Taskonaklar Hotel, Cappadocia

It’s a concept we first saw in Italy: an entire village in a rugged natural setting, abandoned by its residents during hard times in the 20th century, rehabilitated and restored by an adventurous developer into a hotel that blends the best of the ancient and modern worlds, seasoning the modern boutique-hotel experience with a generous serving of rustic village life. This time the location is Turkey’s cave country, the inland region of Cappadocia, and the hotel is Taskonaklar Rocky Palace, which takes the abandoned village of Uçhisar as its raw material and transforms it into the kind of immersive experience that lesser country hotels can only dream about.

There’s a long tradition of cave dwelling here, as Cappadocia’s volcanic formations lend themselves quite well to residential elaboration. The accommodations combine subterranean spaces, rough-hewn walls and stone archways with fresh air in the form of terraces and balconies, some with far-ranging views of the unique landscape. A few of the smaller rooms are a touch on the dark side, and not all of them have outdoor space — for the full experience it’s probably wise to spring for a suite, as a trip to Cappadocia without a view of the famous rock “chimneys” would be somewhat perverse.