Hotel Ipek Palas, Istanbul

Advantages: Loads of things to see and do in the city.
Disadvantages: may not be much to do for children

...and Ottoman periods, inluding the Ahmet Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Hagia Sofia, originally the only Christian church in Istanbul, turned into a mosque in 1453, and a museum in 1935. The Asian side of Istanbul is not as interesting, but it was still enjoyable to wander around, and generally not as busy. Istanbul, although not the capital of Turkey, is the cultural and commercial centre, with the busiest airport, an advanced motorway network which is otherwise undeveloped in Turkey, and the biggest port. The hotel we stayed in was not brilliant, but there are some very good hotels in and around Istanbul, and overall I spent a very enjoyable week in Istanbul.... Read review

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Advantages: Spacious, comfortable rooms and good location with easy access to shops and restaurants
Disadvantages: Expensive unless you negotiate a discount; and the lighting in the rooms is appalling.

...We had actually booked to stay one week at the Elit Palas's sister hotel, the Elit in Olgunler Sok, but on arrival were told they were full and we were being upgraded to the Elit Palas. Having ascertained that there would be no surcharge on top of the price previously negotiated, we settled into our "room", which was in fact a mini-suite comprising double bedroom, bathroom (with both bath and shower) and sitting room - all very comfortable and well appointed. Facilities included high-speed wi-fi internet connection, fridge, mini-bar, hairdrier and two televisions. The only drawback was the lighting - in both the sitting room and bedroom it was appallingly dim (the brightest light was the one inside the fridge!) and the bizarre system of wiring meant that the bedside lights could only be turned on if the main switch in the sitting room... Read review

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Advantages: Great shopping, Interesting sites
Disadvantages: Very Busy

...My husband and I stayed in Istanbul for about 6 days last December on our way to Diyarbakir. We stayed in Hotel Devran, just off the main street in Taksim. It was small and probably not well known with tourists. It was very basic but clean and the staff were very friendly. It was only about 35ytl (around £14) for both of us per night. I loved Taksim, it was great for shopping and had some really nice restaurants and cafes. It was really easy to get around Istanbul on the metro system (which is a god send because the traffic is a nightmare!). We also went down to Sultenahmet a few times. There was a lovely garden area not far from the castle with a beautiful water fountain. We went to the castle aswell which was really interesting. There was also alot of places we never had time to visit like museums and The Blue Mosque... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful