Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

For all of lucky enough to be their, can you let us know average
prices for restaurant meals. Also the latest Effes cost as I was told there was a tax increase.
Thanks in anticipation.

Efes roughly 7-8TL on average, although you may well find it cheaper in a few places. Set menus vary from around 22-35TL depending on whether you want chicken, steak, etc.

Many places charge 9 lira but you can get draught for 4.5 at the Buffalo bar and bottled at the Florida for 5 lira in the evening.

As a guide for prices of most things an adjustment has been made for the exchange rate so you don't gain at all e.g. at one restaurant that we go to regularly liquer coffee was £3 or 8 lira, this year it was £3 or 11 lira and it was the same in the shops. I actually asked in one shop why something I had bought last year had gone up in price so much and he actually told me it was because of the good exchange rate.

I did have a shock when the cost of a 1 kilo box of turkish delight was 40 lira whilst last year it was 25.

We actually didn't feel we spent as much this year, to be honest - there are some great meal deals around, and the little Turkish places are incredible value for money, as well as providing great home-cooked Turkish food.

I agree with Blondie that we didn't spend more in sterling. What I was getting at is that don't think you'll gain and spend less sterling because of the good exchange rate because an adjustment has been made in prices so when you buy something it's still the same price in £s but the price in lira has increased. Don't blame them for doing this though as they are trying to make a living.

The Pound is very strong at the moment but the people who are making the most profit from this situation are the Restaurants and bar owners who think because the pound is strong, they will increase their prices they charge to their regular customers.
£1 a pint last year £2 a pint this year,I think they are having a laugh at our expense.
The strong £ should be to our benefit not to line the greedy pockets of some over zealous restaurant owners.

A very unhappy regular

have to agree with redrhino The strong £ should be to our benefit no wonder alot of people are going AI and the restaurant owners are wondering why no ones going in. been going to turkey for 12yrs and its always been good value for money. what would happen if the £ rate fell would the bars restaurants drop the prices ???????????????

I also noticed the increase in the salons where you get shaves, hairdresser, manicure etc. Last year it was £10 when lira was 2.9 to the £ and this year still £10 with an exchange rate of approx 3.6 to the £. They are quoting in £s and using current conversion rate if paying in lira so quite an increase for the same service whatever currency you pay in.

I disagree its greed, the resort has been much quieter this year and with the strong market of Russian & European travellers do you really think they would single out Sterling vs the Lira?

For me its about quality and even with any year on year increase its a damn sight cheaper than here.

The last thing I want to see is businesses go under.

just seen people moaning about prices, so things have gone up, so what, its not greed, these people are running a business not a charity. if salons are charging £10 the same as last time you're not out of pocket there has been no price increase. If you can't afford to pay about 10/20 pence a pint more stay at home and leave the Efes for me

sunlover loch lomond wrote:I also noticed the increase in the salons where you get shaves, hairdresser, manicure etc. Last year it was £10 when lira was 2.9 to the £ and this year still £10 with an exchange rate of approx 3.6 to the £. They are quoting in £s and using current conversion rate if paying in lira so quite an increase for the same service whatever currency you pay in.

That the equivalent of £2.40 increase. Unbelievable

So am I missing something here

If the cost was £10 last year and it is £10 this year

Where is the increase

For as long as I remember (like an elephant) people were told to use sterling to get the bargains, so if you use sterling then there is no increase

Well said JT .... Why should they reduce prices based on the Lira ... Would you? ... If we pay the same in £'s approx every year for Meals, Drinks, Trips etc I'll be more than happy! ... It'll always stay as one of the best value for money Holiday resorts if it does!

Hi all
I agree with JT if something cost £10 last year and £10 this year how has it gone up? Regardless of the exchange rate I have been going to turkey since 2006 and have always based my spending money on £2000 for two weeks and whatever the exchange rate was it's always been enough to do whatever we've wanted
I think the Turkish people should be praised for keeping the prices as low as they have without compromising the quality and service we have all grown used to even though they've had new taxes imposed on them that cuts the profit margin they still do a wonderful job in my opinion
Thanks

Generally what you're saying is right John. Unfortunately, we changed our holiday money when the rate was 3.2 as we didn't think that the rate would go higher. We didn't think that we would lose out, as we expected prices to be around the same with just a small increase, as usual. If we had thought that the prices would have been adjusted for the exchange rate then we wouldn't have changed any money in advance.

Most places we noticed used an exchange rate of 3.6 whilst we were there. So for example on spending £100 it was equivalent to 360 lira. As our exchange rate was 3.2 then it would have cost us £112.50

When there is a good exchange rate, more people holiday in that particular country e.g. a few years ago when the rate for the American Dollar was good a lot of people headed to the US. The problem lies in that everyone knew the exchange rate for the lira was excellent as it was in the newspapers so much so you were expecting more for your £10. So the 'hype' led you to believe that you would spend less on your holiday.

I for one will never buy again in the shop where we regularly bought turkish delight having paid 40 lira for one box when last year we had paid 25 lira. My mind was elsewhere when I paid as otherwise I wouldn't have bought it with a 60% increase. With an adjustment for the exchange rate I would have expected it to be around 30 lira. We normally buy at least six boxes to take home so luckily we hadn't yet gone to buy them all. I would have expected the 25 lira to have increased to 28 lira so the shopkeeper would have had at least 168 lira from me. As the price was 40 he lost out on the other 128 lira and on my future purchases.

Normally I buy a number of handbags and give them to relatives etc, this year I bought one and that was only for convenience.

So yes John £10 last year is £10 this year the problem was on arriving in Turkey you realised that the good exchange rate had been wiped out so there was a feeling of being 'ripped off' even though you weren't.Thinking about it, I don't remember the prices going down when the rate was 1.9 a few years ago

Luckily for us we were able to change sterling and kept most of our Lira, the problem now is that all our 'spare' cash is in lira

The shopkeepers put up theor prices as the taxes, rents, rates and ameneties here in Turkey keep on rising all the time

It is not just tourists that pay these price increases but all of us that live here

All the prices in the supermarkets and I mean the large ones like Tansas and Kipa have risen and when all the tourists go home they will stay up as the rises are due to inflation and not for a few pence thrown on the price of Turkish delight

There are quite a few of our member who have now been to Istanbul arranged by me and maybe they should pop in here and tell us the "proper" prices that are paid in the main cities.

I for one remember paying 12 lira for a beer many years ago and that was not in tourist areas

Losing out on the exchange rate is unfortunate but none of us have a crystal ball.

The Lira could drop just as fast as it has climbed.

I don't consider price rises ripping off the tourists, especially when you're taking about one of best value for money countries in the Med.

Turkey is fast becoming a changing country on the global markets, as it develops, and many say at a faster pace than anticipated, the prices will increase.

I always base my purchases on what the same item would cost me in the UK... And if its cheaper in that particular Country I'm visiting. Then I can't have any argument.
I do however, welcome any price tips re Turkish delight.

looking forward to my visit in 20 days immensely. Was last there ten years ago. This will be my fourth visit.

[quote="JT"not for a few pence thrown on the price of Turkish delight[/quote]

I gave Turkish Delight just as an example as we usually take home six boxes and eat a few whilst there. I wouldn't say a 60% increase is a few pence but even if it had been, 'watch the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' as the saying goes and the same goes for the lira.

Having holidayed in Icmeler for so many years I don't think in £s whilst there but in lira so tend to notice a big jump because you know how much things usually cost. At home, when there is a big jump in anything, I choose to buy something else instead. I am the same on holiday. This year I bought more jewellery than I intended because the price hadn't jumped up and you also had the benefit of the gold price being lower, this year gold is excellent value. If I hadn't bought the jewellery I would have spent a lot less than I normally do.

Usually we spend a lot whilst on holiday, taking home not only the Turkish delight but handbags, purses, tablecloths and no end of embroidered towels as people keep asking me to bring some back for them. Also, as we are self catering we go out for meals every evening as well as one other meal a day.

It's a false economy to put prices up as people spend less so overall,less profit is made and that's just not my opinion its one of the laws of economics. The increase in alcohol this year is fair enough because of the tax, as happened a few years ago with red meat.

I think that a lot of people this year thought that they would have a good deal because of the good exchange rate and because of the media 'hype' thought they would have a cheaper holiday.

I'll still go to Icmeler even if the prices double as it has everything that I want from a holiday.

Just back home from 3 weeks in icmeler on saturday morning. There are some really good deals to be had and meals are very reasonably priced. Set meals consisting of a soup, turkish meze and bread, any chicken, pizza or pasta dish, followed by ice cream tea coffee for around 20 lira. Steak set meals were a little more. Kids meals were anything from 5 - 10 lira. Efes was anything from 6 - 9 lira depending on where you were ( typically 8 ). Bottles of efes in tansas were 4.5 lira. You can get a freash loaf of bread from the little bakers next door to tansas for 1 lira. Soft drinks were atound 5 -8lira depending on large or small and where you were.
Plenty of shops had the typical 3 or 4 for £10 on t shirts etc.
Full english breakfasts ranged quite a bit in price but typically price tended to be around 7lira but majestic did them for £1.
Sunshine, great service and hospitality in beautiful surroundings - free of charge