Friday, July 12, 2013

ALAÇATI VACATION 2013 Part 1: Alaçatı Kapari Hotel

Dear readers,

As I mentioned in my last post on Katre Hotel, I am now on a glorious vacation in Alaçatı/Çeşme for 2 weeks... I arrived 3 days ago on Wednesday afternoon and will be here until July 24th and this time, I've taken my pc with me and will be posting info on some of the places I visit that are worth writing about to share with you - literally hot off the presses! So, this way if you are planning a vacation to this area this year, I hope I can be of some help!

As far as I'm concerned, the most important part of any vacation is your choice of hotel! I have been travelling on my own since I was 17 years old and since I'm no longer a "spring chicken" I have built up quite an experience when it comes to selecting lodging properties. Of course, with time, my preferences have also changed and to be quite frank, I prefer and like quaint, yet elegant boutique hotels above all else! Now, I am also at a point in my life when I can afford to financially stay at nice places!

Additionally, after Luka entered my life in May 2011, I also have to find hotels that are "animal friendly" and allow pets. 

Take my word for it, the list is very short in Turkey and in all of Alaçatı I was only able to find 3-4 hotels that allow pets!!

As you know, I stayed at Katre Hotel last year - which I love and is like a "home away from home", but unfortunately since I decided this trip pretty much on the spur of the moment, there wasn't availability on the dates I wanted.

I always  believe that every negative has a positive, so because of this reason, I had a chance to discover a new hotel which is literally a 5 minute walk from the Port Alaçatı Marina and Katre Hotel... Alaçatı Kapari Hotel (www.kapariotel.com)

Although the hotel is listed on many hotel booking websites, I booked my room directly with the hotel after reviewing and loving the pictures of the boutique hotel I saw on their website... they also have a 360 degree visual tour you can take to get a better idea of the hotel property.

After a smooth and "no delay" flight from Istanbul to Izmir on Wednesday, Luka and I arrived at the Kapari Hotel after a 45 minute drive (reserved a car with a transfer service) we arrived at our temporary home for two weeks and we knew immediately we wouldn't be disappointed!

We were greeted in a small tastefully decorated reception area by Damla, the front office manager and Oluş N. Kızılagaç, the friendly and bubbly owner of the hotel! We had a chance to chat with the Ms. Kızılagaç and I found out that this is Kapari Hotel's 3rd season and they also open year round.

Although my room was ready, she offered me a cup of Turkish coffee which I didn't refuse and sat enjoying it overlooking the pool and partial view of the Aegean Sea from the main level of the hotel...


There are 6 garden terrace rooms right by the hotel's swimming pool at Kapari and we were assigned room number 3 which also has a small seating area and I was delighted to see that my room was very very spacious and decorated in a minimalist and elegant manner. There are other rooms on the main level and top floor in a variety of sizes, but guest travelling with pets are assigned rooms on the garden level which is fine by me!

Garden Terrace Room at Alaçatı Kapari Hotel
Like I said, I immediately fell in love with this hotel and the following are just some other pictures I took... BTW... Luka is also enjoying his stay here!

Alaçatı Kapari Hotel 
A few hours after settling in, I also met Figen Akçay, the fairly new (2 weeks) General Manager of the hotel and, it's definitely a small world, we found out we had a friend in common!

The hotel also has a young and enthusiastic staff who are dedicated to growing in the hotel industry. Habibe, Gülseren, Sevil, Tolga... are very bright,  efficient and eager to learn and always have a smile on their faces!

The other great thing about the Kapari Hotel is that they have a complimentary tea service at 5:00pm which I was able to benefit from on my first day...



Towards the evening while I was waiting for my sister and nephew to come over, I decided to treat myself to some wine as Luka and I hung out ....


The Kapari Hotel has a total of 22 deluxe rooms (including family rooms) in a variety of sizes and breakfast and VAT are included in the prices....speaking about breakfast, it is available from 9:00am to noon and includes typical Turkish breakfast treats...

standard breakfast treats @ Kapari Hotel
The jams are homemade (and delicious) and you can also order all different kinds of eggs and different savory hot pastries are available daily, so forget any diet you might be on! Also, you can swing by for breakfast if you are in the area as non-guests are welcome!

The guests at Kapari Hotel are a mix of Turks and foreigners in all age groups... Luka especially loved this Danish little girl (her name is Lif), but then again, Luka loves everyone and is very friendly!

Luka and his new friend Lif
The hotel also has a "resident" dog who is very docile... his name is Pasha and he comes and hangs out in the garden from time to time, but he is a little shy...


It is now about 2pm on the 3rd day of my 14 day trip to Alaçatı... I've already hit my favorite beach - Fun Beach Club and went out to dinner at two different restaurants and I will be writing about them too... today I just wanted to relax at the hotel and will be meeting my sister in about an your and we will just hang out at her house in Ilıca by the pool and go out to dinner in the evening and probably do some "clubbing" too - it is Friday night! So more on my escapades in Alaçatı in the next couple of days...

If you are planning a trip to Alaçatı, I can highly recommend the Kapari Hotel for their spacious rooms, friendly staff and location. You can visit their website (also available in English) for more detailed information and prices.



Enjoy your summer wherever in the world you are and come and visit Alaçatı and Çeşme on the lovely Aegean Sea in Turkey! You definitely won't be disappointed!

Stay well
Dani

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