My trip to Fethiye

This was my first visit to Turkey and I have to say I have completely fallen in love with the Fethiye region and would seriously consider investing myself!

Year on year Turkish property prices have been rising but prices for buying Turkey real estate are still considerably lower than buying real estate in other major tourist areas such as Cyprus, Spain and France.

Staying in a small boutique hotel in Calis provided the perfect opportunity to localise myself with the surroundings. On my first day I had a long walk around the town and along the huge stretch of beach. Calis has everything you need, great restaurants, bars, shops and a very long shingle beach perfect for soaking up the sun. The resort in general is very flat so it is suitable for people with mobility difficulties and also families with young children.

In the hot summer months there tends to be a nice cooling breeze so it is also great for water sports such as kite surfing and wind surfing.

There are many restaurants along the promenade that serve up a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. This is where I spent most of my evenings sitting back and embracing the local culture as well as cuisine.

An average 3 course meal (for 2 and a bottle of wine) costs around 75TL which in sterling is approximately £30. Wine and spirits seem to be the most expensive but the local beer ‘Efes’ which has a bitter-sweet finish is good value at 4TL (£1.75).

One restaurant I would highly recommend is the ‘SAT Beach Club’ – this is a lovely al carte located at the very end of the spit overlooking Calis beach and towards Fethiye; it is a beautiful setting and a fantastic spot for the famous sunsets.

Calis Sunset

After eating at the SAT Beach Club I met our agent – Suleyman Akbay who just so happened to be out with my clients – John and Mary Watson who had brought their family out to see the villa they had recently purchased through Select Resorts – It was a pleasure to meet them as I don’t often get the opportunity.

Suleyman and his team are fantastic and the Watsons are thrilled with their purchase and the way the buying process has been handled. I could not speak more highly of an agent, he is extremely helpful, honest and takes great care of our clients throughout the entire sales process – he would also lend a hand at furniture shopping if required!

With such a fantastic personality most clients have a great time with him that they will remain friends and often meet up for a drink when visiting their 2nd home!

 

Calis Real Estate

We have many Calis real estate apartments and villas available here ranging from £37,000 – £175,000 and at the most you will only be 10 – 15 minutes walk to the town and beach. All properties will have great rental potential so if you are considering purchasing purely for investment or a bit of both then I would highly recommend this resort.

Fethiye

On my second day I took the water taxi across the bay from Calis to Fethiye. It’s a lovely 30 minute crossing which allows you to take in the scenery but if you wanted to get there a bit quicker you can just hop on one of many ‘Dolmus Buses’ which takes just 10 minutes.

Calis to Fethiye on the Dolmus bus costs around £0.65. They are extremely frequent and you just hop on and hop off as you please.

In recent months a new walk/cycle path between Calis and Fethiye has been formed and there are new restaurants and bars being built here; it takes approximately 25-30 minutes to walk this route.

Also lining the shore where the water taxi docks are many boats offering fantastic day trips from as little as £8.00 (including lunch and hotel transfers!). The most popular trips are the ‘12 Islands’ and ‘Olu Deniz & Butterfly Valley’ trips. From here you can also take trips to Dalyan for its Turkish mud baths, turtle beach and the Turkish market.

Boats in Fethiye

Fethiye is also home to some great shopping from the huge weekly market on Tuesdays to boutique shops. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, most offering sea views and again fantastic prices. Fethiye also has a very nice marina so if you are a boating enthusiast then this is where you could potentially moor up.

In the hills, overlooking Fethiye is the small suburb of Tasyaka where Select Resorts have apartments available from £63,000. These apartments have been featured in the Sunday Times because they offer beautiful sea and mountain views across the whole resort.

I particularly favour these because of the amazing views and the location because you are just 5 minutes into Fethiye, 8 minutes to Hisaronou with it’s bustling nightlife, 15 minutes to Olu Deniz (Blue Lagoon) and 15 minutes to Calis.

Each of these resorts offers something different to suit all tastes.

 

Featured Property: Tasyaka

Built by an experienced developer with a reputation for quality and finish, the Manzara Summit apartment complex has a well thought out design ensuring each and every apartment is built to the highest standards with many luxury features; extra large balconies with built in BBQs, practical living spaces and the use of patio doors.

[] 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, prices from £63,000 – £88,000; (101m2 – 198m2).
[] Breathtaking sea and mountain views.
[] 5 minutes to centre of Fethiye and 15 minutes to Olu Deniz and Calis.

Olu Deniz

After walking around Fethiye town and haggling at the market I decided to hop on the Dolmus bus to the famous Olu Deniz Blue Lagoon.

From Fethiye it only takes 15 minutes! There is an entrance fee of 4TL (£1.75) because it is now a protected area and a national park but it is well worth a visit. It has calm crystal clear waters which make it ideal for a variety of water sports and a very safe place for children to swim.

Another great activity here is paragliding because the views coming down from the mountains are just spectacular! This costs around 65TL (£30.00).

After having such a fabulous time in Turkey I am already planning my next trip. I can confidently advise anyone interesting in purchasing overseas to seriously consider Fethiye and if you haven’t been before then to definitely make a visit!

Hannah Morris
Savills Select Resorts

Munster get in top condition at La Manga Club

In a bid to ensure the Irish outfit retains their 1st place on the ERC European Rankings ahead of Toulouse – winners of the 2010 Heineken Cup Final – more than 40 players from the squad spent a week at the five-star La Manga Club villas resort.

The warm-weather training camp in south-eastern Spain offers a first-class, year-round practice facility in an ideal climate. The week-long break gave the team the perfect start to the campaign, allowing them to undergo some warm-weather training on first-class facilities that has previously hosted Middleborough FC, Real Betis, Castleford Tigers, the Great Britain Rugby League squad and Glen Hoddle’s 1998 England World Cup squad.

Everything Munster Rugby Club needed was provided: from the top quality rugby pitches and villa holiday accommodation of the highest standards to full catering services, a host of other activities such as golf, tennis, a fully equipped Fitness Centre.

Munster Director of Rugby, Tony McGahan, who is tasked with the job of ensuring the club achieves domestic and European honours in 2010/11 said: “The resort provided us with the ideal environment in which to prepare for the season ahead and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to other sports groups.”

Weather Warnings for UK

As the met office warns of further bad weather in the coming days, Brits are left dreaming of villa holidays in the sunshine.

Brits on luxury villa holidays have returned home this week to torrential rain, and are hoping the summer is not over for the UK this year. On Sunday more than half the average rainfall for the month fell in under an hour in some parts of the UK. Further heavy rain is expected in north-east England, Yorkshire, Humber, western Scotland and Northern Ireland in the next few days.

Drivers have been warned to prepare for tricky conditions and possible delays. Severe weather warnings have been issued for heavy rain and risk of flash flooding and gale force winds for the North of the country.

Despite it only being August the weather is certainly feeling autumnal with the weather more typical of October. Meanwhile in the Algarve they have also been experiencing unusual weather patterns for the time of year as heat waves continue to descend upon villas in Portugal this year with temperatures souring above average.