Our fifth day in Selçuk, we had a Turkish breakfast at a nearby hotel/restaurant called Ayasoluk. It was delicious and the hotel grounds were super cute. If you needed a hotel stay, I’d definitely consider this place. It had a nice pool and the manager was wonderful. Breakfast was buffet with made to order eggs. Great location.

Pamukkale was 2.5 hours drive from Selçuk and we stayed at the Venus Suite Hotel. It was a simple hotel, but I’d have put it more than the 2 star rating on Googlemaps. We stayed in a quad room–double bed plus two twins. It was ground floor and right near the exit to the pool. Check in was easy. We had promised the kids an afternoon in the pool. So they swam while I watched them (and swam too) and the other adults took a walk around town. The pool area was pleasant and in a courtyard type space. We ate dinner at the hotel outside and the food was good. A/C in the hotel room worked really well, which is a huge plus. Next morning we had a buffet breakfast and the spread was massive. Huge amount of choices. Many of the hotels in Pamukkale are similar–pool, restaurant, basic but comfortable rooms. They cater to those spending 1 or 2 nights as they pass through.

We decided to do all of Pamukkale’s sites in one day as the ticket is only good for one day and it’s pricier than some. However, if you have MuseKart, you could do it over two days. Some people will do Cleopatra’s Pool or the Travertines on day 1 and Hieropolis Ruins on Day 2 or reverse.