The Turkey travel hotspot with affordable all-inclusive hotels & private beaches

IT is a cool evening on the Turquoise Coast as we watch England take on Turkey in an epic dance battle.

Britain’s ten-year-old diva throws his arms in the air and wiggles his hips as his mini rival drops to the floor for an athletic breakdance move.

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The international spectators are captivated by the young duo — as am I, a childless 30-something who usually insists on staying at adults-only hotels.

But that is the magic of Hillside Beach Club.

This all-singing, all-dancing resort caters for families, groups of friends, couples and solo travellers, and most can be found on the dance floor in the evening.

In fact, 76 per cent of its guests are return bookers — and it is not hard to see why.

The 5H hotel, on a private beach near to the popular resort of Fethiye, is just four hours from the UK by daily British Airways flights to Turkey’s Dalaman Airport.

Tumbling down the hillside to its own pine-fringed private bay, many of the hotel’s 330 modern, chic rooms have a terrace with views of Kalemya Bay.

Mine featured a novel outdoor-style heated bathroom — accessed via my terrace — and a walk-in wardrobe.

If you want to just fly and flop, head to the swimming pool, three beaches and its plush wooden pontoons.

But if you hope to revitalise mind, body and soul, the time to book is during Hill-side’s twice-yearly Feel Good Week.

It is packed with wellness workshops, and guests choose which to attend depending on their mood, or hangover.

It also takes place outside of school holidays so the resort is decidedly quieter with fewer children.

To ease ourselves in, we wander to the pinewood-fringed Silent Beach at 8am for an hour-long yoga class led by Yasemin Altintas.

One of two adults-only beaches, a picket sign politely encourages us to turn off our phones.

Perched on decking overlooking the turquoise water, we glide through the poses — me less gracefully than others — to the low hum of instrumental music and gentle waves lapping the pebble shore.

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A few steps away, cocooned in the forest, is the treehouse-style Sanda Nature Spa where Balinese therapists offer 60-minute oil massages, kick-started with a fiery ginger-and-citrus tea.

For those seeking a traditional Turkish treatment, though, there is a hammam spa in the heart of the resort.

Rooted in ancient Middle East, the Turkish bath is designed to cleanse and remove impurities from the body using a combination of steam, exfoliation and ice.

Locals visit as often as once a week, so the petite therapist has her work cut out with this first-timer.

Handed disposable pants, I am instructed to spend five minutes in the sauna before lying on a heated marble bed in the hararet (hot room).

The therapist uses a kese (mitt) to gently exfoliate my body in circular motions, before peering at the results and exclaiming “Dirty!”. I blame my fake tan.

Later I have to stifle a giggle when, without warning, she unloads a sack of aromatic soap suds over me, like an offbeat Fairy Liquid advert.

This is followed by a firm head-to-toe massage and a final rinse-down.

Keen to shed the pressures of everyday life as well as dead skin, I sign up to the breathwork and Soundala Therapy class on Hillside Beach Club’s gulet boat.

Lying on mats on the bow, we sail out of the bay with the scent of burning palo santo, a sacred tree native to South America, wafting over us.

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Smarana Healing founder Natalie Garih teaches us how to engage the diaphragm with timed, deep and focused breaths, believing it can release suppressed trauma from the body.

It ties in neatly with the work of somatic experience practitioner Rida Kirasi, who promotes use of soundwaves to target pain and tension.

The boat rocks gently, as the soothing sounds of Tibetan singing bowls, gongs and wind chimes help us relax.

The experience affects guests differently — some find it deeply moving, while others drift off to sleep, their faint snuffles a tell-tale sign.

Face yoga and ghost town

Feel Good Week also offers nutrition, face yoga and movement workshops, as well as music therapy.

And that is in addition to the hotel’s daily programme including volleyball, tennis, archery, darts, aqua fitness, bingo, scuba diving, water sports and a family-friendly dance production in the amphitheatre in the evening.

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Child-care experts and entertainers are on hand to keep youngsters busy with sports, crafts and DJ lessons at Kidside.

Though you have all you could need at the resort, with a main buffet restaurant and two a-la-carte restaurants, several bars and its own mini shopping arcade, Hillside Beach Club encourages guests to venture outside.

Its E-bikes were tempting but we opted for the half-day guided coach tour to the ruins of nearby Kayakoy.

The “ghost town” dates from the 1800s when 10,000 Anatolian Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians lived together in harmony.

But the 1920 Greco-Turkish war saw the repatriation of the Greeks and the village was abandoned by the Forties.

We clamber over its uneven rocky steps, past hundreds of weathered, roofless houses, shops and a school.

It’s enchanting, if a bit eerie, but the steep climb to the chapel at the top of the hill rewards you with views of the valley and the Mediterranean.

The nearby Lycian Rock Tombs, intricately carved into the slope of a mountain in the 4th century, are also worth a visit.

Two hundred snaking steps lead to Amyntas, the largest and most breathtaking — offering the perfect spot for a snap of Fethiye harbour.

As the DJ plays on our final evening, Kosta, one of the hotel’s multi-talented entertainment team, boasts: “When the music plays, we dance.”

And his enthusiasm is infectious.

As we mingle on the dance floor once again, I have no doubt that every guest will be leaving Hillside Beach Club feeling better than good.