Cesme Hotels and Pensions

Places to Stay in Cesme, Cesme Hotels and Pension

Although Çeşme has several inexpensive pensions and hotels, several moderately priced hotels, and a restored caravanserai, most charge over the odds; and many lodg-ings are booked solid in the summer season. Check the package holiday brochures if you're after a longer stay.

Places to Stay – Budget

There are several good pensions in the midst of the action just off Inkilap Caddesi. The unmissable pink and black Teras Pansiyon (232-712 7463), on Ertürk Sokak near the church, is clean and relatively quiet, with shower-equipped rooms above a restaurant a single/double. Some signs stili call it the Birlik.

On the opposite side of Inkilap in a narrow İane of crumbling old houses, Burcu Pan­siyon (232-712 0387) has a fine terrace and good shower-equipped rooms for slight-ly less, as does the nearby U-2 Pansiyon (232-712 6381).
Tarhan Pansiyon (it 232-712 6061), behind the Çeşme Kervansaray Hotel, a single/double for rooms in a pretty house draped with bougainvillea. Tani Pansiyon next door is similar.

Cesme Hotels - Places to Stay - Mid-Range

Right on the shore, facing the main square, the two-star Hotel Ertan (232-712 6795, fax 712 7852, Cumhuriyet Meydanı 12) has a lift, open-air terrace bar, air-con restaurant and 60 rather ordinary guest rooms with bath, some facing the sea. Rates are US$70/90 a single/double, breakfast included.

Next door to the Ertan, the newer 36-room Rıdvan Oteli (232-712 6336, fax 712 7627) charges the same for rooms with similar facilities, but usually with balconies. The lobby is decorated with works by local photographer Çavit Kürnek.
Just north of the Ertan and Rıdvan near the water, Çeşme Marin Otel (232-712 7579, fax 712 6484, Hürriyet Caddesi 10) offers even better value, with shower-equipped rooms a single/double with breakfast included, but the staff are in need of cheering up.

Parla Apart Otel 252-7/2 6366, Musalla Mahallesi, Kabadayı Sokak 27), run by an energetic woman named Çiğdem, rents clean, modern double rooms and small apartments (lounge, bed-room, kitchen and bath) - great value. The cheaper Vural Pansiyon, just behind the Tarhan Pansiyon, is under the same competent management.

Yalçın Otel (232-712 6981, fax 712 0623, Musalla Mahallesi, Kale Sokak 38) is perched on the hillside overlooking the town. Its 16 pleasant rooms, all with private shovvers, some with excellent views,
a single/double/triple.

HotelPapageno (n 232-712 8327, fax 712 0105, 16 Eylül Mahallesi, 1 Yalı Sokak 11) is clean, modern, comfortable, and decently priced at US$30/50 a single/double wifh shovver, breakfast included. One reader com-plained of noise from the market outside.

The historic Çeşme Kervansaray Hotel (232-712 7177, fax 712 6491), just south of the main square, was restored a decade ago and even more work was undenvay at the time of writing. The posted price of US$100, for a pleasantly furnished double room with tiny bathroom, has been known to halve when it's quiet. Turkish Night shows are held at least twice a week when you should go elsewhere or be kept awake by the racket.

Places to Eat

Çeşme's restaurants are ali reasonably cheap, but of varying standards. Virtually ali restaurants post their prices prominently. For a local taste treat, try the sakızlı dondurma (sah-kuhz-LUH dohn-door-mah), ice cream flavoured with pine resin, the same stuff they put in Greek retsina vvine. If you like retsina, you should like this weird reincarnation of the flavour.

Behind the old church are numerous small eateries, including Özen Pide & Pizza, which serves grills and Turkish pizza, also the speciality of Fatih Pide Pizza Salonu next door. Both places have outdoor tables by the church.
On inkilap Caddesi, Lezzet Aş Evi (Fla­vour Cook-House) is stili hanging on as one of the cheapest eateries in town, with veg-etable plates, and salçalı köfte (meatballs)

Nearby, Nil Patisserie serves excellent baklava (pastry with nuts and honey) and lokum (Turkish delight), and has a few streetside cafe tables. Rumeli Pastanesi on İnkilap specialises in the local reçel (jellies and preserves), which include patlıcan (aubergine), turunç (bitter orange), incir (fig), limon çiçeği (lemon-flower), sakız (pine gum - unusual white jam), ayva (qu-ince), gül (rose) and karpuz (vvatermelon).

Sevim Cafe, in front of the Kervansaray, has outdoor tables which suffer a bit from traffic noise, but it's a good place for a sunset drink.
Chinese restaurants have been popping up in Turkish coastal resorts. The cuisine may not be authentic but it makes for a pleasant change. The Mandarin Chinese Restaurant, in front of the Çeşme Marin Otel,

The Castle Restaurant & Bar (232-712 8339), in a tower of the fortress, is a romantic place to watch the sunset, espe-cially on your last Turkish night before catching the ferry bound for Greece. A full dinner will cost you between US$20 to US$35 but it's only open from late May to September.

Cetting There & Away

Bus The opening of the Çeşme-Izmir otoyol (expressway) has made it harder to get to Çeşme vvithout transitting İzmir. If you're coming from Selçuk or Kuşadası, don't think you can avoid izmir by taking a bus to Urla - there's no longer any onward public transport from Urla to Çeşme.

This is a drag because the bus to Çeşme doesn't leave from İzmir otogar. You'll have to come into the otogar, and then catch a bus across town to the separate terminal for Çeşme in Üçkuyular, a neighbourhood 6km west of Konak. This can add a good hour to the journey time (see Bus under Getting There & Away in the izmir section).

Once you've got to the Çeşme terminal it's simple. Çeşme Turizm buses and minibuses make the 85-km, 114-hour run every 15 minutes or so from 6 am to 6 pm, stopping at Ilıca and Alaçatı on the way.
If you buy an onvvard ticket from Çeşme to Ankara or istanbul, your bus vvill stili stop in izmir en route.

Ferry - Chios

Most people come to Çeşme on their way to or from Chios.
in high summer (1 July to 10 September) there are daily boats; the Monday boat con-nects at Chios with a boat for Piraeus, arriving in time to connect with a boat to Israel.

At other times of the year the schedule is:
16 to 30 April and throughout October, boats run Tuesday and Thursday.
I to 15 May boats run Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
16 May to 30 June boats run Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.11 to 30 September boats run on Tuesday, Thurs­day, Friday and Sunday.