DECEMBER 2023
Travel Guide 2024
BEST HEDONISTIC HOTSPOT: Maçakizi, Bodrum, Turkey
Bodrum is in vogue, thanks to the beat of its beach-club scene and its yacht-studded coastline. Which explains why heavyweight hotel groups such as Bulgari, Four Seasons and Maxx Royal – plus Mykonos’ very own Scorpios – are descending on its paradisal perch by the Aegean Sea. But riding the crest of the wave is the original shoreside pleasuredome: Maçakizi, the area’s most glamorous bolthole, which not only has personality and panache but also the most coveted beach-beds in town. The Agnellis and Delevingnes are regulars, as are Lila and Kate Moss. When Bill Gates wanted to throw a birthday lunch, well, no other villa could compare to Maçakizi’s sprawling residence, complete with an enormous wine cellar. That’s why party-planner extraordinaire Carlo Bernardini has been put in charge. But if the private villa – with its own divine boat – is the standout of all Maçakizi’s seductive offerings, the hotel is an alluring warren of hangouts, scattered with Yastik cushions by Rifat Ozbek, and leading to a truly impressive restaurant terrace, carved into a forest of bougainvillea. Here, you will eat the most generous lobster pasta imaginable, thanks to chef Aret Sahakyan. The salads, ceviche and courgette fries are out of this world; as is the lively aperitivo scene, when champagne corks pop while the bartenders work wonders with pomegranates and hibiscus syrup. For any lotus-eater, it’s love at first sight. But then its owner, Sahir Erozan, knows how to have a good time. Whether he’s doing a pop-up at Art Basel, or devising a new arts and cultural festival to bring to Bodrum, this Gatsby-esque figure is as wildly hedonistic as his hotel.