kwood1955

In our upcoming trip to Turkey, my husband and I plan to stay in Selcuk. It's closest to Ephesus and we want to spend 2-3 days touring Ephesus. We don't need luxury, but a comfortable bed and local atmosphere is important. We are in our 50s and well traveled. So, if you have stayed in Selcuk, where did you stay? Likes/Dislikes? Thanks for any and all information.

Ian

Urkmez Hotel. From my trip report: When good enough is good enough, this hotel may be enough for you but not for us. Rough bath but functional. Basic room but functional. No phone. Friendly staff. Good breakfast & rooftop area. Inexpensive & close to everything in Selçuk. Check out the Hotel Bella if you want more, but I hear that it isn't paradise either.

Report with pictures:

http://imcarthur.weebly.com/selcuk.html

But 3 days would be far too much. Go when it opens to beat the bus hordes that start arriving at 10.

Ian

StCirq

You don't want to know. We got lice and the water was dark brown coming out of the faucets.

Spend as much as you can to stay in a decent place.

Kristina

Hotel Bella. The rooms are small but the location and staff are great. So is the food in their rooftop restaurant. I wrote about it here, with photos: http://www.wired2theworld.com/2012/0...and-resources/
I never put my trip report for that trip on Fodor's (not sure why) but it's all there on my blog. Start here:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/our-tr...e/turkey-2012/

otherchelebi

There ıs also Nazhan, just next to Bella. Its expansion section is newer and has larger rooms than Bella.

When we stayed there some years ago it did not have a restaurant but had a very cozy lobby and courtyard where they served terrific breakfast. The room was OK but we were not that happy with the bathroom in the old building.

ashwinb

I stayed at the Vardar Pension ,run by an old couple, it's very well run and clean, the breakfast's good too. And its just 2 minutes from the bus station. But no frills at all, decent wifi and a good breakfast. Most restaurants(pide salons, Ejder etc) are closeby. But ask them to give you a room on the 1st floor.

jwlibrarian

I would second the Nazhan, having just stayed there about 2 weeks ago (trip report coming once my 3+ weeks here are done). It was lovely, somewhere between a b&b and a small boutique hotel, and the owner was very helpful with suggesting genuinely good restaurants in town.

Agree with others' comments that 1 day is plenty to visit Ephesus. If you enjoy ruins & historical sites and would prefer a longer stop in one place (constant hotel/city changes are definitely tiring) consider a day trip out to Aphrodisias. It was about a 2.5 to 2.75 hr car trip for my husband & I and we found them quite impressive. The drive is rather pretty too. If you won't have car, I believe there are many local tour operators who offer this trip.

IMDonehere

We stayed at the Nisanyan Hotel, which was at the end of a death defying road and thought it was pricey for what it offered.

lauren_s_kahn

StCirq, it would be nice to know at which hotel you got the lice and had brown water. You did not specify.

Fra_Diavolo

We also stayed at the Nisanyan, but I agree with IMDh that it is pricey and nerve-racking to reach. You are also pretty much limited to its restaurant (which is good), as the other places in Sirince did not appeal -- at least to us. I'd prefer to stay in Selcuk.

Also second a trip to Aphrodiasias. You'll pretty much have it to yourself and it's spectacular.

progol

We were there over 10 years ago -- will have to look up the name of the hotel, which was comfortable with a small pool and courtyard area, although rooms were rather plain.

But I wanted to say that if you do stay for 3 days, you can take a wonderful drive exploring Didyma, Priene, & Miletus -- 3 sites that make up a good day trip from Selcuk. We did, and enjoyed these sites enormously. We liked Didyma and Priene especially .

MarnieWDC

We stayed at the Amazon Petit Palace, which I would recommend.

It is small, very clean and comfortable, and the proprietors went way out of their way to be helpful. There is a pool, though it is in the shade, so a bit chilly. We very much liked the location and had no problem with the short, albeit somewhat uphill, walk to the Main Street, Basilica, etc. Breakfast was good. The price was quite good too. We found it charming and comfortable.

StCirq., Too bad we weren't there at the same time

geetika

If you have the time I'd definiotely suggest a trip to Aphrodisias and Pamukkale, well worth the 3 hour drive.

lauren_s_kahn

I will be staying 3 days. One day I will go to the Ephesus site itself (The Museum is currently closed for renovations so I will not be able to see it). The second day I will be taking a day excursion to Pamukkale. On the third day, a Saturday, there is a huge market in Selcuk and I will get a chance to see that and perhaps do some shopping before flying back to Istanbul. Because I have a home exchange in Istanbul, I'll be based in Istanbul for 3 1/2 weeks. I don't have to rush around because I have a base. How long you stay, of course, will depend on how you travel and what you want to see. If you just want to see the Ephesus site, one day of touring may be enough. If you want to see other things, you stay longer.

To fly back and forth, I am using Pegasus Airways, an internal Turkish discount airline. I do have private transport to the hotel arranged. I do not like to drive in Turkey. The driving is chaotic and some of the roads are bad. I prefer to book the occasional private shuttle service or use a taxi. Anyone driving in Istanbul should have his head examined. Even taxi drivers get confused because there are streets that do not have names.

My home exchange in Istanbul for 2014 will be my second home exchange in Istanbul. The previous time, in 2011, I was way over on the Asian side. There was a lot of commuting. This time I will be right downtown. It will be more convenient for touring but certainly more noisy. Istanbul is noisy--everywhere.

Istanbul is one of the world's great cities with fabulous food. On my first trip I went to Cappadocia and Edirne. I have a lot of posts up about Turkey on my website. For further information, you can start with this post and then look around for more if you are interested:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...ange-ever.html

I stayed in modest hotels when I needed to and had no problems with dirt, brown water, lice, etc. The hotels were perfectly clean. I had wonderful breakfasts in one of my hotels and learned to love gozleme (Turkish crepes) for breakfast. Turkish food is one of the world's great cuisines. I also had no stomach problems eating street food. Turkey is a developing country and anyone traveling there has to understand that everything is not going to be as it is in North America or Western Europe but it's getting there. For me, I travel to experience new things. If we expect everything to be as it is at home when we we travel, we should stay home.

el13207

We stayed at the Hotel Nilya (same ownership as the Hotel Bella) last spring and it was fine, with a very nice breakfast. (We had a decent, if not fabulous, dinner at the Bella).The owner, while nice, can be very pushy (as in come see my rug shop, listen to the story of how the rugs are made , etc. etc.- he was clearly disappointed when we did not buy a rug- but in our experience in Turkey EVERYONE has a rug shop,in addition to whatever else they do for a living!).
As for the "huge market" in Selcuk- uh, not so much IMO. We did buy some nice strawberries, however.
We found two nights in Selcuk more than plenty to see the sights of Ephesus (which is indeed spectacular). We went to nearby Avanos for an afternoon, expecting to find a scenic village filled with crafts (as it is sometimes portrayed) and were very disappointed. I would say go to Ephesus, see the basilica of St. John in Selcuk and move on. We were far more taken with Cappadocia than we were with Selcuk.

lauren_s_kahn

I have booked the Nazar Hotel in Selcuk. I visited Cappadocia the last time in Turkey, so I am not going there this time:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...re-begins.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...o-gallery.html

The second link is to the photos. I did love Cappadocia but missed Ephesus the first time so I'm going there on this trip.

kwood1955

Thanks, everybody! Really appreciate all your valuable information! We are planning October for 2 weeks - can't wait!! Thanks, again!

kwood1955

lauren_s_kahn --- Your travel web site is amazing! Your photos are professional quality. Thanks for the tip on Nazar Hotel -- just the kind of place we are looking for. We will go to Cappadocia and Istanbul as well. Really enjoyed your photos on Cappadocia. Only 4 more months until we leave. Seems like forever, but still have tons of planning to do. Thanks, again, Lauren_s_Kahn!!

Ian

Do put the Ejder Restaurant on your list for dinner. They are easy to find on a pedestrian-only street in 'downtown' Selcuk near the aqueduct. Good food & very nice people.

Ian

lauren_s_kahn

Thanks for the comments on the photos but U am not a professional and have just a point and shoot type camera that fits in my pocket. I have not yet stayed at the Nazar Hotel. It's where I have booked in July, so I can't give an opinion yet. I will remember the name of that restaurant.

The trip I am taking starting next week will be blogged on my website. I go first to Krakow and Warsaw in Poland. Then I go to Brest and Minsk in Belarus primarily to see the villages where some of my maternal family originated. Then I fly from Minsk to Istanbul. The trip finally ends with Sweden. Everything, except Belarus is based on home exchanges and/or home hospitality. I spent a lot of time on logistics and am still not finished yet but working on it. Thinking of going overnight in Turkey to Gallipoli as well as Ephesus. I might just wing that one. With the political unrest, hotels might have empty rooms this summer so probably no need to be as concerned about booking ahead.

I do have a lot of fun with my website. When you get to be an AlteCocker, you have plenty of time, but I do tell people to travel when young. AlteCockers all have their health problems and I am not exempt. So long as I do not have something that will kill me, I will keep it up. There is so much to see in the world and to learn. How can I stop?

I am already working on 2015. Might be Cairns, Australia, on the Great Barrier Reef. I should have definite dates for that one--if it is going to happen--by the time I return from my summer haj to Europe. Then I'll plan everything around that one deal adding in at least one other swap.

Happy travels wherever you go--and come back and tell us what you did. I love reading about others' trips as it gives me ideas.

This summer's trip involved booking air tickets on the following airlines: American, Air Berlin, Lot Airways, Turkish Air, Pegasus Air, Icelandair. There is one train between Krakow and Warsaw. There is one ferry round trip between Stockholm and Mariehamn in the Aaland Islands (in the Baltic betw. Sweden & Finland; they speak Swedish, belong to Finland). I do have a driver and guide for 3 days in Brest, Belarus. The visa for Belarus turned into a hassle because I made mistakes applying for it. You do need to plan way ahead assuming there will be problems--because there will be.

Biggest problem? A flood in my basement 4 weeks ago which put me into a major construction project to put drainage in under my house--and a huge dent in my equity line. Not a planned expense, but I could not go off without dealing with it. Who wants email about something like that and to have to spend valuable holiday time discussing things in email with contractors? You try to get out of here. As one of my friends told me, when you try and leave on a long home exchange trip, everything breaks and needs extra cleaning. She's right.

Have a great summer and look for the blog when it starts up. I just do it as I go depending on internet availability and time. It's a great way to remember the trip as well.