Savk Hotel

My wife and I spent a week at The Savk Hotel which was selected with no prior knowledge or previous travel to Turkey or Alanya itself. The only thing we were a little surprised about was the 2 hour journey from the airport to Alanya but it wasn't an issue. The hotel was clean and tidy and was as per the photos we had seen. We arrived late evening and the sink in our room was blocked but the chap on reception came straight up to have a look and got someone to fix the issue immediately. The room was ideal for what we needed and although the balcony was very small as mentioned in other reviews and faced the road and building it was too hot to sit out on anyway and we hardly spent any time in the room. The staff were very friendly and got to know us especially around the bar and pool and they were very quick to clear plates in the restaurant. We went half board and the food was actually very good and I think we only had one breakfast and one dinner that was a little questionable but we were happy. We had a Turkish bath and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try this - the owner, his wife and daughter were excellent and my wife went back for 2 more massages before we left! The location of the hotel was perfect for us - the pool area opens up onto the beach and the road at the front of the hotel has bars, restaurants, bike/quad hire and we enjoyed the walk to the old town which gave us some exercise but we could mix with beach, park and along the road with bars and restaurants along the way. The old town itself has a lovely port with all the tourist pirate ships and lots of bars and restaurants and the Big Bazzaar - dealing with the pushy shop keepers was exhausting at times and put us off actually going into some shops and browsing as they were on us like flies! We took the cable car up to the castle which is worth doing but to be honest there's not a huge to see but again there is a nice bazzaar and a couple of cafes and great views. I love a pint (or 3) of Guinness but on the first night we headed to the Irish Bar as we came in late but was shocked to be charged £25 for 2 pints and 1 Vodka and Tonic so I only had 1 other pint during the trip which was out of a car in another restaurant which cost £7! I stuck to the local pilsner "Efes" which was cold and much needed in the heat. We hired a quad directly opposite the hotel which cost 25 Euros for 3 hours - the chap down the road quoted 90 Euros for 3 hours! We found our way to where the river meets the med and headed in land to a place I think was called Dimcayi which is where they have restaurants that are built over the river with waterfalls and you can sit in a booth and swim from where you eat lunch (lovely Turkish lunch) in the very cold water which was refreshing in the heat. The one we found was called Pinarbasi Restaurant and would highly recommend a trip here but if hiring a car/bike or quad then maybe allow more than 3 hours as we didn't want to leave! The other thing we were surprised about was the number of cats everywhere we went and although they're wild, they look very well looked after and look healthy and don't hassle you apart from using their eyes to make you give in and pet them or give them a little treat. All in all, we were very pleased with our 1 week stay which was just enough and we certainly felt we got our money's worth and whilst we did a fair amount of walking it made spoiling ourselves food and drink wise a little easier.