All-inclusive Turkey holiday – unexpectedly fabulous!

Hello, I’m back and as you can imagine I have a lot to catch up on so this is just a quick post today. Quite a few of you saw my brief appearance on Instagram while we were away and were keen to know where we were because I didn’t link it. The thing is that I didn’t want to share it on there because it’s such a good find at such a good price that I don’t want it to go viral if that makes sense. I shot myself in the foot by talking about Kalkan back in the days when my Instagram account was a bigger part of my life and I hate the fact that now every flipping influencer seems to go there in the summer. It isn’t all down to me of course but it’s a sad thing when you’ve been going somewhere special since the 1990s and it becomes overblown and overly expensive. However I’m always happy to let you in on a great discovery so let me tell you quickly about our all-inclusive Turkey holiday. I should add that none of this is gifted, we paid for our holiday ourselves through a standard tour operator.

As you know, this was the first time we’ve ever taken a holiday like this. We usually travel under our own steam, doing things like Greek Island hopping or road based Airbnb trips. I don’t know whether it’s because I did a degree in languages that I feel such a need to travel independently but the idea of following the herd by booking through a tour operator has always felt like a cop out. Back in March though we’d just come back from our journey through the Valencia region of Spain visiting the youngest. That, added on to driving through France and Greek Island hopping last year had left us feeling exhausted. And so as Mal left for the Dojo one dark Friday night I told him I was going to book a ‘proper holiday’.

Knowing that the holiday planning process for me usually involves weeks of research and complex spreadsheets he didn’t really take any notice but by the time he got back three hours later I was sitting quietly reading a book. He assumed I’d perhaps shortlisted a couple of countries to consider but no, it was all done. You see my heart was yearning for one thing – a sandy beach surrounded by mountains and scented with pines where I could bask in guaranteed sunshine. And that always takes me straight to my happy place – Turkey.

Kalkan for me is too interlinked with the boys – and as quite a few of you who have been there this summer have said, it’s getting too expensive. You can’t blame the local businesses for inflating their prices when so many people are willing to pay them but I’m not, so I was determined to find somewhere new. Plus I suspected 2024 was going to be a difficult year for anyone who works in retail so I wanted to pay for everything up front which is why I decided to give all-inclusive a go.

An all-inclusive Turkey holiday – how did it go?

Beach dress (gifted SS24); silver leather flip flops

So where did we end up? At a place called Club Marvy. Spread over two private bays on the Aegean coast it’s a spacious resort huddled between the cliffs and the sea. Unlike a lot of these places it’s been designed in harmony with the natural landscape and so the buildings have been constructed sympathetically around the mature trees, plants and rock formations.

It calls itself an Ultra All-Inclusive and it really is. There are two beaches and two very large swimming pools. A yoga platform juts out over the sea as do a series of massage rooms and the brilliantly equipped gym has the most spectacular view.

All-inclusive Turkey holiday – food & drink

There are five different restaurants that are included within the price, each one of them positioned with stunning views that you’d be delighted to find if you were wandering through a small coastal town. Two others come with an extra charge for a Michelin star award-winning chef.

And then there’s the main restaurant which is a bit more utilitarian in feel – they could work harder on the lighting and atmosphere but the food is so good it’s hard to encapsulate in a short post. As lots of you know I loathe anything buffet style but this blew me away. There were endless food stations with everything being cooked in front of you. The fish station was my favourite with a selection to choose from every day… sea bass, bream, salmon, trout, squid, huge prawns. Or you could go to the barbecue for steak straight from the coals along with kebabs, chicken breasts, meatballs… you name it. The fresh pasta station prepared your sauce in front of you to your specification. Pizzas and pides came straight from the wood fired oven, sizzling with melted cheese.

The Turkish section had a choice of ten different Turkish dishes each day for you to dig into… and the salad hall (you can see a section of it here) must have had over a hundred different salads and meze vegetable dishes for you to add to your plate.

There was a detox juicing station for people who were there for the yoga side of things. The baby counter made freshly blended baby food from a wide selection of meats and vegetables that the parents could specify. And for dessert there was a huge patisserie along with traditional Turkish bakes and an ice cream counter – as well as a wide selection of fresh fruit. And that was just dinner, the same scale was repeated for breakfast and lunch and even on a smaller level for a ‘midnight snack’.

Being all-inclusive everything was unlimited, honestly I could have come back two dress sizes bigger – in fact I’m avoiding the scales because I probably have. There was only one meal that we didn’t enjoy and that was at the very, very traditional Turkish restaurant that served a selection of fresh market fish and meat that was mostly offal on the night we went – Mal loves liver but even he couldn’t eat it… it didn’t matter though because we just popped up to the buffet instead.

The wine served was Majestik which if you’re a regular visitor to Turkey you’ll know is as good as most Turkish wines. Beer was mostly lager to Mal’s disappointment, spirits were standard brands rather than local Turkish versions. One thing we liked was that they didn’t allow bottles of wine on the tables which was a good thing – the waiters were efficient at refilling your glass but it meant that people didn’t drink too much. We also noticed that cocktails weren’t very strong and measures of spirits weren’t too big. Although alcohol was free and plentiful we didn’t see anybody drunk and staggering in the whole time we were there which was one of the things I’d feared about all-inclusive.

All-inclusive Turkey holiday – activities

There was a lot to do – sailing, diving, a really good programme of Pilates and various kinds of yoga… volleyball, tennis lessons, ping pong, aquafit, a selection of gym classes, dance lessons – salsa, bachata and even disco. In the evenings there was an entertainment programme which really isn’t our thing but the couple we dipped into were mostly Turkish bands and very good.

And there was an excellent DJ who performed at various spots on different evenings – my absolute favourite was a moonlight boogie on the beach.

All-inclusive Turkey holiday – guest mix

The guests were a good international mix – I’d say about 75% German/Dutch, 15% Turkish, 5% British with a smattering of French, Italians and Russians. We’d booked a room in the adults-only village which had its own beach and restaurants but we spent a lot of time in the family section too. People were nice, not especially friendly – we hardly chatted to anyone which is unusual for us but most were there just to have a relaxing break. It meant you could really switch off. I often find it hard to tune out from the voices around me when I’m away but because my O Level German isn’t great I hugely appreciated not feeling I needed to listen in to conversations to improve my language skills. And I have to say that some of our recent holidays have been tainted by the irritating Brit abroad – the one who targets the boujie places like Paros, Mykonos and increasingly Kalkan… the entitled types who like to display their wealth and power by dominating their holiday environment with loud, arrogant voices. Thankfully they haven’t discovered Marvy yet.

All-inclusive Turkey holiday – the rooms

The rooms were great, supremely comfortable beds and pillows, lovely bathrooms with organic local toiletries and beautiful views through the trees over the bays. At night we didn’t use the air conditioning, instead we left the mosquito screen drawn but the windows open and so we slept to the sound of crashing waves and woke up to this view.

There was a mini-bar that was restocked every day although it didn’t contain alcohol other than a couple of bottles of beer – again I think Marvy work quietly to ensure that people don’t drink too much. And for us of course it was a joy to have a room that was serviced every day after so many years of self-catering. We were in a quiet section away from the main resort – you could ring for a golf buggy to pick you up if you didn’t feel like walking to other areas but we really enjoyed meandering through the trees to discover new spots.

Quite a few of you were in touch to ask how I was handling the all-inclusive ‘staying in one place’ aspect of the holiday. Like Mal I really wasn’t sure I’d do well. I was brought up with a very strong message that you should always be doing something productive and I don’t find it easy to stop. Ever. But, for the first time in my life, I did. I’d arrived with a long list of all the sport and classes that I wanted to try. And we didn’t do a single thing. Every day we found a different spot on a beach bed or by a pool and so every day felt like a whole new holiday. All I did was read and swim. I have never been so relaxed and empty-headed in my life. It was truly astounding.

The discovery I made about all-inclusive is that it’s like regressing to childhood. As soon as we arrived we made our restaurant reservations on the app and so we didn’t even have to think about where we might eat each evening. The only decision I had to make was which bikini to wear and what to put on at night.

So is it for you? I would consider the following:

• It’s great if you’re looking for complete relaxation – if you want to do a little something there are plenty of activities – not only sport but things like art and jewellery making, wine appreciation and cocktail classes too. However you won’t get the feeling of having encountered another culture – there was very little Turkish experience, we could have been anywhere in the world.
• It isn’t for you if you like the Marbella/Balearics super-manicured, white sugar cube type of resort with iced flannels and waiters with gloves. I’d say it sits between four and five stars – if you look at reviews they’re universally good but it isn’t super-boujie. The dress code is relaxed. Everything is immaculate but it has an inclusive rather than exclusive feel.
• You won’t make a big gang of holiday friends, people keep to themselves – when we were there they were travelling as couples or families with small children. There were no big groups which was a relief.
• There isn’t anywhere else to go – we did pop into the local town briefly but it wasn’t worth a visit. I had hoped to go to Izmir for a day because it’s a city I haven’t seen but it would have cost £150 to get there in a taxi. There are organised trips to places like Ephesus and Pamukkale that you can book but I’d already been to everywhere that they had on offer.
• There is a big aquapark in the middle of the resort with slides for both young and older children. As it was off season when we were there it was hardly used but I guess it might raise noise levels in the school holidays.

Really it’s just the best place that I can imagine for a complete break. The flight was only three and a half hours, the transfer was forty five minutes. And it’s great value because of course you benefit from Turkey’s low cost economy. After this stay I can’t imagine why anybody would make a long trip to an all-inclusive somewhere like the Caribbean and pay two or three times as much for a comparable experience. Marvy has much, much better food.

So we will definitely go back if we reach a point of exhaustion again. I can’t recommend Club Marvy enough to you – but please don’t tell anybody else. We need to keep this one on the QT!

Reader event with Claudia Bradby

For those of you who signed up to the waiting list for my event with Claudia in London on 31st October, tickets have started being released by Eventbrite so please look out for an email from them as you only have 24 hours to confirm your spot until it moves on to the next person on the list. Check your Spam folder if you haven’t had one and if there isn’t one yet, it will hopefully come in as soon as you move up the list.

Charity sale next week

Before I left I had another dressing room clearout. In next week’s post I’ll be sending the shop live with an autumn collection of preloved pieces and also samples that have only been worn for photography. I make no apologies for supporting Blood Cancer UK again. It’s a disease that continues to cast a shadow on my life having taken my mum, my nieces and now my oldest friend is living with multiple myeloma. The great thing is that she is having pioneering treatment that’s expanding her prospects so I feel more motivated than ever to keep on supporting the charity that helps to fund these trials.

In the meantime I’ll be holding on to the holiday feeling for as long as I can because I’ve never felt as relaxed as I do at the moment. Mal says it was the best break he’s ever had and I can really see the value of learning to switch off. I didn’t do any of my usual deep holiday thinking but I did discover one thing – that it’s good to stop…

I think it’s because I work for myself that I find it particularly hard to give myself a break. So I’ve come back with a new phrase – ‘life points’ to give myself permission to take an afternoon off now and then without feeling guilty. After all, when you work for yourself you don’t get holiday or sick pay, the only benefit is flexibility but what’s the point of that if you don’t take it? I’ll be gearing up next week with trips to London and Newcastle though – keep an eye on my Instagram Stories for something that should be a bit of fun on Tuesday night!

Disclosure: ‘All-inclusive Turkey holiday – unexpectedly fabulous!’ is not a sponsored post, we paid for all travel ourselves

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