April 16th April 2007

Wow! we have been having such an amazing heatwave in the UK - glad we didn't splash out on an Easter in Turkey!  But it is not just about the weather is it boys and girls? 

We are getting really excited now as we have had an e mail from Oruc construction telling us that the villa is going to be completed one month ahead of schedule!  The roof is now on and all tiled and the painters have been and finished the outside and the pool is all there complete with electric light fittings and there is a lot of work going on in the garden and surroundings. It is quite remarkable, the pace at which they are working.

We are now getting booking inquiries so some people are obviously not too put off by the photos of the building site and we are about to go 'live' with Holiday Lettings a site where you can advertise your villa globally. So get booking we want friends and family to try it out first!  Check out the latest photos in our gallery!   

We will send out another update next month and please do let us hear your comments on both the website and the villa. See you in May!



Judy and Alastair

Building Villa Meliha 30th March 2007

A slide-show of the progress on the build of Villa Meliha, we will be updating this slideshow until the scheduled completion of the Villa in June 2007.

Visit in February 28th February 2007

It is February and we’ve just spent a week with Cumali and his mighty team finalising finer details in the construction of the Villa. It is now a complete structure with only the roof to go on to complete the actual shell. The electrical cables are all in place and phones and satellite ones too. The view from upstairs (the living area and open plan kitchen) is breathtaking and yes you can even see the Lycian Rock tombs that are carved into the cliff face. We can now visualise what it is all going to look like in June. It’s been a manic week of decision making about fixtures and furnishings and the shape of the pool which has to be just right for Alastair doing his racing turns. It won’t surprise you that we have spent lots of time with the joiner, the electrician, the ironsmith as well as fleeing around buying electrical domesticals and chairs and tables and curtains and sofas galore.

We’ve still had time to socialise with the locals and expats though and take lots of cycle rides and a moped ride to the lovely Itzuzu beach. Over the next few months we are looking forward to receiving more up-to-date photo’s of Villa Meliha so we can see the lovely ironmongery and natural stonework going up and the garden developing as well as all the hand-made cupboards and furnishings installed. And we’ll be scratching our heads and wondering how we are going pay for it all!

How it all began 14th December 2006

The story so far…

We all went out to Dalyan for a week’s holiday in late August as a result of enthusiastic reports by friends. We stayed in a lovely Villa on the outskirts of the town.

Straight away we thought that the place was rather special. Where else can you find mountains, a massive inland lake from which a large river skirts the mountains and then runs down through massive reed beds to a beautiful beach and thence the sea. All less than a few miles apart from each other. And all so verdant. The wild life was abundant. We saw turtles, storks and kingfishers and an eagle. There is a load of history with a Roman amphitheatre, town and a ruined port and Lyceum tombs cut into the rock face. All that and beautiful sunny weather.

We were very taken with the whole ambience. Anyway on the third day we asked a local firm Oruc if we could see some villas. Their villas were of high quality and all individual. We were duly shown some but none seemed quite right. Then we asked if there was any land for building and were shown a lemon grove about a mile out of town. It was very special. All on its own with 360 degree open sky looking west towards the Lyceum rock tombs.

On our last day we asked to see it again and were taken out there by Cumali one of the directors at Oruc. If anything it looked even more desirable. Well talk about a rush of blood to the head and a maxed out credit card on the shake of a hand! We then sent out a large sum of money to Turkey. Trusting or what?

Now in November we have approved the architect’s plans for a “four bedroom ground floor and open plan first floor villa” and the bulldozers have moved onto the site. The Villa Meliha is to be completed by May! We are going out on an inspection trip in February 07 and again in June with a holiday booked for July. The Villa will be open for bookings from late July, August onwards. This year there will be special rates for the brave. Here is a plan of the Villa with an artists impression and a couple of pictures to show progress.

Other useful stuff is that the nearest airport Dalaman is 3 1/2  hours flight time from Bristol or Birmingham airport.  It had a brand new international terminal and is, in turn, only 35 minutes away from Dalyan. Oruc organise all transport to and from the Villa.

 So is it going to be fabulous success or have we overdone the gullible tourist bit? Updates will be forthcoming.

Alastair and Judy