3 Things I Like About Turkish Hotels
When traveling in Turkey, there are lots of options for places to spend the night. Leslie wrote about how she likes to pick hotels to stay at here. But no matter which hotel you settle on you can generally expect a great experience. Here are three things that I like about staying in Turkish hotels:
1) Breakfast
In the US a lot of times when you stay at a hotel they have some sort of continental breakfast included--juice, cereal, fruit, muffins, and if you're lucky, fresh waffles! Of course for our American ways this breakfast is more than sufficient, but if you have read around our blog at all you know that Turkish breakfast makes American breakfast look, well, kind of puny. In general Turkish hotels also include breakfast, and this is a wide, varied spread of breads, jams, jellies, salads, meats, cheeses, olives, sauces, eggs, honey, creams, butters, and more. Of course all this is accompanied by endless cups of hot tea. Coffee is also usually available on request. When looking up a hotel in Turkey you will notice that they often include pictures of their breakfast because they know that, at least for food-lovers like me, the quality of the breakfast is part of the decision-making process!
2) Service
In a culture that values hospitality, it should come as no surprise that the service in Turkish hotels is top-notch. If the hotel is located on a busy street you don't have to worry about parking. Just hand the key to the guy greeting you at the door and he will park it for you. If you have an issue with your room, they won't hesitate to change it for you. If you have any special requests, they will bend over backwards to accommodate you, all with a friendly, professional demeanor, and in general, for no extra charges. Included in this is the cultural value placed on cleanliness--Turkish hotels, from the smallest family-owned operation to the largest brand-name, are generally immaculate.
3) Nescafe/Tea Kettles
This is a little thing but it makes me happy! In almost every Turkish hotel I've stayed in they provide a hot water kettle, tea bags, and nescafe packets. As someone who starts pouring the coffee almost as soon as I get out of bed, not having to wait until breakfast to get some caffeine is quite convenient. I will also confess that when I first came to Turkey I turned up my nose at Nescafe--snobbily insisting that filtered coffee was "so much better." However, since living here awhile, I have come to really like a good cup of Nescafe, not comparing it to filtered coffee, but for its own merits--slightly sweet, not too strong, convenient, and of course, caffeinated!
Throwback to just after I first arrived in Turkey and was still learning to appreciate Nescafe.
What sorts of things do you appreciate about hotels in Turkey? Let us know in the comments!
To our friends in the West, keep looking East!
Ginny Lou Henley
Ginny Lou is a co-founder of West2East. Originally from Alabama, Ginny Lou has called Turkey home for the past nine years. To read more about her, click here.