Classic Holidays fam Venice 27-29 Nov 2012

As we were meeeting at Birmingham airport for our Monarch flight to Venice at 05.30 hours, I had decided to stay overnight at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport and was able to get a special rate of £55 through Superbreak Holidays. The room at the Holiday Inn was ideal and I was well rested for our early start.  The flight had a small delay and we arrived in Venice at 10.50 hours.  We took a private water taxi and, after a 10-15 minute walk (well signposted) we arrived at the water taxi departure point.  The water taxi transfer felt like something out of a Bond Movie and after about 45 minutes we arrived at the Locanda Vivaldi Hotel (water taxi drop off point directly to Hotel)

 

My room at the Vivaldi overlooked the Grand Canal very close to St Marks Square

 

 

Typical canal view
 

Having checked into the Vivaldi, we then walked to the 5 star luxury Danieli where we were taken around the hotel and had and excellent lunch - the following are a few photos taken of the hotel.  This was a magnificent hotel with Grand reception rooms and suites to match.  However some of  the standard rooms were were a little disappointing for the price charged compared to other hotel viewed. Lead in price £794 for 3 nts

Danieli Reception

 

Standard room in the old wing of the hotel

 

Danieli restaurant has a superb position overlooking the Grand Canal
More hotels and information to follow ...........................................

Turkey Educational 3 cont'd ... Fethiye/Olu Deniz

Fethiye is an upmarket resort with a lovely marina and a moutainous backdrop.  Whilst here we viewed the following hotels in prime positions on or in the marina area.

The first hotel viewed was the Ecesaray Hotel which is on the Marina and a very popular hotel. We enjoyed an excellent lunch here with lovely views of the marina.

Typical room

The hotel has a generous size pool

View from room

View from separate dining area

We then moved on to the Yacht Hotel which is just a short distance to the Marina.  This is a more modern hotel and lacks character but in a great position for those wanting to be close to the Marina. As you enter the hotel, the pool is passed before you reach reception (see below)

Typical room at the Yacht hotel

View from room shown

We then viewed the Alesta Hotel - again a more modern hotel in a good position near to Marina - below is the reception area.

It has a small rooftop pool

Nice dining area with good views





Room shown at the Alesta Hotel

From Fethiye our next stop was Olu Deniz, renowned to have one of the most photographed beach of Turkey at the Lagoon.  There is an entrance fee to the lagoon but there are also nice beaches to be used with no charge.  We stayed at the Meri Hotel which is out of the centre of Olu Deniz.  This was the most disappointing hotel of our stay.  It is a basic 3 star hotel set in a hillside with a funicular railway/lift taking you to your rooms.  Not suitable for disabled as there are many steps and the lift only works until 11 pm so there are considerable steps for the higher floors.  There is however a private beach area with beach bar and this is an all inclusive hotel.  It is a good value but basic all inclusive choice.  There were good views from breakfast but the area was overrun with wasps when we were there which was quite off-putting.  The two pictures below are the view from breakfast and private beach area.

Turkey educational contd ....Antalya/Kaleici

As we viewed several hotels, I have tried to select a few photos to give an idea of what the hotels were like.

After our visit to Kalkan, we drove to Antalya where we had lunch and then visited the palacial hotel of Mardan Palace. This hotels has many acres of grounds and is considering building a golf course within the grounds. There are many themed and palacial rooms.

 

Massve outdoor pool and own beach which due to size of grounds is a 5-10 min walk!

Opulence abounds in this special hotel

I feel generally Antalya is a city with little charatcter but did not spend much time looking around before travelling on to the old town of Kaleici where we checked into the Puding Marina. This was a very nice hotel which had been modernised from some old mansion houses.  The staff were very friendly and there was a gym area (partially enclosed) where the instructor was happy to tailor any exercise routine to your specific requests and we enjoyed a yoga session whilst we were there.  we also used the spa and enjoyed a massage during our stay.

Reception area

Pleasant bar area

Outside dining area where we ate breakast

  Evening meal in the restaurant was excellent though service a little slow and breakfast we ate outside on the narrow but quiet street. The old town was quaint and pretty with narrow cobbly streets and a pleasant harbour area. There is a very small beach but connected to a restaurant and charges are made for sunbeds.

Typical narrow street in this lovely old town

Attractive old buildings line the streets

View over the port in the old town

View from port area

We then visited the Puding Suite (a tripadviser winner 2012) and under the same ownership as the Puding Marina - within 10 minutes walk of each other.

Some rooms have jacuzzi showers

We then visited the Alp Pasha Hotels in Kaleici before driving to Fethiye.  This is a popular hotel and we were unable to visit any rooms as the hotel was full.

 

The old town is full of charm and is ideal for those wanting an interesting base with lots of character within a short distance of Antalya which has a lovely port but little beach facilities.  Beaches can be found in Antalya but we were unable to view them.

Next blog Fethiye, Olu Deniz and Datca ..........

Turkey educational October 2012 - Kalkan

The trip started with a flight from Monarch airlines from Gatwick at 07.20 am. The flight was on time and a comfortable Airbus 3-4-3 configuration. Extra leg room seat can be purchased at an additional cost if you wish to have the most comfort as the leg room is not very generous generally. The flight was only a little late and 4 hours later we arrived in Dalaman. Visas are £10 per person and they prefer a nice crisp £10 note and advise correct money or no change will be offered!!!

We were a nice small group of 10 and were transferred the 1 and a half hours to our first hotel, the Oasis Hotel in Kalkan. The group was put into a variety of rooms; I was lucky to have 1 of 2 suite rooms with porthole window looking down to Kalkan, large terrace area with table and chairs and 2 sunbeds (in need of a little staining to the wood and sunbed covers stained) but the room inside was spacious and clean with beams to ceiling and nice furnishings. Jucuzzi bath was fun and shower on bath or seperate walk in shower. Tea/coffee making facilities, hardryer, safe, air conditioning and satellite tv. We ate at the rooftop restaurant with fabulous views over Kalkan and the food was lovely.
The hotel is in a good position just a few minutes walk to restaurants and bars and Kalkan itself has great character with steep narrow streets and superb views over the Turqouise coast.The breakfast was very good with a selection of cereals, salad, cheese, and sliced meats, fruit as well as a hot choice with mushrooms, eggs(scrambed or boiled) We then set off to visit a few hotels in Kalkan, starting with the Oasis to see other room types,some with private pools

My room in Oasis Hotel

Jacuzzi bath and separate walk in shower

View from large balcony

View from pool area with unusual sunbeds flat on floor and difficult for us oldies to get up from!

Kalkan is all steep cobbled streets - not good for stilettos!

Another street in Kalkan - very picturesque and full of character

View from breakfast room of Oasis

We then moved on to the Likya Residence which was my favourite hotel (Aykan Group)of the day but with a price tag to match with lead in prices of £1200 for a week. It has an eco feel to it with lots of plants and very chic. There were 2 room types deluxe and deluxe plus and we viewed a deluxe which had its own access to the infinity pool from the balcony (room 100) very good spa, small gym, steam room and second pool with superb views.(min age 16 years) We did see the retreat rooms (annexe buillding separate) but I did not like them so much and there is a building in between with a pool which was not being maintained at the time of inspection and balconies overlooked green pool - perhaps not in season!  This is a popular hotel so need to book early and rarely has offers. They have a lovely relaxing spa offering a range of facilities.

 

Infinity pool

Other pool in lovely setting

The next hotel the Rhapsody Hotel (a good hotel in its day but a little dated) It is due to undergo a large renovation programme but at present is very simple and basic in style, lacking in character though rooms were not too bad and there are a selection of room types which include jacuzzi suites, those without jacuzzi had larger balconies, 4 duplex sleeping up to 4 (min age 12 years)

The next hotel was the Asfiya Hotel which has no lift and ever suite is different so best to stipulate what you want from a room ie big balcony, jacuzzi bath etc. (ie if you dont have a jacuzzi in deuxe suites, you have a bigger balcony). Oldest in Aykan group of hotels. Viewed master deluxe where 3 rooms share private pool. Both this hotel and Likya Residence have use of the Yali area with pontoon into sea.

We then moved on the to Elixer Hotel which offered us a lovely lunch which was a good standard 4 star hotel with nothing in particular which makes it unique but had a very pleasant and friendly feel to it with a good standard of room, a more modern feel to it and nice pool, bar area and friendly staff. We viewed deluxe and superior rooms, deluxe have jacuzzi with the exception of ground floor which does not. There is a lift and some interconnecting rooms. Photos unavilable for this hotel.

 

 

More to follow as we travelled to Antalya, Kaleici, Datca, Olu Deniz............................................