Lieutenant Neil S. Reyer completes construction of the Kordon Hotel, Izmir, Turkey 1966-'67

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Three Wonderful Tours in Izmir, Turkey

Lt. Neil S. Reyer

I served in Izmir, Turkey from 1966 thru 1967 as a U.S. Air Force Officer in Detachment 118. The elements below, read in the order shown, tell my story.

I was transferred from Laon AB in France to Izmir, Turkey. My mission was to finish construction of the Kordon Hotel, which had become bogged down, and to hire and train the staff, open the facility and serve as the first General Manager for this unique property that supported NATO's Landsoutheast Headquarters. It was an incredible and enormous responsibility for a 24 year old and a great opportunity to have (then) Lt.Gen John (Iron Mike) Michaelis head up several of the hotel's Board of Governors meetings at which I would present status reports. The experience was intense and served me well throughout my career in the hospitality industry. I gather from the internet that the modest Kordon Hotel that I opened some 43 years ago is now a grand and upscale property.

Story part I

Above: Ribbon cutting in the Penthouse of the Kordon Hotel and in the picture L-R: Sgt. Ed Cote, my #1; Lt/Col James Ames, Deputy Commander /Izmir; Me; and Col W. Bosworth At right is the Penthouse menu. Note the 1967 prices on the menus on this page!		The penthouse party was a set up of the grand opening party for the roof restaurant, the ribbon cutting for the penthouse included from.
	At left is the Room Service menu. Above and at right: two views of a typical Kordon guest room---definitely what you'd call military modest or just plain bland.
Above L-R: Kordon bar menu
The off-lobby bar: One thing about being a "Club officer" was I never had to wear a uniform which was helpful in hiding my rank, thus giving me more flexibility in dealing with those senior to me especially the inebriated ones!
	Above (and below) are parts of a one-piece, two-sided, fold-up monthly social calendar for the Izmir Officers' Open Mess (a part of the Kordon). Members received these wallet sized informational and activities calendars each month. We had to constantly stir the creative juices to come up with new programs...a great idea that I regretted because of the work involved.

	A T-Bone Steak for only $2.75? Obviously the Steak Corner was a big hit in its time!

Above: The 3-page Kordon Breakfast Menu

Above: Kordon Hotel main menu.
The Ballroom	Dining Room	Kitchen
		Far left: A group of waiters and busboys in the dining room and second photo is me training one of our front desk clerks on the various aspects of front desk management.