Im sorry Icmeler didnt live up to your expectations.
Can you explain to me where you find charm or quaintness that you sometimes find in holiday resorts?
Of course Icmeler is geared up for British visitors and it caters for them also to a very high standard.
If your looking for the real Turkey can I suggest you go to Datca where your unlikely to find that resort the same as Icmeler.

I'm not trying to offend anyone here. As I said , for me , when I go on holiday to another country, I quite like to see something of that country's culture , I find it interesting. I don't want the people to try to be British , I want to see their way of life , even just a little . All that "cheap as chips" & "better than Asda price" just doesn't appeal to me. I realise everyone has to make a living but sometimes "less is more".

What a pity you didn't enjoy your first visit to Turkey. Maybe you chose the wrong resort, perhaps with a bit more research you could have found what you really wanted. There are some lovely, smaller resorts with a much more Turkish feel to them, where you get more Turkish holiday makers than British. Whoever said all the resorts are the same is completely wrong.

Somewhere like Ortakent or Gumusluk on the Bodrum Peninsula would be more what you are looking for, they are nothing like the bigger resorts. There are lots of other similar places all along the coast.

Marmaris and Icmeler do cater for British tourists so I think it wasn't the right place to go if you wanted to avoid that kind of holiday.

If you do decide to try Turkey again make sure you research your resort better.

Kedi

We love Turkey, have been going for years now, but always stay away from the larger resorts. As you say, not everyone wants everything to be British when they go abroad, and it's annoying when people ask for advice on smaller, more Turkish places, and they're advised to go somewhere that's geared up mainly for the Brits. Icmeler is a nice place, we sometimes have an odd night out there for a change, but we wouldn't stay there. Shame you ended up at the wong place.

In all fairness you went to a big tourist resort and were surprised that it was geared for tourists......so if you want real Turkey then I suggest you don't go to the tourist resort for a start and perhaps look at the other resorts suggested by members here, many of whom who lived/married to Turkish people so have a good knowledge of the country and not the tourist resorts. I wouldn't listen to the views expressed by fellow holiday makers that every resort is the same.

In October you are lucky it didn't rain when you were on the jeep safari, Turkey doesn't have the best weather in October.

Research and you wont be disappointed, a few searches on google and you would have realise the resort wasn't what you wanted.

icmeler and marmaris are geared up for the brits, pure and simple. turkey is a huge country and there are many many resorts that dont advertise english breakfast etc etc please dont judge this country by icmeler/marmaris. perhaps the people you encountered who said all the resorts are the same always holidayed in the larger resorts. i have been going to turkey now since 1992 twice a year, and there are plenty of places that serve turkish food and have an authentic feel to them. i once went on a jeep safari from dalyan, it was fantastic as you saw the real turkey, beautiful scenery lots of villages the amber trees that only grow in 2 locations in the world (so i am told !!) and tea with a turkish family which to be honest i wasnt looking forward to, but turned out to be great. no i dont want to go squirting water pistols around but plenty of people do... just pick your resort with a little more care perhaps and give it another go. you wont be disappointed. pm me if you like.

I'm really sorry you didn't enjoy your holiday. I feel the same as you and large resorts catering to the British mass market are not for me. Lots of people do enjoy Icmeler and Marmaris though and the other big resorts. However it is not the same all over Turkey but you do need to do some research before booking. As someone mentioned, Datca is a lovely little harbour town catering for Turkish families and visiting yachts. The scenery is stunning and none of the big operators go there so you have to book with someone like Simply Turkey or better still go independently. I am always willing to advise anyone on how to get there and give ideas of where to stay. Use a search here as I have written about Datca in more depth on other threads. It was the first Turkish place I visited 16 years ago and I keep returning as the area is so beautiful and far from the crowds. Sogut is also undeveloped. Other areas to look at are further north to Cesme and surrounding areas. We stayed at Teos which we love. I hear Foca is lovely and Neilson now go there. Further south you have Kalkan a charming place. Gocek is quite nice and very yachty and then you have the chance to visit Fethiye which is a very nice town. Gumusluk on the Bodrum peninsula is also charming. Don't give up on Turkey just because of one place. Turkey still represents very good value for money especially when you compare the cost of living with euro destinations.

JMK i have tried to pm you but it wont let me... i would love some info on datca as its a place i would love to go to, would you mind pm me with your e mail address ?

please dont be put off, turkey has many lovely areas that arent very touristy, ive seen a few members on here recommend icmeler to people when they want a nice quiet resort, not sure why they do this but it does annoy me , you need to do your homework and have a good read up on resorts before booking as everyone likes different places

another lovely place to try is akyaka, this is very turkish and is in a conservation area so no high rise hotels, no british bars, no large package companies, its very scenic and has a lovely beach , we love it there and much prefer to be in none tourist areas of turkey' have a look at these links

http://akyaka.com/index.php

http://www.turkuaz-guide.net/gokova.html

http://www.idymahotel.com/en/index.htm

http://www.marmarisinfo.com/sightseeing/cleopatra.phtml

http://www.akyaka.org/index_eng.htm

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/akyaka/

http://www.exclusiveescapes.co.uk/destinations/property/incogn/detail/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akyaka%2C_Mu%C4%9Fla

http://tomsanokaliptus.com/

http://www.gatetoturkey.com/turkey_a_z_tour/01015/

Thanks for all the replies . I did actually do quite as bit of research before we went . I asked a question regarding resorts which may be suitable on this discussion forum and the general concensus was in favour of Icmeler. Don't get me wrong , I'm not totally averse to a bit of Britishness which is what I thought Icmeler might be like. Not one person mentioned it was like Blackpool though!!

On a more posative note thanks for the suggestions for places which may suit us better. Can anyone tell me do they hassle you for every last Turkish Lira they can get out of you in the quieter , less touristy places? That was one of the worst things about Icmeler for me. If there is somewhere in Turkey that tourists can go without all that I may be interested in going again.

No, if you go to a reosrt where there are more Turkish than British holiday makers then you wont get anywhere near the amount of hassle.

No hassle in Datca although the traders are friendly and will chat to you but not in a threatening way. There are no English breakfasts or Irish bars, karioke, large hotels etc. Just a very laid back pretty place where Turkish people and a few yachties choose to holiday. There are a few bars which have live traditional Turkish music and a very good Saturday market but that is about as wild as it gets. If you like ancient sites there are a couple of those too and some little villages to wander around.

I found no hassle in Kalkan - a beautiful place with a nice Turkish feel and lovely people.

ive never had any hassle in akyaka at all, just friendly chat . the bonus of akyaka over a lot of the other resorts mentioned is the transfer from the airport to akyaka is only 50 mins whereas some of the other resorts are around 2 hrs plus, so thats something to take into consideration if long transfers bother you. good luck and please try turkey again as it has some beautiful places, ive put some photos of akyaka in the gallery so have a look

I HATE resorts like Blackpool, etc, with a vengeance, but I absolutely adore Icmeler and have never found it anything like it whatsoever! Marmaris, yes - but not Icmeler. I've never felt hassled in Icmeler and have enjoyed real Turkish hospitality and met some lovely people there too.

sno125patrol wrote:

Not one person mentioned it was like Blackpool though!!

As someone who doesn't live too far from Blackpool, I wish Blackpool was like Icmeler!! I can see where you're coming from and know what you mean, Icmeler is centred around tourism and probably not 'real Turkey' in the way you was thinking. It's a pleasant place to spend a couple of weeks, scenic with everything you might need for a relaxing holiday. However it's not a culture trip! The reorts other mention here might be more to your taste. Did you venture in to the old town towards the rear of the resort? It's not like rural Turkey, but I've had some laughs with those tending to their gardens and shared an orange or two picked from the trees! The thing with holiday destinations is everyone likes something different. What suites one, may not suit others.

sno125patrol wrote:

constant hassle to buy wherever you went

I must say I experienced a lot less hassle than normal this year than in previous year. It's just part of the banter of Turkey.

Darren

majie wrote:

JMK i have tried to pm you but it wont let me... i would love some info on datca as its a place i would love to go to, would you mind pm me with your e mail address ?

majie

If you use the Search facility at the top of the page you will find all previous mention of Datca, including posts by JMK.

luci

I can sympathise as I also did not really love my one holiday in Turkey. It was pre HT days by the way incase I get a row for not researching In my case I believed the holiday brochure. Lovely hotel but I just didn't like Gumbet(we made the most of it though). I've never made it back to Turkey although I'm not discounting it as I know that some of my favourite countries would not be anywhere near my top 10 if I'd picked the wrong resort for me on the first visit.
We all have our own ideas of what makes a good holiday resort- just as well really
What is great on here though is that you were able to post your thoughts and any feedback has been constructive and helpful I hope.

Yes thanks again for the constructive ideas to all who replied. I did actually enjoy the holiday overall , largely because the hotel was nice and we met some nice people there. I know everyone has their own idea of a nice place & what makes a good holiday. To be honest I probably would have loved Icmeler when I was in my 20's but not anymore.

I think maybe Datca or Akyaka may suit us better now & i'll certainly look at those places ( if I can persuade the rest of the family).