Touring Turkey - Argos Hotel in Cappadocia

Okay, I lied. I've got one last Cappadocia mention, and that goes to our hotel, Argos Hotel. Be forewarned that there is actually another hotel in Turkey called Argos, but it's on the Mediterranean side. I really enjoyed our stay there, and I would definitely go back just to experience it in much warmer weather. Like many of the hotels in the Cappadoccia region, Argos is built into rock and incorporates stone into the architecture of the room.

I chose the deluxe style room, which was one step above the standard. I think that the main difference between the standard and deluxe was perhaps a little extra room? Argos is about simple, rustic design yet everything felt really luxurious and comfortable.

Bed and desk in our room. Do you see the stone walls?

The bathroom was pretty awesome and has double sinks and a huge shower (I'd say four people could fit in there...really). For some reason, I didn't get a pic of it. I guess I was too busy enjoying it.

Even with the simple modern theme, there was still Turkish elements like the fireplace below. Be forewarned. To light it, you'll need to fork over 20 Euro to the hotel.

I wish it had been a bit warmer, so that I could enjoy the hotel's grounds a bit more.

Courtyard

I personally thought the hotel's restaurant was quite good. We ate dinner here two out of the three nights we were in Cappadocia, and I really enjoyed the meals (a few reminders of what we ate there). There isn't much going on in Uchisar, and Goreme is about a ten minute cab ride away. I think in warmer weather, Goreme is much more happenin', so there are more dinner options there that are less expensive.

After experiencing cold weather all day, it was nice to settle in with a warm fire, meet and chat with other guests and catch a little TV at the lounge. There are no TVs in the rooms. I was fine with that, but I know some people might not be.

Fireplace at the Argos lounge area

Some things you should know (they're not bad things, just things you should know):

1. Ladies, keep your heels at home - Since the hotel (and most of the town of Uchisar) is built into rock, the grounds of the hotel have stairs and in a few places you need to walk on a cobbled stoned street uphill. For our room, we had to walk on this very road for a very short time, but I was glad that I brought a pair of cute flats. You should too.

2. The joys of being in a place with a prayer call - Husband J and I live very close to a mosque in New York City that sends out a prayer call. It's a part of our daily life, so we are actually pretty used it. What we are NOT used to is that fact that the prayer call includes the one VERY EARLY in the morning (we have a noise ordinance in NYC that prevents projected noise during certain hours). For us during our March stay, that meant the prayer call started at 4:30am.

I think the minaret was about 200 feet from our room. It felt like it was IN our room.

Okay, overall review?

Pros

1. Rooms - very comfortable, modern with great amenities. Definitely up my alley. The rooms include spacious bathrooms and no TVs as mentioned above. Some of the rooms required a short walk up the road from reception. If you have physical challenges, you might want to request one that doesn't have you walking very much, if at all. The grounds were beautiful, and everything was tastefully decorated.

2. Location - I did really like being in Uchisar even if it's one of the sleepier towns in the Cappadocia region. It also seems to have some of the nicer hotels in the area. I think things would have been livelier in warmer months, but with such long days touring the Cappadocian countryside, I was pretty fine with a quieter hotel experience. If you want more action, get a taxi into Goreme, or rent a car and check out Urgup. Uchisar suited us fine. Plus, we loved the views from our room.

3. Great breakfast and dinner with wonderful service at the restaurant.

Cons ( I may be reaching a bit here)

1. Iffy wi fi - I'm being pretty picky here, but if you advertise wifi, it should work. We found that the closer you were to reception, the better the wi fi worked. Since we weren't close to reception, the wifi in our room was practically non-existent. Luckily, we had a small easily portable laptop with us, and it worked fine in the hotel lounge.

2. Make sure to get a room on an upper level. In some cases there are rooms on top of each other. I didn't necessarily work out for us to be a on a lower level room. At one point, it sounded like the guests above us were dragging chairs from one end of the room to the next for what seemed like forever. It was definitely loud and slightly annoying. If you can, try to be at the top level.

3. Front desk staff - Everyone at the hotel was very nice and helpful. There were a few times that we asked for advice or assistance, and I think they forgot about us. That's fine. I have the internet and my guidebook, but I think it's important to follow-up with informational requests made by guests.

As you can see, I'm nitpicking here. We really liked Argos and would definitely go back, if staying in Cappadocia again.

If you're interested in other hotels with a similar vibe, check out the Museum Hotel or the Cappadocia Cave Resort & Spa.