Cave-dwelling with All the Modern Creature Comforts in the Cappadocia Cave Suites

I don't see the eroded-tufa formations that make Cappadocia (Kapadokya)famous as "chimneys," nor do I know what "fairy chimneys" are. Most pinnacles (sometimes called hoodoos) are very, very phallic, and those that are less sheer strike me as "rock teepees" rather than "chimneys."

The cave dwellings (including, historically, 200 underground cities) and Byzantine chapels are very striking. The Cappadocia Cave Suites (Hotel) in the heights of Göreme, provides an opportunity to stay in a cave without sacrificing modern creature comforts.

Each suite (or room for single inhabitants) is unique, with folk art in the niches (hookahs, samovars, an elaborate Turkmenistan caravan helmet, etc.) , ample hot water and heat. Most have Jacuzzis in the bathrooms (an amenity was that particularly welcome to me given some strained muscles).

We stayed in #111, each having our own cave with high-speed Internet, despite being relatively far from the office where the router presumably was located. two terminals in the office are available for customer use, too.

As in almost every Asian or European hotel, I longed for a top-sheet, in addition to the ubiquitous thick comforter. All the top-class Turkish hotels seem to believe their guests are fragile and must be maintained at hothouse temperatures high enough to sustain tropical orchids. In absolutely every hotel in our recent three weeks in Turkey, we turned the heat off or way down... and the cleaning staff turned them up so that the rooms were just as toasty(plus) when we returned to them on the second afternoon...

In addition to two firm-matressed beds, our suite had a padded rock ledge on which to sit, as well as two "easy chairs" with good reading lights. (Some other rooms had larger sitting areas with a rocking chair as well as the two "easy chairs.") There were also lights installed in niches behind the bed, and the hotel gets the prize for best reading light of those in which we stayed.

The bathroom had two of everything in the way of toiletries, suitably "Turkish" towels (in regard to towels "Turkish" means large). I don't know what the exposed hot water pipe apparatus is called (a "horizontal radiator"?), but it was especially welcome for drying clothes.

Almost unique among Asian or European hotels in my experience (something Americans routinely miss), washcloths were also supplied.

There were ample closets, one of which housed a programmable-coded safe). Above the minibar (with sink) was Nescafé and various teas (I prefer strawberry to blackberry in tea, though not in berries) and an electric water boiler. This is a rare amenity in Turkey, even though tea is very central to Turkish culture.

A bit of grit from the ceiling had to be washed down the drain of the Jacuzzi each time. There was a cloth canopy over my head, so that none fell on the bed or me.

The breakfast buffets and the salad buffets at dinner in the restaurant were excellent. I especially liked the stuffed artichoke bottoms. (They throw away the leaves and are surprised that Americans scrape off some artichocke meat from them one at a time.) The breakfast buffet had real coffee rather than the usual Nescafé, multiple kinds of preserves, tea bags as well as Turkish tea, cheeses, two kinds of processed meats. Omelets were available for those who wanted them (though not ham ones: Turkey may be a secular republic, but there are limits... the only filling, as elsewhere in Turkey, is cheese)

Breakfast is served from 7:00 A.M. until 10:00 A.M. Dinner is served from 7:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. Lunch is available upon request.

The staff is eager to please, with key ones who understand English, and I was very pleased by our three nights there. Whoever made up our room decided to supply a wooden bowl for the mess of toiletries I had strewn on the minibar as well as moving out toothbrushes (and toothpaste) to a glass in the bathroom. That is s/he took initiative beyond turning up the heat to meet needs we did not know we had, let alone had requested.

Cappadocia Cave Suites was certainly far more boutiquey than the Dedeman in which we stayed the first time we went to Cappadocia. The hotle is operated by Cultural Folk Tours, indeed contains the Turkish headquarters of the company, which has great expertise in organizing visits not only to sites/sights of Cappadocia, but to all of Turkey. Channel One on the television loops an hour-long feature on its grand tour of Turkey. There is an English-language movie channel and an English-language news channel, but other than watching the Turkey tour, the television in our suite was unplugged, charging laptop, camera battery, etc. (We only had one adapter/transformer along; had we had another, there were other outlets...)

It was too cold to enjoy the courtyards or our suite's porch, alas, or an outdoor swimming pool that is still in the future planning. There are steps inside the caves and between the courtyard, but if one is mobility-impaired, Cappadocia is not a good place to go in general. (BTW, Cappadocia is in Neveshirer Province in Central Turkey, served by the Nevshirer Airport, which is on the far side of Neveshirer from Göreme.)