Lavanta Hotel, Bodrum, Yalikavak, Turkey: Reviews and Press

The Lavanta Resort Hotel is located in the hills above Yalikavak, overlooking the bay and the white plaster houses of the village. It has a total of eight rooms plus four detached cottages, which have together an additional 12 one to three bedroom "flats". There are as nearly as we can tell 19 people in residence: six Turks (three middle aged couples) who we have seen only at dinner; two American newlyweds; 5 Brits, including 3 year old Tom, his mother Charlotte, Popa and Gran, and an elderly aunt; two elderly Germans; and my wife and her parents, Celal and Rahmiye, and me. The owners are Tosun and Maria Merey, he Turkish, she German. They have lived and traveled the world (from Egypt to Iran to Singapore), and currently divide their time between their Resort, Lavanta, in season, and a chalet at the edge of the Alps, somewhere between Salzburg and Munich. Half in Turkey, half in Germany; this seems an ideal compromise.

We have traveled across most of the western two-thirds of the Turkish Mediterranean, from Alanya in the East, to Antalya, Kekova, Kas, and Fetiye at center, to Dalyan and Marmaris further to the West. But we have never been to Bodrum, the Turkish Nice, with yachts of the wealthy docked near the Lycian castle, music blaring from the stylish night clubs, popular with the younger set of the very well to do. I have always wanted to see it, but we were amply warned that you do not want to stay in the center of Bodrum in season, for the parties extend all night and there is a hoard of tourists. So we searched the web to find something to our liking, close to Bodrum, but not within it. We definitely found it. Lavanta is somewhere between our Mecca and Nirvana.

Lavanta's pleasures seem almost endless. Let me begin with the balcony of our bedroom. It is more like a porch, about 15 feet long by 5 feet deep. It has only two chairs, hammock style, with canvas over a metal frame; and a very large central coffee table, made with a typical Turkish tray, 3.5 feet wide, made of brass with a fluted edge, and a pattern in center, crafted by pounding continuously with a rubble mallet, possibly a century ago, or maybe a year ago. But it looks ancient. It has been the support of many bottles of red wine, and the spillage has added additional character to the color. During our visit it has supported more bottles of wine than I have been able to remember. In front of this table there is a low railing upon which grows a dense vine of red and purple flowers (Turkish "begonville", or Bougainvillea spectabilis). These are but one variety of hundreds of flowers around the Resort of Lavanta (more on this later). In addition to the chairs, and table, and stone, and flowers...there is silence. Silence in the morning, in the evening, even during the day, broken only occasionally (actually five times a day) by the call to prayers ('ezan') of a muezzin (priest) in the jamis in the distance. The view from this balcony is spectacular...the best we have known in Turkey, reminiscent of La Samana in St. Marteen. You look down a gently sloping hill that is mostly foliage (tall Mediterranean cypress, like in Jerusalem; weeping willows; olive trees with silvery leaves; a grove of fig trees). This vista is sparsely spotted with small Mediterranean homes, detached, all of glimmering white painted stucco. This monochromatic white is more like Greece than Turkey, which is appropriate, because it was mostly inhabited by the Greeks until the formation of the Republic.

At the bottom of this long, sloping hill, near the sea shore, is the dome of a small mosque with two minarets, also completely white. The sea shore is Yalikavak harbour, formed on our side by the fishing village, and on the opposite side by a long, thin promontory, studded with rocky peaks. From the air, you see that it widens at its far Western end, which is uninhabited, and is strangely shaped, looking something like Texas. The bay is nearly empty, a pleasant surprise. As I look out over it I count maybe eight sailboats, all single masted with a jib and a single mainsail. There are also fishing boats, but most of these are out of port, working, for it is the middle of the day. There are no tour boats, no Carnival lines, not even a Turkish yat. There is one holiday village on the promontory, but at this distance it looks just like a small Greek village, with villas scattered up the hill, and is not objectionable. This view is static, for there is little movement, yet it changes endlessly. It is to the west of us, so it catches the morning sun, which can be sharp and bright. But it is usually slightly hazy in the morning, and the bay often looks as though it is shrouded in mist. The sun sets just to the left, so in the early evening, at sun set, there is a glimmering light on the bay, first an undulating silver produced by the ripples in the water, then a deep shimmering gold as the clouds turn pink and the sun a brilliant red. We are still on the West coast, so we face the Aegean, not the Mediterranean (although their waters mingle at this junction), and the sea is not such a deep blue, but more a subtle silver gray. A few small uninhabited islands, rocky and pointed, can be seen out to sea, in the distance. In the deep of night, when you awaken for the bathroom, the breeze is gentle, and the dim lights of the village sparkle. Several nights there was lightening far out to sea, but it rained only once in seven days, at 3 AM.

You could sit and watch this view all the morning, day, and night, but you must also eat; which brings you to another level of pleasure in Lavanta. Dining is on the terrace, which is one level down from our balcony, one level above the swimming pool. The terrace is spread across the entire width of the property, with a total of eight tables, three of which seat two, two others which seat four, two others six, while one seats eight. The floor of the terrace is all irregularly cut stones, each different in shape and texture, mostly tan granite, but some of rough cut marble, with veins of grays or orange. The stones are set in concrete in which pebbles have been imbedded to lend pattern. There are four coves which protrude out slightly above the poolside, each of which holds two tables. The coves are surrounded by flowers, including roses, of many colors, red, white, pink, salmon, yellow, cranberry, and of many different species. Planted below the roses are herbs, many that we do not recognize, but some that we do, including thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage, which are used in the kitchen. Maria describes to us some of the varieties There is a ledge at the edge of the terrace, made of stone pillars, with a natural wood railing in between them. The pillars each have a solitary white globe light on a metal base fixture, six in all, and these six globes and candles are the only lighting at dinner, which begins at 8:30 and sometimes doesn't end until midnight.

Fifteen feet below the terrace is the third level, which is a pristine blue, produced by the small Turkish mosaics of azure that form the sides and bottom of the swimming pool. The pool is surrounded by a deck of pink granite tile, upon which are scattered blue striped canvas lounge chairs shaded by large canvas beach umbrellas. There are only about 12 beach chairs, which were never completely filled on any day of our entire stay. People are few and far between in Lavanta, which is just as we like it. To the side of the pool, separated from it by thick foliage, is a grassy knoll, with palm trees and weeping willows, under which there are a few tables where you can drink raki or play tavla (backgammon). There is a small bar at one end, made of natural wood, covered with a red tile roof, and built into an ancient stone wall which has two small alcoves, covered with old metal gratings in which they store the liquor. Your bottles of wine, which you can access throughout the day, are stored in a small fridge behind the bar. It is attended by a Turkish waitstaff, unobtrusively if somewhat casually. You are never bothered to ask if you want a drink, but if you ask, drinks or nuts or anything else you require are delivered immediately.

At the end of the grassy knoll there is another flight of stone stairs which leads down to the fourth level, which heads off to the remaining detached cottages. These have been very attractively designed, each with an Ottoman style tower at one corner, Turkish style chimneys capped with small domes, like Topkapi. The windows are all arch shaped. There are three floors in each cottage. The ground floor has an arched portico, the roof of which forms the balcony of the second floor. The balcony of the top floor is made of knotty pine, as are the floors, window panes, and woodwork. Some of the windows have pine shutters, so there is a handsome contrast between the stark but brilliant white stuccoed walls and the bleached pine trim. Vines of flowers grow along some of the walls, enough so to lend color, but not so much to overwhelm. The largest units are three bedrooms, a large living room, two baths, a full kitchen, attractively if plainly furnished. We could live in one of these a century.

And speaking of centuries.... the Bodrum Peninsula has seen many of them. Inhabitants have occupied this area since at least the second millenium BC, including five civilizations, Carian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman. The Peninsula is full of archeology, which is part of the fascination of coastal Turkey. Both Carians and Lycians, native Anatolians, colonized this Peninsula, well before Alexander the Great arrived in 330 BC. The Carian capitals included Mylasa (Milas), and the fabled Halikarnassos, ruled by Mausolus until 353 BC, which is today called Bodrum. The Lycian capital was Xanthos, and one of its towns was Pitara. These are, not coincidentally, the names of our rooms at Lavanta. The Castle at the end of the Bodrum Peninsula was built by the Crusaders of St. John in the 15th Century, and it incorporates the massive Mausoleum, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, the burial site of Mausolus. History abounds everywhere.

We arrived home late the second evening, having eaten at a fish restaurant (Cavasun Yeri) far out on the edge of the Yakalavak bay. We arrived home to the sounds of Mozart's Die Zauberflote pouring from fine quality speakers from the balcony of the owners, Tosun and Maria. They turn it down, we wish they would have turned it up. Classical music is played softly at the beginning of dinner, modern jazz after 10 PM. Lavanta has a substantial library. Maria knows Wagner, the Mediterranean, and flowers. Tosun knows business, the internet, and humor. I ask Maria if she could describe a few of the flowers on the terrace of Lavanta. She comes later with an entire book, "Flowers of the Mediterranean", by Oleg Polunin and Anthony Huxley, with 311 illustrations, in color. You think you have an eye for detail: a gable here, a pendentive there, a cadenza here, a brightly colored rose at the table for dinner.
We know nothing. ESM and Rahmiye can name a few, and describe a few more, saying oh you know, those that grow in the Quarter in the back of the Jaffe's garden. You know, "those so and so's". So ESM and I opened Maria's book, tried going a bit deeper, and spent an hour walking through the gardens of Lavanta searching through the 311 photographs and another 25 pages of drawings. This is what we came up with, a tiny fraction of the whole. The most common, first: Red and White Hibiscus (Hibiscus Trionum Labiatae), a "mallow-like plant....with petals twice as long as the calyx which is...papery, bladder-like and hairy...with an epicalyx of 12 narrow segments covered with hairs." Oleanders (Nerium Oleander Labiatae), a "tall robust shrub with....pointed leathery leaves...branches stiff and erect.....with lance shaped lateral veins...with a throat...fringed with long petal-like projections....the calyx copiously glandular....seeds with a fluffy tuft of hairs." Try a few less common: for example, Sweet Alisons (Lobularia Maritima, Alyussum Maritimum", "a small silvery-white leaved plant...with a woody base...with spreading herbaceous green stems...lance-shaped....flowers with flattened heads...pods elliptic, hairy". Or the Bladder Campion (Silene Vulgaris or Succulenta), "...a hairless plant easily distinguished by its blown-up, balloon-like calyx...with lance-shaped leaves....half clasping the stem...and flowers...with deeply bi-lobed petals...a calyx, egg-shaped and hairless, ...with broad triangular teeth." Well, so far, we understand that these flowers can defend themselves and may copulate.

We think somehow that botanical scholars do not entirely grasp the beauty of their objects of desire. The names are more enticing, and we identified each of these in a single hour: Hibiscus trionum, Juniperus phoenicea, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Ficus carica, Adonis autumnalis, Nerium oleander, Rosmarinus officinalis, Lobularia Maritima, Silene Succulante, Pallenis spinosa, Geranium rotundifolium, Gladiolus byzantinus, Iris sisyrinchium, Vinca difformis; Helichrysum orientale; and Limonium sinuatum, which form strips of lavender on the hills above Lavanta, which is the Turkish name for lavender. If some of these look familiar, do not be deceived, for these are largely not the American variety. ESM and I picked a single flower of several, and placed them in a glass, which ended looking like a splash a color with a delicate texture that did not seem either hairy or glandular. Photographs will do far better than words, but our favorites merit an attempt at description. Bougainvillea: bouquets of bright, fluffy purples, reds, oranges, and lavender, undulating in sunlight, with a central delicate white and yellow explosion of flowers, each with infinitely small petals, protruding towards heaven. Nerium Oleander: a flower with five pear shaped petals, white with veins of pink, or deep pink with broad stripes of white, with a central horn of white and pink filapodia, enclosing a stem, yellowish, looking like fine strands of rope, with a small spider, translucent and crystalline, a fraction of a millimeter in size, with a single black spot on its back, climbing within it; or Lobulaira maritime: an explosion of all white (or purple and orange) stalks ramifying into the densest bouquet of white flowers, with scalloped petals and a deep yellow center orifice, forming a pit which penetrates all the way back to the base. This venture into botany ended when Tosun noted, somewhat amused, that we were again at scholarly work. I said again, no, it is all pleasure, but told him that we had been unable to identify one extraordinary flowered bush. He said, ah, Bodrunas fornicatus, and translated, "a green leaf with red flower." Maria was not amused but tolerant.

Dining at Lavanta is a Turkish feast but with a German accent. You shower, rest, and prepare for dinner, which is announced when the classical music begins to play beneath your bedroom window. The tables are set with white textured tablecloths with tassels with attractive hand painted stoneware with bright colors and patterns, including an evil eye on some of the bowls and saucers. Dining begins at a table of meze, from which you serve yourself, as many times as you wish, at your leisure. Meze to the uninitiated is plate upon plate of brightly colored and textured delicacies, each plate piled with mounds of pureed vegetables or seafood or meat, mostly unidentifiable, buried in yogurt or cream or tomato sauce. Once you taste them you will ask to identify them and to learn their names, because you will want to taste them again and again and will therefore need to be able to ask for them. The foundation of about one-third of all meze is eggplant (aubergine, "patlican", in Turkish). There are vast varieties. Eggplant salad ("patlican salatasi") consists of chopped up eggplant, which have been roasted without peeling the skin, which gives it a smoked flavor. These pieces are mixed with tomatoes, red or yellow onions, parsley, mixed in lemon and olive oil. Eggplant with yogurt ("patlican yogurtlu") is the same roasted eggplant, but blended with a thick, concentrated yogurt with garlic. Both of these dishes are served cold. Fried slices of eggplant ("patlican kizartmasi") are thin strips of eggplant, deep-fried in olive oil, served with a garlic tomato sauce and deep fried peppers. Pureed eggplant ("patlican salatasi") is a creamy puree with soft strands of eggplant, also in yogurt. Tabuleh ("kisir") contains cracked wheat which has been soaked in hot water, then drained, spiced with paprika, olive oil, mint, and parsley. There are many varieties of bean salads (green string beans, brown beans, navy beans, fava beans, usually served also with olive oils and lemon and spices, with or without garlic). Celery root salad ("zeytin yagli kereviz") has chunks of celery root, cooked like potatoes, with carrots, peas, and sautéed onions.

Then there are the grape leaves ("zeytin yagli yaprak dolmasi" or "sarma"). Dolma is preserved in brine, and they are rinsed, blanched, and then wrapped around the stuffing, which can be rice and sautéed onions with cinnamon, black pepper, currents, pine nuts. Shrimp salad ("karidas salatasi") is small prawns, cooked, served with olive oil and lemon. Anchovies are often pickled, and then laid on a bed of spiced yogurt, Calamari ("kalamar") is often fresh cut in slices, served raw or lightly boiled. Then there are pastry mezes. These are made of phylo dough, which is filled with cheeses, meats, or Turkish pastrami. The phylo can be wrapped into a cigar like shape ("sigara boregi") or in triangular patties, or in squares, which are baked or deep-fried. Sauteed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, black or green olives are also served at meze. The main courses are almost always an afterthought to Americans because they have consumed so much meze there is rarely room for anything except dessert. In fact, some of the best main courses are really elaborated meze. Baked eggplant ("Imam bayildi ", or the Imam fainted in delight) is eggplant baked in a deep dish, filled with sautéed onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Lamb stews are chunks of lamb with vegetables in a thick reduction sauce. The Turks also do chicken well, but lamb is their specialty, and you can get lamb chops, lamb fillet, lamb kebap. And then there are the fish: sea bream, red mullet, sea bass, cipura, lufer, mercan, all freshly caught, grilled on a rack over an open fire, and served whole, including the head.
On Monday, we traveled to Bodrum. From photographs and by reputation, this small seaside village is the panacea of the Turquoise Coast of Turkey. It is where the yachts of the incredibly wealthy drop anchor. It has fabled nightlife, including the Hallicarnassus nightclub, which is known all over the world. It has elegant shops of gold and leather, incense and myr. And it has a castle, at the edge of the Peninsula, five centuries old and supposedly a marvel. But when we arrived, Bodrum is much like other "spoilt" cities of the Turkish coast. There is traffic everywhere, and it is difficult to reach the old town. There are multitudes of tourists, and you can barely squeeze down the narrow streets to shop or snack on a Turkish delight.

It is a Tuesday evening, and we are on our balcony in Turkey, drinking wine, vaguely waiting for dinner. The same hazy mist shrouds the harbor, and the sun is setting. First it is a glaring white, and you cannot look directly at it. Then it turns a bright yellow, still so brilliant that it seems surreal and somehow insubstantial, as though it is all energy and no mass. Then it turns to cyclamen, and deeper in color, and it is, rather suddenly, less translucent, with less energy but more substantial. It is a densely colored disk, which is growing larger. From cyclamen it turns to a very dense burnt orange, which then turns increasingly to tones of the deepest red. Within another minute or two, the lower half is dulled by waves of the earth's atmosphere, and it grows fainter and fainter, and is lost in the mist while still well above the horizon. Replacing it, the crescent of the new moon, less than thirty degrees to the south, which appears first as a shimmering silver but which soon turns to a pale yellow, then golden. The southern star lies almost directly below it, the only star in a sky in this twilight which does not yet reveal the hundreds that will appear by midnight. The sky and clouds to the west have become a supple pink, cherubic, reminding us of the Boucher's we have seen in London. To the north the clouds are cumulous, a billowing milky white against a deep blue, which remind us of Tintoretto. The mist on the water over the harbor evokes a Turner, while the hills and trees, now in silhouette, a cross between Gauguin and Constable. These are the sublime images we are taking home from our short trip to Lavanta.

Maria Merey has added some fresh strawberries to the breakfast table, especially for the youngest guest, because he likes them so much. And because there are no Islamic guests at the hotel that day, the buffet on the porch above a bay in the Aegean Sea also includes a smoked German ham that she brought back from home on her last visit. It is the personal engagement of Maria Merey and her husband Tosun with their guests, which makes their "Lavanta Hotel," on the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea, so successful, they say.

"The natural hospitality of the Turkish people advantageously complements the thoroughness and competence of the Germans," praises a travel guide.
"It has always been my dream, to own a small hotel," says Maria Merey, as she looks contently over the blooming gardens and the deep blue pool at the bay of Yalikavak from the porch of the "Lavanta". The fulfilling of this dream cost Maria and her husband Tosun a lot of sweat and tears, but it was well worth it, they say. "Five stars are not enough for this hotel", claims a renowned guide - "not only because of the unique view, the splendid breakfast, and the luxurious rooms, but because of the heartiness of the Turkish-German hosts."

Lavanta Hotel at Yalikavak, Bodrum, offers a total 'home from home' atmosphere and service, complete with fresh home grown vegetables and fruit straight from the garden and home made bread baked in the wood burning stone oven.

Maria and Tosun Merey realized their dream of running a small exclusive hotel. The Mereys supervised the construction of the hotel to the finest detail, from the initial purchasing of the land, the design of the decoration of each unique room, to the choice of the dinner menus. The Mereys say that they want their guests to feel at home. Consistent with the 'at home' atmosphere they wanted to create, each room is individually decorated with antique furniture, pictures, family china and silverware collected from all over the world. Lavanta Hotel consists of 8 double rooms and 11 apartments located 'Far from the Madding Crowd' embracing nature, yet with all modern conveniences and technology unobtrusively available at your fingertips. An internet cafe is open 24hrs a day to all guests providing them with a world wide link. From the following site http://www.lavanta.com you can access all the relevant information or even make your reservations

Lavanta Hotel comprises 8 rooms and 11 apartments uniquely decorated with antique furniture, family china and silverware collected by Maria and Tosun Merey from all over the world.

Country Homes -Interiors and Gardens- May 2000

Tourism. Lavanta Hotel

If you want to spend your holiday in a place surrounded by olive trees with magnificent mountain and sea views, this is the place for you. It is only 2 km from the beach or the village of Yalikavak, 15 km from Bodrum and 60 km from Bodrum-Milas Airport. Lavanta Hotel offers 8 double rooms, 6 2/3 people apartments and 5 4/5 people apartments. It is recommended by American Express Platinum Card. The owners, Tosun and Maria Merey spent the greater part of their married lives traveling and living in Germany, Singapore, Egypt and Iran where they amassed an impressive collection of antique furniture, hand-woven carpets and kilims and precious pieces of china and silverware with which they have decorated their select hotel. All units have : telephone, central heating, safe, minibar, TV, air-conditioning and a private terrace for sunbathing. The apartment kitchens are complete with fridges, hobs, ovens, coffee machines, electric toasters and kettles for your convenience.

Lavanta offers a lavish open style breakfast buffet, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea with homemade pastries and biscuits, and dinner is also served. Vegetarians are catered for. BBQ parties, fresh bread baked in the wood burning stone oven, fresh vegetables and fruit straight from the garden, newly laid eggs still warm from their chickens are but a few of the surprises that await you. Sip the wine from Lavanta's wine cellar cut into the rocks beneath the hotel, whilst listening to Paganini, and choosing from a number of boat trips and walking tours for the next day, what more could you ask for? There is a small internet cafe exclusively for Lavanta
guests, and fax and e-mail facilities are available. Whether you want an active sporty holiday or pure rest in the middle of the mountains and sea, your dream holiday awaits you at Lavanta Hotel which is always ready to cater to all your needs.

The owners of Lavanta Hotel, Tosun and Maria Merey, originally intended to build themselves a luxurious house on this beautiful site. Their dream was to enjoy the peaceful surrounding with family, close friends and guests. It was to be a retreat where they could escape from the stresses and worries of business life and be at one with nature. Tosun visualised his retirement as a mixture of moments contemplating the magnificent horizon, walking in the surrounding countryside and burying himself in the library whilst Maria devoted herself to their beautiful garden. The house was to be a perfect combination of ‘all that is natural’ with every modern convenience. As part of the wish to return to nature, Tosun built a stone oven for homemade bread and cakes. Vegetable gardens were to surround the house and chickens to be kept (at a suitable distance from the house) for fresh eggs. They planted over four thousand different plants and went to a great deal of trouble altering the route of the road to avoid cutting down even one single tree. On the other hand they installed central heating and a water recycling plant along with solar energy. Satellite TV and direct lines to the Internet along with other advances in technology were incorporated to have the highest level of comfort and ease to bask in the secluded ‘designer heaven’.

Local tastes and in particular olive oil play a great role in the Lavanta kitchen. lavvizyon2.jpg (23629 bytes)

Tosun and Maria built some attractive self-contained apartments for guests wishing to be secluded, in addition to the main guesthouse. The self-contained apartments are more suitable for families with children than the antique filled main buildings. They decided that an Internet café would be an original addition along with a poolside bar and BBQ area. The aim was to create an exclusive hotel for guests to experience peace and serenity with all modern facilities for those that wish to take advantage of them.

As Lavanta was built as a private home, filled with classical furniture, antiques and decorations collected all over the world: so too was the main guesthouse decorated.

Tosun and Maria are not alone in discovering their ideal was empty without other people. Jean Paul Sartre wrote "Hell is other people" but Tosun and Maria decided that so too is Heaven.

A view from one of the many terraces shows the spacious pool with one of the self-contained apartment buildings silhouetted against the skyline. As the sun sets over the distant peninsula, Yalikavak village slowly disappears in the colours reflected from the sea.

Five o’clock tea is served from a beautiful old samover and accompanied by home-made biscuits and pastries.

Each room is positioned to offer a spectacular view of Yalikavak Bay, as the sunlight changes throughout the day eventually to be replaced by moonlight, the shadows and colours evoke different atmospheres to contemplate.

In Lavanta Hotel the rooms are all individually decorated and unique: designed to complement the architecture. The owner has collected the accessories from many different countries and eras. Lavanta Hotel is a hotel with the warmth of home.

In another room you can see an exquisite and rare bachtiari horse blanket on one wall and two Chinese and one Indonesian shadow puppets on another.

Each room is decorated differently with classical furniture and beautiful paintings. Paganini or Vivaldi can be heard softly in the background as you relax around the poo set in the vast grounds boasting more than four thousand different plants and bushes.

Lavanta is a very special place in Yalikavak. The hotel is situated on a hillside with a wonderful view over Yalikavak Bay. It is difficult to appreciate the splendour without seeing it your self, but each room is individually and uniquely decorated. Many rooms have antiques enhancing the tone of the general décor. Colour is an important theme with rooms in different colours, blue, green and one very special room with a rich combination of classical browns. Everything within the rooms is style and colour co-ordinated to the finest detail, from the carpets and bedcovers, to the lamps and ornaments.

I stayed in the blue room where there was a valuable embroidery dating back to the Ottoman times on display, it’s various tones of blue complemented the room so well that it was framed and hung on the wall for all to see and enjoy. On the tea table between the two blue and rather grand armchairs, lay a blue crystal fruit-bowl which is also a piece from an old collection. I did happen to notice a rather nice green crystal jewellery box in the green room, showing how each room has a complete style of it’s own.

Beautiful silk fabrics both old and new, fine embroideries collected over many years in various countries, have been incorporated into exquisite bedcovers. In some rooms the bedcovers are fine examples of the workmanship of the famous Turkish painter Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoglu’s son Mehmet, who is famous for his block printing onto fabric.

Not one single room resembles another. There is even a room that has a superb set of Thonet furniture which would be quite at home on display in a showroom. Two rooms have custom made wrought iron king size beds with matching dressing tables and lamps. Admiring the care and elegance that had gone into creating this spectacular décor, made me want to meet the originators.

Tosun told me of their adventures which led him and his wife Maria to Lavanta Hotel.

"When I was a student at Galatasaray, one of the schools in Turkey teaching mainly in French, I read a book called ‘Voyage Autour de Ma Chambre’, which deeply influenced me. It inspired a passion for travel that was to become almost an obsession. After studying Economics in Germany, where I met and married my fellow student Maria, I was keen to find a job that involved travelling. I discovered that it was possible to find a field of employment that would enable me to travel. Originally I worked as an economist, later narrowing my field to telecommunications. As Project Manager in telecommunications I was able to travel extensively and ended up living in Germany, Iran, Egypt and Singapore. We had houses in the countries we lived in but I used to stay in hotels in the countries I was only visiting for shorter periods. From this experience my interest in hotels was generated.

"Being a manager working for a large corporation, I was able to stay in the best hotels where-ever I went. These hotels were very expensive and extremely luxurious with impeccable service. Whilst I obviously enjoyed the indulgence I found that I got bored with the cold clinical care and missed the warmth of home. For example when you go to a hotel in Hong Kong you are shown five or six soaps to choose from. According to your choice various other toiletries and perfumes are selected to go with your choice. These are taken to your room where fruit and green tea will also be delivered. The service is all very nice but you are aware of the fact that every other guest is shown the exact same attention. All guests are treated alike irrespective of their attitude towards the hotel staff and you end up feeling like nothing more than a room number. Maybe a room number with a penchant for lavender soap, but never the less just a tiny speck of grain in a giant tourist silo.

"As the idea of one day owning our own hotel began to take hold, we thought we would like to build a hotel that we would love to stay in. We hoped to create a place where people feel like personal guests, a place where people feel at home. The main reason we decided to decorate all the rooms differently was to make it feel more personal, more like home. No one decorates the bedrooms in their home all the same, each room is personal. Moreover when my guests remember their stay in Lavanta we want them to remember their room and would expect them to request the same room on their next visit. We will remember their stay and their room and many personal details of their time as our guest.

CARPETS/ANTIQUES AND PAINTINGS: "These are my greatest hobbies," says Tosun. Those who share my interest may make use of my library where I have a lot of interesting works on those subjects.

"We designed this hotel because the idea of having direct contact with guests in a small hotel is an attractive prospect. Maria and I are sociable people and thought it would be a more interesting situation to be surrounded by different people from many backgrounds that we could get to know. Some of our guests wish to remain private and of course we respect that wish; most however want to be sociable and meet new people. Many friendships have blossomed in our relaxed atmosphere, surrounded by beauty both natural and man made.

Enjoy the poolside all day while you listen to classical music and get a sun tan. Stay and enjoy your afternoon tea served from an antique samover and served with freshly baked biscuits and pastries. If you really don’t want to move, throw a T-shirt on and enjoy your cocktail at the poolside bar whilst you watch the sun set over Yalikavak Bay.

Tosun and Maria have planted more than four thousand plants on their land and preserved many species that were already on the land. They give great importance to Nature and being natural and indeed altered the route of the road to avoid having to cut down even one single tree. They have installed a water recycling plant and solar energy. They aimed to preserve nature but have all modern facilities available for those that wish.

"We offer the alternative of an internet café instead of the ‘entertainment programme’ that so many people find intrusive. Even on holiday many people require the service of being able to access their e-mail. Some people want to access the internet to search for a plant they may have come across for the first time, or find out more information about a historical site they wish to visit.

"There are many interesting excursions that can be made from Lavanta, from both a botanical or archaeological bias. Freya Stark wrote a book called ‘Alexander’s Path’ which tells us about the route Alexander followed on his way to India. She claims that the Aegean path is not always the same as history has led us to believe.

"Two of my personal favourite foods are olives and local white cheese. For others that share this taste the Bodrum Peninsula is the perfect place to travel around and taste the different varieties. The Peninsula offers not only numerous archaeological sites, museums and places of historic interest, but also outstanding natural beauty. A holiday does not only have to consist of wild nightlife, there is so much more to enjoy from Lavanta.

"The Bodrum peninsula is a botanist’s paradise with an enormous variety of wildflowers, even for those with a more amateur interest it is spectacular. Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder wrote an interesting book called Die Kosmos Mittelmeerflora on the flowers of the Bodrum Peninsula and for those interested there is a copy in Lavanta library for reference.

We can organise daily tours to a number of destinations including Priene, Milet, Didim and Lake Bafa to name but a few, which we do at cost. Milas market is a very colourful market for those preferring larger markets and Milas even has camel wrestling in season. Yalikavak, Turgutreis and Bodrum have their own bustling little markets for both fresh produce, clothing and curios. For those wishing to dive we can organise for them to be picked up at the hotel at their convenience, by one of the local dive centres, who will take them for a half or full day dive trip. The dive centres offer two dives a day for you to observe the sea life of Turkey. We can organise a private daily boat cruise.

Should the guest prefer to go alone, or as a couple, and meet other people from outside the hotel we can offer a number of other boat trips they can join. We have information on a great variety of excursions.

COLOUR CO-ORDINATION is observed in a pleasing and tasteful manner with pictures chosen to complement the finished effect. The care and attention to detail extends to the hanging of fresh bags of lavender in the wardrobes. The fresh scent of the wooden floors and doors mingle with the scent of lavender coming from both within the room and outside.

KITCHEN: Vegetarian, white meat or red meat are all available. We serve an open buffet breakfast, including fresh fruit and sometimes freshly baked bread from our own stone oven. For those wishing to have lunch, we can provide sandwiches or snacks.

WINE CELLAR: We have built a wine cellar into the rocks where we age wine. Wine tasting evenings are organised for our guests' enjoyment.

LAVANTA HOTEL SEEKS FRIENDS, NOT CUSTOMERS...
Lavanta Hotel is unique and the atmosphere it offers is not be found elsewhere.

Holidays are not only times for sunbathing under the red-hot sun and dancing madly in crowded places. They can also provide the chance to lay claim, if only for a short period of time, on a new life. What do you wish to be in this hectic life? A traveler? A romantic intellectual? A prince or princess dismounting from a horse? Do you want servants to take care of the hassles of life, allowing you to do whatever you please? When evening comes, do you want pleasant wines that allow your conversation to flow quietly into the night? What if a holiday existed that created this fantasy for you?

Lavanta Hotel is surrounded by mountains offering fascinating views. Like many desolate places, Sandima village, which is 45 min. away on foot from Lavanta, has a strange charm all its own. You forget about what you left behind in the city, the small gripes and the everyday problems. In the opposite direction, you can view the high sea and the Yalikavak peninsula.

Each room is individually decorated and follows a colour co-ordinated theme. The rooms are named after the mythical southern shores. The Hotel rooms contain many antiques and excellent craftware. The apartments were furnished for families with children in mind so you won’t have to worry about small fingers breaking valuable ornaments!

Treat your body to a relaxing day by the pool with some refreshing exercise thrown in as work off some calories swimming in the wonderful 19mt x 8.5mt pool. You will then be ready to enjoy a sunset cocktail. The bar near the pool welcomes you and

Is the perfect spot to watch the sun go down. Before you indulge in too much alcohol make sure that this isn’t one of the nights Tosun opens his wine cellar for a wine tasting evening.

You might be enjoying your vacation with Count Dracula. Who knows? The many pleasures that await you include barbecues, walks to beautiful Sandima, boat trips, tea on the balconies, baked breads, old wines to savor at the bar while accompanied by Pagannini and the possibility of a nice drive along the coast.

Lavanta Hotel also offers you a great place to celebrate your honeymoon. Situated between the mountains and the sea, Lavanta offers a unique combination of holiday and hiking. For so perfect a holiday, all you need to do is arrive. Lavanta will take care of the rest.

What do you think of when you hear the word "lavender?" It reminds you of course of the lily-white towels and scented sheets that are the finer points of life. The scent reminds you of peace, a peaceful way of life that the world has almost entirely forgotten.

In an artificial and hectic world, Lavanta Hotel is, like the scented sheets, one of these finer points.

From the moment you wake up in your beautiful room, Lavanta staff are available and happy to help you enjoy your day. All of the rooms are individually decorated with antique furnishings and carpets, but you can be assured your private bathroom is very modern in every respect. You will have your own private balcony from where you can enjoy the superb view of Yalikavak mountainside and the crystal blue sea. Breakfast is buffet style and sumptuous to say the least, with a delicious choice from full breakfast to fresh fruit. If you were enjoying the night life of Bodrum the night before and rose very late; don’t worry, breakfast may finish at 11.30 am but Lavanta won’t punish you for enjoying your holiday, snacks are always available to tide over even the latest riser to the next meal.

After a couple of days of being completely spoilt and relaxing in the tranquil atmosphere you should feel ready to start exploring. Besides the obvious visits to Bodrum to see the many attractions and the delightful fishing village of Yalikavak, Lavanta has prepared a list of suggestions about various excursions easily available to you. One of the most popular visits is to Sandima, an old deserted village about 45 minutes walk from Lavanta Hotel; which is a picturesque picnic spot with magnificent views in every direction. The list of suggestions is by no means the limit to the choice available and if there is anything else you are interested in Lavanta will be more then happy to supply you with details

You might also consider staying outside Bodrum in Yalikavak, a resort-fishing village about 10 miles out on the peninsula. Yalikavak has nice (some pricey) hotels. Nicest of all, and more than fairly priced, is the Lavanta Hotel.

Above the fishing village of Yalikavak, the Lavanta has everything: glorious grounds, luxurious rooms, a pool a panoramic view of the sea and great food. Owners Maria and Tosun Merey are fluent in German, English, French and Turkish.

...getting a reservation is virtually impossible in high season as loyal patrons rate this as one of the best small hotels in Turkey. If you are feeling lucky, call Lavanta ..