Sometimes you need a vacation where you explore ancient ruins, wander through narrow streets, discover hidden restaurants, and immerse yourself in local culture. And sometimes you need a vacation where your biggest decision is whether to sit by the pool or the Aegean Sea.
This was definitely the second kind.
At the end of August, my partner, Bora, and I escaped Ankara for five nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Bodrum Işıl Club, a Bodrum all-inclusive resort on the Aegean Sea. After three years of building a life in Türkiye, finishing my MBA, surviving my thesis, navigating Turkish bureaucracy, and spending an unreasonable amount of time wondering which official document needed to be stamped by whom, I was ready to sit beside some water and do absolutely nothing.
Mission accomplished.
Ankara to Bodrum Before Most Reasonable People Were Awake
Our adventure started Monday morning, August 31. Our flight left Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 7:40 a.m., which meant we had been awake since approximately the middle of the night. We landed in Bodrum shortly after 9:00, tired but very ready for vacation.
The weather immediately made the early alarm worthwhile. It was warm and sunny, somewhere in the mid-80s, with low humidity and a gentle breeze. It felt like Bodrum had looked at us, recognized our exhaustion, and said, “Welcome. You may begin relaxing now.”
We arrived at the resort a little after 10:00 a.m. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our luggage with guest relations and headed straight to Panorama, the resort’s main buffet restaurant, for breakfast. Afterward, we found the lobby lounge and ordered cocktails while we waited for our room.
Yes, it was before noon. But we had been awake since 4:00 a.m., so I feel like regular cocktail rules no longer applied.
Around 1:00 p.m., I received a message saying our room was ready. Our room wasn’t inside the main hotel building, but instead was in one of several smaller buildings tucked among the trees near the tennis courts. We had an upper-level room surrounded by greenery, and I loved how peaceful it felt.
Even though we were staying at a seaside resort, that part of the property almost felt like being tucked away in the woods. The pool, restaurants, bars, spa, fitness center, and Aegean Sea were only a couple of minutes away, but our room still felt quiet and secluded. The minibar was stocked with water and soft drinks and replenished throughout our stay, which was another nice little convenience.
We dropped our bags, looked around our temporary home, and officially entered Vacation Mode.
Apparently Bora Is a Disney Princess
One thing became obvious almost immediately: there were cats everywhere.
Anyone who has followed Tiffles in Türkiye for more than five minutes knows that I found this terribly upsetting. By “terribly upsetting,” I mean I immediately started photographing them, talking to them, trying to befriend them, and mentally determining which ones might fit into my suitcase without anyone noticing.
Please, no one tell Stormy and Smokey about my dalliances with other cats. What happens in Bodrum stays in Bodrum—especially if you value your place in the household hierarchy.
But there was a problem. The cats seemed to like Bora more.
On more than one occasion, a cat simply wandered over and jumped directly into his lap without an invitation, negotiation, or exchange of treats. It was as though they took one look at him and decided, “Yes. This human will do.”
Do you know how many resort cats spontaneously jumped into my lap?
Zero.
I have two cats at home. I talk to strange cats on the street. I write a blog in which cats regularly make appearances. I consider myself a highly qualified cat person, and apparently none of those credentials impressed the Bodrum Cat Selection Committee.
The betrayal was significant.
But Bora wasn’t only popular with the cats. For reasons neither of us completely understood, little kids at the resort absolutely loved him too. They would smile at him, wave when they saw him, and sometimes seem genuinely excited when he walked past.
So there I was, vacationing with a man who had somehow become extremely popular with both the resort’s cats and its toddler population. Apparently, I had brought a Disney princess to Bodrum, and no one had bothered to warn me.
Our First Day of Doing Absolutely Nothing
We didn’t even bother putting on our swimsuits that first afternoon. By the time we settled in, most of the loungers near the pool and sea were occupied, and after our ridiculously early morning, neither of us had the energy to apply sunscreen, organize beach bags, and launch a full aquatic expedition.
Instead, we found a table at the outdoor snack bar and ordered cocktails. We talked, people-watched, made friends with the cats, and soaked up the atmosphere. For the first time in a while, there was genuinely nowhere we needed to be.
We had already decided that we weren’t planning to leave the resort during our stay. Everything we wanted was there, so we made reservations for a spa treatment the following day and booked our complimentary dinner at one of the resort’s à la carte restaurants.
Then we continued sitting.
It was glorious.
Starting Tuesday With Breathwork on the Aegean
Tuesday morning started very differently. At 7:00 a.m., I joined a breathwork and Qi Gong session led by an instructor named Vlad. There were only four guests participating that morning, and we walked down to a deck overlooking the Aegean for about 45 minutes of breathing exercises, stretching, and gentle movement.
There are certainly worse ways to start a Tuesday morning. The sea was calm, the air was beautiful, and the entire session felt peaceful and grounding. Watching the sun rise over the mountains was an added bonus.
Bora chose a different wellness practice.
He slept.
Afterward, I returned to the room, woke him up, and we headed to Panorama for breakfast. The buffet was enormous, with salads, olives, Turkish pastries, cheeses, egg dishes, breads, fruit, and all kinds of other options.
This is also where the trip became a little complicated for me from a vegan perspective. Despite the size of the buffet, the clearly vegan choices were fairly limited beyond salads and some basic items. During this trip, I made a decision I normally don’t make and ate several non-vegan foods.
I’m not particularly proud of it, but I’m also not going to rewrite the vacation into something it wasn’t. Living vegan in Türkiye is usually much easier for me than many people assume, so I was actually surprised that an all-inclusive resort buffet presented a bigger challenge than many ordinary restaurants do.
That experience probably deserves a post of its own someday.
Hammam + Massage = Vacation Level Unlocked
After breakfast, we enjoyed another cocktail near the pool while waiting for our noon spa appointment. Yes, there is a recurring cocktail theme developing in this story, and no, I don’t feel particularly compelled to defend it.
Our spa package included time in the sauna, a traditional hammam scrub, foam massage, a rose-water shampoo treatment, and a 50-minute Swedish massage. Originally, the hammam was supposed to come first, but because of a scheduling issue, the staff asked whether we could do the massages before the hammam instead.
That actually made much more sense to us. Since the massage involved oils, ending with the hammam meant we could leave thoroughly scrubbed, steamed, shampooed, foamed, massaged, and perhaps reborn as entirely different people.
The service was fantastic. As Hilton Honors members, we had received a 15% spa discount at check-in, but when it was time to pay, we discovered there was an even better promotion available: the second person’s treatment was 50% off.
Unexpected discounts make massages even more relaxing.
Afterward, we finally changed into our swimsuits and headed toward the sea. We found two loungers overlooking the Aegean and spent the next several hours swimming, reading, soaking up the sun, snacking on çerez (mixed nuts), and enjoying cocktails.
That basic rhythm became our vacation.
The Next Few Days Were a Blur in the Best Possible Way
The next few days were wonderfully uneventful. We swam, read, ate, had drinks, visited with cats, made friends with a curious pigeon we named Jonathan, napped, and then did some combination of those things all over again. We didn’t leave the resort once during our five-night stay. We didn’t need to.
Normally, I love exploring. One of my favorite things about living in Türkiye is discovering new neighborhoods, walking through cities, visiting historical places, and seeing what is around the next corner.
But this trip wasn’t about seeing everything Bodrum had to offer. It was about resting after a very busy season of my life and waking up without a thesis, assignment, deadline, or bureaucratic problem waiting for me.
Our Italian Dinner
The resort has two à la carte restaurants: an Italian restaurant and a seafood restaurant. Because we were staying at least five nights, our stay included one complimentary dinner at the Italian restaurant, so we made a reservation for Thursday night.
The restaurant sits on a small outdoor terrace somewhat separated from the busier parts of the resort. Only about twenty people were dining there that evening, which made the experience feel quiet and intimate.
We started with wine and an assortment of appetizers. I could not tell you exactly what every appetizer was, which probably means I don’t have a future as a travel writer, but what I can tell you is that they were delicious.
For dinner, I ordered gnocchi and Bora had spaghetti Bolognese. Then we made the only reasonable decision available when presented with two dessert choices: we ordered both.
There was tiramisu and some sort of lemon custard dessert whose official name I do not remember. Apparently, my commitment to remembering these things while on vacation has its limits.
Our Last Night — And My Surprise…Birthday?
Friday night was our last night at the resort, and Bora wanted to do something special for me. He made a reservation at the seafood restaurant, which sits on a small deck overlooking the sea.
The evening was warm, the water was beautiful, and the atmosphere was magical. It was exactly the kind of setting that makes you want to sit for a while and enjoy being exactly where you are.
Dinner started with what felt like an endless parade of mezes. I think there were around ten different dishes, and naturally we felt compelled to eat all of them.
This created a slight logistical problem when the actual dinner arrived because we were already completely full. The main course included çupra (seabream) and levrek (sea bass), both fresh and beautifully prepared.
But the best part came at the end.
Bora had quietly told the restaurant that we were celebrating my recent accomplishment. Presumably, the message was that I had recently finished my MBA, but somewhere along the linguistic journey between Bora and the restaurant staff, that information transformed into something else entirely.
Suddenly, a celebratory dessert appeared.
And everyone started singing Happy Birthday to me.
It was not my birthday. Not even remotely.
I looked at Bora, Bora looked at me, and we both started laughing. The intention behind it was incredibly sweet, and the restaurant staff genuinely wanted to help him make the evening special.
Technically, they celebrated the wrong life event.
But they celebrated it with enthusiasm.
And somehow that made the memory even better.
I looked at Bora, Bora looked at me, and we both started laughing. The intention behind it was incredibly sweet, and the restaurant staff genuinely wanted to help him make the evening special.
Technically, they celebrated the wrong life event.
But they celebrated it with enthusiasm.
And somehow that made the memory even better.
How Five Nights in Bodrum Cost Me Just Over $500
This is the part of the post that I debated including because I don’t want Tiffles in Türkiye to suddenly become an advertisement for Hilton. At the same time, I want the blog to become a genuinely useful resource for people who want to travel around Türkiye, and part of travel is figuring out how to actually afford it.
So here is how this particular trip worked.
I’m a Hilton Honors Diamond member and have a Hilton credit card. I used Hilton Honors points to cover our five-night resort stay instead of paying the standard room rate.
Diamond status can also come with additional benefits. A complimentary room upgrade wasn’t available during this particular stay, but I received a $200 resort credit, which we used toward expenses at the property. I also received a $50 airfare credit after paying for our flights with my Hilton credit card.
When you add it all up, our five-night Bodrum vacation ended up costing us just over $500 USD out of pocket for two people.
For five nights at an all-inclusive resort, I was pretty thrilled with that.
This isn’t sponsored content, and Hilton didn’t pay me to write this. It’s simply an example of how loyalty programs and travel rewards can sometimes make an otherwise expensive vacation much more affordable.
If readers are interested, I may share more in the future about how I use points and travel rewards while living in Türkiye. Apparently I have reached the stage of adulthood where getting unusually good value from reward points brings me genuine joy.
I suspect this is how it begins.
One Last Cocktail
Saturday morning arrived much too quickly. Our flight back to Ankara was around noon, so we packed our bags and headed to Panorama for one last breakfast.
Afterward, we had time for one final cocktail at the beach bar. By then, we had gotten to know some of the bartenders, which made leaving feel a little more bittersweet.
Five days earlier, we had arrived tired, excited, and very much in need of a break. We were leaving rested, slightly more tan, thoroughly massaged, extremely well-fed, and carrying an impressive number of photographs of cats.
Possibly too many photographs of cats.
Actually, no. There is no such thing.
Bodrum, I’ll Be Back
This wasn’t the kind of Bodrum trip where I came home with recommendations for fifteen restaurants, seven beaches, three historical sites, and a secret little café everyone absolutely has to visit. We barely saw Bodrum outside the resort.
And that was exactly what we needed.
For five nights, life became wonderfully small. There was morning coffee, Aegean water, warm sunshine, long conversations, cats, good food, and an accidental birthday celebration that we will probably laugh about for years.
After everything that went into finishing my MBA and building my life here over the last three years, I think I needed that simplicity more than I realized.
Türkiye continues to surprise me. Sometimes it surprises me with history, sometimes with kindness, sometimes with beautiful landscapes, and apparently sometimes with completely uninvited cats who choose Bora’s lap instead of mine.
I’m still a little bitter about that.
But Bodrum, I’ll forgive you.
Eventually.
Wishing you quiet mornings when life has been too loud, beautiful places that remind you to slow down, people who make you laugh when things don’t go quite as planned, and at least one vacation cat with the good sense to choose your lap.
With love from Ankara,
Tiffles, Stormy, and Smokey 🐾
There’s plenty more coming soon here at Tiffles in Türkiye. Next up, I’ll be sharing more about walking around Ankara, the tiny everyday things that still make me fall in love with this city, and some new posts designed to make the site an even more useful resource for anyone living in, visiting, or simply curious about Türkiye. I also want to keep building guides and practical posts that answer the kinds of questions I had when I first arrived—and the ones I’m still figuring out three years later. If there’s something you’d like me to write about, a question you’ve been wondering about, or a topic you think would be helpful to other readers, please email me—I’d genuinely love to hear your ideas.