When Ayla Emiroğlu moved here in 1977, there was little more than a few simple houses, cars and stray cats in Bodrum. It was a couple of thousand years after Homer talked about the “wine-dark sea” of Aegean, but the sprawling peninsula adorned with its sweet orange and lime trees still possesed that ancient beauty, a faint decadence where the blinding rays of the sun meet the immersive blue of the sea and sky.  “Bodrum was my freedom” says Emiroğlu, the enchanting owner of Maçakızı, the hotel that helped make this town a destination for the global glitterati… A suave yet subtle Bodrum resort, Maçakizi is Turkish for Queen of Spades, which here on the Aegean coast is a symbol of intelligence and beauty – two things this stylish resort has in, well, spades.  Macakizi is a beautiful boutique hotel with its private beach and prominent restaurant. It is situated on the north of the Bodrum peninsula in a lovely village called Turkbuku and 40 kms away from Bodrum Airport and 22 kms away from downtown Bodrum.  As the resident chef spends his morning diving for dinner (literally), the gentle chatter of pottering guests flows through stone-studded gardens and the aroma of freshly-baked Baklava wafts from the hotel’s restaurant. Slumber beside the shimmering Aegean, or – if you’re feeling a little tense – visit Maçakizi’s masseurs up on the pine-lined deck.

FACILITIES & SERVICES

Spa with treatment rooms, boutique selling cushions, kaftans and other knick-knacks; gardens, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen Bose TV, minibar, bathrooms with rain fall showers and Aqua di Parma bath products.  There’s a small pool to one side of the breakfast terrace, surrounded by blossoms and shrubs. 

ROOMS

Seventy-four, including 21 suites.