We had a wonderful 2week stay in The Garden Pension this June.
We were picked up very quickly at the airport via our pre booked taxi and taken straight to the Garden Pension. I booked directly with Cathy who sorted everything out for us, we bought our flights with Thomson a few months earlier for just under 200 pounds.
We were greeted by Ercan who is a fabulous host,(we also met Cathy towards the end who flew out from England, she was lovely)
The rooms are very clean with air con with a walk in wardrobe and excellent bathroom. They are all identical overlooking the garden.
We did miss the television a little but we took our i-book mac with us so it did come in useful at times.
The location is perfect, about 10 minutes from the town.
We used the free bikes a lot during the day and loved sight seeing. The locals are very friendly, not at all pushy.
The atmosphere in Dalyan is very pleasant.
The market on a Saturday is a must see in the centre.
The Garden pension is very private, it has a beautiful garden and fantastic flowers, view of the fields and mountains and a huge pool. The pool and surroundings are always spotless as Ercan is always maintaining the hotel.
The Pension isn't overlooked. The guests respect each other, and the pool is never overcrowded. Sometimes you feel like you are the only ones there. There are only 8 guests at a time, and this was a huge plus point for us. The personal element was wonderful.
I have been to some gorgeous places on holiday in the past (Caribbean/Indian Ocean etc) and i must say this one will be at the top of my list. It's such a pretty place, after seeing our photos some of my family are already booking their flights there!
The breakfast is served by two lovely waitresses who are excellent and work very hard and clean your rooms everyday to an excellent standard. There is a nice variety off fruit, jams/bread, egg, olives etc. The tables are set under trees and palmed canopies. Every morning Ercan would greet you and give you any advice needed for your day.
We did spend some evenings in the Garden Pension itself, which was lovely and we made a lot of friends, but a lot of our evenings were spent in restaurants overlooking the ruins as it was a little more romantic for a yound couple.
Our favourite bar was the 'tin tin bar' they play live guitar music (gypsy kings/amy winehouse etc) Also i can't remember the name of the restaurant but Ercan can name a few favourites. There is one overlooking the ruins near 16 bar which was our favourite, also the tree house is lovely. You can sit up within the tree house after your meal with drinks.
You often find the restaurants off the beaten track our far nicer than the central ones with the home made cooking and fresh bread.
Also it's a must to be rowed across to river to the ruins just to taste a pancake- they are to die for!
The ruins are fantastic, we climbed up to the top..this isn't for the faint hearted but well worth the view. The best time to go is very early morning or 6pm as it's very hot during the day.
There are so many things to do, we prefered the beach via the bus Itizu i think? very cheap and private the beach by boat taxi is worth the trip but gets busy at times with tourists from other destinations who come to see the turtles.
Also Ercan did a BBQ on our last night, and this was wonderful.
I could keep going on and on..if you are thinking of booking then go ahead. I initially went off the trip advisor reviews and didn't regret it, i was compelled to write our own review after our visit and put on some pictures! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did, we would definitely return to the Garden Pension.
Lisa and Harry
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.