It's nice to be called young again

Some HPB destinations are more popular than others. But HPB Physkos in Turunc, Turkey is notoriously difficult to book. I'm told that some of the villas are booked up at least two years in advance!

Having just returned from a week's stay there, I can completely understand why.

The property is very decadent and luxurious with several large pools and hammocks on the lawn in which to laze in the sun. We had a studio apartment, which the booking staff repeatedly informed us was quite small. However, it was perfectly big enough for our needs with two large balconies, a spacious kitchen-come-living area and a nice double bedroom. As usual, the property was immaculate and equipped with every imaginable kitchen utensil you could ever need. We didn't get round to using the three bread baskets....

View from our second balcony

The pretty town of Turunc is a pleasant five minutes walk. There are plenty of bars and restaurants, a large stretch of beach and a marina with water taxis and day tripping boats to take you around the area. We enjoyed particularly good meals at Tapas Mapas, OBA 09 and Pisces restaurant as well as taking the water taxi to nearby Amos and Marmaris. There is a mini market next door that makes the most amazing pancakes and casseroles that they deliver to your room. You can read about how to get a water taxi on my blog here.

The main appeal, however, has got to be the management team, led by Korhan Demiroz. When we arrived, we had one of the warmest welcomes I have ever received and one of the funniest and useful welcome meetings I've ever been heard (although there was no booze, which for me is a must!). We celebrated a very exciting event while we were there and Korhan even sent a bottle of fizz to our room. A lovely touch from a lovely man.

The best bit however was, we were repeatedly told that "it was nice to have some young people staying at Physkos". Now, being 30 plus some years old, this has got to be one of the nicest things someone could possibly say to me!

And yes, most of the residents were, shall we say, on the greyer side of 50. However, everyone was so friendly and it certainly meant there were no late night parties or loud music!

I've carried on about how great HPB places are on my blog. Having just returned from the nicest one I've ever stayed in, I thought I'd take the opportunity to have another little rave! You can read all about how the HPB system works here and I can't praise the company enough.

The only downside was the naughty old wasps that plagued the pool. But by all accounts they arrive every year at the end of August. There's more about the wasps on my blog here. There was also no free wifi by the pool and since data roaming charges are so expensive in Turkey, this was a real shame.

I will almost certainly return, but next time I will be going in June. And no Korhan, not with children!! Although, who knows what they are doing two years in advance? I barely know what I am doing two weeks in advance so whether I'll be able to book a property may rely on a bit of luck!

I think I hear a buzz.....

We recently returned from an absolutely glorious holiday in Turunc. It's a lovely place, lovely people and overall we had a wonderful time.

However, there was a buzzy little irritant we had for the whole week. Wasps and bees!

They were absolutely everywhere. By the pool, by the beach, in restaurants, on the water taxis. Everywhere! And they absolutely loved everything sweet, so we were dreaming if we thought we could drink fruit juice on our balcony.

And they weren't placid little insects. They were the angry, persistent, aggressive and stinging variety. Everyone we met had been stung at least once and told horror stories of people being rushed to hospital with anaphylactic shock!

The breakfast we tried to have on our balcony which was thwarted by wasps! Look closely, you'll see one in the photo!

We subsequently learnt that the wasps arrive every year at the end of August and stay until the end of October. If you look online, there are quite a few blogs about it in Turunc and the surrounding bays so it is clearly an annual problem.

I have to be honest that, by the end of the week, I had become quite accustomed to them and let them land and zip around me. And the good news is that they go to sleep at night fall. However, the squeeze seemed to go the other way, became increasingly frustrated by the little beggars and was constantly seen swatting and swiping and swearing!

 

When we went to Amos restaurant, I ordered the most delicious red mullet (above). Disappointingly, as it was quite sweet, the wasps absolutely loved it as I was swarmed by them! They had to bring out a little smoke machine to get rid of them! So I ate in a big, plume of smoke!

I can't say it ruined our holiday, far from it. In fact it was one of the most lovely, relaxing, romantic and friendly places I've ever been. I will definitely go back, but maybe I'll go in June next time...

If it was my job, I think I'd enjoy it more!

When we got to Turunc in Turkey, we were immediately told we had to get a water taxi so we could see the coast from the sea.

Having never used a water taxi before, I approached this with a certain amount of trepidation. As someone who suffers from terrible sea sickness, I was worried about how big the taxi was going to be and how much my delicate tum would feel each of the bumps of the sea.

However, the taxi turned out to be more of a fully fledged boat, accommodating around 30 people at a time. Certainly not the intimate, rocky ride I expected it to be.

Turunc Water Taxis

The first water taxi we took was from Turunc to Marmaris. It cost 15 Turkish Lira (which at the time of writing is a around £5) per person for a return journey that took around 45 minutes each way.

Our hotel had provided us with the water taxi timetable. And, since the next one was due to leave at 10.30 we rushed down to the marina to catch it. However, we soon learnt the timetable is more of a guide than a time set in stone. As we waited on the boat for 45 sweltering minutes before there were enough people to merit a trip.

The taxis are run by a large group of swarthy men who stand around smoking, shouting and looking generally quite grumpy. Unlike the many day trip boats that litter the seas around the bay, the boat drivers clearly don't see their role as that of an entertainer or a tourist guide. The boat starts and they drive to the next stop, with barely a look of acknowledgement to their passengers throughout the whole journey. Mostly, they seem to spend their time shouting at other sailors or shouting down their phones.

I really don't understand what they have to be so grumpy about. As the journey and the coastline is absolutely stunning, the sea is fairly flat (to the delight of my stomach) and the air and sea is clean and fresh. Seems like a pretty good job to me!

Despite the stoic old sea dogs, I absolutely loved the trip and we ended up getting two further water taxis to the bays of Kumlubük and Amos. The whole coastline is absolutely stunning and largely unspoilt.

Costing only a few Turkish Lira a trip, it is definitely worth the money and much better than getting the bumpy old bus inland via the treacherous cliffs! Just don't expect service with a smile!

It's HPB darling....

I've just come back from a week's holiday in Lanzarote, staying at the HPB Santa Rosa resort, and I thought I would share with you my experience of travelling HPB style. 

Until a few years ago, I'd never heard of a Holiday Property Bond. I'm not a financial expert, and I am not FSA regulated, but this is how it works as I understand it.

You basically invest in a life assurance bond with HPB and this gives you a financial interest in a portfolio of villas, cottages and apartments across Europe. Your investment gives you a certain number of points a year (depending on how much you invest), meaning you can go on holiday as many times a year as you like, until your points run out.

The next year, you get your points back, and you can start holidaying all over again. Some properties cost more points than others, and certain times of the year cost more points than others. But if you invest a good amount of money in your bond initially, and you are clever with when and where you go, you can enjoy lovely holidays a couple of times a year. And, if you want to take your money out, you can, and if you die, the money is gifted to your relatives (jolly!).

The view from our balcony at Santa Rosa in Lanzarote. The HPB terrace is in the foreground.

So, with HPB, you get an alternative to a fixed timeshare. Instead of going to the same place, year on year, you can go to a range of places with a range of accommodation types. In fact, they apparently have over 1,000 properties! The only costs, after your initial investment, are your flights, a small maintenance charge and of course your drinking money! 

And, although it means that you get a fairly cheap holiday, the accommodation certainly is not cheap. To date, I've only been to two and I've been impressed with both.

Before we went to Lanzarote, we looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor of the Santa Rosa resort. Quite a few of them mentioned that the HPB apartment and pool were much nicer than the non HPB accommodation which is situated on the same site. So much so that the phrase of the holiday became "it's not HPB darling" to describe a second rate experience or person.

One of the beaches in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, a few minutes walk from the HPB site

Our poolside area could not be accessed by the not "HPB darling" people, which made us feel most superior! On the first day, there was a Paella cookery demonstration and we all had Paella and sangria by the pool whilst sneering at the "other" people over the fence! And every now and then, we would pop over to their side, just because we could!

When I booked the room, I was told how many steps there were to my front door, the size of my balcony and also whether I had twin or a double bed. The self catering apartments had every single utensil you could possibly require - more than in my house! There was even a wine cooler, for my El Grifo Malvasia Colleccion wine that I drank while in Lanzarote. Amazing attention to detail, and very HPB.

Oh, and did I mention about the free wifi?

The HPB St Brides property with its sweeping driveway

I've also been to a property near St Davids in Wales called HPB St Brides. We went for a family Christmas and it was lovely to stay in 99 acres of parkland, by a castle which you reached via a long, sweeping driveway, flanked with spectacular views of the sea.

As you can see, I'm a bit of a fan! I've just booked Turunc in Turkey for October, which also looks lovely so I'll let you know how I get on.

Please note. I do not work for HPB and I am not FSA regulated. Therefore, if you are interested to invest in HPB, I would suggest you visit their website or ring them to talk it all through, as I am sure there are a range of exclusions such as minimum investment etc they would have to go through with you: http://www.hpb.co.uk/howitworks/