I have been going to Turkey for years to discover and rediscover the charms of Istanbul. However, given how much there is to see in one of the world’s most famous and fought over cities, before this year, I had never explored any other parts of Turkey with the exception of Cappadocia. In April, I decided to rectify that with a trip to Izmir to check out two sites I’ve always wanted to lay eyes on: the ruins of Ephesus (Efes in Turkish) and the hot springs, antique pool and the snow white and turquoise blue travertine terraces of Pamukkale and Hierapolis.
The closest major city to these sites is Izmir and with a fairly new Marriott that opened in the last couple years, it seemed like a good place to base myself. While Izmir was a good jumping off point for Ephesus and Pamukkale, the Izmir Marriott was a great jumping off point for Izmir itself.
The rooms at the Marriott Izmir
I was upgraded to a suite on the top floor of the hotel upon arrival and the floor to ceiling windows featured a panoramic view of the busy intersection below. A lovely tray of Turkish sweets was also laid out as an arrival gift. A streetcar made the rounds every fifteen minutes or so and the bell and sound of the tracks made their way up to my room. The hotel hadn’t quite worked out the curtain situation and the blackout curtains were a bit too narrow to fit the windows so in some sections, I had to make do with the thin gauze curtains that let quite a lot of light in the mornings.
On the bright side, the king-sized bed was extremely comfortable, the water temperature and pressure was good and the air conditioning worked well. The two separate sitting areas were well placed with a nice view out the window and the desk was comfortable to work at. There weren’t any issues with the WiFi either. The minibar was well stocked and you could even take a pair of teddy bears home with you if you wanted.
I did run into a bit of an issue on the last night. There was a massive party on the roof with a DJ and live music. It was earsplittingly loud and kept me up for hours after I wanted to go to bed. Even once the music was finished, the staff was on the roof for hours until two or three in the morning, dragging chairs and tables around, which kept me up all night. As ever, it’s a bit of a crapshoot. I could have stayed here for a week and not heard a peep or I could have suffered through a wedding every night. The hotels just want to make an extra buck, I get it, but it’s just too bad that the nicest rooms of the hotel are often on the highest floors, in this case, closest to the noise.
Breakfast in the executive lounge at the Marriott Izmir
I started the day with coffee in my room from the Nespresso machine (featuring real Nespresso pods – a rarer and rarer occurrence) and then headed down to the executive lounge on the first floor. Breakfast was served in the executive lounge, which also featured a happy hour every evening with snacks and Turkish beer, wine and spirits. Given how blessed Turkey is with dried fruits and nuts, happy hour made for a great time to sample many of these offerings.
Breakfast featured a great spread as well and while there was plenty laid out for me in terms of a cold spread, the helpful staff in the lounge also offered on multiple occasions to have some eggs or other items from the menu cooked up.
I didn’t have much interaction with any staff outside of the lounge, but if the women who work in there are anything to go by, the staff are extremely cheery and helpful. The women in the lounge continuously checked to see if I needed anything and continued to offer refills on coffee in the mornings and beer in the evenings.
The location of the Marriott Izmir
The Marriott Izmir wins the triple crown when it comes to location. As mentioned above, there is (loud) public transport nearby, it’s easy for taxis to find and park, and it’s close enough to tourist sites and restaurants to walk to. It’s within walking distance of both the old city and the new city of Izmir and of course, is perched right on the corniche, one of the hotel’s biggest selling points, especially if you look at official photos. A taxi ride from the airport takes about a half hour if you are able to avoid traffic. Knowing Turkish taxi drivers, I purposefully chose an elderly cabby in the hopes that he would be a slow and steady driver but he was an absolute maniac, nearly running a motorcyclist off the road. The motorcyclist then drove up alongside the driver’s window and had some choice Turkish four-letter words for him, all while pointing and shaking his fist. A bit of a scary moment!
Once you hopefully arrive to the hotel in one piece, You are steps away from great eating and if you find yourself worn out after a long day of touristing, you can easily hop into a cab from the line of waiting taxis outside the hotel to take you to a restaurant. While the ancient local attraction Smyrna isn’t quite as elaborate as some of the other Greek sites in the environs, it is still an interesting enough spot for a short stroll through, especially if you are a history buff.
The bottom line
After having some incredible bites in Izmir (kebabs! pistachio halwa ice cream! grilled fish!) and seeing the nearby Hierapolis and Pamukkale, it is unlikely that I will be in Izmir again any time soon. However, if I find myself there at any point in the future, I would be more than happy to stay at the Izmir Marriott again.
The room was comfortable and they did a great job of recognizing my Titanium Marriot Bonvoy status with the room upgrade, welcome amenity and great breakfast at the executive lounge. A hotel that pays for your happy hour beers gets positive marks in my book as well!
