Palm Gardens is a lovely apartment complex and at that price I would get it booked.
Both the other areas you have mentioned have something special going for them,be it the beach resort of Olu Or the harbour town of Fethiye.

Gene

what about akyaka, we are going there next month, its fairly quiet with a few bars, fabulous restaurants along the riverside,much cheaper than icmeler as its not that touristy, fantastic beach,lovely scenery, friendly people, its about 45 mins from dalaman,

http://akyaka.com/index.php

having visited turkey for around 24 years 4-5 times a year, ive been to most resorts, i like both icmeler and olu deniz ,but prefer olu deniz for the scenery and lagoon,

I agree with Ellie Meg, Olu Deniz is fantastic. Yes, it might be a little more expensive but you have to pay for the little extras dont you think

Give it a go you will have a great time.

good luck

kazee

The problem is when on a budget paying twice for a drink sometimes makes the holiday less enjoyable - not saying I am a boozer of course!! The other thing that put me off Olu Deniz was the reports that the beach is very shingly and painful.

the lagoon beach called suara beach is sandy, to be honest i dont think theres much difference in price between the 2 resorts, certainly not double the price, akyaka is the cheapest place to go if you want cheap and still lovely, the restaurant we go to is only about £2-£3 for a meal with lots of free bread etc

Sooze go AI, I bet there will be little in money.
The lagoon is wonderful if you need a beach, however, shop around for a good hotel with a grand pool then youre laughing. I can think of one good hotel Belcekiz beach. Look up on this forum about the hotel and read the reviews, you will amazed at the feedback. We went there last year, fantastic.

kazee

We have been to Olu twice and are going back again this year.

It wasn't that expensive last year but then again, we don't drink much! Depending on where you eat depends on how much you pay.

We found two restaurants that we liked and alternated between them. Some nights we didn't want much and just had a kebab from one of the stalls on the beach front.

One of the restaurants is on the main street next the Asena, you choose what you want from the front and the portions are huge and cheap. The other is Kumsal Pide (I think) - again huge portions, we sometimes just had a meal between us with extra rice and salad.

The beach is shingly but you can buy beach shoes which were about £5 a pair. Mine lasted two summers.

I wouldn't go AI but thats because we enjoy eating out and trying new food!

We considered staying in Fethiye but eventually settled on Olu Deniz. As far as i am concerned it was absolutely the right choice. We visited Fethiye which was interesting, more traditional in many places, cheaper eats and with lots of ancient stuff. BUT, and it was a big but for me...the heat in Fethiye was too much for me in June. It prevented me exploring this interesting area as i would have liked. I felt that i could have literally died out there from heat towards end of June when temp was around 40s. Exploring Fethiye was just too much for me in this heat.

Somehow in Olu Deniz the heat was more manageable. Whether it was the fact that you were never more than a few minutes from jumping in cooling sea or what i dont know. Perhaps it was because it was smaller place so not trekking about so much.

Staying in Olu Deniz can still be done on a budget....we stayed at Tower Hotel which was really budget accommodation but more than adequate with a lovely pool. We also went for lunch most days at a lovely place in main drag next to Hotel Karmabella resturant called Turkish Pizza. This delightful little place offered traditional and freshly prepared Turkish food at very good prices. Lunch with drinks for 3 adults was on average 18ytl....approx £2 per head! We also ate like lords every night at The Pine Resturant very reasonably. Some of the Seafront eateries were more expensive but i guess you pay for sea views. But even then eating out was peanuts compared to the UK. Price of large beer in resort ranged from 2.5 ytl to 4 ytl (approx 80p to £1.35).

When one puts into perspective these prices compared to UK i wouldnt be worrying too much about one resort being more expensive than another. All the major excursions available from Fethiye seem to be available from Olu Deniz also.

Woops, i didnt mean to say we ate at The Pine Tree every night......we did try lots of resturants but this was our favourite. Captain Hooks was very nice too. The menu was more English but we ate foods there that we couldnt have afforded to eat in a resturant at home. Massive big T-bone and lovely fresh fish....all beautifully prepared and presented.

I have been all over Turkey over the past 15 years and although Side is my favourite Icmeler comes a close second.I went to Olu DEniz last May and I didnt enjoy it.Although the scenery is lovely Icmeler has more good resturants and is just as scenic.I stayed in Marmaris last month,only because I got a good deal and spent a lot of time in Icmeler,even walking there from Marmaris is a lovely walk along the walkway next to the sea.Icmeler on line has apartments and hotels(sorry dont know how to do a link).The resturants along the beach are excellent and very reasonable.I think your spending money would go further here than Olu Deniz.

I can imagine Olu Deniz being too quiet in May, as it only opens for the holiday season, so many places are just opening. Apart from that I can't understand why everybody dosen't just love it there. It has a layed back charm. With Hisaronu just a few minutes by taxi up the mountain if you want more choice of bars and shops I think its wonderful.

I have been to Iclemar and Marmaris and did enjoy them while I was there but Olu Deniz has my heart.

Wendy

I am looking at this resort for next June. Can you give me an idea of prices and whether they do vary from bar to bar?

We are partial to Icmeler, having stayed at Babadan Apartments and Club Petunia(Both have their own websites and so you can Book Direct). We were told about Bal Apartments in Icmeler when we stayed in Kalkan last month. All accommodations are with Thomson. We always look for quiet but also at a reasonable price, hope this helps you a little.