Bodrum the Beginning | How The Little Black Book Bodrum’s Luxury Concierge Service Was Born.
Lost between countries during Covid, Karishma landed in Bodrum and never left. Read how The Little Black Book Bodrum’s luxury concierge service was born.
Bodrum the beginning| How The Little Black Book Bodrum's luxury concierge service was born.
There is a stretch of coastline on Turkey’s Aegean Sea where the water turns a shade of blue so vivid it seems surreal. Just as vivid and beautifully complex as my journey has been over the past six years building what is now Bodrum’s most personal luxury concierge service.
But let’s start at the beginning…
Life wasn’t all luxury yachts and party boats in Bodrum.
It was the summer of 2020, the global pandemic had just hit. I found myself lost between countries — unable to get back into the UK where I had been working in the music and film industries as an executive, and unable to get back to Australia where I was from.
Somehow through what I can only define as serendipity, I landed up in Bodrum, Turkey — a place I had never heard of, let alone ever visited.
Unable to travel, work uncertain, all alone and not knowing the language or a single person, I had no choice but to just stop for a proverbial second and exhale — in what I deemed an extended transit.
This so-called transit, however, transpired into a permanent reroute. This traveller became bewitched by Bodrum’s beauty and culture and very happening vibe.
So, I stayed. I rooted myself in the history around me and I dreamt up a life in luxury villas, sailing through crystal-clear waters on Turkish gulets, eating Michelin-starred meals by the Aegean Sea.
What unfolded in the next few months was nothing short of an education in the art of making dreams a reality. A momentum that grew with such fervour that I was ticking boxes left, right and centre — in my work life and in my new-found home.
"You Dream It, we create it"
I had entered my era of bended reality — and the things we deemed impossible, I soon found out were very much possible, given the right temperament, experience, and connections along the way.
After a long exhale, serendipity once again took centre stage. Some very high-flying friends of mine from the film industry came to see me in my new home of Bodrum.
I was so excited to have people I knew come to visit. The film producer in me did what comes naturally and curated the most organised, entertainment-packed, unique experience that these world-class travellers had ever had — experiences I had discovered myself and fallen in love with on the Turkish Riviera.
It felt like being on location shooting a film again. I basically line-produced their entire holiday with detailed call sheets, budgets, call times, schedules, rules and regulations. Clearly, Covid gave me a lot of time on my hands and a great deal of creative steam to release.
My friends ended up raving about their trip — how magical, organised and unique the experience had been — and suggested that I do this as a business while in between my film work.
I flirted with the notion but didn’t take it too seriously, because what I found was that truly navigating Bodrum’s best-kept secrets — its most spectacular private villas, its finest gulet captains, its most magical event spaces — required an insider.
The Perfect Insider.
As fate would have it, in walked Aygün.
The perfect insider.
Born in Istanbul and having spent every summer since childhood in Bodrum, Aygün knew both cities like the back of his hand. He walked in with stories of the peninsula and the ability to cut across every language barrier I had faced.
Aygün had over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry — with a background in economics — and spent that time building the kind of relationships that cannot be bought or manufactured: with villa owners, yacht captains, event vendors, private chefs, florists, and the families who have shaped this coastline for generations.
He knows which bay is at its most beautiful in the early morning. He knows which captain will make your children feel like they have discovered the world. He knows who to call when you want something that does not appear on any menu — where to find a cleaning lady during peak season, or a private chef in Bodrum who makes the best kebabs in town.
It was a seamless connection. The proverbial ‘I’ became the proverbial ‘we’, and together, we grew into the most trusted provider of bespoke luxury concierge services in Bodrum, Turkey.
Together, we bring something to Bodrum that no booking platform or hotel concierge desk can replicate: an international client’s eye for quality, paired with the deepest possible local knowledge. That combination is The Little Black Book Bodrum.
What we create together.
Today, The Little Black Book Bodrum is your insider key to the best this extraordinary peninsula has to offer.
Luxury villa rentals in Bodrum
We have personally curated a portfolio of the most sort after private properties on the peninsula — from beachfront retreats in Yalikavak overlooking the Yalikavak marina to mansions in Türbükü the centre of all the action. Each villa has been chosen for its character, its views, and the kind of holiday it makes possible. Every villa rental comes with our full concierge support, private chefs, massages, airport transfers, pre-arrival grocery runs, in-villa events, and the kind of detail that turns a beautiful house into an unforgettable experience.
Yacht and boat charters in Bodrum
The Aegean is best seen from the water, and we put you on it in the most beautiful way possible. Whether that is a traditional Turkish gulet drifting between secret coves, a sunset cruise on a sleek motor yacht, or a full week at sea exploring the coastline, we tailor every itinerary personally and work exclusively with the finest captains and crews on the peninsula. No two charters are ever the same.
Private events and celebrations
I am, after all, a film producer at heart — and I treat every event like a shoot. From destination weddings and landmark birthdays to luxury hen parties, corporate retreats, and intimate beachside dinners, we design and produce events that people talk about long after they end. We bring the same energy to a dinner for twelve as we do to a wedding for three hundred. You bring the occasion. We build the memory. We curate a world as alluring as the movies within your reach.
Let’s Plan Something Extraordinary
Whether you are already dreaming of a specific experience in Bodrum or simply know that you want something exceptional and do not quite know where to begin, we would love to hear from you. The Little Black Book Bodrum exists for exactly this moment: the point at which you decide that a holiday should be more than a holiday, or that a celebration should become a legend.
Send us a message at Karishma@thelittleblackbookbodrum.com, or follow us on Instagram @thelittleblackbookbodrum for daily inspiration, insider Bodrum guides, and a behind-the-scenes look at what we are creating for our clients this season.
We cannot wait to welcome you to Bodrum.
With warmth,
Karishma & Aygün
The Little Black Book Bodrum