Latest Reviews for Istanbul

were going back its great

this stay was a part of our trip from bulgaria we had two nights here it was the best part of our hols hotel was really clean staff were great the hotel is very close to blue mosque just off a main road a great veiws fron the restarant as it is on the top floor

The hotel has a renewed and a old part.The new part has 4 stars and the old part 3 stars.When you are friendly whit the personnal and you give som tips,than you are in a verry good hotel.Ask your travelagent for a room in the new part of the hotel,in the old part you can have problems.The restaurant is on the 7th floor whit a fantastic view over the water and the Aya Sophia mosque.

Carefull for pickpockets outside the hotel(victims everyday)and in the old centre.Don't put money in your pockets!It gonna be stolen (incl.my wife's money.)Don't open your handbag or walleth whit people arround you,they grab'your money quicker than you and they run away.The hotel has a safe whit double lock for free.Use it,i warn you.From the hotel to the big bazar you have to climbe a bigg hill for 30 minutes.Take a taxi for 5 Liras,and a taxi to the Egyptian Market cost 9 Liras.4 out of 5 taxidrivers don't now where Hotel Grand Yavuz is situated,even whit the hotelcard and the map of The Golden Horn,they don't now,or they asking 25 Lira

Take allot of monney with you to Istanbul, because it is a shopping paradise,even for the working class.Carefull for lugadge overweight.When you lost your way in the Big Bazar,than go always uphill in the Bazar and you find the exit on top.Nowere you find an Indian or Italian or English restaurant or Pub.Everything is Turkish.
To end;Hotel Grand Yavuz is a good hotel and Istanbul is fantastic!Take a city trip for minimum 4 or 5 nights.You don't regret.
I thank you,
MICHEL D.C.- Ostend - Belgium

With our 30th wedding anniversary looming, my wife asked me what I wanted. Rather facetiously, I said I wanted a kebab. The next thing I knew, airline tickets for Istanbul were lying on the table! We flew with Swiss International Airlines via Zurich and the flight information definitely said ";meals"; on both legs. The morning flight from Heathrow produced a chocolate croissant and a coffee and the second leg gave us a cheese baguette (no butter) and a coffee.

We were met at Instabul airport (where the immigration and passport control are a nightmare) by Hakan, one of the two brothers who own the Angel's Hotel, in his 1956 Chevette - definitely the way to arrive.

The hotel is part of the old city (Sultanahmet) and is a (4.30am) muezzin call from several mosques as well as the Blue Mosque, St Sophia's and the Topkapi Palace. The roof terrace gives a view of the Blue Mosque and the Maramara Sea and is a peaceful way of enjoying your breakfast. The Blue mosque is fabulous (and free) while all the other museums, mosques and palaces have an entry fee. With a good book, you don't need a guide for the Blue Mosque but you will find locals volunteering to take you around and then, as you leave, direct you to 'a cousin' who happens to own a carpet store!

The Topkapi Palace needs most of a day (we spent 4 1/2 hours there) and entry to the Palace is 10 New Turkish Lira and the Treasury (where the jewels, diamonds and gold are displayed) is 12 NTL. If you wish to go into the harem (the living quarters of the Sultan and his family) you have to queue after entering the Palace and pay 10 NTL. The kiosk opens 20 minutes before the hourly guided tour and has a maximum of 60 people. If you are unlucky enough to be the 61st, you can't buy a ticket then for the next tour but have to wait till the kiosk opens again 20 minutes before the next tour. The problem was exacerbated by various nationalities to whom queueing was an alien concept (and certainly tests your knowledge of various Eastern European languages). Personally, I felt the harem was not worth the queueing or the cost and after 20 minutes, we were both suffering from cultural information overload. There is also an official walking behind the group to hurry up anyone who wants to stop and take in the views.
7.5 NTL is the cost of a return boat trip on the Bosphorous, taking your own time and getting on or on at any of the stops, or you can take a guided tour which includes 2 of the 4 stops on the ferry before they bus you back to the start and on to one of the summer palaces and more cultural information overload.

We felt the Spice Bazaar (opposite the ferry port - follow the tram lines to the sea and it's on your left) and the shops behind it are better (and less touristy) than the Grand Bazaar.
We had a superb time and enjoyed some lovely meals and met some very nice people but found that Istanbul is not much cheaper than Southern England.

If you're going there, try the Angel's Hotel - we think you'll like it. Tell Hakan and Okan that Dave and Denise said hello and arrange for the '56 Chevvy collection!

I stayed at the Acropol for one night in February, 2005, at the end of a business trip to Istanbul.

I booked directly with the hotel and my enquiries and reservation were handled efficiently, although it was a little difficult to get the answers to some of my questions. I requested a quietly-located, non-smoking room, and was given one overlooking a side street. The room was not spacious, especially for two people, but this is par for Istanbul. The bed was comfortable, although I didn't like the spongy pillows. The room had heating and air conditioning, which worked efficiently. The TV has CNN and BBC Prime (even worse then BBC World), and there is wireless Internet access for guests with wireless connections in their laptops. The bathroom was tiny - again par for Istanbul - and I particularly disliked the shower in the small bathtub. The tub had a seat but no grab rail or mat, making getting in and out and manoeuvring very hazardous, and unsuitable for anyone with mobility problems.

Breakfast was fairly standard for this type of hotel, with juices, cereals, bread, etc, but no fruit. Although the restaurant is a good size, there was no separate non-smoking area. There is another restaurant in the basement, but I didn't try dinner in either.

The location of the Acropol is good, about five minutes' walk from the Blue Mosque and the tourist restaurants. There are a couple of karaoke-type bars and cafes in the street letting all and sundry into their choice of music, but inside the hotel I couldn't hear any of them. The hotel try to force you to pay cash when you check out, which I didn't like, but apparently the 'special' price I was given was dependent on cash payment.

The restaurant in which I had dinner was the Kir Evi, an Anatolian establishment in one of the side streets opposite MacDonalds. Don't be put off by the scruffy look of the waiters. The service is attentive, the food very good, with some unusual presentations. Before you go in, see if they offer you the 'special menu', whereby you can choose any three courses from the menu, plus a drink and tea or coffee, for less than £10 - well worth it.

My conclusions on the hotel? Generally OK, but consider the difficulties with the shower, and take plenty of cash with you! I have stayed at least one other hotel in Istanbul which offers a better location and value for money (the Ambassador).

I stayed at the Ambassador for one night in January, 2005, at the end of a business trip.

The hotel is very conveniently located, a few minutes' walk from the main attractions of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern, and not much further from the Grand Bazaar. It is described as a 'first class' hotel, although my general impression about Turkish hotels is that this type of phrase is used with a great deal of poetic licence. The hotel has some rooms facing the busy main road and others facing a walkway at the back, so if noise bothers you, ask for a quiet room. Remember, though, that Istanbul has a large cat population, so you will still be lucky to get away with avoiding the wailing noise at night.

I booked a non-smoking double room, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that even a hotel as small as this one had a non-smoking floor - not common in Istanbul. The room was not spacious, and the shower room was very small, but both were very clean, and the heating worked efficiently (didn't try the air conditioning as it was January). The bed was very comfortable, but there is little working space, and some of the furniture looked like it was due for replacement.

Breakfast is taken in the top floor restaurant, with views over the historical attractions, and I understand that outside seating is provided in the summer. The breakfast buffet was quite extensive for a hotel of this size and class, and it was refreshing to discover that a small part of the restaurant was allocated to non-smokers (although most smokers went outside on the morning I was there).

The outstanding memory of this hotel was the friendliness and helpfulness of the members of staff - much better than at other hotels in Istanbul I have stayed in. The friendly girl on reception who always had time to talk to everyone, the guy who opened the bar on the top floor because I wanted a beer, the waiter who clucked around pouring tea and coffee at breakfast - they were all a credit not only to the hotel, but to Istanbul.

The hotel is also located near to the tourist restaurant area. Most of these offer typical international tourist and local fare at reasonable prices, but the quality varies. I found the Palmiye restaurant very friendly, with good food, but the toasted sandwich I had for lunch at the Sultan Pub was expensive (for Istanbul) and poor value compared with sandwiches at other restaurants locally.

Overall, the Ambassador is an excellent value hotel for the price paid, superbly located near the historical attractions. If you can ignore the tired furniture in the rooms and the lack of working space, there is no reason to stay anywhere else.

My review is based on a one night stay at the Zurich, at the end of a business trip.

This hotel is truly awful. The location is in a busy shopping area, 15 minutes' walk from the Grand Bazaar, and more than half an hour from the Blue Mosque area. I felt a little bit intimidated walking around the surrounding badly-lit streets. So if it's the Blue Mosque area you want, this hotel is far from ideal.

When I arrived, the reception was manned by only one person, who dealt with my check-in inbetween sorting out problems for other guests. The receptionist ignored my request for a non-smoking room, but gave me (and I quote) ";a very nice room";. If this room was nice, I would hate to stay in any of the others. The room decor and furniture had a threadbare, 'worn' feel about it. This was the only time I have ever been in a hotel room and inspected the bed very carefully, in case I didn't want to sleep in it. The advertised BBC TV channel was a snowy fuzz, and could have been any channel in the world - the picture and sound was unintelligible.

The bathroom was worse than the room. Very small, with little space to hang anything or put anything down (not that you wanted to here). The wall tiles and mirror were marked, and I would not have wanted to sit in the bath. However, years of ingrained dirt at the bottom of the bath ensured that your feet had a good grip when showering.

There is a disco in the basement which thumps out loud music until well into the early hours. I woke up just after four am, and could still hear the thumping from the disco, even though I was on the second floor.

Good things about this hotel? Well, the room had air conditioning, although I was sure it was blowing out recirculated, smoke-laden air. The restaurant at street level was quite good, although I would have preferred to have finished my starter beofre the main course was served. Breakfast in the main 7th floor restaurant was average, with plenty of cereals, jams and salad, but nothing in the way of fruit.

Overall, if I had booked this hotel for any more than one night, I would have got out of there as fast as I could. Instead, I used the ear plugs in a vain attempt to try to blot out the disco noise, and spent the next morning looking around for a good hotel for my next visit.

Istanbul is an amazing place and safe. The people were all very friendly and helpful, other than one taxi driver who ripped us off, we then made sure we booked taxis through the hotel.

Having purchased a beautiful rug from an established trader the family who took us out for a lovely meal. On another occasion we booked a trip to a traditional Turkish evening through the hotel which was very enjoyable and very good value.

The Pera Palas hotel is steeped in history and totally awesome. The rooms have been kept in original condition and are very clean. Breakfast was excellent too. If you want to see Agatha Christie's room just ask reception who will open it up for you. Even if you don't stay at this hotel pop in just to see the stunning decor including the loos and the coffee shop.

We changed rooms as we found the ones on the lower floor to be noisy at night although the rooms on the top floor were a bit smaller.

Make sure you take a huge suitcase to bring back all the shopping. We bought jewellery, bed covers, cushion covers, rugs, handbags (lots) as well as spices and tea.

We can't wait to go back again.