Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay Bodrum

By Susan Breslow Sardone, About.com Guide

Standing on an isolated cliff atop a remote peninsula that overlooks the impossibly blue Aegean Sea, Kempinski hotels has created a luxurious hideaway for affluent travelers. It's a mouthful, the name of this uncommon hotel. But break it down, and it will make sense to you:

Kempinski - a century-old luxury hotel brand that got its start in Europe and has branched out all over the world
Barbaros Bay - a private inlet of the Aegean Sea on the southwestern coast of Turkey
Bodrum - the closest big city; a port-restaurant-shopping-and-nightlife hub about half an hour away.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here's what visitors in search of fresh air, relaxation, and views that stretch to the faraway horizon ought to know. It wasn't long after it opened in 2006 that Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay Bodrum started winning awards. Among them:

• In 2007, Condé Nast Traveler called the setting “one of the sexiest beaches in the world"
• In a 2008 edition, Condé Nast Traveler magazine deemed the spa "best European hotel spa"
• And in 2009, Senses magazine deemed Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay Bodrum the "best beach resort in the world."

Remote and refined, with soaring ceilings and vast spaces (the indoor ones are sheathed in marble and rare woods; the outdoor ones are breathtakingly panoramic), the hotel qualifies as a true hideaway in a therapeutic climate where the body can revive and the spirit can expand.

Unlike many other hotels in Bodrum and environs, Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay Bodrum is open year-round. Summer — when temperatures soar up to 40C/104 F — is high season here. Yet a November visit yielded an uncrowded and inviting setting where both the infinity pool and beach beckoned.

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