I’d recommend booking when you arrive. Food at Elegance was ok, but no better than the buffet, only plus was that it is hotter when it arrives. We wouldn’t pay the €10pp to eat here again. Drinks - pretty much what you like. Great mocktails for kids! Our pool bar guy, Carmel, was excellent. Very friendly, happy to make you whatever you ask for and polite. Exceptional service and definitely worthy of a shout out - thank you, Carmel! Pools - 2 big pools, and plenty of sunbeds and cabana beds (on the lower pool). The music is ridiculously loud at the top pool during the day, so we stayed at the bottom one. Slides are great, and lots of fun! Our child can swim and is tall, but only downside is that the pools are the same depth all the way around at 1.4m. There is a small kids pool but more of a splash park area, so those with smaller kids may struggle playing in the pools - which is a shame. Even the indoor pool is 1.4m all around. Entertainment - the day activities are plentiful, and popular. We watched a couple of shows, what you’d expect of holiday entertainment. Music is loud outside and played late, til around 11:30pm. Shop - avoid!! Bring everything with you, including kids toys/floaties. Absolute rip off. Wanted €30 for a blow up ring, and that was ‘haggled’ down from €45. We didn’t pay that and people tend to leave them around by the pool or their rooms. Trips - We did the dinner trip to Shanghai which was booked via Tom who comes around the pool. Great prices and food with extra time for shopping. Always haggle in the shops and you’ll get it cheaper - excellent replica gear; footy kits, handbags, trainers! Tom is excellent - highly recommend. Boat Trip via OzzLife (recommended and found on Facebook). Out from 9-5, picked up in comfort, great boat trip out with food and soft drinks included - an excellent day! Contact him via Facebook either before you go or whilst there. There is also a daily shuttle that runs several times into Bodrum which is much cheaper than a taxi! Beaches - great! Clean, plenty of beds and the sea is warm. Plenty of water sport options but expensive! Bring a snorkel. Staff - all great. Polite and friendly. As a side note, we came at the very end of the season, and whilst it was lovely and quiet, with no queue for anything, they started to clear down and close up the hotel 3 days before we left. Started by closing the pool bar, running out of drinks at every snack bar/lobby bar and not replenishing, the buffet was made smaller and they were packing away sunbeds too! Considering the hotel was still fairly busy, we feel this shouldn’t impact our experience and stay and they definitely could have waited a few more days to do all of this. Kind of makes you feel like you’re outstaying your welcome a bit - especially as they literally turned the hotel lights off as soon as we were picked up! All in all, a lovely holiday and we’ll definitely return to Turkey, just not this hotel.