A room at the Korumar De Luxe Hotel has been named after a British tourist who was their regular visitor for nearly 25 years.
Following his first visit in 1990, Charles Courtney stayed at the Kuşadası hotel a total of 52 times, becoming a firm favourite with the staff and fellow tourists in the process. Even after his wife died in 2009, Mr Courtney continued to holiday at the hotel he loved, located on the Aegean coast in western Turkey.
By 2014, due to his age and failing health, doctors advised that he should not fly any more. However he made one final trip to the Korumar, in May of that year, to say goodbye to the many friends that he had made over the years. Sadly he passed away two months after returning to Britain.
Earlier this year, hotel staff were surprised and delighted to hear from the executor of his will that they had also been remembered by Mr Courtney. The generous pensioner had gifted some of his estate to them.
When reporters turned up to cover the news, staff described Mr Courtney as a “jolly, loving person full of surprises”, and that two years after his death he was “still surprising them”.
Hotel general manager Tacettin Özden said that since opening, the Korumar – one of the region’s oldest hotels – it has tried to consistently maintain attain the highest standards of customer service. This and the fact they had retained staff for many years played a big part in why customers returned to the hotel “20, 30, 40 or – in the case of Charlie – 52 times.”
Such was the affection for Mr Courtney that he was widely regarded as the hotel’s honorary patron and to repay his kind gesture, the Korumar have decided to immortalise his memory by naming the suite he regularly stayed in after him. The sign on the door for room 401 now reads “401 Charlie”.
