Montebello Hotel

We went from mid to end of May and found the resort had only just started the tourist season so it was nice and quiet. The weather was excellent with most days being in the high 80s to mid 90s degree F - later in the year I can imagine it would be too hot. The sea temperature was slightly too cold for me though - once you get in a start swimming it is OK but I found I couldn’t stay in for a long time. The resort doesn’t appear overdeveloped as the buildings are no more than 2 storeys high.
Although it is a small resort there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, and some bars and a few clubs, although not the 18-30s type - a bit more civilised! If you want the all-out party atmosphere you can take a minibus for about 70p up the hill to Hisaronu, which has plenty of loud clubs and bars. Beware of prices in Hisaronu as many restaurants charge in English pounds and you don’t always get a good exchange rate.
In Olu Deniz you will find many shops exchanging pounds to lira at a better rate available in the UK so it is wise to take spare British Pounds with you so you can get them changed should you run out of cash - although this probably won’t be the case with a main course in a good restaurant costing less than five pounds, pint of beer around 90p to a pound and you can spend less that 15 pounds on a 3 course with drinks! Although you may not manage 3 courses since pretty much all restaurants give you free bread of some kind before your meal and a free coffee after - some even give you a free fruit salad.
As transport and food is so cheap the main cash drain will be on activities - you can go diving, paragliding, quad-biking, cycling, shopping, jeep safaris, boat trips, hire speed boats and much more.
Paragliding will cost you around 90 pounds - the company Eagles is on the beach front and you can get discounts if you book more than one activity with them. The staff are very friendly too - especially George! I was petrified of paragliding and he assured me I would love it and it wouldn’t be scary and he was right.
Paragliding is a must - everyone will tell you that. The only scary part is getting the courage to run down the hill at the top of the mountain as you can see the edge of the hill getting very close - you will be up in the air before you reach it though!
If you go to the lagoon there you have to pay to get in and pay for sun loungers. There are better beaches if you follow the sandy track to the left of the pay entrance to the lagoon. It may be a road when you go as they were building it. There are a few beaches that are free, you just have to pay for sun loungers but it’s about 3 pounds for the entire day! These beaches are sandier than the lagoon and quieter. We always went to Suara beach and they do provide a free bus from Olu Deniz if you don’t want to walk along the track. Buy a snorkel and mask and you can see some nice marine fish in the lagoon.
The best value and best food we had was in a restaurant on the main street and it was part of the Asena Beach Hotel complex. You can see a big chiller with the foods in and there is a BBQ next to it where they then cook the food you select. They had the best free bread there by far too, and the desserts were good - we had some type of rice pudding.
If you get the minibus to the market town of Fethiye on a Tuesday you can get great pancakes cooked by local women in the market. Cheap and the banana and honey ones are too die for. Not made using better like English - more a dough consistency. While in Fethiye make the most of the supermarkets to buy your bottled water - much cheaper than the resort.
A nice bar is the Secret Garden – cheap, very pretty, free pool table and cheap internet access - quieter than the others as it’s not on the main street. It’s at the top end of the resort.
If you go on any of the bus or jeep tours make sure they don’t go to a carpet or gold factory - unless you want to waste an hour or so of your day getting the hard sell for vastly overpriced goods!
Take a trip that goes to Sakilemt Gorge - ideally go yourself if you have a car then you can spend some time walking in the freezing cold water and see some scenery. Local kids will be around and happily guide you around the deepest parts of the gorge ad you can give them a small fee for their help. Definitely needed as we went in up to our bums in the water with our guide but apparently there are parts that are very deep. Wear clothes and shoes that dry quickly and you don’t mind getting ruined.
People are very friendly - most speak English but not all in the shops of Fethiye. Reception staff in the Montebello hotel were excellent and always asked us about our day. The hotel is basic but clean and has a pool and the rooms all have balconies. For the price we paid it was excellent value - with Jetline Travel it was 295 from Manchester for 2 weeks B and B.
The only downside to Turkey is the constant pestering by people to buy things or take their boat trip etc! If you politely say no thank-you they will leave you alone or say you are going home is a good excuse!
Don’t forget to haggle - we didn’t think to most of the time but when we did we usually got the price down a bit so do barter - they can only say no! We wish we had haggled more in our first week.
Well, that’s most of it covered. You will find that many people have been going back there for several years, which sums it up.
if you want a relaxed scenic holiday with good weather and good food this is excellent value for money