Turkey’s Hidden Delight

Uncover the Bodrum Peninsula’s unspoilt nature, rich culture and coastal beauty

From the terrace, the shifting Aegean Sea twinkling in the distance is mesmerising. The air is scented with sage, citrus
and olive, and is heavy with the heat of a beating sun. The only sounds are the swallows and warblers swooping overhead and the whispering breeze in the laurel trees.
This is fresco living as championed by Bodrum Loft, an intimate new hotel and villa development on Turkey’s south-west coast, also known as the Turquoise Riviera. It may be just a 30-minute drive across the peninsula from Bodrum, but it is a world away from the bright lights of the town’s infamous nightlife. While Bodrum remains a jet-set destination for party-lovers (it first became fashionable in the 1970s when the likes of Princess Margearet, Michael Caine and Mick Jagger made it a hip hotspot), this latest opening is harnessing a more peaceful allure. Made up of a collection of 36 hillside villas, overlooking the tranquil and unbelievably azure Demirbükü Bay, Bodrum Loft has been built to be camouflaged with-in the landscape. Look closely from the shore and you can just about see glimpses of the stone and wood buildings, as though they are peeking out of the step,