A large percentage of the guests at the hotel, which holds 1,300 people, are Russian, followed by Germans and then the British.

Being all inclusive I was a bit worried about the standard of food but was assured that with six restaurants all serving a different cuisine along with a main restaurant there would be plenty of choice. I think the main restaurant provided the best food out of the Greek, Chinese, French, Italian, Turkish and fish restaurants on the complex and with food cooked fresh in front of you every night there was enough for both fussy and more adventurous eaters to be satisfied. The only problem we encountered was not many of the restaurant staff spoke English, but this is something I was told is being worked on.

Abbie, 10, enrolled for the drama club while Sophie, 9, signed up for the soccer school. Although it was scorching hot Sophie could not wait to leave the pool and cold drinks to head to the football field to learn the skills of Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino and Co.

Ryan, a FA trained coach who had also gone on a course to learn the Brazilian way of doing things, was brilliant and patient with children. The fact that he comes from Leeds and supports QPR gave me ample opportunity to make jokes about his footballing credentials.

Unlike British coaching that I have seen there was no 5-a-side or team games, it was all focused on getting used to using different parts of the foot on the football, which was smaller and heavier than normal to promote that feeling. Step-overs, drag backs, flicks with the outside of the foot, I learnt quite a lot sitting in the shade of a tree while the kids carried out the exercises.

Sophie really enjoyed it and when she returned home and trained with her all girls team she happily showed off her new skills: "The football was really good and I have showed all my friends the drag back skill that Ryan taught us. Even though it was really hot it was really good, I just made sure that I drank lots of water and poured some over my head during training. was nice to jump in the pool after training and to use the pool slides at the hotel."

The drama club, led by the Thomas Cook reps, was equally as energetic and very well organised considering there were dozens of kids speaking four different languages aged between 5 and 15. At the end of the week they produced a play on the stage which is set in the middle of the complex, drawing a couple of hundred people.

Abbie, who took part in the show as a fairy, said: "We rehearsed for two or three days and then we performed in front of loads of people. Some of the children taking part were really little and cute while others were teenagers. We all got along really well and it was good fun to take part in a proper show on a real stage.

"I think the hotel was good because it had so many pools so people could do do different things. We used the pool outside the villa a lot. Sophie and I had it to ourselves most of the time and when we were thirsty we just sat on our balcony and had a drink."

The hotel, which has a number of expansions planned in the next year, is set around the children, with the kids club and stage in the centre of the complex rather than being tucked away.

Outside the hotel Thomas Cook work with Diana, a well established travel company who organise tours of the area. We went for a day out with Yavuz Akgun, our guide.

We visited Aspendos, considered to be the best preserved Roman theatre in the world. Designed by the architect Zeno during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180), it has an estimated capacity of 15,000 with internal walkways for patrons to get to the higher seats.

After that it was a short drive to the town of Side, originally founded by settlers from Cyme around the 7th century BC. There is a road where you can still see the remains of a row of shops, dating back to the Roman period as well as a huge ornamental fountain.

The history, facilities and activites all add up to an excellent alternative Mediterranean destination, proving that Turkey has something for all the family.

Need to know

Adam Fresco stayed at the 4-star Paloma Grida Resort, Belek, Turkey with Thomas Cook.

Seven nights during April 2008 costs £485 per adult and £229 per child on an all inclusive basis (Including flights and transfers), rising to £754 per adult and £358 per child in August.

Times recommends

• 52 brilliant weekend breaks for 2010
• Why are UK airports so child unfriendly?
• Ditch the spas - most detox talk is nonsense