Hotels in Fethiye and Oludeniz

Fethiye is the perfect base for a well-rounded holiday with plenty of forays into exploring all of the wonders the area has to offer. But with so many natural and man-made attractions, it's hard to know in which corner of Fethiye (region) to base yourself. Here are your choices: Fethiye town is the commercial center of the region, offering visitors travelers' convenience, shopping, nightlife, and sustenance all in a fairly tight cluster. The two properties listed here also add the option of a sea-view room, along with reasonable walkability to the town center about a kilometer (2/3 mile) down the cobbled waterfront road. Çalis Beach is to the north of the center of Fethiye, a strip of beachfront pastel cement blocks standing opposite an expanse of narrow beach. Çalis Beach could be anywhere in the world, with its cheap rates, cheap towels, and cheap blow-up rafts dangling from the rafters of ground-floor shops. The hotels of Ölüdeniz, a resort doubling as the poster child for the Turkish Mediterranean, unfortunately cater to backpackers and families on a budget, although this is slowly changing as pensions add villas to their stock and small inns establish themselves along the coastal mountain road to the east. Kayaköy sits in a verdant valley located up in the hills, where village life and the tourist influence have struck a tolerant balance. The choices for guesthouses and self-catering cottages have grown, and the quality of the more affordable options in lodging is gaining ground.

Hisarönü and Ovaçik are two locations on the road up from Fethiye to Kayaköy where it seems as if dozens and dozens of hotels just sprouted like mushrooms. And we all know where mushrooms like to grow. Not that the scenery is bad, although it was certainly better before the arrival of massive numbers of tourists from northern England and elsewhere on package trips. Other than the Montana Pine, I have nothing to say about either of these little hamlets, although a walk around Hisarönü can be a hoot in the evenings, as the carnival atmosphere starts cranking.

Fethiye's Secluded Inns

The continued development of the towns and villages along Fethiye's coastline means that travelers looking to balance a desire for authenticity with creature comforts must be willing to literally go the extra mile, and in this case, that mile may not be paved. The tradeoff for convenient access to the center of activities, and even transport, is a blissful level of isolation and interaction with other guests, and villagers, some of whom staff the hotels in their villages. If the warmth of a fireplace on a late summer's eve sounds cozy, or the idea of stretching your legs on a trail over goat paths to arrive at a Cliffside tea garden fills your fantasies of vacationing, then the "trouble" will definitely be worth it.

One such inn is the Villa Mandarin (www.villamandarin.com), a friendly, hospitable and well-appointed retreat about 9km (5 2/3 miles) along the windy road from Ölüdeniz to Faralya. Hosts Ghislain (born in Turkey of a British mother and French father) and his lovely manager Aysegül treat guests like weekend visitors to their private villette. The nearby Su Degirmeni (The Watermill) in Faralya (www.natur-reisen.de) is a pension owned by a German ex-pat, who has created a perfectly wonderful (and eco-friendly) inn on the Faralya road just above the Butterfly Valley. Finally, families with children may want to look into the Pastoral Vadi up in the mountains of Yaniklar (www.pastoralvadi.com), a working farm where guests are encouraged to play farm hand (or not) or join in a whole host of activities, from kilim weaving or wood-carving workshops, to pressing olives or grapes, or simply venturing off to explore the surrounding mine trails and canyons.