Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Following on from the rumours thread, people are saying Icmeler is changing. Now its time to have your say. HOW is Icmeler changing ? What has changed it ? Who has changed it ? Is it changing for better ?

Maybe if we share our concerns, we can find answers to our questions.

One thing I noticed was 2 years ago, was a guy on a motorbike going round hotels and bars, and coming out of each with a big brown envelope. I never did find out what he was doing.

The lads hanging on each corner used to worry me, till I found out there lookouts for the bars, looking for the music man going round checking sound levels and after 12pm music etc

What we have found is the resort is attracking more young people spreading out from Marmaris when we first went to Icmeler 6 years ago the resort was mainly familes and old couples
2 Years ago we saw the first ever fight which was in one of the well know bars on the main road
This year we saw a couple of stag and hen parties
The resort seams to of expanded to quickly and is in danager of losing the regulars as the younger generation move in making it another Faliraki
Hopefully the new mayor will be able to prevent it becoming like that
Only time will tell


Steve

The"younger genertaion" that people are seeing are not coming from Marmaris as in an overspill they are actually the children that families had been bringing with them and have now grown old enough to travel alone.

Kids are keeping in touch with friends they have made over the years growing up in Icmeler and are all meeting up on holiday in the place they know (Icmeler) and most of them is their first time without mum and dad so they go crazy on the beer.

They are the future of Icmeler as all you old lot will be popping your clogs one day so Icmeler does need new blood

admin wrote:The"younger genertaion" that people are seeing are not coming from Marmaris as in an overspill they are actually the children that families had been bringing with them and have now grown old enough to travel alone.

Kids are keeping in touch with friends they have made over the years growing up in Icmeler and are all meeting up on holiday in the place they know (Icmeler) and most of them is their first time without mum and dad so they go crazy on the beer.

They are the future of Icmeler as all you old lot will be popping your clogs one day so Icmeler does need new blood

I'm in agreement with this although being a younger member of the forum you might think I'm being biased.

A surprising reason for me is also the Euro which is making people from all different walks of life explore Turkey with Icmeler a resort which people are exploring and like us I think they'll be falling in love with it. I do think something has to be done but it has to be done in a way where it doesn't upset tourists or the businesses in Icmeler. I believe there's many bars to suit different people - there's quiet ones, there's loud ones and there's bars with shows on. There's also 2 nightclubs for the people who want to stay out late. I think it needs to be taken note that if this was Falaraki or even something like Magaluf, then this would have people spewing on street corners, lots of fights breaking out, a vast amount of nightclubs and the "wrong type of people". I've never found any of this in Icmeler and I don't think I'm going to see it for the foreseeable future.

Marmaris will always be the more livelier one and I don't think thats going to change. If people want a party atmosphere so to speak then they'll probably go to Bar Street, get the last dolmus back and go to one of the nightclubs.

Thats an opinion and I'm a young person. Don't shoot me down though!!

We have found Icmeler is turning more from a traditional resort to a 'tourist' resort. The promenade has been given a roman feel and the bridges and jettys look false. Every bar is trying to outdo each other, rather than being a bar OR a restaurant OR a funpub, they decide to be all 3 which gives few bars any character that makes them stand out and look appealing for visitors who may not know the 'favourite' places to go.

The market never seems to change with the same T-shirts and towels every year, stock always seems the same. I have noticed that honesty of bar owners seems to have wained aswell with more 'errors' on bills than ever before.

Dolmuses seem to be less often and more than happy to drive straight by you if they feel like it. The sea has more rubbish in and for the first time this year we saw graffiti on a shop.

The other change is the influx of obnoxious, rude, loud Russians.

Cant say i noticed much change when i was there in sept - Prices seem more expensive - Market stock has definitely stayed same as last year but gone more expensive - Icmeler does have a certain magic ,not sure if we will go this year may have a change .Got quite fond of egypt now going again in feb but may try another part of turkey later on.

we came in june and september apart from being a bit more expensive some of the waiters were a pain trying to get us into their resturants you get fed up with that every evening but its such a lovely place it will be a shame if it really changes

icemeler has something for everyone, loud bars and quite bars. bars where you can stop and have a chat without been dragged in, used to be great to stop and have a chat and then go in for a meal or drink if you wanted without the hassle. Still its the best place in europe for holiday by far can,t wait for june to come and we visit again.
i think the mayor might have something by putting restrictions on the seedy bars. night etc, "clubs" keep them in mamaris, we go to icemeler because it is what it always being "heaven"

hey

I'm 20 years old and have been going to icmeler for the last six years, I completely agree with Admin that a lot of the younger people in the resort are people who have been coming with their parents over the years and are now old enough to go on there own, so take there friends to visit a place they absolutely love!

Some of you seem to think icmeler is in danger of becoming a new magaluf but I'm guessing those people haven't visited places like magaluf lately, trust me, Icmeler is nothing like magaluf/ayia napa etc. I have been to Icmeler twice this year (both family holidays), however I also went to Magaluf on a girls holiday - there are absolutely no similarities!!! In magaluf you can't really get a decent meal in any of the restaurants, the streets are packed with loud drunk people every night, loads of clubs, loud music in EVERY bar and organised drinking games. (Not that I’m complaining, we went for the clubs/party atmosphere etc)

Whereas in Icmeler - you have some bars/restaurants that play loud music & then the ones that are more suited to those who want a quiet meal or drink. Although you see some drunken people, the streets are not full of them & there are only two clubs, plus the fact that music is turned off at 12.

I plan to go to icmeler next year for a holiday with 3 of my friends - however we won't be expecting a 'magaluf type' holiday, we will be going to Ibiza for that later in the year, we are going to icmeler for the great atmosphere that you get in the restaurants and bars, lazing on beach, good food & we will probably go into marmaris some evenings for the clubs. Having young people in the resort isn't necessarily a bad thing as we aren't all the type to get so drunk that we throw up in the street/fight etc! Definitely not the sort of thing I will be doing

I know that icmeler has changed over the years but I wouldn't say it has been all bad and I still feel it is very much family resort.
I've just read the rumour thread & I really hope that some of it is just rumours, as I'd hate for some of those bars and restaurants to be closed down!!!

The biggest difference we have noticed is the number of people staying at AI hotels.It could be very detrimental to the local bars and restaurants and we hope that consideration is given to this and action taken accordingly.It was my aunt who is almost 80 now who introduced us to Icmeler,she went for many years in the 70s and 80s.If it had not expanded and changed we would not all have been able to go as there was not the infrastrucure to support the number of tourists who visit every year.It still is a great place to go to and I havent ever recommended it to someone and consequently had them return disappointed.

No matter where you go change will take place, everywhere has to move with the times. To be honest I can't see Icmeler going like Falarake or Magaluf well not for a long time anyway. There would need to be alot more dance clubs and nightclubs. When I say dance clubs I don't mean bars playing loud music I mean bars playing modern dance tunes alot of music pumped out of bars in Icmeler is pretty old stuff. So I think people can stop panicing about Icmeler turning into Falarake.

Steve x

Again linking in with my post, I certainley agree with Salford_Steve and Sophia.

I will wait until April/May and see what the mayor has done to Icmeler before judging whether it's good or bad though. Although I understand that everybodys opinion is different.

Also, AI's taking over more English people who are visiting Icmeler, with Russians, Dutch etc who'd been doing AI for a while now. Personally, I don't see the attraction of AI.

Jonny.

I think you have all posted some really good posts, members / customers opinions are so important so please keep them coming. You can post good or bad, no on will be right or wrong etc, everyones opinions are valid to the future of Icmeler

i think my views vary depending on when i visit...

july/aug is when we as a family have to go, i am not so keen on the banging boom boom bars, seems they grow each year....and this year we noticed quite a few lads or girl groups, being very loud, shrieking etc whilst we sat eating our meal. it was also the first time we saw 2 youngsters throwing up they were so drunk. this does put me off....

when we went in the sept, it was rubbish weather, but the whole of icmeler has a different vibe, its relaxed, and i loved it....

next year i am coming in the june, so we shall see!

i think its lovely how several restaurant people remember you, even if you havnt eaten there, they always said hello, asked about our day, and shook hubby's hand, how pleasant is that......

i do think however that it is possible marmaris is spreading to close, keep the noisy bars there, .........

I agree with quite a lot of opinoins. Keep music to being turned down at 12 is fine, there are to many AI hotels; this spoils it for the resturnats as less people eat out, Icmeler is still very family orientated compared to many "young peoples resorts" in europe. But most off all I agree with Admin when he said that the young people coming to Icmeler now are the ones that have been coming with their parants since they were young. These people will be the future of Icmeler. There has to be something for every generation, this is what makes it a family resort. People can come on holiday with all of their family memeber ie. grandma & grandad, mom & dad, autny's uncles, cousins, brother and sisters and find something for everyone of them. This is what has kept me coming back year after year. As long as the loud music bars are kept away from the smaller quiet resturants I don't think there will be a problem.

I can see a problem arising from the influx of AI hotels. May be this is what the mayor should be concentrating on. This does have a detrimental affect on businesses and would only increase the number of loud music bars as people look for entertainment after they have eaten at their hotels. We always have an evening meal out in a quiet restuarant and then the ones that want a music bar go one way and we go another. If that choice is taken away the family groups will dwindle and you will have more young people come for the music bars with no other fmaily memebers to keep them in check. I think then the problems would begin.

Di.

I agree with a lot that has been said, and can see & respect differing points of view.
But although I haven't been to Faliriki I have seen all the bad press on the TV etc and although Icmeler is not at that stage yet, if the mayor doesn't try to put some restrictions (if thats the right word ) in place Icmeler will soon be that way also.

I'm a very young at heart 50 something and love music and dancing and the company of young & older people but surely there should be a middle of the road that suits us all.

I also think that the increase in AI hotels is ruining Icmeler. The restaurants are having to compete strongly with each other to get the remaining tourists who are not AI to go in.
I always go in Sept but the waiters often seem really fed up, it wasn't like that years ago.

I think that because of this competition there is a sadness and desperation , not the lovely relaxed, genuine place it used to be.
Saying that, I will always return to Icmeler as I love it so much

Though Icmeler feels like it's changed, there's no one particular thing I can put my finger on. Of course the staff change from year to year and last year in particular, there were a lot of lads we'd seen working there for years who weren't there. That said, there were some old favorite who returned this year after a couple of years' break which was great and lovely to see them again.

We noticed this year that the Police drive up and down more at night, though no apparent reason for it.

It was great to see that the boat trip prices hadn't gone up - we were still paying £10 for the trip including lunch and breakfast like we have for the past few years. THough the trips don't travel as far as they used to now that diesel's dearer than the UK, that's not a problem for us either as the trips still run all day.

Can't say we saw folk falling-down-drunk and the place is still very clean and tidy.

More AIs don't affect us personally though as we usually stay in the same apartments going SC, though I feel for the bar/restaurant owners as it doesn't help them at all.

I can't comment on previous years as September of this year was our 1st time in Icmeler.

We loved it and will be returning.

Perhaps trimming the number of bars and restaurants would not be a bad thing. We definitely sensed the odd air of desperation amongst a few of the bar callers trying to entice us in. They were often the less busy bars where this occurred. It was early September, so maybe these bars might have been busier a month or 2 earlier. But the impression was...Too many bars fighting for a limited amount of trade.

We stayed in self catering apartments just behind the Elvis Bar(Won't mention the name, as not ICR), but we ate out on all bar 2 nights of our holiday. However, because our apartments were so well run by friendly staff and management, we tended to go back there after eating and having a wander round town, to enjoy the rest of the night with some good entertainment thrown in too.

We sat in the Florida bar one evening but left after one drink, as we didn't want to be "Entertained" by Dutch people arming wrestling during their dinner.

My son was also propositioned by a Russian "Lady" opposite the Metropole sports shop. He told her he was "Fed up, not hard up"

Other than that, I can't say we saw anything really negative about Icmeler. It's Turkey, after all. You expect people to be more in your face than other countries. But the Turks we met, be it Bar and restaurant staff, shop staff or our friends at the apartments, were largely most welcoming, polite and extremely friendly.

As we can't make a return visit until 2011 for various reasons, we will look on with interest on how things develop next year.

Andy

It was our first time in Icmeler this year so like andytaj cannot comment about how it was but we loved it. Ok yes there are a lot of bars and restaurants trying to attract tourists in but we found a polite no thanks and we was left alone. One year we went to Antalia and we used to have to avoid going passed many places as they continued to hassle you even when saying no thank you, spoiled our holiday a bit but Icmeler is no where near as bad as that.
We loved the friendliness of the people and they go out of their way to make your holiday a good one.
In the two weeks we was there we saw just one skuffle but it was quickly dealt with without much fuss.
We didnt see anyone staggeringly drunk, being sick and causing grief (unlike a lot of our own home towns) so they must be doing something right, maybe England could learn a thing or two from the Turkish people.
It is a shame when places close because they all work very hard for their money. We eat out every night trying different places and are quite happy at leaving a tip because the meal has been good and we have been entertained by the friendly staff
We will be returning next year for 3 weeks,the first time we have enjoyed somewhere as much to stay that long and when 2011 flights come on sale will once again be booking to go back to Icmeler for 3 weeks so i hope there are no drastic changes and i get to see the people we made friends with this year and maybe make some more in yrs to come.
Please dont change Icmeler too much, it is loved by a lot of people.
See you 30th August

well done jayjay that sums it up exactly, dont try to fix what is not broken, leave icemeler alone we love it because it is the way it is