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Kahramanmaraş has
a number of small
2- and 3-star hotels, but the best
hotel in town is actually
10 km (6 miles) west of town on the
D825 highway to Kayseri
(map).
Let me tell you about the Ramada
Kahramanmaraş:
After a long, hot day of driving and
researching information for TurkeyTravelPlanner.com,
I arrived at the hotel around sunset.
I was welcomed warmly and
efficiently by the staff and shown
to a smallish but quite comfortable non-smoking room
with a sunset view of mountains and
lake.
I wanted a hot shower. I
wanted a
cold beer. I wanted air
conditioning that actually
cooled the room to 22°C (72°F), or
maybe
even a few degrees
cooler.
Believe it or not, these simple
comforts are not always available at even some
expensive, supposedly 5-star hotels
in Turkey.
But they—and much more—were mine at
the Ramada
Kahramanmaraş.
I unpacked.
I found an outlet on the wall above
the desk so I could easily plug in
my power strip (charging three camera
batteries, iPod, mobile phone). I
didn't have to crawl under the desk
to find an outlet!
In some supposedly
top hotels, there may
be only one outlet in the entire
room...near the floor behind the
bed!
At the Ramada, there were twin outlets
on both sides of the bed, conveniently
located above the bedside tables. I
could plug in my laptop to check my
email (free Wifi, worked on the first
try), write in bed (as I often do at
the end of a long day.) And I
didn't have to unplug the bedside lamp
to plug in because there were twin
outlets on each side, enough for both
the lamps and my computer!
Okay, and the aforementioned bedside
lamps were good
reading lamps! Try finding
those in 98% of Turkey's better hotels.
You won't!
I took my nice hot shower and discovered
that
the huge snowy bath towel was
not only large enough to wear, it was
nearly large enough to inhabit.
The giant full-length mirror was
kinda scary, but wouldn't be for people
who dress better than I do.
The minibar has a glass-front door,
making it easy to see what's in it:
a good selection of both alcoholic
and non-alcoholic beverages. The chilled
bottled water is free, as it should
be (but often isn't).
Bedtime: four pillows,
plenty even for Mr. Prop-Up-in-Bed-and-Read.
In the morning, windows that
open for the morning air,
and complimentary coffee-
and tea-making set (I wake up early).
This place is really, truly, fully,
4-star international-class
in every way, and I highly recommend
it. They know how to do things right here.
And its location, 15 minutes' drive
west of town, is actually a bonus.
Whereas you could
spend an
hour or more finding the location of
a hotel in the city center with its
one-way streets, frantic
traffic and lack of street signs, it's
simple to find the Ramada:
just follow D825 highway signs toward
Kayseri,
then 10 km from the city center, look
for the white tower on the right (north)
side of the highway uphill from a set
of traffic signals (map).
When you do, mention TTP. Here's
why.
Ramada Kahramanmaraş
Üngüt Mah. Hanefi Mahçiçek Bulvarı
No:286
46050 Kahramanmaraş / TÜRKİYE
Tel: +90 (344) 211 10 10
Fax: +90 (344) 211 09 09
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