Erkanlı Country Hotel

Erkanli Country Resort is a family-owned hotel, set in spacious gardens, with its own spa and riding facitilites. What once started out really as a hobby has in time become a sizeable commercial enterprise. Originally, we moved to the country with the desire to leave behind the noise and pollution of Istanbul in order to lead a less stressful, healthier life together with our children and animals, at that time, 3 horses and a dog. In 1992, we set about fulilling our dream to build a country house and got down to the necessary tasks of planning the basic infrastructure and designing the house, stables and garden. From farmland without water or electricity, we slowly began to build our dream home. Progress was not always easy, but thanks to the combination of Yavuz’s engineering training, practical mind and hard work, together with my complimentary designing skills, we were soon the proud owners of a family house, barn and stables for 10 horses. We also made ourselves a small open arena where we could school the horses but we soon realised the need for a covered manege, in which to ride in winter, partly to protect us from the cold weather, but also because it was hard for the horses to find sound footing in the clay soil. Friends came to visit as the project developed, with the addition of a swimming pool amonst other things, and often expressed a desire to stable their own horses with us. With this in mind, we decided to construct a covered manage building in line with world standards and to establish the riding business as a commercial enterprise. As part of the riding complex we then added a large outdoor manege and rustic cafe bar. The riding business has now been in operation for over 15 years and we have added paddocks, a walking machine and an enclosed lunging arena to ‘break’ and train young horses.