Myself and my aunt flew from Luton Airport with Monarch. We arrived at Luton for around 12:30pm in plenty of time for our 3:40pm flight! We'd already checked in online, so dumped the cases and headed off for a cocktail and a browse in Duty Free. I picked up a bottle of Vodka, bottle of Malibu, 400 ciggies and a bottle of perfume for just over £100
Just enough time for 2 glasses of wine in the bar before boarding the plane! Flight was on time and had plenty of leg-room in Row 1. Great flight, very smooth and we landed at around 9:45pm (Turkish time!) ready to start the holiday!We were first off the plane at Dalaman, straight through Visa control and bags arrived quickly, so we were out of the airport and ready to board the transfer coach by around 10:30pm.
Transfer:
We hired a private transfer so there was only around 6 groups of us altogether! We were the first onto the coach and had a little wait for the others to board, so I decided to step off the coach for a sneaky cig...BAD idea!!! As I stepped down, I landed awkwardly and twisted my ankle completely!! For the duration of the transfer, I had to keep my foot elevated until we reached the stop-off and a lovely lady from our coach informed me she was a nurse and checked my ankle out! She got me a bottle of ice cold water to put on it and confirmed that it wasn't broken! So with that, it was on our way for the second half of the transfer!
Arrival:
We arrived at Kapmar Hotel (non-ICR) at around 12:30pm and were helped up to our rooms by the lovely staff! A quick wash and change then into a taxi to Wonderbar (couldn't manage the walk!) Yasin provided us with a few very strong cocktails to numb the pain LOL, so after that was a slow walk down to Irish Bar to catch up with Roni and friends. Back to the hotel for around 3:30am for a little sleep, ready to start our first day!
Any plans we had for our 1st day are straight out the window when I get out of bed first thing and my ankle completely gives way!! Can't even stand, let alone walk, so Dr Murat was called who promptly sent out a man with a wheelchair & car to take me round to see him! One feel of my very swollen ankle and Dr Murat is sending me on my way to a hospital in Marmaris for X-Rays! Can't fault the hospital there at all - they were fantastic! X-Ray confirms I have torn all the ligaments in my ankle and will need to be put in a cast for 3 days!!! No swimming/sunbathing/dancing for me, so it's back home to Icmeler with my leg cast & crutches to drown my sorrows in a large glass of vodka! I hired out an electric wheelchair from the Buffalo Bar which was brilliant, and meant I could get out and about for a few days until my cast was removed! Everyone I saw in & around Icmeler were so friendly, and everyone stopped to ask about my leg!! Lots of best wishes and get well soons from everybody, so I soon started to feel better about my misfortune!
In the first 3 days with the cast on, we ate a lot at the Kapmar Restaurant attached to the hotel! It was fabulous! The staff were great, food was beautiful and the price was good too! (10% discount for guests staying in the hotel!)
Back to hospital on the Tuesday for my cast to be removed...YAY!! Still a bit of swelling and lots of bruising, but we headed straight back to the hotel for our first swim and sunbathe of the holiday
With the help of my crutches, we could now get out and about at night time so we headed off most nights to catch up with friends that we've made in bars/restaurants over the last 10 years!Places we ate:
Venice - Lovely food and staff as always!
Kapmar - As previsouly stated, fabulous food & service.
Alins - Great food, nice atmosphere.
Winehouse - Food was nice, but felt like this place was quite overrated!
Hanedans - Perfection!!
Majestic - We did not understand the hype about this place! Food was very bland, there was no atmosphere here and the staff were all too busy to provide any proper service! Wouldn't return in a hurry!
Bonjour - Beautiful steak here for a great price, but we waited over an hour as it was very busy.
Set Steakhouse - Just visited for lunch! Biggest cheeseburger I've ever seen in my life, so could only manage half of it, but it was delicious!
Waterfall - Such a shame, because we only found this hidden treasure on our last night! The food was to die for, wine served was beautiful, the staff were all lovely people and the setting of the restaurant is stunning!!
Bars we visited:
Wonderbar - Fantastic as always! Yasin behind the bar is amazing & such a lovely guy! Drinks are excellent value for money & the entertainment is always a laugh!
Irish Bar - We came for the "buy one get one free" cocktails - never again!! Our bill for 2 pina colada's came to 35tl (17tl each!) and they only seemed to contain milk & cream, no alcohol! Needless to say we didn't return!
Venice - Entertainment was fab as usual! Never any complaints here!
Champayne Bar - Lovely, friendly staff! Cocktails were a great price and they had some good music playing too!
Bamboo - Staff were nice, drinks were good value and the entertainment was ok!
Rush Bar - Not too bad! Went here for the Icmeler Lovers meet-up, so was a busy night. Drinks weren't too bad for the price you paid & the staff seemed lovely, but we only stayed for around an hour!
Canary Bar - Saved the best for last!! Before we came, we saw pictures of this bar on Facebook and have to admit that we both felt as though we'd find it a little bit intimidating, as all the staff are very young, veryyyy handsome lads! We couldn't have been more wrong! We have known Bilal (Speedy) for 3 years now, so he immediately made us feel so welcome! Every single lad working there was friendly, sweet and polite! Their dance routine to "I'm Sexy & I Know It" was a sight for sore eyes
and their drinks prices were great!! Plenty of alcohol in every drink (from what we can remember lol!) and the music/entertainment here was fab! The lads at Canary are some of the nicest we've ever met in Icmeler! What more could you ask for from a bar?! So...a massive thank you to Bilal, Yusuf, Hanifi, Brusk, Emre, Tyger and the bar boys for many a fantastic night at Canary Bar!! All in All:
Most days were spent lounging around the pool, taking a wander around the town and generally doing a lot of nothing! Another fantastic holiday was had and some great new friends were made this year! John & Alan (The Geordie Lads!) Rebecca (propping up the bar in Wonderbar & adding a touch of class lol) and Nick, Dennis, Liz and Jen made for great company on drunken nights in and out!!
Now we just have to look forward to an even better one next year!!
Thanks for reading!
Sian24 xxx
