Icmeler July/August 2010

[josim]

Well her goes - it's taken me 3 days to think how I can write what a fab time we had in so few words!

Flew from Doncaster with Onur Air at 9.45pm on Weds 28th July following a 45 min delay. No problems with flight and arrived safely at Dalaman. Transfer was arranged by Travellers Rest Apartments where we were staying which was very efficient and we arrived at the apartments at about 5.45am. Staff very helpful at getting cases to apartment as we were on 5th floor. We were shattered but children (aged 2 and 5) refused to go to sleep as they were too excited and had slept nearly all the way there. Oh well a bit longer to savour our beloved Icmeler.
Me and my mum had booked a Turkish Bath at Club Greenworld apartments before we left and Sam and Huseiyn arrived to pick us up at our apartments at 12.30pm as arranged. My husband, dad and kids also came with us and used the facilities there which were very good. The Turkish Bath was slightly more expensive than most of the others in Icmeler but for 1hr and 40mins of papamering was worth every penny and very clean and professional. You got a sauna, Scrub, Turkish Bath, Mud face mask, Apple Tea and 40 min oil massage. I would definately recommend it to anyone wanting to try one. They even have a lady masseur should you require one.
The Travellers Rest Apartments are run by Chris from Barnsley who is married to Ramzan. Chris is an extremely friendly lady who will go out of her way to help you. The apartments are only small with limited facilities for self catering but are extremely clean and well looked after and serve their purpose - how long do you actually spend in your room? We managed with 2 adults and 2 kids in the room. Next time we would just ask for a room on a lower floor and we were in the attic rooms and the roofs were sloping! There is a fantastic pool area and you can stand up in the pool all the way across. There is also a small pool which even my 2 year old could stand up in. The pool bar was well stocked and you just got what you wanted and paid at the end of the day. Pete the barman was a lovely bloke.
Akyaka - we booked this trip through ICR and it cost £15 per adult and £10 for kids. We got picked up in a private minibus and taken to Akyaka on a 40 min drive through the mountains (beautiful). Akyaka is absolutely beautiful but very busy with Turkish holidaymakers. There is a lovely beach (much better than Icmelers), a lovely river which you can go on a cruise on spotting turtles and sea bass and geese. The little side streets have little craft stalls which are lovely to look at. It was just an amazingly relaxing and peacefulday enjoyed by all.
Marmaris - we visited Marmaris on a couple of occassions to do some shopping in the bazaar and to visit the castle which our 5 year old loved (see the pics on the photos section).
We ate out every night and some lunchtimes and can honestly say we never had a bad meal. Our favourites were Wayside, Harry's Steakhouse, Titanic and Lemon Tree but we also had lovely meals at Waterfall, Travellers Rest, Black Sea, Bonjour and Dolce Vita.
Overall we had a fantastic relaxing time and our 5 year old cried for an hour the night before we came home and asked if he could be Turkish because he didn't want to come home. This is our 14th visit and definately won't be our last.
Josim