Our overseas assistance
We at Creative Traveller believe that our clients should enjoy the privacy that comes with most of our properties. Therefore we do not provide any representative visit unless in emergencies. However, our partners in Turkey, Anna and Serdar Erdamar are based in Bodrum and offer a personal, discreet service by phone to give help and advice. Their working hours are from 9am until 6pm Monday through to Sunday and can be contacted on 0533 2710065.

After these hours in case of an emergency, then please ring 0532 5170984.
At your arrival airport.

All our guests who have booked Car hire or transfers from our agents in Turkey, Caria Travel and are arriving into Dalaman, Bodrum or Antalya airport will be met by a member of the Caria team, who after signing of contract and payment of money will hand over your car/private transfer.

Clients will receive detailed driving instructions prior to departure from the our UK office.

Information guides
In all Creative Turkey properties, we provide a specially prepared information folder, which contains extensive information about your accommodation, the local area, dining out, customs and maximising your holiday in Turkey. Full contact details for local assistance and our overseas office and local partners are also included.

Pool or beach towels
As an extra service to our clients we provide a Creative Traveller beach towel for each guest as part of the linen provided in our villas and on our gulets.

Complimentary welcome hamper
All guests staying in self-catering accommodation will receive a welcome hamper with our compliments. This will include tea, coffee, sugar, milk, spring water and fruit juice.

For our more rural properties, we include with our compliments, either the first night’s meal or an upgraded hamper

This applies to Chalet Vista

Gulet holidays
We also offer a bottle of good quality, local, sparkling wine with our compliments, to be enjoyed during your cruise – just let the crew know when you wish to enjoy this and they will arrange it for you.

Before you travel

Speak to someone who’s been there
At Creative Traveller we are committed to dealing directly with our clients. I have visited our properties and know them well. By speaking to me personally and discussing your holiday needs I can ensure that you book the holiday that most suits your requirements.

Flexible tailor-made service
I have travelled extensively around Turkey visiting our properties and experiencing the type of holidays we offer. I am therefore qualified to give in-depth advice about the destination and help you plan your itinerary in detail.

You will not be surprised with any extra hidden costs
All heating and air-conditioning where applicable, cots, highchairs and car child seats if you book through our agents, Caria Travel are included.
All vehicles are provided with a torch, map, basic first aid and a sunshield with our compliments. We provide detailed driving directions to all our villas and hotels, these will be sent to you with your travel documents.

Honeymoons and special occasions
The nature of our carefully selected properties makes many of them particularly suited for special occasions. Should you have any specific requests (chilled wine or champagne, flowers etc), please discuss them with us when making your reservation. We can also suggest different itineraries or combinations of intimate and romantic retreats to help you celebrate your perfect special occasion.

Booking your holiday
To discuss your holiday to Turkey please call us on 0207 385 5200

We will check the availability and dates of your selected accommodation and discuss your requirements with you.

In order to secure the property of your choice, we advise you to book as early as possible. Family accommodation during the school holidays is particularly popular, so it is advisable to consider a second choice.

Our office hours are 9.00am – 5.30pm from Monday to Friday. However, if these hours are not convenient for you we will endeavour to call you at a more suitable time.

Placing an option: in order to let you co-ordinate your holiday arrangements with friends and family, we may be able to hold an option for you for a short time before you confirm your booking with us. In this case, you will be given an option number as a reference. Please note we cannot hold off options for long, as this unfairly restricts availability for other customers.

Booking confirmation: In order to confirm your booking a deposit of 10% of total price is required is.

* If this payment is made by credit/debit card, the booking will be accepted immediately.

If you are sending a cheque, this should reach us within 5 working days. We do not issue a receipt for deposit payments unless specifically requested. This will be shown on your confirmation/ invoice, normally sent to you within 7 days of receipt of the deposit.

*Please note that if you would like us to help with your flight arrangements, then full payment will be required immediately to hold the seats.

Booking a holiday within 8 weeks of departure: in these circumstances, we require you to pay the full amount for the holiday when we confirm the booking.

Please note that you must have adequate insurance cover whilst on holiday, you must provide us with full details of your policy (including the policy number, name of your insurance company and a 24 hour emergency telephone number).

Pricing your holiday

Two week villa holidays: if you are booking a two week holiday in one of our villas which crosses two seasons, please take the ‘2 week’ price from each date band, add them together and then divide by two.

Twin-centre holidays: we are able to offer twin centre holidays, combining any of our properties in our main coastal resorts, providing you fly in and out of the same airport using our charter flights. Please contact our sales team for further details.

Pricing for twin-centre holidays: take the ‘2 week’ price per person based on the arrival date at each property, add them together and then divide by two. Please then add a £25 per booking to cover extra costs and administration. Please note that if a car is not included in one of the properties, the cost of a private transfer will be added to the holiday cost.

Your villa holiday price includes:

Accommodation for names on invoice
Complimentary welcome pack or first night meal (please refer to accommodation information for full details)
Our specially prepared ‘Travellers Notes’ with holiday information
Government and local taxes
Use of our Creative Traveller facilities found in the accommodation (beach/pool towels, hairdryer etc)

Your villa holiday price does not include:

Accommodation for guests not named on your invoice
Flights
Car hire or Transfers
Any breakages, damage, losses, extra cleaning or outstanding accounts which have occurred during your stay
Tourist visa (£10 payable upon arrival for UK passport holders)
Holiday Travel Insurance

Your hotel holiday price includes:

Hotel accommodation with breakfast for guests named on your invoice (except The Watermill, which is on a half-board basis)
The use of all the hotel’s facilities
Our specially prepared ‘Travellers Notes’ with holiday information

Your hotel holiday price does not include:

Flights
Car hire or Transfers
Additional extras incurred in hotels e.g. bar, meals, telephones and extra services
Tourist visa (£10 payable upon arrival for UK passport holders)
Holiday Travel insurance

Your gulet holiday includes:

Accommodation for passengers as stated on your confirmation invoice
Full board whilst on board your chosen gulet, including unlimited spring water
A bottle of good quality, sparkling wine per booking
local taxes
A telephone service whilst cruising

Your gulet holiday does not include:

Flights
Car hire or transfers
Any meals & drinks taken not on board either of our gulets other than lunch on first day
Any extra drinks required on board
Tourist visa (£10 payable upon arrival for UK passport holders)
Holiday insurance
Paying for your holiday

Payment methods: we accept debit cards (Switch, Maestro and Delta), credit and charge cards (Mastercard and Visa ) and personal cheques. Payments made by credit card will be subject to a 2% charge, reflecting our incurred costs
For payments by cheque, please make cheques payable to Creative Traveller and remember to write the booking reference number on the back. All cheques should be sent to: Creative Traveller,
22 Wingrave Road, London W6 9HF

Confirmation invoice: once you have paid the deposit, a confirmation of your booking will be sent to you by post.

Balance payments: the balance payment for your holiday must be paid at least 8 weeks prior to your departure (or at the time of booking your holiday if your departure date is within this period). The date this payment is due will be on your confirmation invoice.

Please be advised that we do not issue reminders for this payment.

Final documentation: your travel documents, including accommodation voucher and possible car hire and/or transfer vouchers from our partners in Turkey, will be sent to you approximately 2 weeks prior to your departure. Please check them thoroughly and advise us immediately if there are any discrepancies.

Passports and Visas

It is your responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport (with the expiry date at least 6 months after your return travel date) and of any necessary visas. British passport holders require a visa for Turkey which can be obtained upon arrival at your Turkish point of entry. The visa costs £10 per person and is valid for 90 days. Other passport holders should contact The Turkish Consulate on 020 7591 6900 for further information.

Please note: children not on an accompanying parent’s passport before October 1998 are now required to hold their own passport if they are under 16 years old. If you are 16 or over and you do not yet have a passport, it is recommended that you should apply for one at least six weeks before your holiday. The UK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and from October 2006 they will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this.

Health & Safety

At the time of going to press (November 2005) there are no vaccinations required for entry into Turkey, but please check with your local GP for up to date information. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office may have issued information about your holiday destination. You are advised to check this information on www.fco.gov.uk or alternatively call them on 0870 606 0290.

Simpson Travel is committed to raising the standards of Health & Safety throughout all our programmes. Our customers’ safety and well-being is of the highest importance of us. However, please note that since many of our properties are private homes (giving them unique character and individuality), it is not always possible to meet the same exacting standards that we enjoy in the UK.

Accommodation only

All our prices our “accommodation only” . If you would like us to arrange either your flights or car hire/transfers, then please call us for a quotation.
Passports and Visas It is your responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport (with the expiry date at least 6 months after your return travel date) and of any necessary visas.

British passport holders require a visa for Turkey which can be obtained upon arrival at your Turkish point of entry. The visa costs £10 per person and is valid for 90 days. Other passport holders should contact The Turkish Consulate on 020 7591 6900 for further information.

Please note: children not on an accompanying parent’s passport before October 1998 are now required to hold their own passport if they are under 16 years old.

If you are 16 or over and you do not yet have a passport, it is recommended that you should apply for one at least six weeks before your holiday. The UK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and from October 2006 they will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this.

Children/Infants

Travelling with children
Whether you are travelling with an infant, small child or teenager, we will be happy to advise you on the suitability of your chosen accommodation.

Some of our properties stand out more than others as being more suitable for children due to the style of the rooms, location or facilities.

Child-friendly properties: please find a short checklist below:

Jasmine Eve - Gocek
Hisaronu Golden Key Hotel
Dalyan Resort Hotel
Taş Ev – Kaya Valley
Sakın Bahçe – Üzümlü

Cots and highchairs can be provided at selected properties, please check with our sales team. Cot linen cannot be supplied, so please bring your own.

Infants: Cots/highchairs are available at selected properties, please ask a member of our sales team for further details. Some hotels may charge for cots and we will advise you of any extra costs at the time of booking.

Child-free properties: due to the layout and nature of some of our properties we do not consider them to be suitable for children under the age of 12.

These include:

Küçük Ev in Gökçeovacık – not suitable for children under the age of 8 years
The Watermill in Faralya
Arcadia in Çıralı

Guests travelling alone
We are able to offer special rates for single travellers and some hotels also have rooms designed for single occupancy. A nightly supplement will usually apply. Please ask for a quote.

Occupancy
Only guests named on your invoice are entitled to occupy the accommodation.

Local currency: Credit cards are now widely accepted and most towns have an automatic teller machine for cash withdrawals, although Mastercard may not be as widely accepted. For rural areas and villages, it is advisable to have a ready supply of cash for shopping. A mixture of cash, traveller’s cheques and credit cards will give you the maximum flexibility, although some credit cards may incur a surcharge. Scottish and Irish bank notes are not always accepted and you may be offered a lower rate of exchange.

As at 1st October 2005 £1 = 2.40 Yeni (new) Turkish Lira.

For more detailed information on your nearest ATM machine or bank closest to your accommodation – please check with your local representative.