Because the perfect way to relax after a day on the slopes is a trip to the hammam.
It ’s winter in Türkiye , but I ’m not even a little bit cold . Earlier today , I bundled up and shivered amongst snow - covered evergreens . Now , I lie on the heated marble slab at the center of ahammam , a Turkish bathhouse , while the attendant scrubs my body with a coarse cloth , or kese , shed off the dead peel . The sound of red-hot track water echo all around me as I am gently rinse off , then covered with silky soap bubbles and rinse again . Seal smooth , I rise from my stony quiet and the accompaniment lead me through passive hallways to a way with a massage tabular array , where she proceeds to expend the next hour ensure my muscles have never felt quite so relaxed . I come out from the hammam in a fog , riding the elevator to my hotel elbow room where I look out the windowpane over a clean expanse of mountain slopes dot with skiers and snowboarder . This is , after all , a ski resort — but it ’s unlike any other I ’ve ever been to .
I raise up in a skiing kinsperson . Every winter , we ’d labor a few hours from Boston to the snowy flock wait in nearby Vermont or New Hampshire , car filled to the rim with appurtenance . With that backcloth in visiting American ski resorts , I was curious to see what ski civilisation reckon like in Türkiye — a place I ’d long associated with the markets and minarets ofIstanbul , and the stone steeple and cave ofCappadocia , but had exhaustively failed to imagine covered by a blanket of snow .
My journey to a Turkish ski mount prove longer and more involved than those abbreviated machine rides to New England ’s slopes . I spent nine admittedly comfortable hour installed in a plush lie - down derriere in Turkish Airlines ’ business class before landing in Istanbul . From there , we drove northward for four hour , finally turning onto a poop road that climbs into the mickle . As the car arrive at elevation , I glimpsed tall needled trees , then snow . White flakes roam idly through the strain . A family clustered outside their stopped car , busily rolling out a snowman on the side of the road — a prospect from a real - sprightliness snowglobe . Still the car climb , last pulling to a stop outside ofKaya Palazzo Kartalkaya , one of the most popular ski resorts in Türkiye .
Photo courtesy of Kaya Palazzo Kartalkaya
From the exterior , Kaya Palazzo looks like just about any ski repair in the US or even Europe , with lodge - like structures overlooking its 15 well - groomed slope . But venture indoors , and you ’ll forthwith remember you ’re in Türkiye : A huge chandelier in the lobby drips with crystals , illumine pipe bowl of yield and sweet . The enormous hotel sideboard , which serves three repast a day for guests who prefer the all - inclusive parcel , does Turkish breakfast just right , from the heap platters of olives to the traditional pastries and dessert . The slopeside Palazzo Lounge , a busy restaurant that turn into a raucous nightclub afterwards in the evening , serves Turkish cuisine alongside a wide range of international drink and dish — and course , there ’s always the option to fume hookah . There ’s also the fact that 85 % of the refuge ’s visitant are Turkish — and mostly excited to ask where you ’re from . And , then , of course , there ’s the hammam , which is a far cry from your average post - slope health club offerings and a true enhancement to the skiing experience .
“ guest love hammam experience peculiarly after skiing because it is salutary for the hide , equilibrate rake circulation , and helps to obviate toxin from the body due to the heat of the bath , ” explain spa manager Özgür Sedalı . According to Sedalı , “ a hammam is a place for healing and refining , ” and I sure enough believe it after my first experience in the Turkish baths , which disappear away any lingering soreness in my muscle and have me forget the lasting overindulgence of the past few nights at the Palazzo Lounge .
It ’s a skillful reminder , too , that I ’m adventure far from home . Some trappings of a traditional ski resort are present here : the ever - of import ski rental room with its mountains of gear wheel , lobby and sofa space illuminate by flickering fireplaces , and cosy couches clad in leather and tartan . There ’s also Swiss Fondue , an onsite fondue restaurant with an atm that belongs in the Alps around Christmastime — enough to warm up the hearts ( and frigid fingers ) of even the coldest skier . But at its core , Kaya Palazzo Kartalkaya feel unambiguously Turkish — so you’re able to have your ski vacation and a ethnical experience , too .
On the slopes.|Photo courtesy of Kaya Palazzo Kartalkaya
In the hotel lobby.|Photo courtesy of Kaya Palazzo Kartalkaya
Inside the hammam.|Photo courtesy of Kaya Palazzo Kartalkaya
