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Bright Sun
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You'll stay in a variety
of hotel rooms in Turkey.
Here's some wisdom from a guy who has
stayed in thousands of them.
Electricity
200-240 volt, 50 Hertz, as in Europe. You may have
to stick your room key card or toggle into a slot
near the door to activate all the electricity in
the room. When you take your key and leave the room,
your appliances stop charging. There may be few outlets/points,
there may be several. Lightbulbs are energy-efficient
and usually weak. Good bedside reading lights are
rare. More...
Hot Water
If there
seems to be no hot water, increase
the flow. If heating is by a flash
heater, a certain pressure is needed
to trigger the gas flame.
Let the water run. It may
have to travel a distance from the
heater to reach your tap. If there's
still no hot water, try the cold water
tap. In about 8% of cases, the plumber
has mixed up the taps and the cold
is really the hot. If the taps in the
sink are mixed up, the shower taps
may...or may not be...and vice-versa.
Toilet
Most
are ecological water-saving types.
Push the large part of the flush control
for major waste, the small part for
liquid.
What's that funny little nozzle at
the back of the bowl? What's this
about not throwing toilet paper into
the bowl? See my Turkish
toilets page.
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Swing window
open |
Windows
Most are energy-efficient double-glazed,
which helps keep out noise. Many open
two ways: lift the lever-handle to
a horizontal position and swing the
window open like a door. Lift the handle
all the way to vertical and the
top of the window tips back to allow
air but not rain (or people) to get
in. The bottom remains in the frame.
Clever!
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Tilt window
open |
Some Ottoman-style
hotels have double-hung windows, usually
without counterweights, so they're heavy to
lift. Lift the sash then look for the
funny little metal tab on the window
frame, and swing it so that it's underneath
the sash you've lifted, blocking its
descent. Cumbersome, but it works.
If you drop the heavy window sash
on your fingers, you will never forget
the experience.
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A/C remote control |
Climate Control
Large hotels, especially older
ones, will have central heating and
air-conditioning systems that are often
not cool enough in summer and not warm
enough in winter. Newer and smaller
hotels have individual wall-mounted
remote-control room air conditioning/heating
units that work well and are preferable
to central systems. Hotels in colder
regions have traditional hot-water
radiators as well.
Remote controls (kumanda) vary
in their level of obscurity from the
utterly impenetrable to the almost-intuitive.
Minibar
Usually temperatures are not very low,
but drink prices are very high. Most
hotels charge a fee for bottled
drinking water,
which is stupid—making
you go out to a shop to buy a daily
necessity so you won't have to pay
an exorbitant price for it. This is
hospitality? Our bodies are 60% water.
What are they thinking? The
better hotels provide at least some
bottled water at no charge. The best,
a daily supply.
Wifi Internet
Most Turkish hotels, inns and pensions
provide wireless Internet, even the
smallest ones. It's usually free except
in the 5-star vacuum-hose-in-your-pocket
luxury places. Most hotels require
a password (şifre) to
connect. Ask for it when you register
to save yourself a phone call later to
the reception desk. Quality, strength
and speed of connection vary by hotel,
room, time of day, and number of computers
connecting to a given system.
Housekeeping Staff
Mostly hard-working, pleasant, responsible
women with families, they merit your
appreciation. I always leave a tip equivalent
to a few dollars or euros per day.
Coffee & Tea Equipment
The exception rather than the norm
in Turkish hotel rooms, though their
presence in hotel rooms is growing,
and they are usually provided in
suites and rental apartments/flats
to let. Usually complimentary (free),
appreciated when it's there, and
includes instant coffee, black and
herbal teas, sugar and "non-dairy
creamer." Look in your minibar
to see if there's real milk, and
if there is, love your
hotel.
That Odd Vanity
Since the beginning of modern Turkish
tourism in the 1960s, virtually every
Turkish hotel room has had a small
vanity with mirror, tiny table and
stool or chair so ladies could do their
makeup. Most of these odd constructs
are impractical, a waste of space, and
an anachronous misinterpretation of
foreign cultures, like the "American
bars" that were designed into every
hotel lobby and featured in all brochures,
but never used.
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