For a weekend project meeting and some quiet away from Istanbul noise, we narrowed options from Marmara Island down to Taraklı and found the Taraklı Thermal complex.
Up front: yes, many complaints online are partly true, but at this price you get about what you pay for.
Because the site is timeshare-built, we looked for an owner renting out and found Vekil Emlak (http://vekilemlakistanbul.com/). That is where trouble started.
The sahibinden listing: https://www.sahibinden.com/ilan/emlak-devremulk-marmara-bolgesi-25-eylul-9-ekim-arasi-tarakli-termal-de-1-plus1-daire-sadece-150-tl-346584782/detay
On the phone we were told:
- 1+1 flat, suitable for 5 people.
- 150 TL per night, 300 TL for two nights.
- Extra beds on request.
- Most important: the site gives you meal vouchers worth 30 TL; for 1+1 units that covers 4 people, and a fifth person can buy another 30 TL voucher
Those terms were great, so we paid and left Friday night, arriving around 02:30 Saturday. The complex was half finished as reviews said. For two nights we did not mind much and headed to the lobby. Service was not five-star (you are in a timeshare, not a luxury hotel), but the clerk first wanted 160 TL yearly dues or a receipt showing they were paid. We pushed back hard and skipped that, then were told a 50 TL deposit was needed in case the room card was lost and for electricity and water we would use. “So we pay for the power and water we use?” “Yes, didn’t they tell you when you bought?” To avoid cornering the lessor and more drama we paid the deposit and took the room.
The next day I learned, talking to the woman on the phone, that I should have asked while booking: “Sorry, are we the ones paying for electricity and water?”
Minor, but kitchenware was missing from the timeshare and never arrived despite requests. The real blow came Saturday evening at the dining hall. The free 4-person meal vouchers promised on the phone were simply a lie. When we called the Vekil Emlak agent she said she never told us that and asked where we invented it. Then came the threatening line that she had rented us a lovely flat for 300 TL over two days and if we still wanted more we could leave. To keep manners she had already abandoned, I hung up.
After coming that far we stayed the night and returned to Istanbul the next day. The missing items she promised to arrange “right now” never showed.
Advice:
- In my view Taraklı Thermal is a strong investment and worth seeing, and walk the town of Taraklı.
- If you rent there, make sure it is not through Vekil Emlak.
- Ask again whether the unit has anything to do with Vekil Emlak. 🙂
- If you rent a timeshare, settle electricity and water fees up front so you are not caught out.
