The Kestanbol Thermal Springs Hotel lies on the junction of the high road to Körüktaşı and the low road to Tavakli Iskelesi. If you are following the coast road from Dalyan then you will arrive here by default. Coming from Ezine along the main highway you will simply turn right at the end of the dual carriageway at Körüktaşı and follow the road for a distance of 3.3km before you arrive at the same junction.
Visitors to this location are often confused with the layout and quickly come to the conclusion that there is nothing else here other than a large Thermal Springs Hotel. If you park up you will see the ruins of a building on the opposite side of the road to the hotel. You will see that there is hot spring water running here. Don’t be tempted to put your hand in the water – it can be extremely hot.
Kestanbol Thermal Springs is about 16 kilometers from Ezine. The hot spring water contains chloride, sodium, iron, carbon dioxide and calcium. The waters are said to have many benefits and cures for certain ailments which are reputed to include; gynecological diseases arising from infection, rheumatic diseases, arthritis, bone tuberculosis, lymphadenopathy in children, upper respiratory infections, and lung diseases.
The hotel itself has been here some 23 years and it is looking a little tired now both from the outside and within. There are many other more luxurious Thermal Spring Hotels in this region.
Clearly a valuable resource such as this would have been used for centuries. Just by the bridge and before the entrance is an old stone structure which would have been part of Alexandria Troas the main body of which is nearby along the road back to Dalyan village. If you follow the dirt track along the side of the hotel you will see another old stone structure. Both this one and the one by the entrance would have been associated with the hot baths that have been popular here for hundreds of years.
If you follow the track right past the hotel you will arrive at some large fresh water troughs and a dirt track to the right where you will see on the land to your right some old greenhouses and a small stone structure that appears to be steaming. If you walk up to it you will see that the hot water is coming out of the old pipe and the rock base.
Visitors to the Kestanbol Hotel tend to be local tourists from within Turkey, some of whom have been coming here for a number of years. Without a severe upgrade and makeover it is unlikely to attract many overseas tourists.