It's truly amazing how quickly my hotel nominees responded to my emails asking about availability. Trying to make a decision took the better part of a day--luckily, my day is their night so I didn't feel too guilty about keeping them hanging. In the end, I went with Hanedan Hotel. Their email was the friendliest and their rates the cheapest - 35 euros a night which includes breakfast, plus they'll pick me up at the airport for an additional 12 euros, and they give a 10% cash discount. The rooms look pretty nifty and the photo of the terrace where breakfast is served looks incredible!
I'm still waiting to hear when frigging Lonely Planet comes out with their 2007 Turkey guide. According to Amazon, it's supposed to be in April but there's no mention of it on the LP website. It will annoy me to no end if it comes out after my trip. The Rough Guide to Turkey is decent but no match for LP. For one thing, it doesn't give hotel prices. Granted, it does list the websites of the various hotels, but when you're sitting on a bus bouncing over a dusty countryside frantically searching for a place to stay in the town up ahead, a URL doesn't do much good. Argghhh...
The first 5-6 days are tentatively set (and of course, all is subject to change) ...now onward ho!
