Cappadocia’s best cave hotel: Koza Cave Hotel

By Ling and Jace

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Stays at Koza Cave Hotel: Best Rooftop Terrace in Cappadocia — *Sunrise in Göreme, shot from Koza Cave Hotel rooftop terrace*

Each morning in Göreme, the sky fills with hundreds of hot air balloons. At night, everything in the valley glows. These experiences are extremely unique to the area in Cappadocia, so we tried to find the best vantage points during our stay to take it all in.

Our trip to Cappadocia wouldn’t have been the same without staying in Koza Cave Hotel, which is a unique, family-run accommodation. The view from Koza Cave Hotel is unbeatable, and its terrace is one of the highest points to watch the balloons rising above the valley each morning.

This post is our honest review of Koza Cave Hotel. We’ve put together everything that you need to know about booking a stay, including what the rooms and terrace at Koza Cave are like, the location, how the owners are working towards sustainability, and things to do while you’re in the area.

Note: we paid for our stay at Koza Cave Hotel, however this post contains affiliate links. If you decide to have a similar experience in Cappadocia, we may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

*Sunrise in Göreme, shot from Koza Cave Hotel rooftop terrace*

THE BEST VIEW OF HOT AIR BALLOONS IN CAPPADOCIA

One of the main reasons that we loved staying at Koza Cave Hotel was the view from the terrace. It has the highest hotel rooftop in Cappadocia and the space is only open to its guests in the morning, which means that it’s an unusually quiet spot in an otherwise bustling town.

The rooftop is set up with beautiful rugs, stools for Turkish tea and wine, and cushions against the rocks. A lot of care is put into setting it all up, and it’s a serene place to hang out with other travellers throughout the stay.

If you want to see the hot air balloons from the rooftop terrace in the morning, we’d recommend waking up just as the sun starts to rise. When we visited in Autumn, this was at around 6.15am, but it’s best to ask the hosts for the precise hot air balloon times.

Another incredible way to see the hot air balloons in Göreme is by travelling into the valley at sunrise. We’d recommend this sunrise tour as a driver can pick up from any cave hotel to travel to the most scenic locations for the balloons.

If you are able to include it on your trip, we’d also recommend taking a hot air balloon flight. This is a highly-rated hot air balloon tour option, and has to be one of the most surreal experiences that we’ve ever had. There are hundreds of balloons filling the sky each morning, but as it is one of the main reasons people travel to Cappadocia, they also book out very early. We’d recommend booking as far in advance as you can, as it can always be rescheduled or refunded if you happen to have bad weather and it’s not possible to fly on the day that you book.

*Night over Göreme, shot from Koza Cave Hotel rooftop terrace*

WHAT MAKES STAYING IN A CAVE HOTEL UNIQUE

Koza Cave Hotel is a beautifully designed cave house that overlooks the Pigeon Valley in Göreme, Cappadocia. Historically, the town of Göreme was carved into the rocks. The valleys and chimneys in the area are filled with ancient cave houses, chapels, tombs and temples.

There are also 36 subterranean cities in the area, where thousands of people once lived below ground. The combination of unique natural landforms and historical architecture make every building in the town an archaeological spectacle.

There aren’t many places in the world where you can stay in locations like this, where the buildings are one with the natural landscape. We loved that the rooftop terrace at Koza Cave Hotel wraps around the rock domes, and that the rooms are made from and fitted out with natural materials.

WHAT THE ROOMS ARE LIKE INSIDE KOZA CAVE HOTEL

In total, there are only ten guest rooms at Koza Cave Hotel, which makes it a really quiet place to stay. As the rooftop terrace isn’t open to the public, this also means that the hotel never gets crowded.

Each of the ten rooms in this hotel is quite unique (see all options here). We stayed in the Standard Double Room, and our booking included breakfast each morning. The room was in it’s own section of the hotel, with a small and secluded courtyard in front of it as well.

Because it is a boutique hotel with only ten rooms and private access to the viewpoint, we’d recommend booking a few weeks ahead in peak travel seasons.

*Standard double room at Koza Cave Hotel*

*Buildings carved from rock in Cappadocia*

HOW KOZA CAVE HOTEL IS WORKING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

We have a lot of respect for the craft that has gone into the modern design of Koza Cave Hotel. It is a family-run business, and so much care has been given to all of the intricate details, including elaborate pieces of wooden furniture that have been hand carved by the owners’ families.

Since our stay, we’ve talked to them more about how they’re working toward sustainability. In particular, we learned that 90% of all of the wood and iron in the hotel has been repurposed from recycled materials.

The water from showers and baths within the hotel is also up-cycled, stored and reused in the toilets. Making small changes like these and replacing plastic water bottles with glass in each of the guest rooms makes a huge difference.

*Rock textures in Cappadocia, shot from the Rose Valley*

HOW TO GET TO CAPPADOCIA

BY FLIGHT ANd TRAnsfer

There are two airports in the area: Kayseri Erkilet Airport and Nevsehir Kapadoky Airport.

There are usually direct flight options from Istanbul to Nevsehir, which is the closest airport to Göreme. The most affordable airport shuttles from Nevsehir Kapadoky Airport can be booked in advance here, and will take you to any accommodation that you end up booking in Göreme, Avanos, Uçhisar, Nevşehir, Çavuşin, Ortahisar, or Ürgüp.

Kayseri Erkilet Airport is around 1 hours’ drive from Göreme. As it is further away than Nevsehir airport, it sometimes has cheaper flight options. Airport shuttles from Kayseri Erkilet Airport can be booked in advance here, and similarly go to any accomodation in the areas mentioned above.

If you do end up booking a stay in Koza Cave Hotel, once you get there, most restaurants and shops in the town of Göreme will be within walking distance. This hop-on-hop-off bus is a convenient way of getting around to the main attractions like the open air museum and fairy chimneys at your own pace.

BY TOUR

Another convenient way to travel to Cappadocia and stay in a cave hotel is by joining a tour. Here are the best options that we could find which specifically include stays in cave hotels (please check with each individual tour provider for the exact accommodation):

2 day all-inclusive trip from Istanbul: this trip covers our favourite landscapes in Cappadocia and includes return domestic flights from Istanbul and 1 nights’ accommodation in a cave hotel.
2 day trip from Istanbul with hot air balloon flight: this tour has very high reviews and also includes 1 night stay in a boutique cave hotel and hot air balloon tickets for the next morning.
4 day trip from Istanbul: this is the perfect tour to make the most of the area, with 4 days to explore and 3 nights’ accommodation in a cave hotel. It includes return domestic flights to Istanbul.
2 day trip from Istanbul by overnight bus: while the tours listed above travel by domestic flight, this is a more affordable option by overnight bus, which takes around 11 hours. It also specifically includes accommodation at a cave hotel.

Learn more

Courtyard outside Koza Cave Hotel room — *Courtyard outside our room*

Fair chimney above the terrace of Koza Cave Hotel — *Fair chimney above the terrace*

HOW LONG TO STAY IN CAPPADOCIA

When we were at Koza Cave Hotel, we were told that most people tend to stay in Cappadocia for around 3 nights. We think that this would be a great amount of time to see a lot the valley and would recommend this 4 day trip from Istanbul as an option for getting there.

We ended up staying just one extra day, for 5 days and 4 nights in total. The slightly longer stay was perfect for us to fit in more hikes through the Rose Valley, as well as to take day trips to nearby towns like Kayseri.

We also didn’t have the best weather during our stay, and the hot air balloons were cancelled on three of the mornings. Luckily, with the extra day it meant that we could still make our tour to fly in one. If you want to take a hot air balloon ride, we’d recommend booking it well in advance here as they book our very early. If there is bad weather, they will be rescheduled during your trip or refunded if it is not possible.