The Gloria Serenity opened in 2005 and has been one of the very top three resorts in Belek ever since and without any blips, Serenity is one of three hotels on the larger Gloria Estate at the far eastern end of Belek, a trio which includes Gloria Golf Resort and Gloria Verde Resort, which are less expensive hotels, but enjoy the similar high service and F&B levels. Gloria Serenity has always been the flagship of the portfolio, but all three venues share the same benefits in terms of access to all the prime tee times on their Gloria Old, Gloria New and Gloria Verde courses, which all operate from one prestigious clubhouse, just 5 minutes transfer from the Gloria Serenity Hotel. Gloria courses are virtually closed for non-resident guests, you can only access times from about 14.00 hrs!! And at a much higher green fee anyway! Resident rates are the best value of all the resorts in Belek which is worth highlighting!

The approximate spend on the new restyling of Gloria Serenity has cost in the region of 81 million euros, which is in relative terms a very impressive capital reinvestment and has perhaps put the venue on top of the tree in the quality stakes in Belek once again, after a period of about 10 years when it has trailed behind the main two competitors, albeit it has always offered far better value for money than the other properties.

The accommodation has all been entirely redesigned in the interiors of all the bedrooms in the 2 wings of the hotel, A block and B block, the rooms have a completely new look and feel, much brighter and with a lot more electronic controls, the rooms are now cool, chic and contemporary, featuring new beds, new furniture, new cupboards and storage, new flooring and brand new mirror TVs, with a lot more use of mirrors which makes the rooms seem larger, for certain.

The new rooms opened in B block on 8 April, with the A block opening between 26 April and 1 May, ready for the busier summer season which kicks off in May.

In addition, the luxurious Villas on the Gloria Serenity Estate will all have a massive upgrade and facelift by June 2023, these luxury units are aimed at the family market, mostly 3 and 2 bedrooms, our favourite are the 3-bedroom pool villas, which have always been outstanding and are designed around a wonderful massive lagoon pool.

The French Restaurant called Le Jardin au Printemps continues to be very popular in the existing circular main floor, during the summertime with the added attraction of some new decking down on the riverside, whilst the Italian continues to be open through lunchtime and into the evening, a popular venue called La Trattoria Romana. This venue gives you a lovely al fresco dining outlet and magical ambience, as does the newly renovated Fish Restaurant down on the Riverside, offering extensive decking and larger capacity than we remember from our own past visits. They have also completely upgraded their fish menu for summer 2023.

We love the Traces Bar and Restaurant almost on the beach, which is a magnet during the lunch time and mid to late afternoon periods, set on the Beachside of the River. Here you can enjoy a wide array of cold and hot foods and not just snacks, it is a perfect environment, ideal to visit, post golf, or post a swim in the sea. The Pier which reopens by May 2023 has had a facelift also and has decking and sunbathing areas and a cool bar to match. The ideal spot to jump into the sea from, with ladders to get back up and dry off.

The main existing Lobby Bar called the Ella Fitzgerald Bar has had a refresh and is a great place to end your evening with an Oval shaped cocktail bar and ample comfortable lounge seating, across a wide area of locations, which offer different ambiences on two levels, but rest assured the waiter level service is fast, polite and efficient, you don’t have to wait for your next drink for long! Unlike some other venues in Belek. Every night there is some sort of live music in the Ella Fitzgerald, classical, pop, whatever floats your boat there is something to enjoy. Duets, trios or an entire bad, there may even be a solo performance too!

The One Bedroom Serenity Suites are located on high floors, as well as on the ground floor too and have more than double the size of the Superior Rooms, you have an extra toilet near the main front door, larger balconies and a lounge area also. The suites have 2 impressive Mirror TVs in both the lounge and the bedroom and comfortable furniture in the suite to relax in if you are not outside on the balcony, or patio. Some of the Serenity Suites will be sea facing on floor 3 or 4.

The Villas are split into 3 categories, namely the 3-bedroom Pool Villas, The 2 bedroom Garden Villas and the 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom Deluxe Villas which are farthest away overlooking two holes on the Gloria Old course. These have all had a substantial restyling as well to compete with the very best villas in the Belek region.

Special requests can be made for room locations such as sea facing high floors, but can never be guaranteed in advance, if you are a repeat, or multi repeat customer, there is no doubt that you will be given preference, which is only fair.

Gloria Serenity Resort shares an Amphitheatre, which hosts many impressive shows on a nightly basis, with its animation team and visiting performing artists & guests taking centre stage. Although you may not wish to visit this spectacle every night, we recommend trying it at least a couple of times, there is always plenty of variety to enjoy, most shows start at 21.00 hrs,  post dinner. The Amphitheatre is shared with customers from the sister property, adjacent called Gloria Golf Resort and can accommodate 550 spectators, so it is impressive and al fresco also.

In addition, there are Beach Shows, which can be DJ shows, with great music for all age groups, or a live concert also, with well-known Turkish and European Pop Artists, or even Classical! These are all offered free of charge for guests within your hotel package. Furthermore, in the Lobby Bar there is nightly live music on a smaller scale, but equally fun and impressive. You can enjoy your favourite Gin & Tonic, cocktail or whisky nightcap, whilst watching some great music.

There are plenty of impromptu performances popping up all over the Resort, such as for example, the Singing Chefs who tour the buffet restaurant and sing some Italian Opera, it takes the breath away, or it could be a Magic Show instead!

The Gloria Serenity Resort offers its customer the finest quality food produce, cooking quality and variety of cuisine or food and drink – it is impossible to say any other Belek Resort is better! In fact, over the entire 18-year period the hotel has been open, it has always excelled in this regard with consistent high quality. Although the hotel will have by June 23, 7 or 8 a la carte restaurant outlets, it cannot be overstated just how good the buffets are always, I would be entirely happy eating buffet every night her and I certainly would not elsewhere and I really mean that, especially if eating in the al fresco garden terraces, which are a major highlight too and with a variety of first class show cooking stations – with fish, seafood and plenty of meat options using their outdoor grills, brilliant. The only downside eating buffet of course is that one can often eat too much and put on the kilos!!

Unlike many of its rivals, Gloria Serenity does offer a number of a la carte venues, which are not demanding a cover charge, we think just the Japanese and Fuego Steakhouse will do so from June 23, but this may change slightly, as the new venues open up in June, the Chef’s Fine Dining venue will be completely chargeable, if you fancy pushing the boat out just 1 evening.

The Old Course at Gloria was the second course to open in Belek in the mid 1990s after the construction of the impressive National Golf Club in the western end of the Belek area.

The course is a classic design through umbrella pine trees, where a good score can only be achieved by precision play, there are plenty of gentle and subtle dog legs. The course has relatively small greens and that aspect of the game is tough – missing the greens can give you very challenging chip shots.

There is an ample amount of water and nothing is more difficult than the water in front of holes 1 and 2, where all carry is the only way to go to get your par, or birdie. The fairways of Gloria Old course are tight and narrow and it is very easy to clip an umbrella pine early or late in the flight of a well hit drive, if you don’t shape it just right.

The New Course is more forgiving and although it is laid out over similar land, it is a little more undulating and there is more movement in the fairways – little hillocks and more run offs taking your ball under the pines, but it does offer wider fairways targets and approach shots, perhaps also offering larger putting surfaces. You don’t feel so restricted basically and can open your shoulders on the tee shots. The course opened more than 10 years after Gloria Old and has much easier sand traps, quite often greenside the bunkers have no lips and using a putter can work well, unusual for certain! On Gloria New there are more fairway bunkers, which can make life trickier.

Gloria Serenity has an incredibly impressive indoor heated pool , complete with wooden decking, wonderful spa treatment rooms and massages and very professional Therapists, also for Beauty Therapy, as well as massage. The environment is lovely with a strong Buddhist ambience. These amenities are supplemented well by very good Hammam Steam rooms, Finnish Saunas and Turkish Baths as well as Jacuzzis.

Make sure you book your treatments at the earliest possible moment of your holiday, or even before it starts, to avoid disappointment.