Published by Thomas Kaplan on 13 June 2026 · Last updated 13 June 2026

I've spent 28 years in this industry, I've walked more Turkish resorts than I can count, and when it's time to book my own family's holiday, this is where we come. Cullinan Belek is my favourite hotel in Turkey — so treat this as an honest review from someone who is both a tour operator and, right now, a paying guest with two happy children and a plate of baklava in front of him.

Cullinan is a newer-generation, ultra all-inclusive five-star on the Belek coast — big, polished and built for the kind of holiday where you arrive, hand back the keys and don't think about money again until you're home. It does luxury without stiffness. Below is what I think it does brilliantly, and the one real trade-off I'd want you to know about before you book.

##GALLERY##

Arriving at midnight — the small things tell you a lot

My wife and daughters travelled out ahead of me; I arrived late, around 11.30pm, after inspecting a few other hotels that day. I gave my name at reception, they immediately told me my family had already checked in to our family room, cut me a key and sent me up — all inside a minute, with everyone upstairs already fast asleep. A smooth late check-in is a small thing, but it tells you a lot about how a hotel is actually run.

Breakfast: a tip the buffet crowd will miss

Here's a personal habit of mine. Rather than the main buffet, I take breakfast à la carte at the 24/7 restaurant in the lobby — I like sitting down and ordering only what I'll genuinely eat. That morning it was soft-boiled eggs, some greens, salmon and a cheese plate with Turkish tea. My waitress, Ayşe, asked how long to cook the eggs — three, four or five minutes? When I hesitated, she made the smartest suggestion: let's do one at three minutes, and if you like it we'll do the next exactly the same. That is the level of thoughtful service that turns a good hotel into a favourite — and it was such a good, late breakfast that I happily skipped lunch.

The resort draws heavily from the UK, Germany and Russia; Cullinan is a very well-known name in those markets, and you feel it in the easy, international atmosphere around the pools.

Location: between the sea and the golf, a short hop from the airport

Cullinan sits in Kadriye, in the Belek resort strip on Antalya's Mediterranean coast — one of the more convenient luxury areas for UK arrivals, with a refreshingly short transfer at each end of the week. I took a morning walk through the grounds with my daughter and it summed the place up: deep blue sea on one side, the emerald green of the golf course on the other. The course is wrapped by both the sea and a river — I later realised that's exactly the line Cullinan Links Golf Club uses, and it's earned. For a golfing family who also want a beach-and-pool resort, I genuinely can't think of a better-placed base.

Food & drink: the part I'd travel for

This is where Cullinan, like the rest of the Titanic Hotels family, really shows its hand. The Mare main buffet is among the best resort buffets I eat at all year — proper live stations, a serious grill, fresh fish, a pastry and dessert spread my children treat as a personal challenge, and Turkish dishes done the way they should be. On top of that there's a clutch of signature à la carte restaurants you reserve ahead, some with a supplement, and cafés turning out cake, chocolate and ice cream all day, all included.

But the spot I'd send you to for lunch isn't the main restaurant at all — it's Hasir, tucked just behind the aqua park. Every kind of döner, burgers the children loved, and genuinely excellent pide and lahmacun. You really don't need to trek back to the buffet at midday. The staff are warm and quick; the only catch is that it gets very busy at peak lunchtime. It runs from around 12.00 to 16.00.

The Mare buffet: the best I've seen in my career

I want to single the buffet out, because I don't say this lightly. Across my career I've seen a great many hotels — luxury, boutique, vast and intimate — and I have never seen a buffet as good as the one at Cullinan. I'm not saying that simply because I'm staying here. It is genuinely rich: your eyes are full before your stomach is. The variety is enormous and the quality is high, and it is beautifully organised — a dedicated kebab station, a separate fish station, the salads and more, each given its own space. I tried to film all of it, and you can watch my walk-through here.

One station in particular stopped me, and it's the one I'd point you to: a counter of traditional, home-style Turkish dishes — the kind of cooking you simply won't find on a menu outside. Kebab, döner and fish you can get out and about in Antalya; these classic, regional dishes you can't find just anywhere. I went straight for Black Sea specialities — kara lahana dolması (stuffed black cabbage), smoked-aubergine sarma köfte and tepsi kebabı — precisely because you won't come across them elsewhere unless you track down a proper home-cooking kitchen in Antalya. The dessert counter tells the same story: alongside all the international favourites, the full range of Turkish desserts was there too. My pick was kaymaklı ekmek kadayıfı, with clotted cream.

Pools, the aqua park & the kids' side

Water is the heart of this place, and the children's aqua park genuinely impressed me — it's built around one idea: keeping children happy and safe. The whole thing is organised with safety front of mind, right down to the way the pool depths are set out. Cleverest of all, there's a dedicated parents' pool right beside it, so you can be in the water relaxing while your children play in sight. The swim-up rooms, where you step off your terrace straight into the water, are the category I'd fight you for.

For families there's more than the water. We stumbled on the game room — and unlike a lot of resorts, the games here are free — plus a billiards and bowling section that genuinely entertained us. It's the kind of place children drift back to. Down on the sand the private beach has cabanas, bars and water sports, and there's an indoor pool and a large spa with a Turkish hammam, sauna and steam rooms and a full treatment menu (treatments usually charged separately).

The kids' club: Champions League level

In Turkey, when something is truly top-tier, we say it's “Champions League level” — and the children's club here earns it. The quality of the staff and the service inside it is on another level, and one small thing brought that home for me. We have three-month-old twins. When they needed changing, we set off to the room to fetch nappies — and the team stopped us: no need, we have them. They came straight back with exactly the right size 3 nappies, because they keep every size on hand for every child. It sounds like a tiny detail, but it tells you everything about how seriously this resort takes families.

The detail that sums up the service: the beach button

If I had to capture why this resort works in one small feature, it's this: every sunbed has a number and a call button. Press it, or scan the QR code, and you order food and drinks straight from your own phone or tablet — no queuing, no flagging anyone down, your order arrives at your lounger. It's a genuinely modern touch, and the kind of comfort that makes a long pool day effortless.

Evenings: cocktails at Galapago

My own favourite corner of the resort is Galapago. After dinner it comes alive — cocktails, then a properly produced evening show. All of the entertainment across the resort is run by its Animation & Entertainment Director, Anıl Tontu, and it shows: it's lively, varied and genuinely well organised, never the tired clichéd "animation" you sometimes get elsewhere.

A wider point, honestly meant: Turkey does all-inclusive on a scale and to a standard I haven't seen matched anywhere — not because other countries do it badly, but because resorts like Cullinan have invested so heavily in getting it right. If what you specifically want is a luxury all-inclusive week, Turkey is, hand on heart, the destination I'd point you to first. There's something else I've noticed across Belek's best resorts, too: when a family loves a place, they stop wanting to change it — guests return to the same hotel, sometimes the same room, year after year. I'm guilty of exactly that with Cullinan.

Rooms: get the swim-up, or get sea view

Rooms are modern, generously sized and well kept, with private balconies or terraces, a minibar, air conditioning and 24-hour room service; we stayed in a family room that comfortably absorbed two children. The two choices that matter most: book a swim-up room if you love the water, or a sea-view room if you don't — the difference to the holiday is bigger than the difference in price.

My honest steer: the room you book changes this holiday more than at most resorts, so tell us your party and how you like to spend your days and we'll match the category — it's exactly the sort of detail we contract and check.

Who it's for — and who it isn't

Frequently asked questions

This review was written by Thomas Kaplan, GoToBeach's Product Manager, during a first-hand family stay at the resort, and published on 13 June 2026. None of this is a knock on our other beaches — a week in Greece, Malta, Morocco or Egypt has its own completely different rhythm, and I love them all for different reasons; this simply happens to be where I bring my own family for a luxury all-inclusive week. Hotel facilities, the all-inclusive programme and operational details can change. We recommend confirming the specifics with a GoToBeach specialist before booking. If you are reading this after the publication date and believe any detail has changed, please email us at hi@gotobeach.co.uk. Last updated 13 June 2026.