.
Arrive at Gatwick @ 0530 am to catch the Thomas Cook 0710 am flight found complete madness at check in desks 7 flights departing within 2 hours of each other all using the same check in 6 desks took over 1. hour check in then a dash to boarding gate as far as the very far end of the south terminal.
boarded a 737 300 series plane standard seats had lots of leg room that surprized us ,smooth flight very good james martin brand breakfast yes it was very good indeed , 3 hrs 45 mins waited over 1 hr for bags at dalaman walked out to hot sunshine found fethiye airport driver plus 2 bottles of cold water who I must say was very good took his time along the roads, lots of tut tut from the driver as taxis driving like mad men overtook us many times, like wise a fethiye lovers transfer car going like a bat out of hell past us just past gochek up the hill,.
Arrived at the Oykun hotel [ our 14 th june visit year, greeted by goldie and the owners of the hotel as we stepped out of the car, bags up to our room by the waiter and found the aircon on so a nice cool room and our favourite room as requested , down to the bar for a beer and a welcome from memhet the head waiter who has been there for over 14 yrs, likewise most of the staff who have been there for years,
Pools and surroundings spotless as usual plus lots of new wooden sun beds round the big pool. hotel was fully booked but lots of room and spare sunbeds , many people there this year in june who were afraid to travel last year because of the so called troubles in turkey
When for a short stroll before evening dinner found a few changes, the B52 bar still as drab as ever , bring back the old post office bar / restaurant someone please, beach looking very good this year , met several CBF members along our stroll .and several Turkish shop / bar owners we know for many years
We had a great 2 weeks sad to come home once again, fethiye air port transfer came on time a excellent driver gave 2 very small bottles water [ which dalaman check in let through] asked if air con was ok would you like soft music put on and was very chatty,
Dalaman airport easy to get through security THEN all hell broke loose at the check in desk we were given a letter stating 5 hour delay plus its a smaller plane and you will be seated anywhere , plus we have spare seats on a luton plane going in 45 mins you can go on this and we will bus you down to Gatwick WHAT along the m25 and m23 in rush hour !!no way, we used the CIP lounge as comfort and boarded this A321 old plane almost 4 hrs delay, no food or drink offered after 2 hours as is passengers right only given out as we boarded the plane ,
seats so close that knees were on our chins no way could the table be used as no room to lower it cabin staff only checked rows 1 to 4 on departure and landing at Gatwick we were row 8 no safety checks pus the james martin meal well not fit for pigs , no one ate it as far as we could see .
All in all we had a great time except for the flight home , just waiting for the promised BACS money transfer into our bank with the promised 10 days plus they agreed to refund our CIP lounge costs all confirmed by 2 emails.
PART TWO Will be our bar / restaurant review AND our high lights and low lights of our holiday