Kusadashi - Turkey

Gazza22

Hi,

Have just booked a holiday for myself and the gf in the Tropicana Gardens Hotel, Kusadashi at the end of August with Sunworld.

I have heard good reports and it seems brilliant as it is an exclusive irish property.

Anyone ever been? Advice on what to see/do in the area would be much appreciated too!

Thanks

xzanti

I was there in 2002 for 2 weeks and tbh it's not a place I would be any hurry to step foot back into, I'm not familiar with the apartments you're staying in but the ones I was in were a disaster, right up on a hill, surrounded by a market that we weren't allowed to walk through unless we were completely covered up because of their religeon, and in that heat (went into the 50's while we were there) it's a killer...

Apart from that the place was very dirty, the air is always full of sand and dirt, we used to hang our towels on the balcony to dry and they would come back in filthy... The locals are very poor, and it can get a bit depressing, you would be forgiven for thinking you were in calcutta walking through some of the streets..

The nightlife was not great either, there were 2 main bars that the Irish would go to, Jimmy's and Paddy's and the rest of the bars were filled with Germans Lithuanians etc, we tried the other bars a few times for a change of scenery but we just felt a bit unwelcome...

I must say however, the only saving grace for the holiday were the daytrips we took, we went on a booze cruise and the scenery around the coast was amazing, it was the only resort I'd been to where you could see right to the bottom of the ocean from the boat.. We also took a midnight cruise to the biggest open air nightclub in Europe (or so they told us) and it was unreal, the boatrip itself was lovely, very romantic if you're going with your partner.. The club was called Halicarnassus or something like that, it was in Bodrum and I must say I wished I'd booked my holiday there, it was completely different to Kusadasi, a lot cleaner and wealthier looking..

The markets are amazing, if your looking for very good designer knock offs this is the place to go, the handbags and shoes are for next to nothing and you would have a hard time telling them from the real thing..

The water park is very good, although it’s a good drive outside of the resort, but you can buy daytrip tickets and they organize the coach for you.

Can’t think of anything else, oh we were advised to take a Turkish bath when we arrived as it was supposed to prepare your skin for the sun and give you a better tan etc, and tbh I quite enjoyed it, it was an experience lol.. Wasn’t too expensive either…

Oh yeah and there are a LOT of pickpockets, watch out for the little girls with the red roses, my friend got stung on the first night, luckily she only had about 20 quid on her at the time.. Sneaky little sh1tes..

So there you go, that was my take on Kusadasi… Enjoy

Remember though, I was there 5 years ago, so could be all changed now...

Carpenter

xzanti wrote:

I was there in 2002 for 2 weeks and tbh it's not a place I would be any hurry to step foot back into, I'm not familiar with the apartments you're staying in but the ones I was in were a disaster, right up on a hill, surrounded by a market that we weren't allowed to walk through unless we were completely covered up because of their religeon, and in that heat (went into the 50's while we were there) it's a killer...

Apart from that the place was very dirty, the air is always full of sand and dirt, we used to hang our towels on the balcony to dry and they would come back in filthy... The locals are very poor, and it can get a bit depressing, you would be forgiven for thinking you were in calcutta walking through some of the streets..

The nightlife was not great either, there were 2 main bars that the Irish would go to, Jimmy's and Paddy's and the rest of the bars were filled with Germans Lithuanians etc, we tried the other bars a few times for a change of scenery but we just felt a bit unwelcome...

I must say however, the only saving grace for the holiday were the daytrips we took, we went on a booze cruise and the scenery around the coast was amazing, it was the only resort I'd been to where you could see right to the bottom of the ocean from the boat.. We also took a midnight cruise to the biggest open air nightclub in Europe (or so they told us) and it was unreal, the boatrip itself was lovely, very romantic if you're going with your partner.. The club was called Halicarnassus or something like that, it was in Bodrum and I must say I wished I'd booked my holiday there, it was completely different to Kusadasi, a lot cleaner and wealthier looking..

The markets are amazing, if your looking for very good designer knock offs this is the place to go, the handbags and shoes are for next to nothing and you would have a hard time telling them from the real thing..

The water park is very good, although it’s a good drive outside of the resort, but you can buy daytrip tickets and they organize the coach for you.

Can’t think of anything else, oh we were advised to take a Turkish bath when we arrived as it was supposed to prepare your skin for the sun and give you a better tan etc, and tbh I quite enjoyed it, it was an experience lol.. Wasn’t too expensive either…

Oh yeah and there are a LOT of pickpockets, watch out for the little girls with the red roses, my friend got stung on the first night, luckily she only had about 20 quid on her at the time.. Sneaky little sh1tes..

So there you go, that was my take on Kusadasi… Enjoy

Remember though, I was there 5 years ago, so could be all changed now...

Hi
I have a place over there and my wife goes there all the time never and i mean never did she have any hassle.
She never had to cover her hair and i seen not 1 woman in my times over there that did .
They are very nice people .
The only hassle you will have is shopkeepers trying to sell you there wares
Go to a restaurant called golden boys (great crack)
Just tell the shopkeepers no thank you don't be nasty and after a few days they will get to know you o and by the way HAVE FUN.

Look here http://forum.kusadasi.biz/http://forum.kusadasi.biz/
These people will answer all your questions

Owen

I'm very Jealous, I enjoyed my 2 weeks in the same Hotel thorougly ... see for yourself!

http://owenkelly.com/2003_08_17_diary_archive.html

Gazza22

xzanti, Carpenter, ned78...

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. Yea i have been doing a bit of reading on it myself and i'm happy enough with the booking, i can't find a bad word about the property in any reviews online.

Oh and thanks for the tips!

xzanti

Forgot to mention, if you're ever thinking of popping the question this is the place to buy your diamonds, they're mined in Turkey and they are significantly less expensive than here... We were brought to a jewelers on one of our daytrips and they really look after you, sit you down, bring you some ice tea and let you look at the jewelery at your leisure, I bought an oul silver ring for myself for a tenner expecting it to turn green, I've had it 5 years and it's still sparkling, I asked a jeweler in Dublin if it was real silver and he said it was solid.. and that was just from a street stall... so if I ever did go back I'd be bringing an empty case with me... No kidding

xzanti

ned78 wrote:

I'm very Jealous, I enjoyed my 2 weeks in the same Hotel thorougly ... see for yourself!

http://owenkelly.com/2003_08_17_diary_archive.html

Yeah we stayed in the tallaght 2 apartments.. the name alone says a lot.. lol.. They're not even in the Budget Travel brochures anymore... total dive.. I shouldn't have said I'd never go back, I think I would but just wouldn't stay in the same area.. Also our rep died the day after we left, he was killed on his moped and we had gotten very close to him while we were there, his name was Arman and he was Turkish and very young.. but they drive like lunatics there so be careful... so that's another minus about the place for us.. But all in all it's not THE worst place..

Carpenter

xzanti wrote:

Yeah we stayed in the tallaght 2 apartments.. the name alone says a lot.. lol.. They're not even in the Budget Travel brochures anymore... total dive.. I shouldn't have said I'd never go back, I think I would but just wouldn't stay in the same area.. Also our rep died the day after we left, he was killed on his moped and we had gotten very close to him while we were there, his name was Arman and he was Turkish and very young.. but they drive like lunatics there so be careful... so that's another minus about the place for us.. But all in all it's not THE worst place..

You would be better staying in Wicklow LOL