Ata’s Place

[Siyabend]

The best way to appreciate Ata’s small, no-frills hotel is to park your car and stroll along the thin strip of beach to reach it. There is no reception as such, just a lounge area so inviting that you want to sink straight into one of the squishy armchairs, pick a cassette from the vast collection and never move again.

Bedrooms are comfortable, if simple, and binoculars and a telescope are on hand to enable guests to make the most of the peaceful surroundings – a protected area extends along the beach past the house. In spring the surrounding fields are awash with sweetly-scented narcissus.

The cheery Ata is an İzmir resident turned fisherman who catches and cooks the fish suppers he serves to guests along with his home-grown vegetables.

His place (which is what the Turkish means) stands in splendid isolation. Karaburun is a good few kilometres away, the bright lights of Lesbos even further, making this a real getting-away-from-it-all hideaway.

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