Club Barbarossa
My love of Turkey continues, this time with Club Hotel Barbarossa. This beautiful little hotel, with rentable private villas, offers direct access to the Mediterranean. Can you believe this water? It’s just cool enough to be refreshing, but not too cold to dive in.
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The decor is simple, allowing guests to focus on the breathtaking scenery and the breeze carrying through your suite. Gathering spaces offer ping pong, music and an opportunity to get to know other guests, if you like. The staff is perfectly attentive and incredibly warm; after our three days, they felt like old friends!
Private villas
View from room
The best part of the hotel is simply unwinding by the water. Is there anything better than diving into the sea and whiling away the hours on a sun bed?
Should you want to venture off property, better known Kalkan is just 20 minutes away, offering restaurants, low key shopping and a little change of pace. The much sleepier town center of Kas (pronounced Kesh) has a much less touristy feel. We loved sipping a mid afternoon coffee frappe and watching the locals do their thing.
Kalkan sidestreet 
Kalkan harbor
Kas town
Kas market
One of my favorite things about Turkey is the food. At Club Barbarossa, our daily half board included breakfast and dinner by the pool. I found myself looking forward to waking, just to enjoy the fabulous breakfast spread.
Meals by the pool… 
And the sea
There is also a seaside bar and restaurant with great burgers and cocktails, should you want something to nibble on during the day. On our last night, they prepared a romantic sunset meal on the water for just the two of us.
Located just 90 minutes from the Antalya airport, Kas is easy to reach with a rental car. If you’d rather not drive, arranging airport pickup from Antalya is easy, but then you’d miss out on exploring nearby sites, and the Turkish techno you too many be surprised to find you love. We arrived Turkey at Izmir airport, took in Ephesus and Pamukkale over a few days, and then drove the four hour countryside and coastline route from Denizli south down the coast past Bodrum, to lovely Kas. The route is beautiful and the roads easy to navigate.
On our way out of town, we stopped to see the amazing Lycian necropolises at Myra. Then, one last Turkish tea before heading to the Antalya airport for our ninety minute flight to Istanbul.
Myra 
One day I hope bring the family back to the Club Barbarossa to stay in one of their gorgeous villas. Kas is so beautiful, it formed a lasted impression on us, even a decade later.
