Celal Sultan Hotel, Istanbul

Advantages: convenient location, charming decor, delicious, varied Traditional Turkish breakfast-better than most lower-priced hotels
Disadvantages: no elevator (ask for a lower floor if you have heavy luggage), dark street, lots of night noise

...I teach in Istanbul and often choose to stay in the city. A few friends and I recently tried the Sultan's Inn because our regular "haunts" were full and the Sultan's Inn had low rates and high ratings. When we first arrived, we thought we'd hit pay dirt. The desk clerk was friendly and helpful, and the lobby decor is a charming version of traditional Turkish. Our very reasonably priced room was decorated ala Turka as well (including a canopy over the double bed), though we nearly died hauling our luggage up three stories of a winding staircase. The desk clerk helped with my oldest friend's suitcase, but we hated to make him haul all our heavy luggage (we were leaving on a week-long trip to Cappadocia). An elevator would be a nice touch. After raving over our quaint ivy-draped balcony, we explored the hotel and were tickled to find... Read review

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Advantages: it´s very different
Disadvantages: it´s very different

...language. How can I know when I´ve never been to Turkey before? Well, I hear it every day, I only have to leave my house and go shopping or to the pedestrian precinct. Turks have lived in Germany since 1961 when the economy was booming, now there are about 2 1/2 million living here. My husband and I didn´t go with an organised tour, we went to a travel agency and booked a flight with Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yollari) and a hotel from a brochure. I could travel with my identity card, my Italian husband couldn´t, he needed his passport and had to get a visa for 10 Euro ( ~ 7 GBP) at the airport in Istanbul, you would have to do the same. When I asked in our bank if I could buy Turkish money the clerk looked at me sympathetically, no bank has Turkish money, they simply haven´t got the space to stock it. ( 1 GBP = 2.529.963 Turkish Liras... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: 3* Hotel in a 5* location
Disadvantages: Noisy rooms.

...This Best Western hotel is one of about six Best Western Hotels all in this old part of Istanbul known as Sultanahmet. It really is in a very convenient location and the LOCATION is its greatest asset. It is a three star hotel in an area containing five star holiday attractions. The hotel advertises its roof terrace as the sort of restaurant under the stars of everyone's dreams. I thought it was jaded and thus overrated with a distant view of the sea which was hardly on the waterfront. The rooms are OK. I had a de-luxe room which had been reduced on-line from an advertised price of Euros 134 to Euros 75.The TV had CNN and BBC World and the bed was very comfortable. I found the decor a bit drab. A buffet breakfast on the roof was fine but the service was non-existent. Didn't really matter though - the stuff was all there, I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful