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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 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 5% of cases, the plumber
has mixed up the taps and the cold
is really the hot.
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.
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!
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
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.
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
climates 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 low,
but drink prices are 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 hotels require a password 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 varies by hotel,
room, time of day, and number of computers
connecting to a given node.
Housekeeping Staff
Mostly hard-working, pleasant, responsible
women with families, they deserve 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 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.
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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