I just received a very timely question from Charlie, who writes:
Hi Barbara, Thanks for your blog! Can you recommend a hotel for a night in Eski Foça? We are staying there to get a feel for a traditional fishing village on our way down the coast.
Very sadly, I do not as of yet have a hotel recommendation for Eski Foça. This is indeed very sad because Foça is one of my favorite places to visit. In fact, we're planning to head up there the last weekend in June to while away an afternoon at the beach before having a delightful fish dinner.
Last summer, we stayed at a hotel that I DO NOT recommend, the reasons for which I have enumerated on my "Find a Hotel" Resources page. Here's what I had to say about this particular hotel last summer:
"Here's a hotel I do NOT recommend that you stay at: Oscar Boutique Hotel and Cafe. When we first went to Foca in October 2009 and stumbled across this cute little place, I was smitten without even looking at the rooms. Who needs to do that when the cafe is so cute? I thought. WRONG. When we stayed the night there in July 2010, I was astounded at how small the room was. They had squished three single beds into a long, narrow room, leaving about 3 inches between my bed (which was squashed next to Jeff's, naturally) and my cousin's. Not naturally. The bathroom was perfectly fine except that the toilet was so high my feet didn't touch the ground and I couldn't turn around in the shower stall without hitting my head on the shower head. On top of all that, we paid 170 TL for 3 people. We won't be going back there. As soon as I find a nice hotel to recommend, I will do so here!"
Unfortunately, we didn't get back to Foça after that trip and so I never did find an alternative solution. However, not all is lost! On our last trip we picked up a few ideas for where we might stay next.
Bülbül Yuvası Boutique Hotel: We toured this hotel (called The Nightingale's Nest in English) on our last visit to Foça and immediately decided we would stay there on one of our trips back. The only reason we haven't yet is the price. This is a gorgeous hotel, though and I'm sure the price is worth it if you have a couple hundred lira to spare.
Angora Pansiyon: If you're on a budget, this may be better. According to their website, Angora is having a special during the month of June: 60 TL for a double room with breakfast, quite a steal!
Huzur Pansiyon: The gallery of photos on this pension's website look gorgeous, as does the view from the terrace!
I understand though, Charlie, that you could have found these places yourself online and that what you were really looking for was a recommendation. I'm sorry I don't have one for you yet, but I'm hoping that maybe one of our readers does? Has anyone travelled through Foça and had a pleasant experience at one of its hotels? Do share, please!