With its multiple miles of coastline along the edge of the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Seas, Turkey knows how to do the beach resort right. The country caters to every type of sunseeker, whether families aiming for the ease of the all-inclusive, couples in search of secluded shores, or those looking for jet-set-approved glamour and a well-oiled party scene, which can most certainly be found in and around Bodrum (just look at the yachts). To find the right one for you, here’s our pick of the best beach hotels in Turkey.
Bodrum
Mett Hotel & Beach Resort
A short drive away from the centre of Bodrum town, Mett Hotel & Beach Resort is ideal for travellers to Turkey who want some culture to go with their prolonged sunlounger spells. It’s close to the heart of Bodrum, a sleepy fishing village turned international-crowd favourite, which is handy for when the temperature dips and you’re up for a stroll around its photogenic old town to see whitewashed, bougainvillea-draped houses, cobblestoned streets and the 15th-century fortress. Also attempting to keep you upright is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, specifically the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
When it’s time to be prone again, secure a sunlounger at Folie, the resort’s beach club and restaurant, or up your relaxation game by booking one of the cabanas for an additional cost, which have their own pool, sound-system and outdoor shower — you can even request the company of a DJ, butler or spa therapist.
Six Senses Kaplankaya
Superyachts sail to Bodrum every summer, and with hotels like Six Senses Kaplankaya awaiting them, it’s not hard to see why. This resort is around an hour’s drive north of the city, across the bay on the Aegean coast — and naturally for such a jet-set destination, arrivals are possible by yacht, helicopter and plain old car. As with all Six Senses outposts, the spa is a show-stealer, on hand for programmes that might promise holistic anti-ageing or an improvement to your sleep health. Or you can do what many visitors come to Turkey for, and that’s locate a lounger and spend your days sun-worshipping. The resort has three restaurants and as many bars, for a varied experience when you do eventually decide to move.
Bodrum Peninsula
Oku Bodrum
New to the Bodrum Peninsula this summer was the latest Oku outpost, set between pine-covered hillsides and the Aegean Sea, on the promontory’s northern shores. The adults-only resort has mastered the art of encouraging guests to stay put — there’s a beach and jetty from where you can watch the fishing boats bring in the day’s catch, and lazy days of little more than morning yoga and a hammam are on the agenda. Come sunset, Japanese restaurant Teyo awaits.
As with its sibling stays in Kos and Andalucia, Oku Bodrum will gently thrill fans of the neutral palette, with its breezy, billowing linens, earthy tones and natural materials. The only primary colour comes courtesy of the sea and swimming pool outside. Along the peninsula, there are photogenic fishing villages and a dramatic coastline waiting to be discovered.
Maçakizi
There’s one especially fabulous resort on the Bodrum Peninsula whose guestbook has the celebrity signatories to prove it, and that’s Maçakizi, which has captivated luminaries from fashion royalty (Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell) to rock gods (Mick Jagger) and tech overlords (Bill Gates). There’s a reason they’re all so enamoured of this heavenly harbourside village — it’s one of those understated independent hotels, unshowy but effortlessly refined. Its name is Turkish for the Queen of Spades, a symbol of intelligence and beauty, both of which Maçakizi has in abundance. The bohemian pensione was founded in the Seventies by Bodrum resident Ayla Emiroğlu, but it was her son who established the resort as it is today at the turn of the century. Sunloungers are arranged along the dock, ready to receive the yacht arrivals coming in off the Aegean.
Maxx Royal
If you’re in search of an all-inclusive Turkish beach destination, look no further than Maxx Royal, half an hour away from the centre of Bodrum, near Göltürkbükü. The resort is designed as a village at the edge of a cove, with a wellness centre as the main hub. Helpfully for adults hoping to be able to converse uninterrupted over dinner, the kids’ club stays open all evening. If you’re averse to excessive sunlounging, there are tennis and padel courts within the confines of this well-equipped resort, as well as a fleet of boats facilitating snorkelling trips and cruises around the peninsula, hiking trails up in the neighbouring hills and bicycles to borrow (including e-bikes if pedalling sounds like too much effort).
Bodrum Loft
The team behind Bodrum Loft on Demirbükü Bay are so convinced you’ll love it here, they’ve created apartments and villas so you can basically move in. The biggest accommodations sleep up to eight, so you can bring an entourage along. Most have sea-facing terraces, along with kitchens and outdoor dining areas; but you don’t have to use either — an outpost of Istanbul (via Milan) favourite Paper Moon serves all-Italian classics after you’ve stopped by the aperitivo bar first. There’s also The Pantry, where a Turkish pastry chef has perfected French baked goods; Ters Köşe for the freshest fish the Aegean has to offer; and Loft Elia, where dinners are served with a backdrop of the bay.
Antalya Province
Bijal
In a pine forest on the southern shores of the Turkish Riviera in Antalya Province, Bijal is a regal retreat we’re sure Cleopatra would approve of — especially since this stretch of Turkish coast was allegedly given to her as a gift by Mark Antony. There are 19 villas set throughout its glorious grounds, which contain various places to cool off — each villa has its own pool within its walled garden; the Club House has a curving waterway snaking past it; or you can head to the beach, where there’s yet another pool with an underwater sound-system, plus DJ sets come sunset. You’ll also be able to swim in the waters of the Turkish Riviera, of course. The Club House menu imports a taste of Italy (especially flavours from the Tyrol region); or you can dine on fresh seafood at the Beach House. Meanwhile, we can’t promise they’ll let you bathe in donkey’s milk at the spa, but there are plenty of other treatments that will leave you feeling as youthful as an Egyptian queen with a generous admirer instead.
To see more of Antalya Province, you can stroll for half an hour to the petite harbour town of Side, where there are lots of restaurants alongside some remarkable, assorted ruins, including a coastal Temple of Apollo, thought to have been built around 150AD, and a huge, 20,000-capacity Roman amphitheatre, also dating back to the 2nd century.
Fethiye
Ahama
Less than an hour by car east of Dalaman, Fethiye is the jumping-off point for heavenly hotels hidden in peaceful coves a short boat ride away. But it’s worth spending some time in this harbour town along Turkey’s Turquoise Coast, too, to hike a stretch of the Lycian Way, perhaps, or go scuba-diving in Ölüdeniz’s Blue Lagoon, or sailing to the limestone cliffs of the Butterfly Valley, before you hop in a boat across the bay to Ahama. Scenic Göcek, on the road to and from Dalaman, is also worthy of a pitstop to stroll along its smart marinas and swim in its pine-backed bays.
Ahama can be reached by road, but the more dramatic arrivals come courtesy of a boat ride across from Göcek or Fethiye. Once ensconced, you won’t want to travel very far, unless it’s to get back out on the water to explore more of the coast’s secret coves. The hotel is set in a reserve at the edge of Günlüklü Bay, with a forest of fragrant pine trees behind it. Most of the rooms are wooden cabanas, some of them right on the sandy shore, with design details typical of traditional Lycian architecture and some wabi-sabi Japanese influences woven in. More serenity awaits at the spa, with several wellness sessions held every day for guests, from morning yoga in a glass-walled shala, qi gong and breathwork, to sound-healing and sunset rituals on the beach. Also helping to keep you happily adrift here in the resort are four restaurants, including Japanese-influenced Êge and Mezkla for beach-club buzz and Mexican-Mediterranean plates.
Izmir Province
Gaia by the Sea
Over on the west coast of Turkey in Anatolia’s Izmir Province, Gaia by the Sea honours the Earth goddess with organic forms, neutral tones and natural materials, from wicker to wood. Each of the 11 suites has a thermal pool, or you can cool off courtesy of the sparkling Aegean on your doorstep. The grounds are abundant enough to make the hotel’s namesake proud, with a 500-year-old olive tree at the heart, rushes framing the waterfront, and banana, olive and pine trees providing more shade throughout. For dinners of the day’s catch, cooked over charcoal, stop by the hotel’s acclaimed restaurant, Ritüel, which has tables set up along the water’s edge for added romance.
The buzzy resort town of Çeşme is a short drive from the hotel; also worth a visit is the town of Alaçati, which puts on a charm offensive with cobblestoned streets, colourful shutters and blooming bougainvillea. Or you can devote your days to discovering Izmir Province’s many beaches, which include the lemon-tree-lined shores of Aya Yorgi and Şifne, backed by lush green hills, with mineral-rich thermal springs.
Read our full review of Ahama in Fethiye, or discover our hotels in Istanbul and Cappadocia for a different side of Turkey