This Turkish Hotel Won’t Rent To Men Unless They're With a Woman

A hotel in Turkey is refusing to rent rooms to single men or two men traveling together. Instead, the property says they only rent rooms to men if they are traveling with a woman. The issue was first reported by the travel blog One Mile at a Time after a reader alerted the blog to their experience at the all-inclusive Lujo Hotel in the popular resort town of Bodrum.

According to the reader, they had attempted to reserve a room at the pricey resort when they received a message stating that reserving a room for a single man “is not possible.”

The reader was rebuffed a second time when he clarified he wanted to reserve the room for two men with the explanation that men caused problems and according to the blog “partied too hard.”

So much for the hotel’s claim regarding their Indigo Clubber Terrace Rooms that “What Happens in Indigo, Stays in Indigo…”

The beach at the Hotel Lujo in Bodrum (photo by Getty Images)

One Mile at a Time contacted the hotel and confirmed the policy. After extolling the virtues of their property and promising an “unparalleled” vacation experience “surrounded by beautiful nature with contemporary design and exceptional luxury, business, and lifestyle services,” the hotel added, “Unfortunately, we don’t accept two men staying in the same room.”

A link provided to One Mile at a Time listed dozens of other hotels in Turkey that purportedly don’t rent to single men traveling without a woman or two men traveling together. Included on the list were two Double Tree by Hilton properties. However, the link now leads to a message stating “the information previously posted on this page is out of date and does not correspond to reality.”

On its face, the policy would seem to be the result of the country’s conservative Islamist views and antipathy towards the LGBTQ+ community. However, a female commenter named Zeynep provided a different reason for the discriminatory policies. Saying she agreed “it sounds very anti-gay,” Zeynep then blamed the toxic masculinity of single Turkish men in the country who routinely and aggressively harass female tourists for sex.

The colorful houses of Bodrum (photo by Getty Images)

“Single men literally go there with the hopes that they will hook up with ‘Russian and or other foreign chicks’ and don’t stop harassing girls until they get what they want,” Zeynep commented. “They’re quite aggressive too. It’s a huge issue in Turkey unfortunately.”

Zeynep then claimed the policy was common not just at “most of the luxury hotels in Turkey” but also at most bars that bar entry to men unless they are with a woman.

“This is simply to protect the other guests from the unsolicited harassment,” Zeynep continued. “I wish Turkey was more advanced that these kind of rules weren’t necessary, but I’m afraid to say as a woman who vacations regularly in these types of hotels, I appreciate these rules to have a safe, peaceful time during my stay.”

She did agree that the policies are “inevitably very anti-gay and hypocritical.”

One Mile at a Time did not note whether the hotel rents rooms to single women or women traveling together.