Ayasoluk Hotel Experience

As I mentioned in an earlier post we had a hotel mishap.  I thought the place we wound up staying was worth a further post.  When Coco and I first arrived
in the  Selcuk/Ephesus we thought we were in for an rustic experience based on our room. We knew the hotel we were expecting was rated #1 in the city according to trip advisor so just thought “Wow… what must the others be like?”

What follows is a pictorial comparison between the first hotel, Ayasolok and the final hotel, Ayasoluk:

 

Outside:

  versus  

 

Door:

  versus  

 

  versus  

 

Bathroom:

 versus

 

Room:

  versus 

 

Pool:

     versus    

 

The pool was a five foot wide empty hexagonal fountain with a naked little boy playing in it with a hose.  The reception was glorious as the entire family (father, mother, daughter, her husband, and cousin) greeted us very warmly.  They presented us with turkish coffee and a plate of the most succulent figs (just that moment picked from the tree).  When we went to the room it was basic, in fact the bathroom was so small that if you sat on the toilet and turned on the shower, the spray  would hit you directly in the face.  No kidding.  For a shower you would have to position yourself around the throne.  The mattress was…. hmmm… mattress?  This bed type thing in the middle of the room was a whisker softer than stone… I’m not trying to be a prince about this thing but Lord God almighty it was bad.  As I wrote in the earlier post we, by chance, found the correct hotel and after the move went on to have a great stay.  The new place put us in the honeymoon room which is the window behind us with the brown outcropping.  Osmaan, the gentleman who was our waiter, our valet, our advisor, and finally our friend was unbelievable.  At 42 years old he was fit and if you saw him run around you wouldn’t be surprised.  He endeared himself to us the first night.  Just after we ordered dinner, Coco was chatting with him about the local foods… he beckoned us to get up from the table and follow him.

He led us out the rear entrance of the hotel, through a gate to the backyard of a beautiful house next door.  He started hopping around the garden which completely filled a very large space and rummaged for some fresh picked tomatoes.  When Coco asked about a plant she saw against the wall he jumped over the tomatoes and picked her a handful of lavender.  We then returned to the table where he laid the tomatoes out on a plate and replaced the flowers in our vase with the  lavender.  It was so genuine and kind.  If this was the only positive experience we had with Osmaan I would have been delighted but there were many. He also ensured that the chef made Coco a vegetarian dish instead of the meat option that was available for others (me)  Osmaan introduced me to the local drink Raki.  When you add ice cubes and water this clear fluid turns white just like Pernod and tastes like Ouzo.

   yum. There we sat, Coco with a local white wine, me with raki, watching the storks flying overhead. It was an enchanting  visit.  The  thing the two hotels had in  common were the people.  Both had warm welcoming hospitable staff and we were happy to have met both.

Off to Fethiye tomorrow!