Kartepe, Turkey

Visitor reviews for Kartepe

• February 25, 2008
  murat from TURKEY
  

  Is this a ski center or a picnic center? I am not sure indeed. But what I am sure is that this is the worst ski center in the world! Majority of the people lined up for the lift are not the skiers! People use the lifts for the cafe at the top of the trails. So skiers spend much of their time waiting in the queue for the lifts. Imagine 30 minutes waiting in the queue (this is not a joke indeed) for 5-7 minutes skiing down the slopes of Kartepe.
  On top of this, snow quality was terrible: crust and icy.
  The last but not the least, is the road. 18 km of the road was blocked by the local people intending for picnic. They parked their cars alongside the road. It is, indeed, one hour driving to Istanbul. if you do not count another one hour that you need to spend to pass this 18 km till Masukiye. Thus, Kartalkaya is closer and nicer.

• February 15, 2008
  can elmas from TURKEY
  

  This is an update to my previous review. One week day I get off from home in Central İstanbul at 8 am and I was skiing at 9.30. Weather was nice, about 20 people on the slopes. Having tried the slow Geyikli chairlift and 20 second ski run drag-lift, I went up to Kartepe the main lift. There are several ways down, very enjoyable. There is also off-piste opportunities but the snow is not powder and I did not dare by myself.
  By 3-4 o clock I was at work in İstanbul, just pretending I overslept!!
  Hotel is same old. Expensive, with no mountain feel, nice but unprofessional staff.
  So you should try it on a good week day.

• February 14, 2008
  Payam Ghanaat from IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
  

  I was there (06.02.2008 to 09.02.2008). The hotel and resort were good and meals were very good but I had a problem with the reservation. When I showed my voucher to the hotel reservation, the reservation guy with frowny face told me "you are not in our list and your reservation is not correct!!!!!so I was surprised and telephoned my travel agency and they connected to the hotel manager. Finally, after 1 hour I got the room key???!!(although I reserved 10 days before).
  The main ski lift (Kartepe) is short and very slow, but it has a slope for expert persons. You can use it and enjoy it. School ski in Kartepe has very good teachers like Mr.Tourjay, Mr.Mert and if you want to learn to ski they can help you.
  Result:hotel is good, there is a friendly environment, the skiing is not bad and you can rest and enjoy your time.

• January 13, 2008
  Mete from TURKEY
  

  I just returned from 3 days ski trip from Kartepe. I stayed at The Green Park Hotel Chalet. Hotel meals and service was good. There are 3 main ski runs. Kartepe is the hardest, Geyik alanı is medium level.
  My after all opinion is good. It is very close to Istanbul. Only 1hr 15 min. Great snow quality. Sundays are extremely crowded so you gotta wait at the lifts long times and watch out for amateur skiers.
  You should try Kartepe. It is a cute, white paradise.

• December 25, 2007
  cem from TURKEY
  

  Hotel is nice but expensive, like lifts and renting. You have to go before 7:30 to the hotel if you are going at the weekend for a day because it's very crowded at weekends. Problem is half of the people staying at the hotel are over 40 and they don't ski. You can't get their skis if you are not staying at the hotel. Skis just stay there and they tell you that there are no skis left. If you enter their website they tell you that there are 900 skis and 100 snowboards. Actually it is 200 skis (maybe less then that) and 20-30 snowboards.

  -_-'

• December 14, 2007
  Adventure izmit from TURKEY
  

  Kayak ve doga sporlari malzemeleri satis merkezi

• October 31, 2006
  Gokhan from TURKEY
  

  Kartape has got just one hotel. Kartepe is close to Istanbul, so it is suitable for daily trips. The ski runs are just for 2 minutes ski. For the next ski, you should wait 10 minutes for the lifts on the weekends. Sometimes, the lifts are closed because of the weather conditions. The ski runs are just suitable for beginners and intermediates.

• March 20, 2006
  Bert Zwep from NETHERLANDS
  

  I was there 19 to 26 Feb. 2006 with my wife and children. On Monday the two main lifts were closed, the other days they were all open. The maintenance of the lifts and ski runs do not fit international standards. From Monday till Friday it was very quiet and there were no queues for the lifts. On Saturday I stopped skiing early because it was too crowded. You have marvelous views from the top of the hills and the personnel from the hotel and lifts are very friendly. For advanced skiers there is just one short slope; the rest of the slopes are for beginners and intermediates. Watch out for non-experienced skiers. There are a lot of them and they like speeds they can’t control. Nevertheless, I had a nice week there.

• March 08, 2006
  mehmet avsar from TURKEY
  

  Kartepe has got a good hotel. That is all. If you are looking for ski, get out of this place. They have got lots of lifts but few of them operational which is not sufficient for demand. You have to wait 30 minutes in the queue just to get on the lift and just for 2 minute ski.
  If you spend all day, you may ski 10-15 minutes but for sure you definately wait 6-8 hours in the queue.
  Think about kartalkaya instead of Kartepe or Uludag

• February 22, 2006
  can elmas from TURKEY
  

  Now some serious review. Kartepe is a blessing for İstanbul, that is about it. The resort and hotel are new, not very organized. Weekends are terribly packed. I could not go on to the main lift, Kartepe, because there was wind and fog up the hill. But I heard that the main lift was not open in the last week at all. That is a problem with Kartalkaya as well. When the weather is a little bad they shut down Koroglu lift which is the only decent one there. Geyikli lift was open for 1 hour. İt is an extremely slow lift, 12 minutes going up and 2-3 minutes skiing down. The teleski is very short, but fun pistes at two sides.
  These three lifts are not well connected at the bottom so there is some walking required. And they charge 20 usd for weekdays and 40 usd for weekends for these lifts. İt is a ripoff. The hotel is also expensive. Catering to İstanbul elite..
  Overall, scenery is beautiful, skiing is not so much fun.

• January 22, 2006
  KODOSK from SWITZERLAND
  

  kocaeli doga sporlari kulübü & kocaeli kayak ihtisas kulübü
  www.kodosk.org.tr

• January 20, 2006
  HAKANTANTA from SWITZERLAND
  

  KOCAEL? DO?A SPORLARI KULÜBÜ

• January 17, 2006
  Ali Galip from TURKEY
  

  Wonderfull place. It's so near to Istanbul, Bursa and Adapazar. How we didn't discover this place before...We are too lucky living in Istanbul.