Hotel review: XO Cape Arnna, Turkey
It's an understatement to say the Turkish coast's fanciest new all-inclusive resort, XO Cape Arnna, opened with a splash. In fact, the weather was so bad when I flew to Dalaman for the opening weekend that our plane got diverted to Bodrum, and much of the time I spent there was set against the backdrop of pouring rain. Its testament to the excellence of this resort, however, that this didn't put a dampener on our experience. In fact the facilities, restaurants and rooms were so good that we hardly noticed the uncharacteristically rubbish weather at all.
Rooms and facilities
The massive hotel is divided into two sections: one side family-friendly (The Resort), the other adults-only (The Club). With a one and a five year old in tow, I was in the kid-focused area of the hotel, and our family room had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a balcony, plus lots of clever built-in storage. As you'd expect from a brand new hotel, the rooms were exceedingly modern and swish, with huge beds, fancy toiletries and curtains that opened at the press of a button.
The one fact I cannot get over is that the hotel has 37 swimming pools. THIRTY-SEVEN! Including, as we discovered when it was pouring with rain, two indoor heated pools: a shallow one for toddlers, and a full-size pool for kids and adults. There is also a very futuristic kids' club (which opens until 11pm), an outdoor playground, football pitches, watersports facilities and a full-on water park (with enormous slides for big kids and adults, and a smaller zone for littlies).
Food and drink
I have never seen an all-inclusive buffet more extensive than the one at XO Cape Arnna; I'm pretty sure the butter station had around 30 options alone. At breakfast there were fresh juices made to order, omelettes with any filling you could wish for, a lavish salad bar, any type of bread or pastry you could ever dream of – basically a cornucopia of options, and it was the same for every meal.
If you can possibly pull yourself away from the buffet (at Mad Med), there is also an array of restaurants across the resort; tuck into Turkish cuisine at Kafi, pizza at Cucina dei Cugini, sushi at Sun Tzu or steak at adults-only The Duchess. The all-inclusive deal entitles you to one dinner at each restaurant (except the buffet at Mad Med, which is unlimited).
Perhaps most exciting was the on-site patisserie, Clementine. My kids were in their element heading for a post-dinner ice cream at this enticing café, while I was equally excited to visit the chocolate counter for a few slabs from the Willy Wonka-esque selection.
Hotel highlights
As well as the food and pools, the spa area is worth a shout-out. The staff were super-friendly, and there was an authentic hammam, as well as Himalayan salt rooms. The massages here are not to be missed. Should you want to keep up your fitness routine, there's also a gym that would rival most high street workout spaces. Elsewhere you can book in for lessons in yoga, pole dancing, trapeze and padel.
What to do nearby
Okay full confession - we were only at the hotel for a long weekend, so we didn't actually make it away from the resort. However, the town of Fethiye comes very much recommended, and we would have visited had we stayed for longer.
Best for
XO Cape Arnna is an excellent hotel for families with kids - I'd go back!
Rates start from £300 for the adults-only Club and £470 for the Resort. It's open all year round. For more information, visit the website here.
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