there are plenty of other hotel only sites which i find cheaper or similar prices have a look at these sites

http://www.findmeaccom.com

http://www.quickrooms.com

http://www.alpharooms.com

http://www.hotels4u.com/

if you join topcashback which is free then you can get some cashback on some of these websites

marmaris is lively, the beach isnt great, i would look at icmeler if i were you its only 5 mins away but slightly nicer resort and better beach, still fairly lively though

good luck, make sure you read up on any hotel reviews before booking

I'd like to add - be careful where you pick as some of the resorts won't be very lively at this time of year. If I'm not mistaken this is one of the last weeks of the Turkish holiday season. I'm sure somebody'll put me straight if I'm wrong on that score.

We went to Icmeler last October and everything was still open.The school holidays start on 26th October so there should be plenty of places still open.We are going back on 12th October for 2 weeks, although the hotel we were originally booked is closing on 19th. Its a lovely time to visit as the day time temps are still in the 20s and the bars and restaurants reduce their prices. If you cant find a decent HB try B&B or an apartment as Icmeler has many excellent restaurants at very reasonable prices.

Icmeler is your best bet, plenty to do, especially with 17 year old, i am sure you will all love it much nicer than Marmaris and you can just jump the dolmus bus into Marmaris to take a look and have a few night out there, takes about 10 mins to get to so best of bo.th worlds

Icmeler or marmaris is your best bet, Do not go Ai or half board Ifyou choose B&B you will get a Turkish breakfast, Go self catering, Food is fantastic and your unlikely to get a bad meal anywhere in these resorts, Have a great time and enjoy the Turkish hospitality.

Thank you all so much for your advice.

I haven't decided yet but I will choose one of these resorts. Just have the fun task to see what Hotel to stay at. We would like somewhere close to all the action (walking distance) but not too close that we can't sleep at night due to noise.

I don't have a problem searching though, it all adds up to the excitment of going on holiday. I will ofcourse check the reviews on here as I always do.

Thanks again for your help.

Sue x

Hi Sue

Think there ia a nice half board hotel called the Marti on the sea front in Ichmeler. Ive considered it before when wondering if to go to this resort and I have chldren - well teens - a similar age to yours. I guess it depends on your budget though as it looks decent quality, so will cost I would imagine, but I suppose you get what you pay for, cheap isn't always good.

Hope you find something nice, Doe

My good friend stayed at the Marti this year and loved it . They paid what I thought was a good price to upgrade to A/I and liking a nice room they booked a delux sea view option via Direct holidays.

It's not cheap but come end october there could be some bargains about .

Of all the resorts in Turkey,Icmeler is one where I wouldnt go AI or indeed HB.
We are going to the Devamli Hotel in 3 weeks and it is the hotel which has the Loveboat restaurant on the ground floor.
It would have only been £7 a night each to upgrade to HB and eat in the Loveboat every night which is arguable the best restaurant(silver service)in Icmeler.
However we have opted for B&B as there are so many wonderful restaurants in Icmeler.
We were HB the last time we stayed at the Devamli but ate out a couple of times just for a change despite the gorgeous food.
There are still complaints about the food at the Marti and other 4-5 star hotels despite the high prices.
A friend has just come back from her 1st visit to Turkey the Greenwood or Greenworld apartments in the old village with her 2 teenagers and thought it was amazing.they ate at the apartments most evenings as she said the food was so good.
I dont think all the hotels and apartments will be open until the end of October as some close on the 19th October.
There should be still plenty of availability but the returning flights are getting full as the Reps return to the UK on the last week,

I only mentioned it because Sue requested a minimum of half-board or possibly more and I assumed that she had specific reasons for this and didnt actually want self-catering.

Someone at work stayed at greenwood or greenworld (cant remember what it was called either ) but it was what they decribed as at the back of the resort and they were overrun with wasps. but it might be a seasonal thing.

Doe

Once again, thank you all for your advice.

The reason I asked for HB or AI is because my 17 year old son is taking his mate, If we go SC we will probably end up having to pay for his mates meals and I know it sounds tight but we have just come back from Salou as I am re-covering from an operation and this was just an extra holiday so we have to budget slighty more than normal.

We are currently looking at Marmaris because of the nightlife there which would suit my son and his friend more maybe? I have seen an AI hotel (Grand Cettia Hotel) which has good reviews and thinking of going there, any views on this would be much appreciated.

Once again, thank you for your help.

Sue x

The reason I asked for HB or AI is because my 17 year old son is taking his mate, If we go SC we will probably end up having to pay for his mates meals

Not to mention their evenings out too Sue .

SueDerbyshire,

Members have posted reviews of the Grand Cettia Hotel on the hotel reviews section.

Darren

we are going to book marmaris park we have teens in our party althogh the food is cheap enough to eAT out we know that we can relax about money and kids and adults can eat and drink without worries of money and the price is onlt a bit more to go ai

just booked turkey for 2 wks in may,1st timers was wondering what the cost of living is like?as some friends of ours go a lot and prices have gone up a lot,cheers

Hi Valleylady as i've said elsewhere on this forum, Turkey is as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. We go to restaurants that are at the lower end of the price scale, the food is just as good, we also look for Set Menu deals and also establishments that locals would use ie the ALO24 chain and Lokantasis which are cheaper than the more touristy places. The word is, shop around.

Les

We've been going to Turkey for years and even have a house there (okay it's Gumbet and not Marmaris but visit Marmaris regularly). People say that prices have gone up a lot in the last few years but I'm not so sure - some people think the prices have gone up 'cos we're not getting as good an exchange rate for our pound. I can remember getting well over 2.5 lira for a pound, at times it has been down to 2.2 so prices will seem to vary but that's only 'cos of our weak pound, not the prices going up in Turkey (does that make sense?).

JAKKI xx

valley lady

We went to Turkey for the first time for 2 weeks in June this year. Whilst there I went across to Rhodes for a long weekend for the RhodesRocks music festival. Turkey is not in the Eurozone but Rhodes is. It cost me virtually as much in Rhodes for a long weekend as it did for the rest of my stay in Turkey.

I think Jakki is right in that it may look more expensive than it was, because of the weak pound, but it is still very good value especially compared to the Eurozone.

A couple of examples based on my experiences (2.3 lira to the pound last week)(1.09 Euro to the pound last week)

English breakfast - Icmeler - 5 Lira; Pefkos - 5 Euro
Local Lager - Icmeler - 3 Lira; Lindos - 4 Euro
Kleftiko - Datca - 15 Lira; Pefkos - 13 Euro

So No - I don't think Turkey is expensive.

You will love Turkey. We are going back for another 2 weeks next year (and up until this year we have only ever done 1 week holidays because my OH misses home after a week. This year not only was she happy to stay 2 weeks but she would've stayed longer and for the last couple of days we were looking at apartments and villas for sale!!)

Jakki - we'll keep an eye out for you as we are thinking of trying Gumbet next year. Any hotel/apartment recommendations??

Dave

PS - sorry for going

normal service may now be resumed

thanks for the replies guy,s i understand what your saying,we lived in spain at the time it went from peseta to euro,god what a difference.we have also travelled a lot in thailand and when we 1st went we got 74 bt to the £,last time we went it was 49bt to £,this is one of the reasons that we are giving turkey a go.i am sure we will love it,when we are on holiday we like to experience the country we are in,you know the saying when in rome etc,so trying places where the locals go is all part of our hols