Back from Icmeler

[contrarymary]

We are back from our second holiday in Icmeler. It was an unexpected week away for us and booked at short notice (3 days) through ICR Travel. I half expected something to go wrong like no tickets being at the airport for us, or no one to pick us up at Dalaman but every thing went really smoothly. The transfers were especially good as we had a mini bus all to ourselves. Thank you John, Sharon, and all the ICR team for an excellent, reliable, and trouble free service. We shall definately book with ICR in future and recommend you to others.

We stayed at the Tuncay Apartments up in the old village which is very nice but as I have arthritis, I found them a bit too far out for me to walk to the centre. This wasn't a major problem though as we could get the dolmus from just accross the road.

The apartments were spacious and spotlessly clean, with towels and bedding frequently changed. We were in one at the back, which was nice and private, overlooking a small garden but I wasn't too keen as I couldn't see much (I'm a bit nosey). Mustafa, the owner somehow found out about this and insisted on moving us to an apartment overlooking the pool area, which I thought was very nice of him.

The pool, although quite small was plenty big enough for the eight apartments and on some days when the other guests were all out we had it all to ourselves. It was lovely and relaxing with background music rather than the over loud bump,bump stuff that gets played in the bigger establishments.

Mutafa and his wife Fatima are a lovely couple, although we didn't see that much of Fatima as their daughter had a baby girl on the evening we arrived so she was busy helping her for much of the time. Mustafa doesn't speak fluent English but he is very friendly and loves to sit and chat and get to know all about his guests.

We tried several restaurants and I can honestly say the meals were very good in all of them. We particularly enjoyed the Curbana where if you have an evening meal you get a free breakfast the following day. We also enjoyed the English breakfast (real sausage and bacon) in Ozzy's restaurant. Our favourite though, has to be the Old Famous Kitchen where we ate a number of times. I can highly recommend their steaks, cooked to perfection, the delicious Topaki kebabs and the Sunday roasts.

As we were only there for one week, we didn't do any trips other than the ICR boat trip which is a great day out and very good value for money with unlimited drinks and a very nice meal included in the price. The belly dancers onboard that day were good entertainment as was watching John Toohey swimming frantically after the boat (he said he'd jumped but i think somebody had had enough of him and pushed him overboard).

We also managed to call into the ICR office to say hello to Tracey (who we discovered had been married by a friend of mine who is a registrar in Scotland), Sharon and Rami. It was nice to meet you all although only very briefly and good to be able to put faces to some of the names on the forum.

The only "downside" to our holiday was just before we were about to set off to the airport for our journey home, news of the terrorist plot was breaking on tv. This was quite worrying and we didn't know whether to expect long delays or what. As it turned out, our plane was delayed for two hours, which wasn't too bad considering all chaos and disruption at airports in Britain. There was a little confusion over hand luggage as some passengers, us included, had got theirs while others were carrying plastic bags with only essential items but I think this was due to holiday reps not really knowing what was happening at the time.

All in all, we had another wonderful holiday in Icmeler and are looking forward to returning next year.

[juicyjude]

Sounds like you had a really nice time, just can't wait to return there ourselves great

[JT]

It was a pleasure to meet your family Jean and also enjoy your company.

How is hollow legs is he full up yet

[contrarymary]

Thanks John, it was nice to meet you too.

If the Sunday dinner at the Old Famous Kitchen can't fill him up, what chance do I have?

[skilly]

thanks for taking the time to post your review, we were thinking of booking the tuncay appts next year and they sound just what we're looking for.
it sounds like you had a lovely time, do you think a week is long enough as i have only ever gone for 14 days because the travelling seems to take 2 days off your hol?

[contrarymary]

Skilly, I'm sure you'd love it at the the Tuncay as they are really nice and peaceful but with plenty of bars and restaurants nearby and its not all that far into Icmeler itself.

No, I don't think a week is anywhere near long enough as it flies by far too quickly but we'd already had two weeks in Icmeler only four weeks before, so we could only go for one week this time.

[mr magoo]

good review contrarymary, thanks.

That's a few good reports I've read about the Tuncay aparts.

I know Ozzy's restaurant but can you tell me if Mr Chef on the opposite side of the road from there is still open?

We're hoping to go to Icmeler in September and I like to pop in and see Aziz who works in there.




magoo

[contrarymary]

Mr Chef is still there. Although we didn't get around to trying it, we were told that the meals there are very nice.

[mr magoo]

thanks contrarymary, it's good to know I'll be seeing my friend Aziz in Mr Chef when we go in September......I can vouch that the food in there is really good too, and as it is away from the centre, the prices are very reasonable as well






magoo