The Mardan Palace: Who’s afraid of the biggest “scorpion” in Turkey?

Go for some extra-large oriental splendour this autumn at The Mardan Palace Hotel in Antalya

“Mardan” means Scorpion in Turkish but we may exclude that either Sharon Stone or Tom Jones were having problems with these cute little animals when they joined the big opening party of the Mardan Palace Hotel in Antalya in May this year. Even the most distinguished Hollywood guests were amazed to be greeted on arrival by a sultan. Or at least that is what they thought. In fact it is just the porter clad in the splendid costume of an Ottoman prince. Larger than life may be the right notion for describing this state-of-the-art theme hotel project that is on a scale surely comparable to the Las Vegas super hotels. The pool is bigger than two football fields and surrounded by a canal in which you can circumnavigate the pool in a 30-minute ride in a Venetian gondola. Not forget to mention the hotel contains 2,500 tonnes of gold, 500,000 crystals and 23,000 sqm of Italian marble. This palace of superlatives was the brainchild of Russian multi-millionaire Telman Ismailov and costed him no more than 1.4 billion euros. The hotel boasts a total of 560 generously apportioned rooms in 21 different categories.
I recommend the spa that I would qualify as one of the world’s most remarkable spas with sea-water wave pools and snow rooms. A truly great and decadent experience is the gold leaf wrap! "Golden Girls" will feel rejuvenated afterwards. Although I prefer less grandiose hotels and more intimate resorts when travelling I felt like the female and oriental version of Peter Pan on a trip to some fantasy world. www.mardanpalace.com
Pictures: The Mardan Palace Hotel