Kahramanmaraş has a number of small 2- and 3-star hotels, but the best hotel in town is actually 10 km (6 miles) west of town on the D825 highway to Kayseri(map).
Let me tell you about the Ramada Kahramanmaraş:
After a long, hot day of driving and researching information for TurkeyTravelPlanner.com, I arrived at the hotel around sunset.
I was welcomed warmly and efficiently by the staff and shown to a smallish but quite comfortable non-smoking room with a sunset view of mountains and lake.
I wanted a hot shower. I wanted a cold beer. I wanted air conditioning that actually cooled the room to 22°C (72°F), or maybe even a few degrees cooler.
Believe it or not, these simple comforts are not always available at even some expensive, supposedly 5-star hotels in Turkey.
But they—and much more—were mine at the Ramada Kahramanmaraş.
I unpacked. I found an outlet on the wall above the desk so I could easily plug in my power strip (charging three camera batteries, iPod, mobile phone). I didn’t have to crawl under the desk to find an outlet!
In some supposedly top hotels, there may be only one outlet in the entire room…near the floor behind the bed!
At the Ramada, there were twin outlets on both sides of the bed, conveniently located above the bedside tables. I could plug in my laptop to check my email (free Wifi, worked on the first try), write in bed (as I often do at the end of a long day.) And I didn’t have to unplug the bedside lamp to plug in because there were twin outlets on each side, enough for both the lamps and my computer!
Okay, and the aforementioned bedside lamps were good reading lamps! Try finding those in 98% of Turkey’s better hotels. You won’t!
I took my nice hot shower and discovered that the huge snowy bath towel was not only large enough to wear, it was nearly large enough to inhabit.
The giant full-length mirror was kinda scary, but wouldn’t be for people who dress better than I do.
The minibar has a glass-front door, making it easy to see what’s in it: a good selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The chilled bottled water is free, as it should be (but often isn’t).
Bedtime: four pillows, plenty even for Mr. Prop-Up-in-Bed-and-Read.
In the morning, windows that open for the morning air, and complimentary coffee- and tea-making set (I wake up early).
This place is really, truly, fully, 4-star international-class in every way, and I highly recommend it. They know how to do things right here.
And its location, 15 minutes’ drive west of town, is actually a bonus. Whereas you could spend an hour or more finding the location of a hotel in the city center with its one-way streets, frantic traffic and lack of street signs, it’s simple to find the Ramada: just follow D825 highway signs toward Kayseri, then 10 km from the city center, look for the white tower on the right (north) side of the highway uphill from a set of traffic signals (map).
When you do, mention TTP. Here’s why.
Ramada Kahramanmaraş
Üngüt Mah. Hanefi Mahçiçek Bulvarı No:286
46050 Kahramanmaraş / TÜRKİYE
Tel: +90 (344) 211 10 10
Fax: +90 (344) 211 09 09
| Kahramanmaraş |  |
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