After a wonderful two week vacation in Alaçatı, Çeşme on the beautiful Aegean coastline in Turkey in mid-July (around the same dates I went last year), I returned to Istanbul about two weeks ago.
It took me about a week to get my legs back from running around day/night on vacation (not a spring chicken anymore, but can still tough it out with those much younger than me) and then another week to sort, photoshop and put my pictures in order for my blog posts about my trip!
So, now I'm raring to go and will share "my" Alaçatı vacation with you!
***********
Although my sister and brother-in-law have a home in Ilıca, Çeşme (another district on the Çeşme peninsula and about 10 minutes away from Alaçatı), for the past three years, I have been staying at hotels in Alaçatı. Why Alaçatı? Well, first I'm very close to the sea... I prefer to stay at boutique hotels ... and the hotels I prefer must accept pets as I always take Luka with me on my long vacations: "Pet friendly" hotels are very few in Çeşme. Why do I stay at a hotel? Because, I feel "a vacation is not a vacation if you have to cook, clean and do your own bed" and when you stay with family or friends, you do definitely have to pitch in!
So, for the 2nd year in a row, I booked a room (and the room I stayed in last year) at the Kapari Alaçatı Hotel and I'm so happy I did!
In fact, I went back to Alaçatı in August 2013 for a week (this time without Luka) and stayed at this hotel again with a good friend of mine. This time we stayed in a room on the upper level which was a duplex with a living room (with fold-out bed), kitchen, 2 full bathrooms and a bedroom).
Please refer to my post from last year for detailed info on this lovely boutique hotel as I don't want to repeat myself too much.
In summary, I love the tranquility and peace of this 3 year-old family run hotel. I also like the fact that the rooms are very spacious and my room on the garden level in front of the swimming pool also has a small living room area with a couch (Luka's bed)!
Some of the staff from last year had changed (since the hotel is not open year-round, they too have the same problems that most hotels that are open seasonally have), but the ones who knew me well (and knew what I liked) were still around!
The guests at the hotel are a mix of Turks and foreigners and once again, I met some very nice people this year from all over Turkey and some cities in Europe. Luka had some "friends" to frolic with from time to time too and since this was a "repeat" visit for himi he basically liked to hang out in the shade or eat his treats in the garden... when he wasn't snoozing in our room with the A/C on! Sometimes, it did get a little too hot for him.
My favorite time at the hotel was breakfast and I ate so much every day that most of the time it held me through dinner!
Here, like at other hotels throughout Turkey, you will be offered a typical Turkish breakfast which consists of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers along with a variety of Turkish cheeses, olives, homemade jams, all sorts of fruit, scrumptious daily baked breads, pastries and of course eggs to your liking! The hotel also has an a la carte menu for all-day dining (burgers, salads, mains, etc.)
Luka and I usually got to breakfast around 9:30-10:00am after taking our morning walk and then enjoy a leisurely breakfast with wonderful classical (tranquility) music as our background noise ...
Some days I would just hang out by the pool and relax, while on other days, I went to different beach clubs with my family and friends.
One of the other great things that the hotel added this year was a free shuttle service to Alaçatı's main square (about 2-3 miles away) and to some of the beach clubs in the area on certain times of the day, which I used frequently in the evening to meet up with my friends so that they didn't have to drive to the hotel and pick me up each time.
I have become fast friends with (Ms) Oluş Kızılagaç, the owner who came to the hotel every day, so we had many long chats and coffee together... I also met and enjoyed the company of the hotel's new General Manager (Ms) Çiğdem Oruntak, an ex-Istanbulite.
So, everything was the same and "not" the same as last year. This year, I felt even more part of the Alaçatı Kapari Hotel family and know that it will be Luka and my "home away from home" in Alaçatı for years to come!
www.alacatikapariotel.com
Stay well,
Dani
No comments:
Post a Comment