22/06/13 - 01/07/13 Club Tokmak Apartments

[MariaAlice]

Icmeler 22/06/13 – 01/07/13 Trip Report.

First holiday with my boyfriend and first major holiday without my parents so was quite exited/nervous. First time to Turkey as well.

Flew from Manchester on the 22nd of June with Thomas Cook, flight was due to take off at 18:30 but was delayed by 1 hour 15 mins. Flight was good, arrived at 02:00am Turkish time. Bought two bottles of Gordons Gin on the plane; two for £20.

Got through visa fairly quickly, think we were the only flight at that time. Paid via the old fashioned method of £10 note, didn’t bother with the e-visa and quite happy about that now, obviously that will be the only way in the near future. Bags took a little while to come round, my boyfriend got his and then it was my luck to be left waiting for mine. Think it was around twenty to three when my case surfaced.

Non ICR transfer. Found transfer desk really well, the man gave me a map of the resort and introduced the mini bus driver, who carried my case to the bus. Only had to wait about 10-20 mins for the other 2 couples to get on the bus. Can’t remember the exact time we left the airport , around 3 o’clock I think. Transfer was as expected, had the 15 min stop off and just got out to stretch my legs. Had 3 drop offs in Marmaris, and then one in Icmeler before us, then us, leaving one couple on the mini bus who were staying in Turunc. It was 5am when we arrived, which I didn’t think was too bad.

We stayed at the Club Tokmak apartments, and were greeted by the night time guard who showed us to our room on the ground floor at the back. Really liked the room, quite spacious, very clean and modern, our balcony/patio backed onto a grassy garden area which was nice. Hired aircon and safe for £45 and £20, £5 a day for aircon and just over £2 a day for the safe. By this time it was getting light so didn’t get much sleep to be honest.

23/06/13

We had packed waffles, cereal and tea bags in our cases and so were all set for breakfast. We then walked to the ICR office to sort out our trips (booked online and paid through paypal) the heat took us by surprise, it was very very hot. Sorted the trips out, Michelle was very helpful, and then walked back to the apartments via the supermarket. Had jam on toast for lunch on the patio, then relaxed by the pool for the rest of the day until we went for our Turkish bath – at the Mersoy Bellavista Suites. Paid £5 each for the bath, though we got given the hard sell for every other treatment under the sun. The man lowered the price for all treatments, face mask ect to £24 for both of us by the end, but we didn’t want anything extra as by this point it was nearing 5 o’clock. We really enjoyed the Turkish bath, it lasted about 1hr 30 mins in total which for £5 each is a bargain, bought one photo for 15tl. Got driven back to the apartments by the bath’s driver – that was an experience, mad driving to say the least, but got back in one piece. Didn’t want to go far for our evening meal as the lack of sleep was catching up with us. We ate at the Wayside as it was a short walk from our hotel. Food was amazing. Free bread and dip, starters of onion ring and chicken wings, mains of chicken in Jack Daniels glaze and Yoghurt Kebab, Raspberry Cheesecake to share for desert, water, ice tea and cherry juice. Bill was just over 90 lira. Strolled back to the apartment and fell asleep nearly straight away.

24/06/13

Spent morning by the pool, relaxing and talking to other guests. Had lunch at the pool bar, food was good. I had a chicken donner wrap and my boyfriend had a pasta dish, with a water and cherry juice this came to 30tl. We then freshened up and walked down to the beach via the square and took some photos. Got an ice cream each on the beach front 5tl each for two scoops, was lovely and refreshing. Our first impressions of the resort so far were that it was very clean, picturesque and really pleasant to stroll round. Even though we were staying quite far back (near the market) we felt that nothing was too far away. On the way back we stopped at tansas for shopping and Alins for a roast chicken at 11tl. We made pasta and stir fry veg and the cooked chicken was delicious. We then headed to Nazar Café which was so relaxing and very pretty. We just ordered drinks (ice tea, water, effes, cherry juice, Turkish tea x2, and melon shisha. 40tl for a nice relaxing evening in a great setting listening to Turkish music.

25/06/13

Went on the Turtle beach/Mud baths boat trip, picked up at 8:15am (first ones on the mini bus). Picked up everyone else then off to Marmaris Harbour to board the boat – Neptune Express. Lovely boat trip 2.5 hours to turtle beach with swim stop and lunch. Ordered chips with lunch and ice tea and water. Took our own drinks (frozen water) in my bag, even though there were signs up saying not to bring your own drinks. Lunch was nice, chicken, pasta, salad and bread roll. We transferred onto smaller boats then to get to the beach. Had one hour on turtle beach, really lovely scenery, swam in the sea for a while. Sand was red hot! Nearly burnt my feet. Back onto the smaller boats again for a trip up the river past the tombs to the mud baths. Small boats were selling water for 1lira so got a couple of bottles for the journey. Mud baths were fun, if a bit smelly but it was a great experience and we saw a couple of baby turtles in the water near the baths. Back on the small boats to the Neptune Express, and another 2 hours journey back to Marmaris harbour. Paid the drinks bill on board, just under 30lira – I’d say very expensive for chips, one bottle of water and an ice tea. Transfers back to the hotel were a faff so to say, only one mini bus bound for Icmeler showed up at first and so half of us were left behind, another bus showed up 10 mins later though. Went to Meryem Yemek Evi for our evening meal. Bread, mezze dips and salad to start, chicken donner and adana kebab for mains, effes, water and Turkish tea x2 for 42tl. Bargain and the food was amazing, really filling and very fresh.

26/06/13

Spent the morning by the pool – seeing a pattern here? Had lunch in the apartment and then headed down t0 the beach for the afternoon. Got sunbeds at Beach 34 and ordered pineapple juice, ice tea and a cheeseburger and chips (for the greedy boyfriend), with two ice lollys for the walk back this cost 27tl. Beach was nice and well kept in this area, sea became deep quite quickly though so I didn’t go out too far. Tea was at the Three Bells near Romance (I think there are two?). Free garlic bread to start, boyfriend had some kind of kebab (think it may have been Beyti?) and I had one of the Korean dishes – Go Chu Jang Bok Im with extra chilli’s in the sauce. Effes x2, water, cherry juice and x2 Turkish tea. Total 63tl. The waiter accidently undercharged us on the bill and wrote 43lira but I called him over and explained his mistake. Lovely meal all in all, I loved the sauce that my dish came in and my boyfriends kebab was so tender. We have a habit of stealing bits of each other’s food and so always order two different dishes.

27/06/13

Another morning by the pool. Lunch at the pool bar again, pizza for boyfriend and chicken sandwich for me with water and cherry juice 31tl. Walked down to the beach at about 1 o’clock and caught the taxi boat to Marmaris, 10tl one way each. Had a look round the marina and went up to the castle which was closed for renovations which was a bit of a shame. Got cornered by “Castle Mama” and had to buy a keyring, bless. Got the dolmus back to Icmeler 2.5tl one way. Marmaris marina area is lovely and the bazaar was nice to look round window shopping at but it was too warm to walk any further round Marmaris and it’s such a big place I wouldn’t have know where to start. Decided on Coco Beach for tea as we had passed it on the beach front. Bread roll and olive oil dip to start, boyfriend had a pasta dish and I had the “Sizzler” pizza. Free slice of cake was a nice touch after the meal, slice was small, but for free you can’t complain. Efes dark x2 and water, total cost for the meal 49tl. Had a cocktail each at Mitos bar on the canal after the meal, frozen banana daiquiri and a San Francisco, 12tl and 10tl. Definitely alcohol in these cocktails I can tell you.

28/06/13

Went on the Akyaka trip in a jeep, really enjoyable day. Picked up abit late around 9:45 but told that Turkish time means 15 mins either side of what you are told! Travelled with 2 other jeeps and a mini bus. Visited the old Marmaris road first and went through a few small Turkish villages, it was nice to see some more cultural aspects of Turkey. Breeze on the jeep meant that we didn’t get too hot which was nice. Visted some small rock tombs that you could go in as they were on ground level. Not much to see but worth the 15 mins stop. Next we visted a restaurant/café on the Azmak river for a drinks stop off. We ordered Turkish tea which never came, didn’t matter so much to us as we had water with us but the service seemed pretty hectic – I think there were too many of us to handle. Next we got back on the Jeeps to Akyaka, and got on a river boat to sail up the Azmak. The river is gorgeous and you got the chance to swim in the water – which was below 10 degrees Celsius. I didn’t get in, but dipped my feet in which was enough for me, it really was freezing. We went back down the river and then to a café in Akyaka for lunch, choice consisted of chicken, meatballs, or omelette for those who wanted English food or a Turkish dish from the lunch time menu. Boyfriend had the chicken with rice, and said it was okay, nothing too special. I had one of the Turkish dishes, aubergine in some kind of tomato based sauce with rice – if anyone has any idea of the name of this aubergine dish I would really appreciate it. It was lovely, think the name began with an “S” Paid 7 lira for water and an ice tea. After this we got just over an hour to have a look round Akyka itself. We went to the beach and spent abit of time in the sea before getting an ice cream (8tl for 2x two scoops) and walking along the prom. Back on the jeeps, stop off at the olive farm shop – didn’t buy anything but had fun with the testers. Then we visited Havuzlu Bahçe – a restaurant in the middle of the forest which had a massive pool, nice gardens and some animals. Drinks were expensive we figured as an effes and a cornetto cost 15lira. After 1 hour here it was back to Icmeler, all together a really enjoyable day out, would recommend to anyone looking for a nice day out – not as long as the Turtle Beach boat trip – but I enjoyed that as well.

Ate at Hanedan’s that night. Free mezes and bread, plus we ordered the Hanedan Pastry to start. Lovely mezes – almost like a full meal in itself. I had the paper kebab for my main – chicken and veg cooked wapped in paper, was opened infront of me. It tasted so good. My boyfriend had the Garlic Kebab (Beyti Sedir? Or something like that) which came cut up round the plate with loads of yoghurt in the middle. This was also delicious. 2x effes and a water plus 2x Turkish tea for drinks, total bill was around 90tl. Very good value for such great food.

29/06/13

Spent the day round the pool – again. Made our own lunch in the apartment, then headed to Café Anne’s for some cake time. I had the sour cherry cheesecake with ice cream and a strawberry milkshake and the other half had vanilla cheesecake with cream and a banana milkshake. Oh my god, this was like indulgence at it’s best. The cakes were to die for – very good portion size and the milkshakes were very refreshing and not sickly at all which can be the case sometimes. Total bill was 34.5 lira which I thought for the experience was good value considering this could have done us for lunch.
It was BBQ/Turkish night at the hotel and along with other guests that we usually spent time with round the pool we decided we would give it a go. The cost was £12 each which I thought was not too bad. We were seated at 7:30 and food was served at 8:00pm. The food was help yourself style to a point – the bbq meat was put on our plate by staff after we helped ourselves to bread ect. The food was mostly very good, steak a little bit tough but I really enjoyed the stuffed peppers and the chicken skewer. Unfortunately after this things seemed to go abit pear shaped. The entertainment was running quite late and we were informed of this, and the staff organised a game of bingo with prizes to fill up the time. This was okay and we all made light of the fact things were going abit topsy turvy. The belly dancer finally arrive around an hour late and this picked up the tempo abit. The next acts were also late and by this point a lot of us had decided we would go out instead as most had been to the Turkish night the year before and I was only really interested in the belly dancer anyway.

We ended up going to Rush bar, which had entertainment on full force anyway – so we ended up seeing similar acts as we would have in the hotel anyway. Atmosphere was brilliant and we all had a good time chatting ect. When the music was switched off at 12:00 the owner of the bar came over for a (long) chat which was nice, a couple of people from the hotel had met him before on previous years. By the time we knew it, it was half one and I was getting quite tired as I had got up quite early. Half of us called it a night at this point (others stayed), we payed our bills, 2x effes dark and water – 18tl and headed back to the hotel via a kebab shop. We shared a kebab wrap 5lira – it was so nice, nothing like what we get at home. Chips, some veg and hot sauce were in the wrap along with the meat and we regretted not getting one each for that price.

We later found out that some parts of the entertainment for the Turkish night (robot man and Michael jackson) didn’t show up until almost 12 o’clock. And at this point MJ was unable to perform as music had to be switched off.

30/06/13

Settled the bill for the Turkish night in the morning. £12 x2 for the night itself and then 17.5 lira for 2x effes and water. Paid with £30. We later found out it was one of the two bar lads who had organized the Turkish night which we did not realise (we thought it was the manager/owner) and he was a bit upset that a group of us left so him and his brother (also bar staff) was a bit off with us for a while until we explained that it wasn’t his fault that the entertainment was so late and that if we had known it was him organizing and managing the whole thing with just his brother and the chef we would have stayed and helped him along a little as they both worked so hard, very long shifts. Plus they worked on commission and so didn’t earn a great wage. That hurdle solved things went back to normal.

Spent the day by the pool with just a quick walk to tansas to get some snacks ect for the journey home the next day. Couldn’t believe it was the last full day of our holiday already, it went so so fast.

Ate at the Love Boat – friend around the pool recommended it to us and it did not disappoint. Free bread and dips to start. I had the chicken curry and other half had the fish in the oven (cod). For desert I had the Love Boat Pancakes and boyfriend had caramel cheesecake. All food was beautifully presented, tasted amazing and the setting was just perfect for our last evening meal in Icmeler. We received complimentary liqueur (we picked banana) at the end of our meal and with 2x effes dark and 2x water the bill came to 109 lira – which I thought was amazing value as although it was our most expensive meal- the setting, food and service would have cost a lot more back home for something similar.

We then had a stroll round the square and did some present shopping – my boyfriend didn’t want to look round shops during the heat of the day – it was too hot for him to walk around, he needed to be in the pool or in the sea or somewhere with one hell of a breeze.

01/07/13

Final morning spent, you guessed it, round the pool. It was sad speaking to everyone knowing by 3:30pm we would be gone and heading back home to miserable Manchester. Checked out of the room at 12pm – could have kept it on for an extra £10 but we figured for 3 hours we wouldn’t need it and several of our new pool buddies had offered the use of their rooms. We then headed back out to Café Anne’s for more cake for our lunch. Boyfriend had the vanilla cheesecake again, but I opted for the waffle with fruit and ice cream which looked and tasted amazing. Just had water this time and the bill came to just shy of 22tl. Walked back via Meryem Yemek Evi – as we had arranged the night before to collect sandwiches for the airport as everyone points out how expensive Dalaman airport is. 10tl for two freshly made sandwiches – very good price . Final 1 and a half hours in Icmeler spent sat round the pool, saying our farewells ect. Left a tip for the maid and gave the bar/pool staff a tip and a bar of chocolate ect. Bought a fair few final ice lollys round the pool as well, fitting in as many as possible before home time. Tranfer mini bus came for us at 3:45pm and we were off picking everyone else up again. 15 min stop at the services and arrived at the airport at 5:50pm. Quick through security, check in ect and then we just sat and watched the planes come and go, ate our sandwiches – very tasty. Bought grapes, apples and biscuits in tansas for the airport so didn’t have to pay any mad prices. 29 tl for a single chicken wrap from kfc! Madness! Took off at 8:30pm and landed in Manchester at 10:45 ish, bought 2 litres of sprits for £20. Again my suitcase was later than my boyfriends, but we were soon outside and picked up by my dad. End of my lovely holiday.

It’s been miserable here in Manchester the last couple of days, really missing the sunshine, the pool, the people and the lovely setting and not to mention food that awaits all of you lucky people heading to Icmeler soon. I would most certainly go again at some point in the future, loved every minute.

End of my very long trip report.
Total Spends: £65 aircon and safe. £40 spirts. £30 on food, drink, magazines ect mainly at Manchester airport. £30 Turkish Night. £92 for the trips booked through ICR. Approx 1200 Turkish Lira spent over the 9days, including my 85 tl spent on presents.

Sorry for waffling on with myself.

Hayley