Alaçatı Ala Hotel, whose story of existence was rewritten from the remains of a single room stone house, said hello to the season with normalization in the new type of coronavirus epidemic. Architect Orhan Bayrak told the story of Alaçatı Alâ Hotel and pandemic preparations from the past to the present.
Alaçatı Alâ Hotel waits for those who want to experience both an isolated and unique holiday experience and continues its boutique service concept, which it has maintained since 2010, in the new season of 2020 with high-level hygiene measures. We came together to learn the details of Alâ Hotel, which has 20 rooms, each decorated differently. Architect Orhan Bayrak, Chairman of the Board of Directors, answers the questions we are curious about the hotel as follows:
It is very important for me to have a story for every work I have a signature under it. As Kinesis Construction, we do works that blend the traditional with the modern without contradicting the historical structure of our region. The memory of the spaces also enables us to add very beautiful details to our projects. In addition to the Ala Hotel in Alaçatı, we have two more boutique hotels, Jurnal Hotel in Asmalımescit, one of my favorite places in Istanbul, and The City Suites in Ataşehir.
As for the story of Ala Hotel, it stands at a completely different point for me. We rebuilt it from the remains of a one-room stone house dedicated to my father. Alâ Hotel draws attention with its architectural structure, which is the result of the combination of Alaçatı’s stone building tradition with bay windows with a modern aesthetic interpretation. As a concept, we remained loyal to the design of the old Greek houses. Although it is in the heart of the region, we paid attention to the details that will make our guests experience silence, comfort and privacy. In our hotel management story that started with Alâ Hotel, we aimed to bring a new breath to the sector with our understanding of service and architecture. In line with this goal, we have created a unique intermediate hotel form that does not compromise on elegance and comfort, but not with the idea of a luxury five-star hotel. We believe that the understanding of the kind of hospitality with more accessible prices but with a five star hotel comfort is missing in Turkey. This idea actually plays a key role in the satisfaction of our guests.
How did Alâ Hotel prepare for the pandemic?
At Alâ Hotel, we have always given priority to privacy and boutique service comfort, and we have taken care to ensure that our service quality is one step ahead of our guests’ expectations. The first principle of our business since 2010 is to make our guests feel at home. With this motto and by blending nature and love in the heart of Alaçatı, we offer our guests the peace that they rarely come across due to noise in their inner city life. We maintained the same sensitivity in this process, and the subject of cleaning, which we have paid attention to at the highest level, has now gained a new dimension and importance. As a professional enterprise, we were already providing all the necessary conditions for our guests to ensure the hygiene onditions in their homes during their stay.And now these conditions have become rules and guidelines set by the authorities. We properly fulfill the hygienic conditions we are obliged to provide, from the cleaning and disinfection standards of the common areas to the precautions to be taken by our staff.
Periodically, ministry-approved disinfection processes are carried out in our facility. We also train our staff on the Covid-19 protocol determined by the authorities. As soon as our guests arrive, we check their temperature without contact. We follow up the implementation of the measures by informing them to comply with the directions regarding social distance. For the necessary equipment, we have a disinfectant, mask and glove stand at the hotel entrance. We ask if they have chronic ailments, the places they have visited in the last two weeks, and whether they have had COVID-19. We aim to minimize the risk of contamination by using a separate protective equipment set for each service in our operations. These difficult days will surely take place in the dusty pages of history one day and we will go back to those quiet days again. In this process, we will continue to work and serve our guests without compromising our precautions.
What has changed? Are there any innovations customers will encounter?
While redesigning our lives during the epidemic process, we have come to operate Ala with the understanding of maintaining a house full of our family members; in other words, we operate the hotel in accordance with the rules, take maximum care of our family, but never compromising the comfort. We completed our minor arrangement and equipment renovation works at the facility. We think that these changes will also be appreciated by our guests for whom we take the existing comfort to the next level and support a superior service quality.
How was the last season?
We were very happy with the last season, we closed it with 100 percent occupancy. Before the season started, our goal for this year was to multiply our success we recorded last year. Of course, the fact of the pandemic that entered our lives in the first quarter of the year was a surprise for all of us. On the other hand, we observe that in these days we are moving towards normalization, the longing for the village holiday that everyone loves and offers the tranquility they seek is endured. We will be the address of those who want to get away from all these experiences.
How do you think this season will be?
The incoming requests show that this year will also be a good year, because in our 11th year, the biggest gifts for us from our loyal customers were to show their trust in us by choosing Ala’s houses. In short, we are waiting for a Alaçatı season in Alaçatı and we look forward to meeting our new guests.
