Review: Mavi Ada Pension

SCORE: 9.8/10

LOCATION: BODRUM, TURKEY

NIGHTS: 3

DATES: 20TH AUG- 22ND AUG 2015 & 29TH AUG- 30TH AUG 2015

ROOM: DOUBLE ROOM

STAFF 10/10

The staff at Mavi Ada Pension were incredibly friendly and so caring to me and the other people staying here. The owner Ali goes up and beyond to make your stay a relaxing one. He is very attentive and always available to help you with directions and he even did my washing for me (which was a lot!) free of charge when I asked about laundry mats.

LOCATION 10/10

The location of this small hotel is perfect. Off the main street on the beach and down a small alleyway. It takes literally 30 seconds until your feet are in the sand or you’re sitting at a bar having a few drinks. The main street is filled with bars, restaurants and further down the street about a 2 minute walk is a lot of shops and stalls, you are spoilt for choice. Bodrum Castle is about a 10min walk and within view when you walk out of the alleyway. Also the main bus terminal is about a 10min walk.

CLEANLINESS 10/10

The hotel and my room were kept very clean and Ali and his employees are always out and about cleaning rooms and making sure the hotel is in its best condition. I had no problems with my room in terms on cleanliness everything was perfect.

COMFORT 9.5/10

The two rooms I stayed in on different occasions were both really nice. The beds are super comfortable and there was either the fan or AC which I used a lot due to the 38 degree heat. The bathrooms are good, although I’m not used to the wet room styled shower. The upstairs terrace was very lovely to read and have breakfast it also had an incredible view. Be aware that this hotel is very basic in terms of room and furniture.

FACILITIES 9.5/10

The WiFi here was great, but the lower floor you went to the rooftop terrace the more it played up. The breakfast here was AMAZING Ali makes it all himself and you get your choice of eggs, fresh bread, cucumber and tomato, delicious cheeses, olives and olive oil it was traditional Turkish breakfast.

This is the best experience I have ever had at any hotel or hostel.

Day 8: Bodrum (Turkish Sailing, Contiki)

Well today’s the day I finally get to go sailing for 8 days with Contiki! I have been waiting for months for this trip looking at pictures wherever I could of the Mediterranean Sea and pictures of Turkey Coastline, beaches and the boat I will be living on an official Turkish Gulet. So far I have had the best weather here in Bodrum and the forecast for the next 8 days is Sunshine and 32-36C 🙂 I cannot wait to share all my stories, experiences and photos with you all but I’m not sure about the WiFi situation for the next week, I won’t have it on the boat so when on land after all my exploring I will try and find some free WiFi and post when I can. So please be patient and see you in 8 days!!

Day 7: Bodrum Castle & Bodrum

– 21/08/2015 –

Day 6: Bodrum, Turkey

 

– 20/08/2015 –

Countdown!

14 days until I fly off to Istanbul to start my 30 day trip around Turkey and Greece. I’m so unbelievably excited I finally finished buying things I need for my trip like travel sized body lotion, and I will start sorting and packing my stuff next week to make sure I have a very thing sorted. Nothing worse than the night before a flight racing around trying to get things organised!

Turkey & Greece Budget

Now that everything is booked and paid for, I can start getting a clearer idea of what my budget is going to look like for my trip in August. I defiantly want to try and budget a lot more than I did in Europe and the UK as I spent and splurged quite a lot. After my tours and accommodation are paid for, I want to budget around $70-$80 a day for food and shopping.

$1560: RT Flights PAID

$480: Internal FLights (2) PAID

$946: Contiki “Turkish Sailing” PAID

$879: Contiki “Spotlight on Greece” PAID

$369: Accommodation (1 hotel, 2 hostels- 9 nights)

$1600: Food/Shopping/miscellaneous (1600 ÷ 20 days = $80 per day)

$200: Travel/Public Transport (Mum)

$6034: TOTAL

$2169: LEFT TO PAY/TAKE

 

Accommodation- Turkey and Greece

Now that I have finalised, where I’m going in Turkey and Greece and my dates. I have planned and booked all my accommodation in Istanbul, Bodrum and Athens. I booked all my accommodation through the website Booking.com.

Istanbul

Istanbul is such a busy city with a lot of different areas/suburbs within the city and where you stay depends on the experience you want in Istanbul. I was stuck between two areas Faith and Taksim. Faith is in the old town part of Istanbul near all the mosques and sights, but I have researched and found that it is a very busy tourist area to stay. Where’s Taksim is more of an urban local area with a lot of bars and restaurants and where locals live giving you a more authentic experience.

At the end, I decided on Taksim because hostels were a lot cheaper and the public transport between Taksim and the rest of Istanbul is good. The hostel I chose for Istanbul is rather expensive, but I choose based on good location near public transport, quality of hostel and ratings.

Bunk Taksim is costing me $155 for 4 nights between the 16th-20th August, staying in a 6 bed female dorm with en-suite and balcony. Breakfast costs $8 per day, which is quite expensive, so I’m not sure yet if I will pay for breakfast at the hostel. The hostel has great reviews with 8.8/10 from 915 reviews.

 

Bodrum

Bodrum is quite a small town so there wasn’t much to choose from but the prices did vary from dirt cheap to expensive. I ended up finding this adorable small family run hotel called Mavi Ada Pension only 20m from the beach and right in the town centre the reviews for this hotel were incredible with 8.9/10 from 100 reviews. The room itself is quite basic but what sold me was the location, view from the roof balcony and the reviews. For 3 nights between 20th-22nd August and the 29th August its only costing me $144 which is incredible for the location. The room is a single bedroom with en-suite and balcony and includes free Turkish breakfast.

Athens

Athens was super easy considering the amount of accommodation available but the first hostel I found was in the most amazing location that I didn’t even bother looking at others. Its about 200m away from the Pantheon and Acropolis of Athens! The hostel is called Athens Studios and I choose a 6 bed mixed dorm room with en-suite and balcony with free breakfast. For 2 nights the 30th August and the 3rd September its $35 per night. Again, it has great reviews of 8.2/10 from 550 reviews.

All up for 9 nights its costing me $369 which is on average $41 per night.

Trip Planning- Turkey

Okay, after thinking and researching for the past few weeks whether or not to spend more time in Turkey or Greece I have decided to do the “Turkish Sailing” tour by Contiki in replacement for visiting some Greek Islands. Yesterday I booked and put a $200 deposit down on the sailing tour starting on the 22nd August and finishing on the 29th.

It leaves from a small town on the Mid East Coast of Turkey called Bodrum. I did a little research and its such a gorgeous town that I’m going to arrive earlier on the 20th August 2 days before the tour starts. I booked a cheap flight from Istanbul to Bodrum Airport for only $170 with Turkish Airways. Now it’s just a matter of finding accommodation and sorting out a flight to Athens after the tour ends.

Itinerary- Filling in the gaps

As I have randomly booked flight to Istanbul and leaving from Athens I now have to figure out what I am going to do in-between the 15th August to the 3rd September. The good news is I did just that last night I found this amazing sailing tour.

One look at this tour with Contiki and I knew straight away this was the trip for me. I’ve always wanted to a sailing trip and especially sailing around the Mediterranean Sea has always been on my bucket list. This trip is called “Turkish Sailing ” and you sail around the Aegean Sea near the coast of Turkey and Greek Islands for 8 days, starting at Bodrum a small town Mid East of Turkey. The tour dates I’m looking at are between the 22nd August to the 29th August giving me about 6 days in Istanbul before finding my way down to Bodrum.

The bad news is that only gives me 5 days in Greece, which isn’t enough time to visit any of the islands like Mykonos and Santorini. So I have some serious thinking to do. Sailing around the coast of Turkey or Island hopping around Greece?