Angel's Hotel Reviews

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!