has icmeler gone down hill?

[icmeler2998]

I first went in 2004, and loved it. Although lately it has not been anywhere near as busy and it seems like they just want your money. Anybody agree?

[Fanny]

it does seem quieter than usual though there are lots of folk with AI wrist bands so maybe that's part of the cause
also the amount of TL you get for £ gets less and less - we were getting 2.25 TL on 1/8 when we arrived which was bad enough, but even that had dropped to 2.13 by the time we left on 16/8

we found that in the majority of places we ate/drank, our bills were wrong - extra drinks/food added, so you'll need to check them carefully

[Diane Rigby]

We also found that bills were wrong in a lot of places. And one place even conveniently forgot to bring the drinks we had ordered and when they were reminded 2 lots of drinks arrived, think this was to keep us sitting there a bit longer so they looked busy. Its a shame really becuase when places do this you just don't go back do you. Just shows how desperate some places are getting. Di.

[dksbbs]

Landed this morning at 09:10 after a wonderful 17 days, visited different restaurants and only one bill was wrong with a bitter lemon added, no problem easily removed.

I found the hassel less, only one restaurant tout crossed the road to try and tempt us in but a simple no thanks sufficed.


Looking forward to next year.

Dave

p.s we did have a second bill that was added up wrong but that was corrected so also check the waiters addition and not just the content.

[dani]

my mam and dad were there in july and theyd go to a restaurant have a meal pay for it and theyd return to the same restaurant have the same thing only to be charged more for there meal which i think is wrong they say its going back abit now i think they are only interested in your money

[waynesworld]

According to the BBC news Turkey has moved into the second most popular destination after Spain for British tourists.

[victoria b]

Icmeler now my second home as ive bought out there 2 years ago but now after several years of going there im sorry to say i feel its not the same anymore. Every restaurant has same food, same entertainment and same music. I feel its become more tacky. I for one, and im not a prude, dont want to see waiters and young girls dancing on a table/bar simulating sex which is what i saw in several restaurants. This is a family resort. Three amigoes wont do Full Monty routine as they feel its not appropriate with young children eating there and i fully support Faysal in his decision. And i have to agree that a lot of restaurants are not interested in us, but they want your money and will say anything to get you in there. Im sorry but their charm is fake.

Good points, obviously the weather, the real turkish culture which are found away from icmeler, cheap beer!! cheaper electric and water rates and the kindness of the residents of icmeler itself and the cheap transport system. Best nights ive had have been with neighbours drinking raki and sharing turkish mezes and breads trying to learn the lingo. Its amazing what you learn when youve had a few!

[reesy1959]

We were there in June this year, and one restaurant was asking us to come back in the evening, which we agreed to do, but I said I would come if I could book my table, they said this was okay, but when we went there in the evening, the table I had chosen was already booked for 3 people for a birthday celebration. Left me feeling a little embarassed when when they asked us to move after we had already sat down.

The following night, the exact same thing happened in a different restaurant, but I stuck to my guns this time and said that this was the table I had booked that afternoon. I was not going to be embarassed for a second time.

Just goes to show, they will promise anything for you to go back but if they keep their promise is another story.

[Lewis]

We have been visiting Icmeler for the last 8 years and have I noticed that the quality of cars being driven has improved dramatically over that period of time,so someone is making a lot of money out of the tourists.

[Annie.f]

I totally agree with Victoria, I got fed up with all the male testosterone in the restaurants, ok the young girls probably like it although my daughter just got embarassed as they kept flirting and getting her to dance suggestively and shes only 12. Im not a prude but it does get on your nerves after a while.We also got talked into going on a boat trip by one of our supposed 'old waiter friends' from a prvious holiday. We were told the boat trip was the restaurants own trip and the waiter who we knew promised us he would be going on the trip too so we signed up. It turned out that the restarant was just an agent and the waiter pulled out when we saw him on the morning of the trip saying he had drunk too much the night before. The boat trip was overcrowded as bookings had been taken from various different places obviously not taking into account the number of sunbeds etc. We felt really conned, and never went back to this restaurant again. We also had the drinks problem where you ordered drinks and had to wait ages for them so it looked like the restaurant was busy.We still had a good time though and did make a few genuine Turkish friends (we think )

[neags]

I first went in 2004, and loved it. Although lately it has not been anywhere near as busy and it seems like they just want your money. Anybody agree?

I agree in part.
I just got back today and have to say my family and I had a wonderful time.

On the one hand we met great friends at the Chill Bar, (Gail, Ahmed, Chico and Memeht) and the Hobgoblin. We drank and ate and was not over charged once, in fact the chill bar gave us a 10% discount for the whole of the second week of our stay !!!!.

On the other hand the robbing ****** at "FIGAROS" barbers near the Tansas tried to charge me 37 Lira for a shave!!!

[Trish]

Hard times change people, maybe even our friendly Turkish friends are worried about their lack of business and some are resorting to little tricks. This is the very reason we stopped going to various other spanish resorts. The charm and personality of the turkish people is the reason I prefer to go there. Yes they are all trying to make a living and charming customers is part of that, but the turkish people are so naturally friendly, and I feel that most of them respect our contribution to their economy and like us. I would rather spend my money there than other places I have been to in the past.
The minute I feel I am being ripped off however, I will spend my money elsewhere.
Icmeler and most of it's people are lovely, I can't wait to get back there in September. We can all suss out the reasonable places, and there's plenty of them. The others, well, it's their loss.

[geordiespurs]

try the restuarants off the main roads we go every year but never have a meal on the main road and only occaisonally on the canal, never had a bad meal yet and can;t remember being ripped off anywhere.

there a plenty of nice restuarants tucked away and the old village is a lovely place for a quiet night for a change

[Trish]

We've never been ripped off either, only by TC, on way home, 2kilo's £16!! but I won't get bitter because we got extra legroom
We should think of the people who are pining to be there and can't be. Hope they all make it as soon as possible.

[ALAN]

I agree try the restaurants towards the old village ,great location and warm welcome .Icmeler at its best ,cant wait to get back

[D Craddock]

Cannot agree Im afraid. Yes things are a little dearer,but like ourselves the world economics are out of (bar/restaurants owners) control. Speak to people back from Greece,Spain etc, their holiday costs have rocketed.
As for being ripped of ie cheated, we came back August 10th after 2 weeks,and after eating out everynight was never overcharged. In 1 place the opposite,we had to remind them of the drinks we had consumed.

No nothing is always perfect but Icmeler is quite close.
We have already arranged our next years fortnight break!!!.

[salford_steve]

I haven't been ripped off whilst there, and didn't really see a real difference in price. I spent same as last year.

Steve

[victoria b]

The rising costs dosent bother me too much, there is inflation after all but its the general tackiness of some bars and restaurants which i find has increased and id hate to think this would be icmelers downfall

[Fanny]

I should have added that in the places where we were overcharged, they knocked it off the bill as soon as we mentioned it
I'd like to think they all made simple mistakes at best and at worst were chancing their luck
won't put us off going though - I'll just have to take a pen and paper next year to keep a tally of the drinks we have ha ha

[fatblokecaver]

Hmmmmm
Shame my post was deleted. Not to worry at least a few people agree with some of the points!!

FBC