by I would expect many things from Bijal, Turkey’s newest luxury resort, but a late-night choral song was not one of them.
And yet, on my first night, as I walked back from the palm-framed terrace at the relaxed Beach House restaurant, a cacophony of tweets, cheeps and chirps rose from the narrow waterway that ran parallel to the pavement.
Tree frogs and cicadas, late night birds chatting to each other; a lack of natural chatter that made me think I was somewhere much more tropical than Turkey.
The feeling remained the next morning, wandering up to breakfast past elegant manicured flower beds, filled with scarlet hibiscus, vivid-pink bottle brush and magnificent tendrils of bougainvillaea, three pine trees rising like sentries above the low-rise, art deco-style ClubHouse is the heart of the resort.
On the ClubHouse terrace, wide rattan sofas and high basket chairs- side tables with white linen; outside of the soft hum of jazz music and the occasional muffled hum of a golf cart shuttling guests back and forth, all was quiet. Delightfully, all-encompassing and quiet, as if I were a squirrel hiding on some island, rather than in a large Turkish resort town.
An island ideal is exactly the vibe Bijal’s designers were aiming for; recreating the effortless, barefoot luxury that defines its Indian Ocean sisters, Joali Maldives and Joali Being – without the sky-high price tag (a stay at Joali starts at around £1,300, almost double the nightly rate at Bijal).
With only 19 villas, with three restaurants, two bars and a group of quietly charming butlers, on hand 24/7 to serve every whim, this is life away from the 500-room resorts that Side is known for, . and more than a match in terms of service (and price) for the big hitters down in Bodrum, including the Aman, Six Senses and Mandarin Oriental.
Bijal is not the first hotel in Turkey to channel a Maldivian vibe, although so far it has tended to be aspects of the resort – accommodation or beach style with a Maldivian feel – rather than the whole.
The Lujo Bodrum resort has sand brought in from the Indian Ocean and a spectacular “Lotus Pier”, with overwater cabanas alongside the stem and a bar and lounge spread across the flowerhead.
In golf-oriented Belek, the luxury resort of Granada is home to a collection of Maldivian-style overwater villas – although in this case the water is a swimming pool rather than the sea. And I’ve always loved the Perdue, in Faralya, with its thatched-roof rooms and hidden feel, even though it doesn’t have a proper beach.
More than anything, Bijal’s size is what sets it apart, setting a new bar for boutique luxury. Many guests stay in their apartment for the duration of their holiday, meaning that the tranquility that came over me on my first morning was uninterrupted throughout my stay.
Whether snoozing at a cabana on the private stretch of beach, or back at the villa with its luminescent, aquamarine pool, outdoor bath and private walled garden, there was hardly a whisper to disturb me.
The hotel’s signature colour, butter-yellow, runs through everything from room keys to bicycles, beach bags and robes and even the sheets (which make climbing into bed like stepping into a puffed, super fluffy egg) . I took part in a ceramics workshop, took part in a highly competitive table tennis tournament and, of course, spent a lot of time on the beach, enjoying that rare feeling of being truly cocooned from the outside world.
I also ventured beyond the rarefied atmosphere of Bijal, opting for a two-hour guided tour of the Side – part ancient city, part seaside tourist attraction, just a few minutes’ drive from Bijal (which you wouldn’t find in the Maldives). .
I am surprised that there was no entry fee for the ruins; the triumphal arches, the colonial streets and the huge amphitheater that are free to explore, with the remains of millennia old buildings scattered between the restored Ottoman houses gathered together on the headland, the magnificent Temple of Apollo rises above them all.
The town is now entirely focused on tourism; shop windows decorated with jeweled handbags, restaurant tables full, the main street full of holidaymakers who had arrived by bus or taxi from the surrounding resorts.
Bijal was close enough for me to walk back; half an hour’s stroll on the sand just as the sun was setting, lighting back the four white marble columns of the Temple with a light of burnt gold.
I promised myself that I would go back down for dinner one evening, but Bijal had evenings too merciful to miss; ice-cold beer at the ClubHouse, Turkish meze – rich with olive oil and unctuous yogurt – and freshly caught sea bass at the BeachHouse, watching the sky fade from blue to lavender to deep mauve, starlit, palm tree silhouettes in half. light.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, perhaps the most impressive meal was an extraordinary sushi plate, arranged like a still life portrait, slices of salmon, eel, shrimp and crab covered in the lightest rice imaginable. But then perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising; I was in the new Maldives after all, just a lot closer to home.
BIJAL One-bedroom villas available from £767, B&B. easyjet fly from Gatwick to Antalya for £74.
