Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Hello everyone, my name is Chris, and as suggested, i'm a newbie!!

Myself and my girlfriend are staying in Icmeler from the 5th August for 2 weeks at the Hotel Dilhan and really can not wait.
It's both of ours first time in Turkey, and my girlfriends first holiday abroad for 21 years and mine for 4 years.
So.....on to my questions.

Travellers Cheques

I have seen mixed reviews on using these in Icmeler from different forums, so i guess it would be nice to get a definitive answer about them.
Are they easy to cash in supermarkets/exchange offices/banks?
Who would be likely to give the best rate?
I know it would be easy enough to just take sterling, but if you then lose it, it's holiday over, and that would be awful.

Buying goods/Posting them back home

Obviously with going to a foreign country it's nice to bring a bit of it home with you, and my girlfriend and i both like wood carvings and rugs etc etc but these aren't things that will just pop in a suitcase.
So is it possible to send them back home while there, and what are the prices like for posting heavy/bulky items?

Air Conditioning

Does anyone have an idea of prices for Air con at the Dilhan Hotel/Hotel Dilhan!?
I haven't been able to find any way of contacting them directly to ask the question, so if anyone has an idea, or just a rough price for other places then that would be helpful.
I did see that someone had landed at 1am and it was 71 degrees when they landed, so it would also perhaps be beneficial to have it switched on for when we arrive. Do you think that's a possibility?

I did have many more questions ready in my head for when my registration was approved on here, but they have gone out of my head now.
So i will apologise in advance if i bombard you all slightly with random questions.

I have heard the heat can be well in to the 40's in August, is that correct?

Also, is anyone else going out in August around our time, would be nice to maybe meet some people whilst out there.

Anyway, i'm clutching at straws now, so will await with rather excited anticipation your replies.

Thanks in advance

Chris

Hiya. I've never posted anything back home whilst being over there.I've always taken most of my spends in trav cheques, never had a problem changing them, and always got the best rate in the supermarket under the icr office.

Air conditioning is roughly around 30.00 a week in most places. I was the person who said it was 71 degrees when we landed at 1 in the morning, we did'nt have the air con on until the next day...I'll arrange for it to be put on when we get there this time. We are going on 11th August, beware it is extremely hot in August. It's about 42c at 9 in the morning.

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum!

I always take travellers cheques and never had a problem changing them, I think the change offices charge commission so i always use a little supermarket and they usually provide the best rate.

i've never posted anything home either, may be an idea to pop into the post office when you first get there to get an idea of prices etc.

Most places charge £3 or £4 per day for air con and you will certainly need it in August it will be a scorcher

Fire away with any more questions we are all more than happy to help, happy holidays!!

hiya welcome to the forum
air con is about £4-£5 a day in each apartment and hotel and as i said on a previous thread it is expensive to run and the hotels are not making a profit out of this
so that is actually what it costs to run
travellers cheques can be changed in most places
your likely to get a better rate in the little supermarkets but not sure if they will all change them
just be careful in case you get charged commission
also it will cost you a considerable amount to send large bulky items back to the UK as turkey is outside the EU and therefore there are import and export tariffs imposed
hope this helps
xxxx

At the BESt supermarket we have always been given the same rate for TC's as cash, the banks now charge a flat rate for changing each TC and the exchange offices do not offer a good rate, use the supermarkets.

Do not risk sending anything home by post unless the seller is sending it and it is cash on delvery.

We also fly out on the 5th August, last year at Midnight it was 32C so aircon is a must, remember to drink plenty of water at least a couple of litres a day to ensure you stay hydrated and use high factor sun creams.

Finally welcome to the forum,

Dave

Thanks for all your replys guys n girls.
The travellers cheques replies has finally put my overly worried mind at ease
I am guessing you will be arriving at 12.50am local time then Dave as am i.
Do you go on the transfer bus with your tour operator or do you get a private transfer Dave?

Chris

This year we actually land at 17:15 on the 5th, we always use private transfers which you can pre book, coach transfer times have got better as the roads have improved over the years but if you are the last drop off it can add time, private transfer is typically 90 minutes where in the past when I have used the holiday company coach it has taken 2.5 - 4 hours.

I remember in 2007 people on our flight were picked up 2 hours before us and we still beat them to the airport by 10 minutes. In 2003 we arrived at our apartments at 4.30am, the holiday coach turned up at 7am.

The beauty is that you are not waiting for anyone else or if it's a minibus shared transfer not too many, you can choose whether you want to stop for a comfort break, is it worth the money thats a good question and for me it is worth it, but each individual is different.


Dave

Alas my transfers have been paid for as i did this when i booked, before i had found this forum.

But then, to me, and everyone is different, at least i will get to see some bits of Dalaman on the way to our hotel, albeit in the dark!!

And i think the coach transfer is just part of the holiday to me, although i have never been longer than an hour and a half before, so maybe come the 5th August, i might be having a different opinion of this

And i bet Hotel Dilhan will be the last blinking stop

Chris

I'm the same Dave much prefer to spend a bit more and book a private transfer or ICRs transfer, so much quicker as I can't wait to get there!!

Two years ago I used the coach transfer and it took four hours to get to resort as we were one of the last drop offs in Icmeler.

This year in July we have a private Taxi transfer booked and in September will be booking ICR transfer.

Alison

Who do people go with when it takes 4 hours? We were last drop off both times we've been and it still only took 2 hours, one f...t c....e the other tc. I must have been lucky.

Last time we used the coach 90 minutes BEFORE we left Dalaman then 90 minutes to Icmeler then 100 minutes to our hotel - the driver had no idea where to go he kept stopping walking off trying to get directions at silly oclock in the morning - ICR transfers for us in June and September we have used them before and it was problem free

adewolves wrote:Who do people go with when it takes 4 hours? We were last drop off both times we've been and it still only took 2 hours, one f...t c....e the other tc. I must have been lucky.

I cant remember why it took four hours, it was with j*w*l in the C***n. We just seemed to go all around the houses in Marmaris before going to Icmeler, must have just been unlucky that year.

Alison

first time we went to turkey we used the coach transfers with TC
never again
the other 20 times we have been we have used private transfers
well worth the money
xxxx

Absolutely, Katie - we did the same on our first visit because we didn't know any better. Since then, we've alays used ICR. Definitely worth it to get to our little piece of paradise so much quicker!

completely agree Blondie
we did the same just because we didnt know any better too
the first time we came to turkey our coach got stranded in the middle of the route to icmeler as the engine failed so we had to sit in the complete darkness in the middle of the moutains for 2 hours at about 3am for another coach to come from dalaman to take us all to icmeler
not a good first experience of turkey
xxxxx

In 2003 it was due to the coach waiting for people who booked a private transfer but had not told the reps, so if you have a coach transfer organised but decide to use a private transfer please make sure you tell the reps not to wait for you. Yes we had told the rep and signed a document to say we did not want the transfer, it is possible this info was not passed onto the coach, so it could have been us who caused the delay due to the idiot of a rep.

The first time in 2002 when we went to Icmeler (September) we dropped off at about 5 hotels in Marmaris and 3 or 4 in Icmeler, each drop took between 5 and 10 minutes while the rep checked them in. On the return journey we were first pick up and it took longer at each hotel while goodbyes were said..


For me Private Transfer all the way.


Dave

Private transfers are ok if it's going to make a difference to your holiday. I arrive as I did last year at 4 in the morning at my apartments, assuming its as it was, and we was the last drop. If we arrived an hour earlier it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference to our holiday, there really aint a lot you can do at 3 4 5 in the morning on arrival.