I went to Icmeler in October and for the 1st time went B&B.I was really surprised how cheap it was.Some people suggested prices may have been lower because it was near the end of the season.
The Jasmine restaurant were offering huge English breakfasts for £1.Evening meals were 2 for £9 and were excellent and massive portions.
We also ate in Champions 20TL including a drink.My husband said the steak here was great.Bottled Efes 2TL.
The Venice on the canal had beautiful meals for around 18-24TL and Efes was 1 TL! It was packed every night!
The Majestic gave a free bottle of wine with meals if you showed them the Thomas Cook map.Prices from around 14TL.
The Mandarin had 3 courses from 20TL.
Cupids a new place this year had dishes from 16-26TL.We had a whole leg of lamb here and it was 69TL between us.The chef here is originally from the Loveboat.
Coco beach on the sea front had 4 courses for an amazing 14TL for chicken dishes and 24TL for king prawns.Fabulous desserts here.
The most expensive place was the gorgeous Keram restaurant on the canal.This was 70TL for a steak dish a lamb dish,dessert to die for,beer and coffee.
The 3 Bells do a fab Sunday lunch with gigantic Yorkshire puddings for 2 courses for around 15TL.
We ate in Cafe Anne at lunch time and for a large chicken sandwich in a large bun with salad was £1! with chips and soft drink for 2 that came to 11 TL.
Buffalo bar had draught Efes for 1.25TL and bottles for 1.75TL.Spirit drinks with fanta ,coke etc and cocktails were 2 for 6 TL.all night.
I have been to many resorts and found Icmeler to be the cheapest.I always go May or October so cant comment on high season prices.
We met a couple who were staying at an AI (Litera) and they ate out with us every night! Waiters joked with them that they had their hospital bracelets on.
Every meal was of excellent quality with first class service.

Lol, I tried the Litera relax Icmeler All inclusive in October last year for the first time, And never again will I do it in Icmeler, Food was repetitive, Draught beer was flat, We ended up eating out the last 3 days of our All inclusive, Everywhere outwith Ai Hotels is good in Icmeler.

Personally I wouldn't bother going AI to Turkey. It's still very cheap out there, we were there last May. If you'r prepared to haggle a bit then your laughing. Shirleyh gave us a few tips before we went like if someone is trying to get you into their restaurant say " the one up the road said he'd give us garlic bread or a bottle of wine". They'll either match it, or give you free starters e.t.c. We did that every night, and we didn't spend a fortune on food either night. I found cocktails and shorts had gone up in price roughly £2.50-£3.00, but if you like lager we were drinking in some places £0.99p (seriously). If your prepared to shop around then there's plenty of choice without breaking the bank.

I wouldn't go AI either, you will be stuck eating the same food in the same place every day and some of the cheaper ones really don't have a good reputation, the food is mediocre and bland and the beer is watered down

If you go sc you can always find good reasonable food, especially if you go to more local tyrp restaurants rtaher than typical tourist ones. Where are you planning on going ?

Kedi

i think it depends on when you go as well. The prices in October this year in Icmeler were excellent some bars were offering Efes at 1 lira, and has some palces had been so quiet many of the restuarants had also some great deals on offer.

I think to be more realistic if you are going June to September typically starters are 4-6 lira, steak dish about 20 lira chicken dish 16 lira. most restauranys will give free bread some will give a free drink. beer is typicaaly 3- 5 lira, spirits and mixer 6-10 lira clocktails anything from 6-12 lira.

There are places that are more expensive eg Loveboat but equally there are places that will be a lot less, some of the Chinese and Indian restaurants were offering 3 course meals for about 18 lira or eact as much as you want buffet for about 18 lira

Typically i was paying for my better half and I about 60 lira for a starter, main course and 2 drinks each With a 10 % tip about 66 lira, exchange rate was 2.2 lira to £1

Icmeler does seem to be be one of the resorts where the prices are still relatively low

Stewart

I would agree with some of the previous comments from conversations we have had with people who have been on AI holidays. If you go self-catering don't forget that by preparing your own food in your apartment during the day you won't spend too much, also if you have a barbecue supplied in your accommodation it could be cheap to have a couple of barbecues in the evening! When we stay at our apartment people often get together with each other and have barbecues which can be fun and very sociable!

I wouldn't go All Inclusive either. My impression is that you're paying for a lot of things that you might not even use. You also might be surrounded by people trying to milk it for every last penny and getting seriously drunk and badly behaved doing it. I doubt the quality of the food would be up to much. Much better to go self catering and do a combination of barbecues etc and eating out.

This really depends what resort you choose to go to, As all the resorts charge different prices, I found the Bodrum area much more expensive than Marmaris and Marmaris is much more expensive than Icmeler where average prices were 3.5 lira to 5 Lira per pint of Lager, Breakfast 5 to 6 Lira, Evening set course meal 17 to 21 Lira, These prices were last June, July, August, Forget about Late October prices unless your going in October that is.

We go in june and sometimes again in September. The most we have paid for a meal with a couple of drinks is about 50 lira this is in places like the love boat which are slightly more expensive than the others but you are paying for the atmosphere which is very nice. Then some places offer a 3 course meal with a drink for 14.95 lira. Effes is usally about 4 lira, a drink with a mixer is 6 lira, cocktails usually about 8-10 lira, some places do buy one get one free. So pretty reasonable, definatly cheaper than spain. I was in Benidorm in April and it was so expensive, I wouldnt pay the prices I was being charged back home.

Steve

Go self catering its much better you can make a cuppa anytime day or night, you can put your favorite tipple in fridge have a drink while sitting on your balcony.
Also there is so many places to eat and have fun, no queing up in line !!!
If you shop around you will find lots of good food at reasonable prices, i would find it boring staying in one place to eat as that is part of my night out, but everyone is different, enjoy

I agree with you Joan.

I always go self catering, enjoy eating out at different places so much. I also enjoy the extra space you get with an aprtment. Least you have a living room to sit if you want to get out of the sun. Where as in a hotel you just have your bedroom.

Steve

i agree with you steve lots different places to eat some places we make a night of it stay there if they got entertainment.we normally meet friends who stay at different apartments like this year august 27 friends going we can all meet for meal good barting for free drink !

I have to say that Ilove to be pampered and like to stay in hotels all inc or half board,we holiday about 3 times every year,Benidorm,Tunisia,and Turkey,and Turkey is my favourite!I just love it,we go self catering every time here now,as said,you have so much room,and the restaurants are fanastic for food and entertainment,I never cook in the apt,I just take some cheese with me and buy that beautiful fresh bread and have that for lunch some days,or an English breakfast,last June we payed 4 lira,and everynight we ate out,You can get,Chinese,Italian,Turkish,English,Mexican,you name it they can do it,I have never had better steaks in the UK for what we pay in Turkey!!.

I think the big thing is having kids.If you have kids AI is way cheaper.
Especially because they make friends and dont want to leave the hotel so you might as well be AI ... you know the saying.... happy kids,happy parents lol

Hi I thought I would post too! We went AI the other year and have 3 children and they were 11, 8 and 18 months. To tell you the truth we did not see the 11 and 8 year old at all except when they wanted money for the ringos or the shop and although some parents would say thats great it actually got us down - the kids were spending all day with their friends, then eating with them and having fun with them in the evening! This year we have booked B&B - more because we cant get anywhere cheaper than £5k and im looking forward to sharing a meal with the children and having some fun in the evening.

Redcrop x

We have children but I would still never choose AI, they don't actually cost us much to take out as kids meals are very cheap and they enjoy going out into the resort and finding somewhere different to eat every night.

Our kids are "grown up" now, the youngest is 16.So eating out is very expensive. When they were younger the food was cheap but we always found that soft drinks cost as much as wine or beer, and they always drank loads. No change there then!

shades5 wrote:

Hi all , im looking to make the choice of either going all inclusive or self catering , but like everyone else money is tight , i know all inclusive are usually good value but to be honest i do like the adventure of going out and finding somewhere different to eat everynight , so what im looking for is someone who has been recently who can tell me roughly how much an average evening meal is ( nothing posh ) and very importantly how much for a beer / cocktail wine etc

looking forward to hearing from you all

kev from bristol

This info only applies to Olu Deniz area as this is where we were in the summer. We went AI as we find it cheaper and could not possibly have afforded the quality of food and drink we received at Lykia World if we had been eating out 24/7.

We did go to restaurants a couple of times though. Starters were 5-7 YTL, Mains from 12 YTL to 24 YTL dependant upon your choices. A pint of Effes seemd to be about 5YTL.

You asked about cocktails which nobody seems to have answered.

I did have cocktails in the Tequila Bar on three or four evenings and remember thinking they were the equivalent of approx £7 ish sterling and that when I had been there two years previously (summer 2006) they had only been about £5. They may well have been made with quality imported spirits rather than local stuff so really I wouldn't expect them to be any cheaper than at home.

I guess it depends on if one of you just wants one of an evening or if two of you want three or four of an evening - the later may make serious inroads into your monies.

They did have some nights when all cocktails were ' x ' amount so the normally expensive ones was the best one to chose that evening.

Unfortunatly those prices were from before the pound weakened, so the cocktails may be slightly more.

I have been told that Olu is dearer than other resorts.

Hope this helps

Doe

Cocktails in Gumbet are £2 - £4 on average although I would think you could pay at least £6 if you went into any of the busy bars or clubs. Wine is rather expensive in Turkey and isn't really so nice, you wuold expect to pay £10 a bottle on a restaurant. Beer is always fairly cheap, ranging from £1 for a large beer in a quieter place to £3 or £4 in a busy music bar/club.