To set the scene I have just retired and we were looking for a special holiday, considered USA, Australia and everywhere in between. Decided to stick with our favourate holiday location ... Club Turquoise. Me, the good lady and the two girls. I should say they are now 27 and 23 and have their own flats but a chance of a free holiday on their auld father wasn't to be turned down.
Thomas Cook flight from Glasgow. Reasonably quick check in and everyone within their weight limit ! Unfortunately were told we had a 90 min delay. Hit Frankie & Benny's for something to eat and some nice wine. On to the plane with seats next to each other (never pay to have seats togethor and never been disappointed). Flight fine but as most will know, no TV now on short haul flights.
Queues for Visa and passports quite long but got our luggage quickly thereafter and out to our private transfer to Marmaris (expensive but worth it imho). 1 hr 5 mins later we were at our spiritual home (ott I know but we like it ...) Two hotel rooms booked direct with Irfan the manager. Rooms are spacious, clean, have aircon and a fridge, so ideal for our needs.
Turquoise looking good. Swimming pool has been re-tiled and looks great. Lots of staff changes this year but no complaints from us as they all work hard. The ones we knew before were Senol, Tuna, Baris, Godon and Gungor and it was great to see them all. For those who know the staff Elvan in the shop is pregnant again ! Met lots of other guests from previous years and for us that is one of the draws for us at these apartments, so many friends.
Eating ... we ate in the apartments three times in total and the food is very good. We were told there is a new chef this year and we could certainly see extra effort had been made to better very good food in the past. Also went to the Taj Mahal where we met up with an old friend Husseyn who is the manager there, another excellent meal at reasonable prices. Both the good lady and I are of the opinion the food in the Taj gets better every year. Ate also in the Mandarin (Chinese below) and again was not disappointed. Had great steaks in the Oasis restaurant which is owned by a woman (Elaine) from our home town and her Turkish husband. We were with friends that night and they were mighty impressed with the food. Other places we ate in were Aysha, O'Yes, Ibiza, Ab Fab (to see Ozzie who worked in Turquoise last year). We honestly never had a bad meal and also went to the traditional Turkish restaurant Kervan just up next to ClubJulian, food to die for.
Wine "¦ the price of wine has stayed much the same, we like a bottle with our meal and it ranged from 23 ytl to 30 ytl with the exchange rate being 2.30 ytl to 1GBP .
Boat trips "¦ went on two. First week booked with Rose at A&S Travel. £10 all inclusive trip. We enjoyed it but boat very crowded and no long floatation thingy's for the good lady to float in the sea. Second week one of our regulars at CT (Stewart the mad Welshman) booked a private boat with only 26 of us on board. Twice the price but well worth it. Both times called into Turunc, lovely place.
Went to Talk of the Town with two sets of friends from home, good show but not as good as previous years. Headed back to friends apartments (drinks were 2 for 1 "¦) and spent the next 3 hours having a great time.
Overall we had a great time and on reflection the holiday was a perfect way for me to celebrate my retirement with the wife and kids. Marmaris is still a great holiday location. I managed to get out on lots of walks and on Irfan's bike and the place is getting better looking every year. The prices I thought were on a par with last year. The test for me is the cost of a pint at the Seagull Bar in Turquoise (rough and ready I know) but it was 5 ytl. That's about £2.20. How many of us can get a pint for that back home. Only disappointment was not getting the chance to get through to Icmeler for a meal and the 3 hr delay on the way home.
This was our "¦ 16th ??? (honestly lost count) visit to Marmaris and Club Turquoise since 1999 and I see no reason not to go back.
Wilson