The Story of a Place
From Olive Mill to Hotel, From Past to Present.
A place that continues to live on the shores of Gümüşlük.
Among Stone, Olive Trees and the Sea
Set among Gümüşlük’s old olive groves and right by the sea, Koza is a small retreat with seven rooms across two stone houses, a secluded garden and a shoreline opening onto the natural marina.
But Koza’s story doesn’t begin today. The memory held in these stones, olive trees and shoreline reaches much further back.
The Memory of a Bay
The story of Koza’s shoreline did not begin with tourism. Present-day Gümüşlük developed around the harbour landscape of ancient Myndos. Its sheltered natural harbour shaped life by the sea for centuries, while olives and olive oil have long been part of the region’s production culture.
Traces of the past can still be found today, not only beneath the sea or among ancient ruins, but also in everyday life. Stone and column fragments believed to have come from the bath complex of ancient Myndos were reused in local buildings in more recent times. Today, these column fragments can still be seen in Koza’s three stone steps.
“Sometimes at Koza, you don’t have to look far to see the past; you only have to step on it.”
From Olive Mill to Hotel
The building’s more recent story continued with olives. Once used as an olive mill, the stone buildings were converted into a hotel in the 1980s. At a time when tourism in Gümüşlük was still in its early days, this new chapter turned the place into somewhere people came to stay, returned to, and made memories over the years.
Some spent their first holidays here, others returned years later, and some who swam along this shore as children now come back to Gümüşlük with children of their own. Names and times have changed; the stone houses, olive trees and the sea have remained.
Koza Gümüşlük
Today, as two partners, we are continuing this story where it left off. Once an olive mill and later a hotel, the property now begins a new chapter as Koza. Our aim is not to erase the past and replace it with something new, but to preserve the character that has shaped this place over the years and bring it back to life.
The name Koza comes from this idea of transformation. We want this to be more than a place that has evolved over time; a place where those who stay can step away from the pace of everyday life, slow down, reconnect with themselves and feel renewed. The sea, the olive trees, the quiet and Gümüşlük’s own rhythm are all part of that experience.
Like a cocoon: small and quiet from the outside, yet a place that makes room for transformation within. How you leave is entirely up to you.