I thought, after all the help I found using the search bar, that I'd split my reviews into more easily searchable clumps, cos there's nothing more useful than an easily searchable clump.
Here's part one!
So, last year I decided it was time to face my fear of flying and agreed to a holiday ‘abroad’! We looked at Spain, Greece and Portugal but decided on Turkey, really just due to the weather and affordability (not just the villa was half the price, everything else seemed to be too!) and Calis because it seemed to have enough there and nearby to keep our large family amused, without having to hire a people carrier.
There are 6 of us, myself, my husband, Jon, our 16 year old son, 14 year old daughter, 10 year old son and 5 year old son.
Seaside ResidenceWe stayed at 43 Seaside Residence, and we really loved it! The complex itself is quite small compared to the others along this strip, and so pretty. The man who maintains it (He turned out to be a friend of the water taxi man) works so hard, there is honestly never a blade of grass out of place. We had a private pool which was spotless, and the main pool in the middle was beautiful too. The main pool was well used but never felt crowded, like the complex it was lively enough to feel holidayish without every feeling noisy or cramped. On the second night we were sitting by our pool and Jon remarked what a shame it was the pool didn't have lights. Two seconds later a uniformed man appeared and turned some pool lights on, which had Jon checking the lemon trees for bugging devices but sort of summed up how the place aimed to please!
The villa itself was great, huge, sea facing, with excellent air con and everything we needed with one exception. No cleaning products! I’ve never had to go out and buy cloths, Cif, washing up liquid etc even when I’ve stayed in a caravan, but at least I left a nice haul for the next visitors! We really needed to keep on top of the cleaning as ants were a rather frequent problem (much to my 5 year old’s delight and my daughter’s horror).
We also faced the bit of scrap land where the dolmuses park up and get left overnight, stray dogs meet up to hang out and the bins are etc, so that might not appeal to everyone but, being nosey we quite liked watching everyone coming and going, and it as handy when we went out! Our highlight was when some cows randomly appeared there one morning!
I never got bored of the view out to sea from my balcony, I did my yoga there (trying to avoid the gaze of the dolmus drivers) and felt very blessed each morning. Jon would go down for an early morning swim and enjoy the peace, he would head left to avoid the late night bbq detritus!
Guven’sOn our first full day our body clocks hadn’t adjusted and despite desperate attempts to get 5 year old to sleep during the afternoon, he was hungry and tired, so we went out to see if anyone was serving food early. We found Guven’s (thanks to CBF) and this became our go-to place for the week. The food seemed similar to most prom places but cheaper. It’s not gourmet but it’s fine and my children would eat anything from the menu. Jon enjoyed the Ottoman frying pan! Having assured us he wasn’t sleepy AT ALL my 5 year old immediately fell asleep on arrival (sigh) and Carol kept his food hot for him while he slept. She and Guven were so nice, so chilled, so friendly, and as the sun went down I couldn’t think of anywhere nicer to be.
We used Guven’s for sunloungers, Efes, takeaway pide and salad, and numerous meals, my kids would pop over to play pool and have an ice cream and my eldest even gatecrashed a wedding party one evening when we heard loud music and fireworks and he went out to investigate. The day we left my 5 year old made a goodbye card for Guven’s and insisted one of the waiters took a selfie with him. Not everyone is delighted to see a family with 4 kids hove into a view so it was lovely to have somewhere we felt so comfortable, thank you!
