Kalkan Saray Suites

Kalkan's bay is a horseshoe, and Kalkan Saray Suites stands on the brow of the slope above it, high enough to see over the red roofs to the headland at its mouth. The old town and the harbour are five minutes' walk down. Coming back, the same walk is uphill, which is what a view costs. Sixteen rooms and suites share three houses of cream stone trimmed in white, balconies stacked up the fronts and olive trees against the lower floors. The hotel calls the look barefoot chic, and the pale wooden floors are ready for it. Glass slides back onto a terrace of wicker chairs. On the roof, the tables wait under a line of woven shades, with the bay beyond the rail.

Recommended for couples who want the harbour on foot and a sea view to come back to; nobody under sixteen is taken. Ask for a Deluxe, in the Main Building, which has the full sea view; the Classic Partial Sea View owns up to getting only some of it. The Penthouse Suite with Jacuzzi has its own roof terrace over the bay, and the Garden Pool Suite a pool of its own. Breakfast is included. The gulets leave from the harbour below, and Patara's long sand beach and its ruins are about fifteen minutes by car. In the Saray Spa's hamam a Tellak, the bath attendant, gives the traditional wash and soap massage, which the hotel says prepares the skin for the sun. On this coast, that counts as planning ahead.