Hi guys,
Well we are home now from our first visit to Icmeler, didn't get off to the best of starts though, we began with a four hour delay at gatwick, not what you want to be doing at the start of the hols, once we had boarded the plane things started to look up, we flew with Aegean flights and the leg room was fantastic, being six ft i normally feel very cramped but not on this flight, there was plenty of leg room to stretch out.
Upon arriving at Dalaman, our car was waiting to whisk us off to Club Tokmak in the old village of Icmeler.
These apartments are owned and run by Sarah and Mustafa, we found that the standard of the tokmak was very high, the rooms were modern, bright and clean as was the pool and bar area. The barmen are very friendly and will help you with whatever you need, Bob's the dayman and John is there in the evenings, I must mention Gordon Ramsay the chef, his food was fantastic, my partner Jayne loved his garlic prawns.
On our first evening, we decided to eat at the Tokmak, we were given a free bottle of wine by Mustafa's father to have with our meal which was a very nice gesture. The first bar we visited in Icmeler was Sylvia's bar in the old town, it has a monkey in a cage called Charlie, we got mugged for 9 lira for a sprite in here so we never returned to that establishment.
Then we moved onto Richard's Place, great times spent in here on many occasions, it's very lively, friendly, a big hello to - Richard - Rasul - Evo - Dj - Billy - Ali - Ernesto, when you visit this bar girls ask Evo to give you a head massage at the end of the evening, he had Jayne so relaxed she almost fell asleep in her cocktail. Richard the owner will pick you up at your hotel and then take you home at the end of the evening, food here is fantastic.
Sadly the Taj Mahal was not open so we went to the Taste Of Asia, anyone who likes indian food should avoid eating here, it was very disappointing, the starters of chicken tikka - onion bhajees and popadums were spot on, however the main meals, that consisted of: chicken madras - chicken tikka masala and a chicken curry all tasted the same, not too dis-similar to a crap box curry from vesta.
The meal at the Love Boat was fantastic, as was our meal in The Lemon Tree, I would highly reccommend both these restaurants.
We tried the 3/4 bells for the sunday roast, but it was disappointing, I was expecting it to be so much better after reading so much about it on the forums, in my opinion Richards Place serves a far better roast, their roast beef melts in the mouth.
Another great bar i would reccommend would be the Red Lion, great food, great people, great night, the staff here kidnapped Rhianna (my partners daughter) and had her waiting tables and taking orders for most of the night, she loved every minute of it and had a great time.
We then found the Majestic down the canal, we all loved this place for it's entertainment and staff, it's probably my favourite place in Icmeler.
We popped into the Korsan bar for a drink but didn't go much on this place.
Linekers bar was fantastic for me and Jayne, we loved the atmosphere and music in there, however the girls didn't like it too much, but then they are only 13 and 14 so i 'spose 60's 70's 80's music is not there thing.
Our daughters talked us in to taking them onto the night clubs over the space of a couple of nights, firstly to Eastenders - we only stayed for one drink as there were only about 20 people in (all blokes, so it wasn't so good). We then visited Pleasure club, this was much better, if you go here you will meet Adi, he will take care of you and make sure your night goes really well.
We had to visit the Stella Show as we had read so much about this place, we all loved it, it was a fantastic night out as was the Deniz Kapisi, Rhianna got up and sang and recieved a standing ovation, i got up and sang and recieved a ripple of applause grrrr lol.
All things considered this was a great holiday, that we all enjoyed, we loved the beautiful surroundings, the wonderful people and also the mid-night wind down in the evenings and thats something i never thought I'd hear myself say, it was nice to get back to the room around 1 o'clock in the morning so we were always up and ready to go the next day, or is it that I'm getting old and just can't hack the pace anymore? lol.
Will we go back next year? I think so, the flights are cheap and we have been given a great deal by Sarah at the Tokmak for next year, it would be impossible to find a holiday else where at that price, let alone, as good, however one thing that concerns me is that the shows that are put on never seem to change from one year to the next and I hope it doesn't feel repetitive when we return.
We saw a number of Michael Jackson's, but to be honest they was not that good, we tried to find Samir that we had heard so much about, but we were told that he no longer dances in Icmeler.
One thing that puzzled me was the amount of flyers that were given out to the tourists and no bins in sight, yet there was no rubbish to be seen anywhere, and I never once saw a street cleaner, where did all that crap go?
As for hassle, we didn't have any at all, yes they would ask you to take a look at their menu's, but a reply of "No thanks", was greated with "Ok, have a nice evening" .
So there it is, our first visit to Icmeler, and yes - we all loved it, and will be returning, but you already knew that didn't you? lol.

Happy Holidays everyone
Bibbs