Saturday, July 2, 2011


Pamukkale - From the moment, we walked into this small hotel I felt like I was at home.

I greeted, Mehmet, the hotel’s owner, in my basic Turkish. He remembered me as we had communicated a few times by email for our reservation. Turns out, he speaks great English. “Problem değil.”

The Melrose House Hotel is located in a peaceful neighborhood surrounded by a large garden in Pamukkale. One afternon, Mehmet, gave us some freshly picked yeni dünya (loquats) to snack on from his garden.

On the first day, we arrived late in the afternoon after having spent several hours on the road and sightseeing at Aphrodisias. Mom and I decided to cool down by getting into the swimming pool while the guys pulled up chairs and ordered drinks.
The swimming pool photographed at night.
It was so easy to relax in the pool while enjoying a glass of local wine before dinner.

Speaking of food, this is where Mehmet’s wife, Ummu, takes charge. She helps cook, takes your order and brings out the food. Sometimes their daughter also would help out or you’d see other staff members. Apparently, we were so hungry every meal that we forgot to take photos!
Melrose House: the dining area late at night.
I took a photo of our yummy salad one night via my cell phone.
The menu consists of Turkish staples such as a daily soup, salads, a few mezes, tavuk güveç, roasted chicken with rice, fish, etc. (Dad enjoyed a bowl of yayla çorbası (a hot yogurt soup) both days.) We saw no reason to go elsewhere so we enjoyed dinner and drinks both nights as well as a full breakfast buffet, which was included in the room price, at the Melrose.

The hotel itself is well-maintained with clean, large and comfortable rooms. Room prices start at 25 EU and go up to 50 and 60 EU for a deluxe room. We stayed in a stone suite room at 40 EU per night.
Our stone suite room was quite comfortable. It was the first time we
had ever slept in a round bed. Çok romantik! 
What should most be noted is that Mehmet went out of his way to make each one of his guests feel welcome and special. When we were there, we noticed a family from Holland, several Japanese tourists, a German family as well as several English and Australian-sounding tourists.
The view from our balcony of the dining area below and the swimming pool behind the olive tree.
The view to the left looking out our balcony.
From our hotel, it was an easy stroll, about 15 minutes, to the south entrance of the travertines in Pamukkale. We left around 9 a.m., with a map and tips, to see the sites and returned late afternoon to enjoy some more pool time and drinks.

If you visit Pamukkale, Melrose House is the place to stay. We wish we could have someone like Mehmet and his family at every hotel we stay at in Turkey.

For reservations: sales@melroseresidence.com 
Address: Vali Vekfi Ertürk Cad. No:8
Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey

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2 comments:

Sheryl Sparks said...

I just want to go there and hang out!

modelleriburada said...
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