Manolya Hotel

“The best hotel in Ortakent”

First, a quick word about the resort. This is a quiet strip of beach with many restaurants and bars but no night clubs. Woohoo. Most close about midnight so the place is very quiet and peaceful at night. It's mostly visited by families (many Turkish) so has a very local feel and there aren't hordes… more

First, a quick word about the resort. This is a quiet strip of beach with many restaurants and bars but no night clubs. Woohoo. Most close about midnight so the place is very quiet and peaceful at night. It's mostly visited by families (many Turkish) so has a very local feel and there aren't hordes of young louts running about getting drunk. So its perfect for a quiet or family holiday. There is one small issue, in that there is only one ATM in town and this can run out of local money pretty quick. So best go about lunchtime. Second, if you have never been to Turkey, there are two ways for paying for fish in a restaurant. You can choose set price from the menu, which is what you will pay at the end of your meal. Or you can choose from the chiller cabinet (which most restaurants have), which is sold by weight. You choose the fish, they weigh it and tell you the price you will pay. That's probably the reason for the previous review. Third, the hotel itself. We can't give the place more praise. I phoned a couple of days to say that we wouldn't be arriving till after midnight. We were told this would be no problem. When we arrived we were met by the very friendly manager who got the bags out of our car and told us that we had a choice of two rooms for our group of four people. We were shown both and chose the downstairs one towards the back of the hotel. This had a little terrace and table and chairs, so we thought it would be cool to sit and relax here. The room was actually a suite with two rooms and a bathroom. All spotlessly clean. Next, the manager asked whether we would like a quick drink or some food, even though the restaurant was now closed. We said we'd love a drink, so they set a table up for us on the beach, with small table lights, nibbles, etc and served us up with beers. Perfect start to the stay. The hotel is quite small but very friendly and clean. Everyone says hello and are very keen that you are having a great stay. We ate in the restaurant on 2 of the 4 nights and the food was very good and not expensive. The beach as such is actually a terrace with steps into the sea, which is sandy and is relatively shallow for quite a long way out. The hotel lays out sun loungers on this terrace during the day and restaurant tables at night, so that you can have a table right next to the sea, with water lapping just below you. I would highly recommend this hotel and think it is one of the best places to stay in Ortakent.

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