Medis

I visited Medis hotel based on recommendation in July 2012 with my family. Since other reviewers posted helpful reviews about hotel's amenities and rooms, I'll focus on swimming possibilities (or should I say "impossibility"?) First and foremost, the small beach in front of the hotel is very small and insufficient for the number of people visiting. It's almost impossible to find shelter from the sun and vacant beach chairs. Though the water is calm, clean and clear, the bottom is strewn with rocks, and I mean rocks! Not small, rounded stones or pebbles but head-sized, maybe bigger rocks. If you like to just jump into the water from the pier, swim for a long time away from the shore and hit the pier again, feel free. However, if you're like me and plan to play water tennis or frisbee with your family, just forget about it since you can't find a foothold of sand in the water here.Enough said. Last but not least, I witnessed some folks trying to fish here with hooks in the area designated for swimmers, and it poses a great danger to swimmers. Though I both warned them in person and also asked the facilities people to put a stop to it, they simply ignored all the warnings and carried on. Simply based on this incident, I decided to never visit Medis again. However, you may stay in Medis, walk the short distance through the beach (couple of hundred meters or so) and find some shade and beach chairs in the other facilities serving the public near the middle of the bay. Same calm, clear and clean water and the bottom is all sand with no stray fishermen there.

Located at a hidden corner, Medis Hotel is away from downtown Bodrum’s noise and hustle and bustle. This is a hotel to chill out in Turkish style, which Turks call “kafa dinlemek.” (This may be translated either as “listen to your mind” or as “relax your mind”. I could do both at Medis! :-)) Medis is a small hotel with a lovely green garden between the hotel and its beach. It had an intimate feel as if I were visiting a friend’s beach house. This also stems from the friendly and responsive service. No wonder most of its guests come back to the Hotel every summer. I went there from New York and I loved the quietness of Medis, where I could hear the nature. Once or twice a week in the evenings, there was live guitar and singing at the pool: Turkish music intermingled with all kinds of Mediterranean songs. Its beach is secluded at the south end of a bay. The beachfront is narrow but sufficient for the hotel’s capacity. When I visited Medis, the neighboring beaches at the bay were quite empty, which made my experience even more enjoyable. It is an all-inclusive hotel, with open buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, etc. If you are interested in physical activities other than swimming at the turquoise waters of Bodrum, the best for me was that the hotel is one-minute drive from quite a serious windsurfing camp. One can rent a windsurf, and there are classes for children and adults. It’s a great spot for all levels of surfers. This camp also offers sailing. I took public minibuses, which are very frequent in Bodrum, between Medis Hotel and the Surfing Camp. As a small hotel, the on-premise activities are limited to a swimming pool (convenient for kids), ping-pong, beach volleyball, and a tennis court. The hotel provides racquets and tennis balls. Although the court needs resurfacing, it was OK to play. Medis Hotel has in-house representative of a tour company offering various tours in and around Bodrum Peninsula. One can also use the public minibuses to explore the area. To set the expectations right, Medis is not for people who are looking for a ritzy resort, but for people who prefer a down-to-earth, clean and small hotel with Turkish style warmth also referred as “missafirperverlik”, which is a term Turks use to describe hosting visitors with great care and love. Looking forward to visit Medis again.

We went to Medis hotel in Karaincir based on the recommendation by a friend who heard good things about it. We were not disappointed. On the positive side you get most for your money: it's all inclusive for a relatively small room rate (around $65 per person), food is plentiful and excellent, the daily 5 o'clock tea is a great idea. If you have a great appetite you'll get your money's worth; I guess our German friends would love it here, lol. The beach is great, meaning the water is crsytal clear, very clean w.sandy bottom for miles, and I can say without any hesitation that there is no better beach in the Bodrum peninsula. However, the area where the umbrellas and lounge chairs are located there is no sand and it is a turn-off. It would not be difficult to dump a few tons of sand there. The pool is great. The layout of the hotel grounds is beautiful. The green area is wonderful, so are the beautiful trees around the hotel. The personnel is friendly. There were a few things that the hotel management should rectify: upon entering the lobby area we were overwhelmed by obnoxious sewer smell; this foul odor comes and goes depending on the daytime. You would not want to stay in a room on the first floor. Our room was on the fifth floor and it was OK. Another negative aspect was the fact that the rooms are somewhat old and need renovation. The bathroom and shower left something to be desired. Another thing that struck us about the hotel was (I guess this is common to most Turkish hotels) that there are is no female personnel. It's all young men. Only at the front desk we saw two young ladies. The hotel is quite remote, and this has advantages and disadvantages. there is nothing to do for younger people here, they would get bored to death. It's no wonder that the average age of the hotel guests must be, according to our estimation, around 70-75. We are around 58-60 and felt like spring chickens here, and that's not a bad thing. We live in California, but that long trip to Bodrum and in particular to Karaincir was worth it. We highly recommend Medis Hotel to everyone who look for a quite, peaceful and pleasant vacation in a modest hotel at a very reasonable price. Again, the food and beach were fantastic. It was also good to learn that the hotel was built by a group of 1954 graduates of the famous Technical University of Istanbul (ITU). Since my father was also a graduate of ITU I felt at home at this hotel. We will come back next year, and in the years to come.