Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

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Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 11 Jun 2013 07:24

Arrived early hours of yesterday morning around 3:00 am, after a restless few hours sleep and a long day of uncertainty, we were shown to our room at 5:30 pm!! Will do a review with full details when I get back, but all is now sorted and after a bumpy start we can now relax and enjoy our holiday!

Breakfast at wembley bar yesterday morning, full English 7.50 tl. Popped into Icr office to see Michelle and Elaine to book our trips. Was lovely to meet them! Lazy day yesterday as needed to be around apprtments awaiting our room. Popped out for lunch at mert doner for a chicken wrap. Found this little gem last year, we absolutely love it (as do the locals!)

Were late going out for dinner. Ended up in the chef, and were not dissapointed. 156tl for a pasta dish (to die for) , chicken casserole, a mixed grill and chicken fajitas. 4 efes and a coke.

Temps I saw yesterday in the square 34 at 10 in the morning and 25 at 11:30 last night.

Off for a turkish bath now :)

Will update with photos soon :)
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby Sami » 11 Jun 2013 11:46

Wicked start Shellbell, I am going to look forward to your updates :D
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby gez45 » 11 Jun 2013 13:23

Hi Shellbell, great to hear from someone at last who is staying at the Majestic as we will be there in a month,as its our first time we are a little anxious, so I will be watching for updates like a hawk. :D . Would you be able to give some details about how the rooms were and how much air con was etc and what the problem was when you arrived ? (If you have the time obviously). I hope you have a great time, cheers .
Gerry.
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 12 Jun 2013 07:50

Tuesday 11th - Day 2

Up at about 8:00 am, breakfast in the appartment restaurant which was very nice and very reasonably priced at 5tl for a full english! From there we walked down to Mersoy bella vista for our turkish bath. They did try to sell us all the extras but we paid for it all last year and although it was well worth the money, it's not something we wanted to do again. Turkish bath itself was very good :)

We walked back towards the dry canal and stumbled upon Cafe Annes, we had planned to search it out so were delighted when we noticed it and felt the need to pay her a visit immediatley!! We each had a coca cola float, I went for waffles with fruit and icecream, Sam had waffles with hot cherries and ice cream. Needless to say both went down well!

Spent an hour or 2 looking round the underground market, shops, etc, then back to appartments and some afternoon sun bathing.

We stayed at the appartments for the evening for "curry-aoke" - unfortunately I couldn't grace the guests with any singing as I lost my voice the day we left England and its not quite back on form yet! The curry was very nice indeed, all help yourself as many times as you like for 20 tl each. Played a game of bingo and sam won the jackpot! Lol - all 45 TL of it, but it payed for our evening so we were happy with that!

Just been to the market this morning for a little retail therapy! Seem to have somehow ended up back in Cafe Annes? Not exactly on the way home! But chocolate cake seemed to be calling me :-P

Shell x
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 13 Jun 2013 05:39

Hi Gez! :)

The issue we had was we arrived at 3 in the morning and were told there was no room available for us so we would be staying across the road in their friends appartment block. Don't get me wrong I am not someone that pays 2 star prices and expects 5 star accomodation, but I do expect to get what I pay for which wwas 2 pool view with balcony rooms at the Majestic appartments. To cut a long story short for now the appartment across the road was substandard to say the least. We told Sinbad that night that we would sleep there as we were so tired but wanted to be moved the next day. He agreed. The following day I got told 11 am. Then 1 pm. Then 3 pm. We eventually got shown to our appartments at 5:30pm.

The room my partner and I have is fine. It has everything we need and we are more than happy with the price we paid. Especially like the balcony area which overlooks the top pool (we are on the ground floor). The air con is priced at £40 but we haven't bothered as we don't need it. The room is well shaded and stays very cool.

My parents appartment on the other hand, is also on the ground floor but a studio. It has a great size bed but that is the only advantage. The balcony is dark and dreary and overlooks an area of ground used as a scrap heap! The local cats seem to like the secluded shade of the balcony and sleep there so they cannot put their towels out.

As long as you don't end up in a studio, you will be fine and more than happy :)

Off on a boat trip to Gokovo, talk soon!
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby gez45 » 13 Jun 2013 13:44

Hi Shell, thanks for the reply,we will arrive late too and might face the same problem. What annoys me is that it's not rocket science you know people are coming in advance so why is there no room?. Rant over :D I hope you have a great time, cheers.
Gerry.
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 15 Jun 2013 15:29

Been a bit lazy with the updates the last couple of days!


So, wednesday was market day. We had breakfast and walked straight down, took around 10 - 15 minutes so were there quite early, around 8:45. Got a good few "bargains", 2 pairs of vans for 50 lira - better quality than last years. 2 pairs of hollister shorts for 25 lira. Some other bits and bobs, and soome fruit and salad veg for appartment. We payed Cafe Anne's a visit for some chocolate cake on the way back! Had a wonder down the canal, looked around the underground market, spent a little while in the square and then stopped of at Nefis Pide for lunch on the way back. Spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Dinner was at Kayra. They don't serve alcohol but the food is very, very nice. 2 x lamb shish and 2 x pide, 4 x soft drinks 85tl. Sam and I went onto Rush bar after that to sample the infamous strawberry daquiri and were noot dissappointed! Other cocktails BOGOF at 17tl each. I can reccommend the Pink ladyb a little too easy to drink though!
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 16 Jun 2013 11:56

Thursday

Breakfast at the appartment, pick up for our first trip at 9:15. Boat trip round Gokova bay which was very nice with plenty of swim stops in some beautiful areas. Also spent 2 hours at Cleopatra island before travelling back. Watched a thunderstorm on the mainland from the boat, and it started to rain as we came into Cenly harbour. Soon dried up though.

After getting back and changing we went for our evening meal at Selam. Absolutely fantastic food and what wonderful staff. The restaurant is very small and run by Sybil and her husband, really lovely people. Offered us a lift home and nothing wwas roo much trouble.

Temperatures at the beggining of the week have been 30 - 34 in the square throughout the day, although it has felt cooler in the old village with a lovely breeze.

Exchange rate is currently at around 2.85 although we got 2.9 for a couple of days at the beginning of the week.

Friday

2nd trip - Akyaka. We went by jeep and the drive out was superb! Akyaka itself is a lovely little village, and on the way back you stop at a swimming pool out in the forest. The pool is fantastic and the grounds are beautiful.

Tried Tandoori Sizzler for our evening meal as we were big fans last year. Had the indian set meal for 30 tl and couldn't finish it (this is very unusual for me!!). The food was very nice, although we ordered a madras and a vindaloo and neither were particularly hot. Staff are very helpful and friendly, but we did find ourselves comparing them to Hakaan and Levent (which perhaps isn't fair) but we missed the ambience that wwe enjoyed so much their last year. Still a very nice meal and good value for money. Probably a little cheaper than last year.

Saturday

My birthday! Breakfast was at Harrys steakhouse, opposite the sizzler. £1.99 for a full english. The best english brekfast I've had in icmeler in 2 years. Very very nice!

Cafe Rose for lunch - chicken sandwich and apple cake. Always fantastic, such a little treasure trove and Rose is such a lovely person.

Wayside for evening meal. I wasn't feeling too well but the food was fab. I cannot reccomend the cheesecake highly enough. I loved it last year, this year I love it even more! Just yum!!

We then had a slow walk down to Harmony bar to watch the stella show. Saw it last year, it seems to have been cut a little short this year with the introduction of a game at the end similar to deal or no deal. Nevertheless still a very enjoyable evening. I kept track of our drinks due to feedback regarding wrong bills on the forum, we had no problems and received our free drinks with no problem.

Sunday (so far)

Breakfast and lunch at the appartments. Staying around the pool today as I was up most of the night with pains in my back. I had a nasty cough and cold when I came out and think its developed into a chest infection - lovely! Feeling a little better now though. It is very hot today, hottest day so far. Very little breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Temps set to rise tomorrow :-D

Its my mums birthday today (and fathers day) so leaving it up to them to choose where we eat tonight :)
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 17 Jun 2013 08:06

Ended up back at The Chef last night. Soooo yummy!! I had the sea bass which was delicious and presentation was beautiful. Total bill for 4 mains, 4 desserts, 2 beers and 5 soft drinks was 211tl. The service in there was second to none. The best we've received so far alongside Selam. They cannot do enough for you and nothing is too much trouble. Really lovely evening. A little pricier than some but sometimes you really do get what you pay for and in England, you would not receive quality food and service like that for that price or anywhere close.

I forgot to mention yesterday, I got my nails done for my birthday in Fashion hairdressers just off the square. French manicure for 25tl. The girl did a fab job and was very thorough, she made sure each nail was perfect. Took about an hour. Considering having my hair cut there this week.

Very warm today. No breeze no clouds. Warmer still than yesterday. Exchange rate still 2.85
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby shellbell » 19 Jun 2013 06:01

Village tour today. This was the trip I was most looking forward to. Unfortunately I was left disappointed :( it wasn't what I imagined it would be - I thought it would give you a real insight into turkish culture and village life, the possibility to interact with some locals etc. You do visit a mosque (although the experience was tainted slightly when the guide answered his mobile phone half way through his information inside the mosque), and we also visited 2 turkish homes. I did enjoy this part as I said I was really excited to see "the real Turkey", but I felt slightly uncomfortable as I didn't feel the home owners were shown the respect they deserved for letting us into their home. In my oppinion the group size was too large and it was more stand and stare than actual interaction. I appreciate the language barrier but when the old lady did try to talk, she was spoken over the top of which I thought was a real shame.

We did visit a waterfall which was lovely and although cold, very refreshing! The rest of the trip was padded out with unnecessary (and unmentioned) stops. We stopped at a bay area where locals tried to sell us ice cream, drinks, citrus oils, and souvenirs, a carpet factory (say no more), turkish delight factory, and other "shops/cafes".

In fairness, there were some enjoyable parts to the day. But what ended up as 10 hour trip (the village was only half an hour away); the parts that were worth seeing could have been done in a maximum of 4 hours.

As I mentioned before this was the trip I was most looking forward to, but out of all the trips I've done in the last 2 years it's the only 1 I would not do again :( feel as though I have wasted a whole day of my holiday but hey, you don't know until you try!

My day was brightened up in the end though. I read on here in the morning that someone though Levent from Tandoori Sizzler was working at Venice this season. When we got back we had a slow walk down to the canal and before we got within 20 metres of the place he was waving to us from the other side of the restaurant :-D so lovely to see him and hear how Hakaan and his wife are getting on in England, put a smile on a long day!
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby juju » 19 Jun 2013 08:06

Thanks for doing your blog Shell!Sounds like you are having a lovely time. We stay at Demircioglu appartments above Vinces bar which is next door to café anne. Keep up the good work! :D Julie x
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby ivano » 19 Jun 2013 17:52

great blog thanks for taking the time :D :D
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby Caltonian » 19 Jun 2013 18:37

Great blog shell, really enjoyed reading through it all :D
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby ochlynda » 20 Jun 2013 00:41

Great blog,we were thinking of doing the Village Tour but think we will give it a miss after reading about your experience
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby gez45 » 21 Jun 2013 21:07

Hi Shellbell, I've been following your blog and Sami's really closely, as I'm sure have others who have yet to go as we all need our fix and they have both been very entertaining so thanks to you both for taking time out to do so.
As we are going out the Majestic soon I was wondering , even though they messed up the start of your hols, how have they treated you since, and how would you rate your room etc? Thanks for your feedback I really appreciate it and enjoy the rest of your hols :) .
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Re: Shellbell's blog - 10th June - majestic appartments

Postby icemeler5 » 21 Jun 2013 22:21

Great blogs, really enjoyed reading them. Thanks so much for taking the time out to do them. :D
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