Page 100 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023 DISCOVERING TURKEY

more than a few dollars by doing it ourselves.
There are two airports in the area. It’s best
to check with your hotel before picking your
flight and landing. We traveled light, with
one checked bag. (We stored the other two at
our Istanbul hotel, where we’d return in 4
days.) The ride to our hotel took about 45
minutes - a great deal for $10.
Our boutique hotel, built of large blocks of
white stone around a central courtyard, was a
few blocks up the hill from downtown Urgup.
“Cave” is part of almost every hotel’s name
here. It’s a marketing ploy, since many visi-
tors are charmed at the thought of sleeping in
one. But often, as with our hotel, there were
no” cave” rooms. We were OK with that and
totally enjoyed the well-appointed room,
handmade furnishings, walk-in shower and
AC, all for less than $100 per night.
The hotel staff was exceptional. The man-
ager and tour director checked us in and re-
viewed all the tours available, including a
hot-air balloon ride. Within 15 minutes, our
itinerary was complete.To bridge the lan-
guage gap, we communicated through Google
Translate and quickly got to know the rest of
the staff. The friendly cook spoke some Eng-

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