Renaissance Polat, Istanbul

I have had a one night stay here recently. I had never been to Istanbul before so was excited about my visit. This hotel is a five star hotel owned by the Marriott group. It's located 11 miles from the centre of Istanbul which is easy to get to by public transport or taxi. The airport is about 3 miles away and the hotel runs a free shuttle bus.

First impressions:
The hotel is a striking, blue glass plated tower with 27th floors ...
...lobby is quite spacious and there is a security guard and a metal detector as you first enter the hotel as there have been several recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul.

Check In:
This was very quick and easy as there were plenty of staff milling around. They seem to speak a variety of different languages and were very polite and efficient without being overly friendly. There is also a huge bowl of sweets on the reception counter ... more

I have had a one night stay here recently. I had never been to Istanbul before so was excited about my visit. This hotel is a five star hotel owned by the Marriott group. It's located 11 miles from the centre of Istanbul which is easy to get to by public transport or taxi. The airport is about 3 miles away and the hotel runs a free shuttle bus.

First impressions:
The hotel is a striking, blue glass plated tower with 27th floors and 404 rooms. It looks very grand and modern. The lobby is quite spacious and there is a security guard and a metal detector as you first enter the hotel as there have been several recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul.

Check In:
This was very quick and easy as there were plenty of staff milling around. They seem to speak a variety of different languages and were very polite and efficient without being overly friendly. There is also a huge bowl of sweets on the reception counter but beware, they don't taste very nice!

The bedroom:
I had a very cosy queen size bed, air conditioning, satellite television with BBC World News and BBC Prime which made my day! The mini-bar was VERY expensive with a small bottle of wine costing the equivalent of around £15. The miniatures were equally expensive. The bathroom had a super power shower and plenty of complimentary toiletries which are always welcome along with a decent hair dryer. Oh and I also had a brilliant sea view. There was the usual kettle with Lipton tea and instant coffee.

Facilities:
I didn't actually use any of them but they include a health and beauty spa and indoor and outdoor pools. I did like the free internet room but there are only three terminals so it gets very crowded.

Eating and drinking:
There is a grand total of five restaurants in the hotel including Champions, an American themed diner and a Chinese restaurant. Instead I ordered room service. There wasn't a brilliant choice so I went with a cheeseburger and fries. It was delivered in 20 minutes and was perfectly fine but the burger was rather greasy and the fries weren't very crisp. It wasn't really what you would expect from a five star hotel. Feeling very piggy I then ordered profiteroles, which were delicious and came very nicely presented with pistachio ice-cream. The room service attendant was very polite. This came to around £11 I think.

The bottom line:
Fine if you like luxury hotels but staying here you could be anywhere in the world as it's quite bland. To experience the real Istanbul you would be advised to stay downtown. It doesn't come cheap at around £150 per night. 

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