Sometimes I think it's a wonder anyone ever has the nerve to open a hotel, when there's so much to go wrong and so much to get right. Bed and breakfast? It's more like a rolling programme of live, multi-sensory performance art requiring enthusiastic audience participation from guests and staff alike. Each element — location, food, ambiance, service, design, philosophy, mix of guests — must mesh organically to produce 'a Great Experience'. And that elusive 'wow' factor might be hard to define, but you can bet your bottom dollar it comes down to so much more than the size of your flat screen TV or the water pressure in your shower.
Hillside Su, a member of Designhotels.com, may miss conventional five-star rating but the sheer bravado of its design, in the cool-starved Turkish Riviera, gives it a decided je ne sais quoi. Yes, the transfer from the airport took us through a parched, barren and, not always sensitively, developed landscape. But architect Eren Talu's confidently modernist structure is striking against a backdrop of tawny hillside and blue sky (the Antalyan summer starts in April as temperatures nudge above 60F, and doesn't properly end until December, when they dip into the fifties again).
Inside, a spectacular atrium extends all the way up to the ninth floor and is decorated with the hotel's jokey signature - the biggest disco ball you've ever seen. And who knew an all-white room with an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling mirror could possibly be restful or relaxing? I can testify that Hillside Su's radically minimalist living spaces, furnished with giant squashy cubes in crisp white towelling, are very soothing indeed.
Lighting, both inside and outside the hotel, is developed with the same sense of fun as those squidgy oversized 'building blocks'. Adjust the colour of your own giant light feature (from red to orange or pink) and be a part of the light show visible from outside the hotel at night, as individual rooms glow or are extinguished, and the façade is washed with blue or green.
Having created a hotel with a nightclub aesthetic and a very groovy vibe, it would be rude not to take the obvious next step; that is, create a dance music festival to go with it. Hillside Su's annual, week-long SunSplash happens every May and assembles well-known British DJs including Norman Jay, Gilles Peterson and Jamie Liddell and combines them with younger talents from Istanbul and live music to create a programme of soul, jazz, funk and bossa, plus new and old school club classics.
The hotel's comfortably co-existing zones lend themselves nicely to diverse live performances, DJ sets and chill-out sessions. By day, enjoy some tranquillity by the pool (more white towelling; bliss); take in a yoga class or head to the spa for a reviving massage or sauna. Feeling lively? A three-minute walk takes you to the beach, where a bar and DJ keep the joint jumping. We saw lots of families but note that the beach does not lend itself to paddling; immersion requires swimmers to walk to the end of the jetty and climb or jump in. Great for hangovers, not so great for toddlers. When we were there, dance music obsessives had the option of signing up for an electronic music master-class with Jamie Liddell or a 'beat session' with Phil Asher.
Groups of friends might want to eat dinner in the softly lit atrium, choosing between excellent sushi and a traditional Med menu. Couples in search of a more romantic atmosphere should head up to the open-air fifth-floor fish restaurant, where fabulous views of the Turkish coastline may temporarily distract them from a succession of mouth-watering dishes. And while you're there, why not take the lift to the sixth floor and ask staff to show you the penthouse suite, complete with Jacuzzi, six-person bed, dual exercise bikes and myriad other A-list necessities, where apparently Mickey Rourke and his entourage partied (let's hope they gave the Jacuzzi a good clean when he left).
After dinner, the party really gets started. Simple pleasures don't come much better than moonlit beachside dancing on evenings so warm we stripped down to our lightest summer dresses and shorts. Guests with stamina could complete the evening with a more challenging late-night DJ set in the hotel's underground club. Looking around the pool and later the dance floor we noticed lots of well-groomed twenty and thirty-somethings, a sprinkling of older guests and still-cool parents (babies accessorized with their very own 'ear defenders' snoozing peacefully), and a blessed absence of plus-size, lobster-coloured Brits.
So, not only a great hotel, but a great party too. That's quite an achievement for any hotel: a friendly vibe, great music, a fantastic venue and yummy food and drink. SunSplash 2012 definitely beckons.
Hillside Su Hotel, Konyaalti, Antalya 07050, Turkey (+90 242 249 0700; hillsidesu.com). Room rates start from £90 per person per night. Prices for SunSplash start from £475 per person including three nights half-board at Hillside Su.
