I know I said it on my instagram but I truly felt so fortunate and lucky to be able to travel to Turkey last week for our special trip with the Mandarin Oriental Bodrum. I cannot believe I haven’t been to Turkey before and will be returning for sure. I can not recommend the hotel enough. I was amazed how many of my followers had been to MO Bodrum and loved it… I obviously have very similar taste to them.
I had so many lovely messages about how helpful our stories were sharing our experience of travelling in these crazy times and at the airport and the plane journeys we went on. With everything that is going on in the world I didn’t want to appear oblivious to the global pandemic, but at the same time I also wanted to support The Mandarin Oriental. Truly every detail was beyond fabulous, in general as an incredible hotel but also with regards to the COVID situation.
COVID MEASURES | Temperature checks were taken on arrival, and my lovely Erica who shoots most of my content had her temperature checked in the mornings when she went to gym. Everything was sanitized. Beach towels sealed in individual bags… all food and beverages came sealed, even juices etc. All staff wore masks at all times and gloves. Customized MO Bodrum Stickers marked everything that had been sanitized for extra assurance. Even our suitcases were sterilized before they went into our room. Hand sanitizer was everywhere, at each table of the restaurant and even on the beach.
ARRIVAL | The hotel did an incredible job of taking care of us from our arrival to departure. They provided all transportation to and from the airport in a very nice Mercedes van with masks, water bottles, and sanitization wipes. Upon arrival we were greeted at the hotel with champagne, the girls with special teddy bears, and the most breathtaking infinity view overlooking the Aegean Sea.
HOTEL ROOMS | It was an absolute dream of a holiday set in a gorgeous cove with the properties built into the hillside. The rooms are incredibly huge and clean as you expect from Mandarin. We stayed in the most gorgeous family villa with our own private cabanas, pool loungers, and pool. It was beyond what we could have imagined, many thanks to our lovely butler, Zeynep who went above and beyond with our very busy schedule and truly made us feel at home during our entire stay.
PRIVATE CABANAS | The hotel set us up in one of their stunning private Cabanas directly over the water. We had our amazing Mehmet taking care of us with refreshments and lunches, a gorgeous cabana bed, individual lounging chairs, and plenty of space for the family while socially distanced from the rest of the MO Bodrum guests. The girls had the best time. It was just lovely to be away in the sunshine and feel the sun on my skin and the salty ocean.
BEACHES | Because the terrain is quite hilly there are buggy’s everywhere around the property. The beach itself has beautiful sand and a pebbled beach – The water is divine – Blue Bar at the beach is a stunning spot to have cocktails or a lovely lunch overlooking the beach and while it’s pebbley, the girls could still swim in the waters here.
RESTAURANTS |We were super impressed with the restaurants. Every meal at each restaurants was so good. After months indoors it was such a treat to enjoy every evening enjoying dinner al fresco. Our personal favourite was the Asian which is sister restaurant to a famous Asian group in Turkey. The sushi and food out of this world. The Italian and seafood restaurant was also amazing and I’ve now learnt I’m a fan of Turkish wine. To be fair everything was so fresh, especially the breakfasts. The fresh fruit was absolutely divine.
SPECIALTY SHOPS | Every day we’d return to our family villa with chocolates from the MO Bodrum’s phenomenal cake shop. The chocolates were so good I couldn’t resist the white chocolate truffles. The kids loved the ice cream man on the beach. We started creating our own little routine of one of the hotel’s specialty treats after a day of swimming and enjoying the cabana.
ACTIVITIES | If you’re looking for more adventures, the MO Bodrum offers water sports, water skiing just in front of the hotel, private helicopter tours, and amazing fully planned out experiences.
KID’S CLUB | The hotel does have a nice kid’s club with loads of activities and games. We didn’t use it as the girls love being with us and we were still a bit cautious with distancing measures, but I heard amazing things about it and we really appreciated how the MO Bodrum has loads of activities planned for the girls.
SPA | The Spa was absolutely gorgeous. I’ve included a photo below where you can see how stunning the elaborate staircase is leading down into the treatment room area. Again we were super impressed with all of the sanitization measures. Before Soleil and I had a special spa morning together, they took our sandals with tongs, gave us towels, and of course all of the staff again had on masks. The view from our room was just stunning and the massages themselves were super relaxing, the therapists were amazing.
SHOPPING | The MO Bodrum has a Chanel! Need I say more! And now Missoni and Eres also.. and lots of others. Their Chanel is the most stunning store. It’s architecturally beautiful and they have a beautiful selection on bags shoes and RTW. I don’t actually shop on holiday! but I know most people love some shopping time. I was happily welcomed into Chanel and given the most wonderful gifts as you may have seen on stories. It was truly truly beautiful and made our MO Bodrum experience even more memorable. the store manager and all the staff in the store were so welcoming.
TRAVEL DURING COVID | For anyone curious as to our travel experience, here is what I’ve shared on my stories — I have had so many questions on travelling during COVID times, I am not here to persuade anyone either way, and I know everyone is different, some people are happy to travel and others are not and I can honestly see everyone’s viewpoint. The following is just our experience. We flew from Heathrow terminal 2. The airport was super quiet and very few stores were open, just one coffee shop, one duty free and boots which was actually nice as it stopped people milling around and to be honest it felt safer than a supermarket! No lounges were open and seats were blocked out so you can’t sit near to others. You can’t take any bag other than a handbag or a VERY small bag on board as no overhead lockers are in use to stop passengers getting up and down during the flight. Temperature checks were taken literally before we boarded the plane. I didn’t see everyone on the plane obviously but pretty much everyone i saw had a mask on which was good. We flew with Turkish airways who were excellent, and were told they renew the air on the air on the plane every 3 minutes. Everyone was provided with a hygiene kit as they boarded the plane which was full of wipes hand sanitiser and a mask (I already had a ton of detol wipes) We were lucky enough to be flown business class which was very spacious and wasn’t full so it felt super safe. In economy they blocked the middle seats for spacing but all rows are open. The food was all tightly sealed in boxes and nothing was open at all, drinks aren’t poured and the kids were given juices from cartons with straws and the water and other drinks were all sealed.
From this trip I have found so many followers Turkish and am so grateful for what lovely warm people they are. If you have the opportunity I’d definitely recommend coming here for Holiday and staying at the gorgeous MO Bodrum — we already cannot wait to visit again.
Hotel Accommodation, Dining, Experiences, and Travel provided in partnership with the Mandarin Oriental Bodrum
