As streams of lava and ash lash against nearby hills, and the Göllüdağ, Erciyes and Hasandağı Mountains carve paths of destruction while they furiously erupt, one of Earth’s most mystical, otherworldly landscapes is hollowed out.
60 million years on, after being tempered by wind, snow, and rain, and carved into and under by Roman and Byzantine colonies, myself and the general manager, Cem, are ducking our heads through the underground tunnel networks below Argos Hotel in Cappadocia, Turkey.
As we sip rosé wine made from the grapes of its own vineyard and practice our falsetto to test out the subterranean acoustics, images of donkeys tied to carved pillars in caves and cattle hidden from bandits in curious alcoves may feel like millennia ago if I were anywhere else, but as Cem talks to me about the things these cold walls have seen in a time gone by, the mystique and heritage of this place (it’s literally a UNESCO site) is never far away.
Tell us more about the hotel
The hotel I’m staying at is in Uçhisar, a charming town situated in the heart of Cappadocia, which was once home to one of the world’s largest monastery settlements. Adapting the multicultural history of Anatolia with a unique rustic (but next-level luxury) aesthetic, Argos is home to thousands of caves carved into rock, ancient ruins and underground tunnels that delve deep into the past. These alcoves have provided shelter for the region’s people and their invaders since the fourth century, and now the 71 rooms – including five literal mansions, might I add – each have their own unique charm.
As I arrive off a flight from Istanbul under a veil of darkness, eager to get a good look at what I can already tell will be the vista to end all vistas, I’m greeted by the cheeriest of concierges who already has us in stitches as we jump in the buggy to be chaperoned to our room. It’s one of those hotels – so hilly, cobbled and sprawling that the friendly staff offer you lifts to and from every meal and back and forth from the pool. A luxury that (I’m sure you’d agree) myself and my delighted guest have no business getting used to, but take advantage of all the same.
All we have to go off visually at this point is the tea-stained map we’re inspecting from our welcome packs, along with a straw bag for taking our miscellaneous bits to the pool, some slippers, flip flops and a notebook and pencil, plus some lavender to put next to our pillows.
“The hotel with a village for a heart,” my friend reads out to me from the map, and we inspect the valleys, restaurants, pools, caves and crevices blueprinted on this brown paper before us, while setting our alarms for five in the morning (upon advice from Cem) to watch balloons float through the sky around the hotel at sunrise. I have a growing feeling this will be a trip to remember.
Is it all about the hot air balloons?
I won’t lie to you, the reason Cappadocia secured a space on my bursting-at-the-seams bucket list is because I’d heard it was the place to do a hot air balloon ride. It was the allure of floating through the air in a glorified hamper at dawn that had me choosing my baggage options and inputting my passenger details in the first place. Yes. But I never thought that I’d be just as entranced by the magical cave hotel that hosted me, as I was by sailing through the sky in a big basket.
Film photo of the Argos pool
What a place to while away an afternoon
So what’s so great about it? It has all the hallmarks of a memorable, life-affirming hotel – staff you don’t want to say goodbye to, beds you simply refuse to leave, awe-inspiring settings and sumptuous local food for every. Single. Meal. Of which there are inexplicably so many more than there would be at home. It’s unique, steeped in can’t-believe-I’m-standing-in-the-same-spot-as-they-did kind of history, geographically mesmerising and feels like it’s built in harmony with the landscape and culture it’s enhanced by.
But all of this, typically, doesn’t go hand in hand with the level of luxury available here. Usually there’s some sort of pay off – a trade, if you will, is done. I’ll take your culture and heritage and authentic food and in return will give you a cloud-like pillow and the perfect aperitif. But once in a while you find somewhere, some spot that’s got the balance just right, that values comfort and cleanliness and service that serves to amplify setting and heritage, rather than detract from it. Argos is exactly that – that rare thing.
Having said all that, obviously, the balloon experience was the bucket-list adventure we went to Turkey for. I don’t think I need to tell you about just how magic it was – I’ll let the pictures above do the talking for me – but if you’re wanting to book for yourself we ‘journeyed’ with Discovery Balloons through GetYourGuide and opted for the three hour ‘Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride in Goreme‘.
Should I go to Cappadocia via Istanbul?
Yes! We wanted to get a little taster of this vibrant city while we were passing through, and vibrant it undoubtedly was. We stayed in the posh bit (or so it felt like) at Vakko Residences, which is the happy upshot of a luxury fashion label foraying seamlessly into hospitality. It was worlds apart from Argos – I’m talking monochrome bathroom tiles, fancy shops lining the street it sits on and a round-the-clock butler service. It was unbelievably snappy and perfect for this 24-hour pit stop. We really boujed it up while we were there, ordering room service (a first for both of us) which arrived on a silver platter, plus negronis.
Vakko Residences, Istanbul
Our first ever room service experience
We mooched around the Taksim Square – where I had to tell my friend to shout at me if I tried to buy any more trinkets – drank local beer and munched baclava as we moved through bustling side streets. All the stray cats were impossibly clean and fluffy and the architecture of the mosques was moving and mind-boggling. As we were handed unsolicited lit cigarettes by our taxi driver while he dodged through traffic and ran red lights to get us to our flight on time, we began to really look forward to a few days of relaxation by the Argos infinity pool.
What time of year is best to visit Cappadocia, Turkey?
I visited in July and it was exactly what I wanted – clear sunrises of candy floss pink and crushingly beautiful coral skies, with a terracotta sun lifting its sleepy head each morning. May and June are meant to be the best months to go for Goldilocks (just right) weather, but Cem tells me his favourite time of year here is the winter season. The mountains and fairy coves are covered in snow, blanketing the landscape in another layer of magic.
It’s also surprisingly pleasant when there’s a chill at night here. There’s something about getting cosy inside a cave, with a crackling fire near the foot of the bed warming your toes, that feels almost primeval and instinctively safe. I’ve never slept so well in my life, and apparently lots of guests say the same. I was drugged by the fresh above-valley air and natural landscapes, and according to my Oura ring didn’t wake once during the night for the entirety of my stay.
Is Argos Hotel conscious about sustainability and the local community?
It’s evident from the second you step foot on the cobbled streets of this village-like hotel that the Turkish entrepreneur who stumbled on this site all those years ago went to great lengths to ensure the local spirit and medieval atmosphere was preserved.
The design team for the hotel was comprised entirely of Turkish architects and interior designers, with all materials and patterns in each cosy enclave coming from regional rising artists and makers. Every staff member we befriend here is from the local area, too, and an obvious respect for the hotel’s history and heritage is apparent in every conversation we have, morsel of food we consume and cave we walk through.
Film photo of the fairy tower
The view from our balcony at 5am
As well as wine from the hotel’s own vineyards, we enjoy Turkish breakfasts – shakshouka, Turkish eggs and local cheeses, with as many seasonal ingredients grown in the garden of the hotel as possible. There’s a high-tech composting machine that affords zero food waste status to the establishment, and all leftovers are used to compost the gardens to replenish the supply of home-grown delicious ingredients.
So come on then… tell us about the food!
As we sit on the terrace of Siki, one of the hotel’s two restaurants, on our final night – looking out, of course, at an eight million year old fairy chimney used as a watch tower in the Ottoman era – we contemplate whether it’s possible for any food not to taste sublime in this spellbinding setting.
I guess we’ll never know, but the meals really were the cherry on top of our stay here – we weren’t expecting them to be such a highlight. Siki, the eatery looking out over the fairy chimney, has a focus on international cuisine with a local twist, whereas Nahita (our personal favourite) offered modern Anatolian cuisine, with all ingredients sourced within a 60km radius if not grown on the hotel grounds themselves.
Nahita is where the morning meal is served, and we all know that the Turks just know how to do breakfast. My sweet-toothed guest was in her element and while I gorged on cheese and herby pastes at breakfast, she looked on in disdain, fighting off other guests at the buffet for the warmest fresh flakey pastry on offer.
Lunch at Nahita, introducing a Turkish lasagne
The views from Siki restaurant
In the day time, we munched on salad and fries by the magnetic turquoise pool while psychoanalysing everyone we know one by one (what are holidays for?!) between near-drowning ourselves with sips of Aperol spritz – not, if I remember correctly, a local delicacy, but delicious all the same.
The big underground caves can also be hired out for events and parties, the hotel sometimes hosts jazz concerts in them and they often get booked for weddings and birthdays – think of the acoustics for karaoke.
So, how is it healthy? Is there a spa?
Besides offering one of the most serene scenes I’ve ever had the pleasure of calming my screen-tired eyes with, the hotel offers wellness programs for those hoping to level up their switched-off status.
Argos’ underground sauna
The underground cave pool
There’s an underground pool for use all year round, and saunas and steam rooms in the cave networks below the rooms.
The verdict on Argos Hotel, Cappadocia
Very few places feel quite so synonymous and at harmony with the surrounding landscape than this heavenly hotel. As we hop on the back of our buggy for the last time, with the driver who’s been making us laugh since we landed, we can see the balloons floating through the coral sky for the last time. My friend sits beside me ferociously rubbing her eyes. She tells me they’re puffy because of the ungodly hour, and it has nothing to do with our departure that she can’t look at me.
Though we’re sad to schlepp home as our holiday is over, our stomachs and souls are bursting. We feel that little bit more us, after belly laughs and belly flops and feeling generally full on all accounts. We’ve made friends and enjoyed simple pleasures and learnt so much about a culture and a history we previously knew embarrassingly little of. We’ve felt the love of this place and for this place from everyone who stays and lives here, and it turns out it’s true what was written on that map before the sun had even risen for us for the first time over the valley – this really is a hotel with a village for a heart.
Go there!
To secure a room at Argos for £170 a night pp, BOOK HERE
Or, for Vakko Residences in Istanbul at £305 a night pp, BOOK HERE
