Dear all
I have just returned from furnishing my 2 bedroom garden apartment within the Mandalya Gardens development in Akbuk. I went with a friend who has also purchased a garden apartment in the same development.
I thought other members may find it useful if I set out the details of our trip just in case they were planning making a simialar trip to the area for the same reasons. I have therefore included as much detail as possible regarding our trip and details of what we did each day. Hope you find it useful.
16th Feb:
Fly to Izmir from Edinburgh (via Gatwick) with BA. Cost £280.
Pick up hire car (Renault Kangoo) at Izmir airport from Sun Rent a Car (
Sun Rent A Car). Cost £220. The Kangoo was really useful as the back seats fold down completely to make the Kangoo a small van.
Drove to Akbuk from Izmir. When doing this drive I would advise you to get on the toll road from Izmir to Aydin as soon as possible as it is significantly quicker. You then need to take the turn off for Soke and from Soke head to Didim. If heading to Akbuk do not go to Altinkum/Didim but stay on the road and follow signs to Akbuk and Caprice Thermal Spa Hotel. Will knock 30 minutes off the drive. Overall you can do the drive in about 90 minutes.
When we arrived in Akbuk we met the developer Besim who let us stay in his previous development (Mandalya Apartments).
17th Feb:
Up early to start the process of buying our furniture. We looked at Engil Mobilya, which is on the main road out of Altinkum passed the Apollon Temple, Bellona whichis on the road to Akbuk from Altinkum, Alfermo, Yaktas and various other furniture stores on the main road into Altinkum. Got quotes from all of them for what we wanted and used them to haggle each vendor down to the price we had budgeted for on each item.
We then went for lunch in Altinkum where we met an English couple who recommended we use a company called Kartal Mobilya. They have an electrical shop on the road to the Appollon Temple (in between Yaktas mobilya and Bellona mobilya) and two furniture warehouse passed the Appollon Temple. We were told to ask for Appo. So we headed to the shop, met Appo and eventually purchased 70% of our furniture from him.
We bought the following:
Zanussi fridge/freezer
Ariston washing machine
Zanussi microwave
Toaster
Kettle
Iron
Ironing board
Clothes horse
Pots and pans
3 seater sofa bed
1 armchair
Coffe table
2 double beds (1 storage)
2 double mattresses
2 headboards
3 door wardrobe
2 door wardrobe
2 bedsite units
4 pillows
The total cost was 4,975 TL which is £2,193 (based on the exchange rate we got of £1 = 2.268 TL). This was after some lengthy negotiations and was over our budget for the above items however the sofar and armchair we bought were expensive and of excellent quality.
18th Feb:
The furniture and electrical goods were delivered to our apartments on this day. We met the guys at our apartments who installed the washin machine, frdge freezer, assembled the furniture etc. We also met a guy from Kartell Mobilya who provided a quote for curtains. His cheapest price was £370 (each) which was more than we were looking to spend.
Once everything was delivered and assembled we paid the drivers and set off in search of curtains and garden furniture.
We went into the local curtain store on the main road in Akbuk and met Idris (who is called Eddie). Eddie came up to the apartment and gave a quote for the curtains. Total price was 630 TL (around £275) which was for the following:
curtains for large french windows in lounge
curtains for other window in lounge
curtains for 2nd bedroom
curtains for larger french windows in main bedroom
We thought the price was excellent and purchased the curtains from Eddie. Eddie could have fitted them that night or the following day but asked if it could wait until Saturday and we agreed.
We then set off for garden furniture. We looked in various shops but couldn't find quite what we were looking for in the Akbuk/Altinkum area for the proce we wanted pay. Bellona had some excellent ratan furniture but their price was ridiculous so we set off for Tekzen (30 minute drive from Akbuk on the way to Soke). Once there we found what we were lookin for although it was still more than we budgeted for. We decided to wait and see if we could find something cheaper later in the week.
19th Feb:
This was the day for our trip to Ikea. When driving to Ikea from Akbuk/Altinkum follow the toll road to Izmir and stay on it until you see signs for Bernova. Once you see signs for Bernova you will see Ikea on your right hand side and you should then take the next exit. It is relatively easy to find.
We spent the day in Ikea buying everything else you might need in the apartment (glasses, quilts, tv cabinet, side table, wall units, kitchen utensils, plates, cutlery, decorative items etc, etc). Spent more than we anticipated in Ikea but we had everything we needed. We also went next door to the Kipa and bought some egg cups and a hairdryer (got a strange look from the person at the till when buying those).
Total spend was in the region of 1,000 TL. Which will be around £440 depending on the exchange rate (hasn't come through on my credit card yet).
20th Feb:
Spent the day unloading the Ikea stuff into our apratments and then went looking for garden furniture again. Still couldn't find anything we liked so ended up heading back to Tekzen. Eventualy purchased the dark brown pvc ratan furniture which cost 990 TL (around £430). This included table, 4 chairs and two stools. More than our budget but it was excellent quality and exactle what we were looking for (we didn't fancy the bamboo furniture we saw elsewhere which wasn't much cheaper and doesn't look as nearly as good).
Also visited Eddie again to see if he could supply sheets and towels. He could he gave us a fantastic price of £120 to supply everything we needed for the properties twice over.
21st Feb:
Fairly quiet day as all we needed to do was meet Eddie at the aprtments and take delivery of the garden furniture. Eddie also helped us drill some holes in the walls so we could attach the wall/shelving units we bought.
By the end of this day we were done and out total spend was around £3,950 which included flights and the hire car. We had hoped to do it all for nearer £3,000 which would have been possible if we were willing to compromise on quality but it was certainly cheaper than the £7,000 we were quoted by the developer.
We also have a few items still to buy. For instance we didn't get a TV, digi box and satelite dish. We really didn't want to put a satelite dish on the property as it would spoil the look of the property. onlInstead we will put in a TV with a DVD player with a selection of DVDs. I figure that you only get BBC world on the basic satelite package anyway. The property is going to be let to companies like Thomas Cook and people staying at the property will probably want something to watch so will probablyt put in a TV, DVD playet and a selection of DVDs. Figure that is better than providing them with BBC world and ruining the look of the property (probably more expensive though).
I have loads of photos of the property and the furnishings etc which I will post at some point (could someone post instructions on how to post photos?)
I would recommend the Kartal Mobilya guys but make sure you negotiate with them. I would also highly recommend Eddie who I think is excellent. Really nice guy, was extremely helpful and provided and excellent all round service.
Hopefully everyone found the above useful. If anyone has any queries please let me know and I will try and help them.
Cheers
Andrew
ps apologies for the long post
Linear Mode
