Kusadasi, Carina Studios Review

Overall Rating

I do believe the city looks great. It has that type of Mediterranean white houses on the coast that make you realize you have not driven/flown for nothing to Turkey. The city map looks awful, though. Many steep slopes, Turkish traffic, HUGE distances, and an awful place to park your car (parking lot fee: 4 lira = 2 euro).

The city is all built on slopes, and the hotels and tourists are aplenty.

The water is extremely salty, and should you ever wish to swim in it, the tiniest amount on your face will make you want to pluck your eyes out. that and the algae will not make for good swimming in the sea. It lacks, however, the jellyfish usually found in sea elsewhere, and the beach is decently clean.

For some reason, the waiters could never get the bill right, either forgetting to add things or adding things we never ordered to the cheque.

Prices: dinner for two (without drinks): ~ 25 lira (12 euro)

Local beer (efes 500ml): ~4 lira (2 euro)

Wine: horribly expensive and disgusting. Don't buy it

Gas: 2.20 dollars / litre (unleaded)

Boat trip/day: 18 lira (9.5 euro) including non-alcoholic drinks and food. Do not book anything more expensive than that!!!

Adaland (aqua park): great fun, good to go. Door cover: 20 euro per person per day, excluding rafts. I thought it was well worth the fun, except for prices inside (1 beer = 8 lira, 4 euro). Nobody checks your bag, though :D. Safe, adrenaline-packed rides.

We rented a full villa (capacity: 9 person) for 550 Euro / week, with huge TV set, A/C, sound system, DVD, Sony Playstation, cooking machine, grill, big fridge, 3 balconies and it was really cool, as if we were in our own house. As it can get really steamy, please make sure you get A/C in all rooms. Ours did only have A/C in the living, and I had to fight my friends to sleep there, as all other rooms were unbearably hot.

Don't be afraid if the Turkish people ask for millions of lira off of you: cut the millions and you have the real price. Some of them did not get used to the recent re-valuation of the Turkish lira a while ago.

My favorite: Ozcelik hotel. Nice little swimming pool that you can enter for free (just do not ask the receptionist whether you need to pay any fee, otherwise it will cost you 10 lira), great snacks (fish'n'chips + veggies = 6 lira = 3 euro, 330 ml efes = 3 lira = 1.5 euro, all by the seaside and great looking pool).