Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
With some notable exceptions, the hotels in the east are basic, with little in the way of the luxuries you might find in Istanbul or along Turkey's Mediterranean coast. A few boutique hotels are beginning to pop up though, particularly in Mardin, and most cities have at least one decent modern hotel catering to Turkish business travelers. It's advisable to book these well in advance, though there are always plenty of clean and comfortable budget options available.
Located in a field on the edge of the east side of the old town, this is the only Syriac-run hotel in Midyat and it's popular with returning former locals.
A series of old houses near the fishponds, now in the hands of the tourism faculty of the local university, offer an enormous range of rooms, some cut out of the rock à la Cappadocia. The rooms are generally large and nicely furnished with wood pieces. Pleasant terraces overlook the park, lake, and castle.
With a pool, quiet garden, and spacious and comfortable rooms, each with a small couch, this well-run hotel is a good base for visiting Mt. Nemrut. The friendly staff can help arrange excursions to the sight.
Two adjacent old houses just below Mardin's landmark Zinciriye Medrese are simple, elegant, and filled with character, with magnificent views from rooms that are comfortable and pleasantly atmospheric but vary greatly in size. The most magnificent room, called the Şark Odasi, or Oriental Room, is a chairless lounge space, with cushions on the floor, and the roof terrace is lovely.
Trabzon's fanciest hotel, done up in an art deco–meets--Moorish style, offers large, elegant, and comfortably furnished rooms and a courteous and professional staff. The marble-lined, atrium-like lobby is topped by a stained-glass dome.
