does anyone know a good guide and driver who speaks english for the cappadocia area

First, let me ask if you have a place to stay.
We stayed at Esbelli Evi, and although we never used a car and driver (doing it all ourselves) the owners of the hotel provided a couple of really good ones to other guests we talked with. In fact, two of the drivers joined us for our early evening wine and gab fests on the terrace.
They were both charming and informative. Almost made us wish we had booked one as I'm sure we would have learned a lot more.

Neo-
How did you like Esbelli? Did you eat there or venture out? How was driving in the area? I too am trying to decide on renting a car or hiring a guide. I am also trying to decide between the family room and two bedroom suite which is twice as much. Anything you can tell me would be very helpful. Thank you.

Esbelli Evi did not offer food (other than nice breakfast) when we were there. Does it now? We ventured out and they did a nice job of recommending places including one where we were clearly treated like royalty even though no English was spoken. The call from Esbelli Evi arranged everything for us.

We arrived early in the day and they gave us a choice of three rooms -- all very nice. I guess the one we chose would be called a family room because it had a step down room that even had a large baby crib or cradle in it. Rooms are dark -- hey, they are caves after all, but very nice. The staff was wondeful and the highlight was many of the guests assembling each afternoon on the terrace, sharing wine (provided by Esbelli Evi) and snacks that people had picked up during the day.

We drove for nearly two weeks starting in Keyseri (after flying from Istanbul) and ending up in Kusadasi. Roads and driving in Turkey were great. Well marked, well maintained roads with almost no traffic. But you do have to look out for the occassional donkey cart.

Thanks so much. I wasn't sure if Esbelli offered dinner of not. After months of research everything runs together.

We will be doing the opposite flying from Kayseri to Istanbul. Can you give me an idea of how far the airport in Kayseri is to Esbelli?

I think less than an hour. Maybe 30 to 45 minutes.
Our major adventure was our drive from Keyseri to Esbelli Evi. Our rental car started indicating overheating. We pulled into a gas station hoping someone would call the agency for us, but instead a couple zealous workers started tinkering with our car, called a neighboring mechanic and tinkered some more. The bottom line is finally we talked them into calling the car agency, which brought us a new one there. As we drove away our other car was sending up big plumes of smoke.
Now we were on our way. But there was a missing sign due to some construction. And instead of following my carefully downloaded driving instructions, we had followed the advice of the car agency for a "shortcut". Bad idea. We ended up at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere. We waited for a car to come along and then I stopped them and asked "Ugrup?" pointing in either direction. They repeated and pointed us in the right direction. This scene was repeated twice before arriving at our destination.

Don't let this put you off. It was not only fun, but a real fluke. Chances are your car won't break down, that sign has long been replaced, and you will stick to accurate driving instructions anyway.
Going to the airport would have to be very easy!

Thank you so much. Your attitude about the mishaps is encouraging.

What mishaps? We didn't experience any mishaps -- merely adventures!!!

judlar, Neo and Milli:
We discovered Esbeli way back in '95..had the same super delightful experience with that wonderful cave in the wall. Suha (Bill) the owner at that time, was so very informative (we were driving) and his directions for all of the Capadoccian highlights were explicit. No dinner...but again, he directed us to some excellent eateries in the region, including one with entertainment right in the town of Urgup. We paid $40 at that time...I imagine the popularity has changed that by now.
Great base to use for your exploration of this lunarscape region! Have fun. Use their drivers as Neo described.

Stu T.