Holiday review 21/08/08
Posted: 21 Aug 2008 19:38Hi everyone, just returned home this morning after spending 10 nights in Icmeler and decided to write a review, here goes.... after the 4 and a half hour flight which wasnt too bad we had a transfer by bus to the resort, this was a bit of a nightmare , 3 and a half hours later after dropping everyone off at hotels in Marmaris we finally arrived in Icmeler at 4.30am in the morning,(had we known that the bus would take this long we would definetely have paid the extra for a taxi, this is a bit expensive but to be honest would be well worth it) we had booked to stay at the Miray Hotel but on arrival were informed that the hotel was "full" so we were put in Hotel Private down the road a bit, we were not too impressed by this but had no other option but to stay for the first two nights of our holiday!
After the first two days we finally got into our hotel room at the Miray which was much cleaner and nicer, we booked to stay here due to the excellent reviews on Trip advisor's website, in my honest opinion the Hotel itself was nice and quite modern but there was nowhere near enough sun loungers and for the full duration of the holiday never once did we get a lounger, we had to go down to the beach and pay 5 lira for two sun loungers, also the breakfast is very basic consisting of only tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs and bread, only tea or coffee , if you wanted soft drinks like we did you have to pay, we ate breakfast twice I think and then skipped it every other day.
The holiday for us was pretty much about relaxing during the day and eating out at night, we didnt have any bad experiences from any restaurants and our favourite was Taj Mahal which I think we went to 4 times, also ate in Majestic, Venice, Villa kontes and Charlies, the prices I would say are about the same back home which can be expensive because we ate out every night but if you look around there are cheap set menu deals, we found that the soft drinks could be quite expensive with the meals.
We went to Rhodes by ferry and this was well worth doing, I think it worked about about £40 each but we really wanted to visit the Old town and historic sights, you have to be up early for this trip and be at Marmaris ferry Port for 8am, this was pretty stressful as it was a bit of a free for all where some people just dont belive in queuing like the rest of us do and were really quite rude.
We had intended on visiting Ephesus and Pammukale and wanted to do the two day trip due to the travelling but to be honest we were a bit pushed for time but we would realy like to do this maybe next time.
One night we walked from Icmeler into Marmaris this was quite a trek but a nice walk along the sea front promenade, we passed several hotels which looked lovely on the way they have their own beaches and private jettys, I would definetely look into staying in one of these next time.
With regards to the "hassle" that tourists get, this is something that I was worried about before we went, to be honest everyone is out for money you do receive hassle to buy things,but some people are fine when you say no thanks and walk away whilst others can be quite cheeky when you dont buy things but youve just got to ignore it, you have to haggle with the sellers as they first tell you ridiculous prices and will bring it down.
I also have to recommend Ephesus jewellers in Icmeler where I got a special ring custom made, the staff here are very pleasant and helpful and I would definetely buy from here again.
Overall we enjoyed the holiday and I would return again probably only for a week, the local people in general were very friendly so please dont be put off by the airport staff when you first arrive, on arrival at Passport control we had our passports thrown at us by the very rude staff.
Finally I have to mention something that I feel very strongly about, the appauling conditions that the small animals are kept in outside the Waterfall restaurant, this made me so angry, I have never seen so many guinea pigs in such bad conditions, we had to take food to these poor animals every night and ask the staff to provide them with water, the poor animals were kept in that heat with no shade and some of them lay lifeless and had bald patches probably due to the stress and neglect, in the Uk it would not be accpetable for animals to be kept in such conditions, I would encourage anyone visiting to please feed these poor animals.
After the first two days we finally got into our hotel room at the Miray which was much cleaner and nicer, we booked to stay here due to the excellent reviews on Trip advisor's website, in my honest opinion the Hotel itself was nice and quite modern but there was nowhere near enough sun loungers and for the full duration of the holiday never once did we get a lounger, we had to go down to the beach and pay 5 lira for two sun loungers, also the breakfast is very basic consisting of only tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs and bread, only tea or coffee , if you wanted soft drinks like we did you have to pay, we ate breakfast twice I think and then skipped it every other day.
The holiday for us was pretty much about relaxing during the day and eating out at night, we didnt have any bad experiences from any restaurants and our favourite was Taj Mahal which I think we went to 4 times, also ate in Majestic, Venice, Villa kontes and Charlies, the prices I would say are about the same back home which can be expensive because we ate out every night but if you look around there are cheap set menu deals, we found that the soft drinks could be quite expensive with the meals.
We went to Rhodes by ferry and this was well worth doing, I think it worked about about £40 each but we really wanted to visit the Old town and historic sights, you have to be up early for this trip and be at Marmaris ferry Port for 8am, this was pretty stressful as it was a bit of a free for all where some people just dont belive in queuing like the rest of us do and were really quite rude.
We had intended on visiting Ephesus and Pammukale and wanted to do the two day trip due to the travelling but to be honest we were a bit pushed for time but we would realy like to do this maybe next time.
One night we walked from Icmeler into Marmaris this was quite a trek but a nice walk along the sea front promenade, we passed several hotels which looked lovely on the way they have their own beaches and private jettys, I would definetely look into staying in one of these next time.
With regards to the "hassle" that tourists get, this is something that I was worried about before we went, to be honest everyone is out for money you do receive hassle to buy things,but some people are fine when you say no thanks and walk away whilst others can be quite cheeky when you dont buy things but youve just got to ignore it, you have to haggle with the sellers as they first tell you ridiculous prices and will bring it down.
I also have to recommend Ephesus jewellers in Icmeler where I got a special ring custom made, the staff here are very pleasant and helpful and I would definetely buy from here again.
Overall we enjoyed the holiday and I would return again probably only for a week, the local people in general were very friendly so please dont be put off by the airport staff when you first arrive, on arrival at Passport control we had our passports thrown at us by the very rude staff.
Finally I have to mention something that I feel very strongly about, the appauling conditions that the small animals are kept in outside the Waterfall restaurant, this made me so angry, I have never seen so many guinea pigs in such bad conditions, we had to take food to these poor animals every night and ask the staff to provide them with water, the poor animals were kept in that heat with no shade and some of them lay lifeless and had bald patches probably due to the stress and neglect, in the Uk it would not be accpetable for animals to be kept in such conditions, I would encourage anyone visiting to please feed these poor animals.