8/10 Good
Michael
Traveled with family
11 November 2024
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Wonderful location across the street from Sultanahmet square. Tram lines are just outside and very convenient.
Breakfast was fine, but the cooked eggs were cold because they had no warming plate and the drip coffee machine was way too small for the amount of people eating there. It was often empty.
Get used to the sounds of the city and the restaurant hawkers outside trying to sell food and drinks. Nothing unusual for such a highly tourist city: the same happens all over.
BUT what was unexpected and not welcome at all was our front desk clerk becoming annoyed and frustrated at me because we didn't book any tours with him.
We came to see Istanbul, taking the trams and ferries and seeing the sights. We had no interest in an *8 hour* bus expedition or a Bosphorus tour with whirling dervish show. We asked for a simple quiet dinner cruise to see the sights but they didn't offer anything but a full tourist dinner-and-show package. We tried to work with them but none of their tours were what we enjoy doing.
I understand they must get kickbacks from booking these, but I've NEVER had a hotel clerk get angry at me for not taking their tour packages.
Also: he wanted us to give him our Istanbul transit cards before we left? Like a bum at a subway station. What a terrible impression.
Lastly, he kept asking us to pay our bill in CASH EUROS rather than credit card on file w Expedia. I use my credit card for security and points, why would I leave the app to pay cash? Shady.
Michael
Stayed 6 nights in Oct 2024