The southern corner of Ölüdeniz is a sheltered area, with the green-clad foothills of Babadağ, or Father Mountain, forming a backdrop to the turquoise sea and golden sands of Belcekız Beach. Between these two natural icons of Turkish tourism posters is the Belcekız Beach Club. The area is fortunate to have its own microclimate and the hotel definitely has a tropical, almost exotic feel to it, with large evergreen ficus benjamina (or weeping fig trees), which are native to India, growing everywhere. This hotel is designed to make the most of the climate and the beauty of the Turkish Riviera.

Two brothers, Kutluhan and Bekir Yerguz, own the hotel. Managing Director Kutluhan Yerguz explained how the hotel developed from a few bungalows 30 years ago to the award-winning 217-room beach club it is today. “Back in 1980 there was nothing here at all. To get to Ölüdeniz one had to back-pack; there weren’t any roads. We bought the land from our grandfather and initially we built 10 bungalows and made room for tents and caravans. There was no permission to build anything here but once the plan for the area had been agreed to in 1992, we started the following year to build the beach club in 1993. Over four years we completed the whole complex.”

The Yerguz family is well established in the region; Yerguz remembered when all the land behind the now famous Ölüdeniz beach was undeveloped or agricultural. “Even in 1980, there were only three camp sites here,” he recalled. “The tour operators were sending us their guests by 1986: simple independent holidays for adventurous tourists. By then we had 40 bungalows. SunMed was our biggest operator at that time.”

Now they have space for 500 guests in the well-designed 217 rooms, with three suites. As Yerguz said: “If you follow the rules, there are limits to what can be done in Ölüdeniz. For example buildings are limited to two storeys. You can’t build really big hotels here, which has saved the resort in a way. We have 30,000 square meters here and a beach frontage of 170 meters.” The hotel rooms have been laid out among the grounds, with balconies overlooking the luscious foliage and colorful flowers of the gardens. The harmonious surroundings create an elegant but informal atmosphere. There is a very large main swimming pool but just only a stone’s throw away is the Belcekız Beach and the sea.

“Our hotel is very popular with couples and families with older children, say 12 and older, but we do have facilities, like our mini-club, for small children. We do find that all the children get on very well together. We have lively areas, with shows and entertainment nearly every night. Fire-eaters and dancers perform in the amphitheater and there are several bars, the liveliest of which is called Plasma Bar, all with a different ambience. There is also a playroom for watching movies or playing cards or table tennis. For those guests who want peace and quiet, there is, in addition to the huge swimming pool in the main area, a smaller one with an adjacent tennis court. This is a childfree zone.”

The hotel boasts a beautifully designed Turkish bath, or hamam, where guests can also have a massage or workout in the fully equipped fitness gym. Eating is a gastronomic experience in Belcekız Beach Club with its attractive a la carte restaurant. They have three different menus: Thai, Indian and Italian. They make a point of bringing chefs from these countries every year to perfect the dishes. There is also a buffet which includes Turkish food and a mini-market and barber on-site.

The hotel is an all-inclusive, built in a holiday-village style but one with a difference. With Ölüdeniz on its doorstep, guests can and do eat in local restaurants and cafés and enjoy the activities that are organized in the town during the summer. Yerguz is confident that the resort benefits from his guests, who like to go out into the town. “It doesn’t really feel like a typical all-inclusive hotel,” he said.

“The concept here makes us very different from some all-inclusive hotels. Here, there are no queues, waiters serve at the tables and the bars also provide service. It probably feels more like a half-board hotel to be honest. We also try to source all our supplies locally. For example our butcher is in Fethiye. Also our guest profile is higher than some of the others around here, which means that they do more shopping. Our location means that our guests are just a few steps away from everywhere.”

They have guests from all over Europe. Yerguz is justifiably proud of their reputation. “The majority of our guests are British but they also come from the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. We have excellent reports on the TripAdvisor website, number one in both the U.K. and Holland, and are happy to see more than 50 percent of our guests come back again. We listen to our guests and always try to cater for their every need. For us being all-inclusive works in our favor. It is not in anyway a drawback for us.”

The Belcekız Beach Club opens every year at the end of April and closes in the first week of November. This year, however, with the Kurban Bayram holiday falling at the beginning of November, they have plans to keep it open until the middle of the month.

For more information, please visit: www.belcekiz.com