|
 | Istanbul Hotels and Accommodations | Tips 11 - 20 of 674 |  |
 | |  |  | Side hotel and Pension: Good value amongst the minarets | Tip Rating:   Satisfaction:   |  |  | |  |
The Side is in Sultanahamet district, a few minutes from Aya Spohia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. This is *the* area for hotels and hostels, so a lot of the restaurants and nightlife places are geared to tourists. The Side's location means that you can get to many of the big tourist attractions in Istanbul very easily, but you might not see other sides to the city if you stay in the area all the time.
Excellent value pension, particularly out of season. Rooms start at 23 euros per night, without a shower. We booked *with* a shower, but, if I stayed again, I would be quite happy to share a bathroom - they were so clean, and never seemed to be used!
The hotel rooms (on another side of the building) are rather more expensive, but I didn't actually see how the rooms compared. There are very good pictures on the Side website - they gave an accurate idea of how our room looked.
One word of warning: not all the pension rooms are quite so good. I specifically requested a room on a high floor with plenty of light, because of I had heard not all the rooms had windows - and I got just what I wanted. i did see another even smaller pension room in passing: a three-bed room with a tiny window. I think this is a place where you room can be a bit 'the luck of the draw'.
The pension rooms are very simply and tastefully decorated, with an iron-framed bed. It was quite small, however, and had limited wardrobe space and very few drawers, but that didn't diminish its overall charm. The bathroom was roomy and exceptionally clean - loads of hot water. The view was over old Turkish houses in a quiet street.
Downstairs there is a narrow communal area with two computers for checking emails (small extra cost) free tea, and a little library.
The breakfast room has views over the minarets and was very nicely decorated. The Turkish breakfast was excellent - very healthy - with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, very fresh bread, little cheese triangle, boiled egg and jam. This could come as a shock to an 'eggs and bacon' person, I suppose! Everything was top quality and with friendly service.
During the summer, people bring tea or beer up to the pretty roof terrace and sit out. This didn't happen during our winter stay, of course - this picture shows the view from the terrace in a flurry of snow! We had a white Christmas... Leave a Comment Theme: Pension/GuesthousePrice: US$20-40 » Currency ConverterComparison: less expensive than averageAddress: Utangac Sokak 20 3400, Sultanahamet, IstabulPhone: +90 (212) 517 22 82Directions: Very near the expensive Four Seasons hotel (at end of the road), a minute's walk from Aya SophiaWebsite: www.sidehotel.com Other Contact: fax +90 (212) 517 65 90
|
 | |  |
| | | | Grand Cevahir Htl And Conv Ctr: Grand Cevahir Hotel And Convention Centre Compare Rates NEW! | Tip Rating: Satisfaction: | | | | |
The overall impression I got from the hotel was good. The rooms are spacious and clean. The fasade is impressive and the sport center is really good. I was slightly disapointed that the indoor pool was a bit small. I think the lenght was not more than 15 meters.
Another thing I found a bit anoying was that early in the morning, around 8.00 a.m. a guy comes to your door, knocks on the door saying that he can refil the minibar. It happens even if you put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door.
They advertise themselves as the first convention center in Turkey and the one having the biggest ballroom in Europe.
Rooms:
- air-conditioning,
- mini bar,
- internet access,
- satellite TV,
- voice mail system,
- direct telephone,
- alarm,
- music broadcast,
- electronic door key system,
- private safe,
- bath phone,
- bath emergency call,
- 24 hour room service and dry-cleaning service.
Facilities:
- Indoor and outdoor pools,
- fitness center,
- Turkish bath,
- solarium and massage services
- a couple of restaurants
- 22 acoustically designed and high ceiling meeting rooms. Leave a Comment Theme: HotelAddress: Okmeydani - Sisli / 9, Darulaceze CaddesiPhone: +90 (212) 314 42 42Website: http://www.grandcevahirhotel.com/eng/default.htm Other Contact: info@grandcevahirhotel.comMap: Grand Cevahir Htl And Conv Ctr
|
| | |
| | | | Hotel Yigitalp: A Room with a View (of the Back Alley) Compare Rates NEW! | Tip Rating: Satisfaction: | | | | |
There are definitely hotel rooms in Istanbul with a better view than this. I’ll bet it’s nice to open the curtain and see the Blue Mosque with its 6 minarets right outside your window. Yigitalp Hotel has no view to speak of, even though “yigitalp” (pronounced “YEEtalp”) is Turkish for “big mountain.”
Yigitalp Hotel is situated on a street in the heart of Istanbul’s textile district and the view from my room, at least, was an alley strewn with cardboard boxes and broken mannequins. Not that we were in the room much. And it was even kind of interesting to see what the city looks like from “behind.” The hotel is surrounded by wholesale shops for bathrobes, bedding and men’s clothing. Taxi drivers may have a hard time finding it if you just say “Gencturk” (pronounced “GENJturk”), so it’s good to have the whole address printed on a piece of paper. The neighborhood is Sehzadebasi (pronounced SHEH zadehbasheh), named for a nearby mosque.
All in all, it was not a bad place to stay in Istanbul. Provided you have a good pair of legs, you can walk to Sultanahmet (pronounced Sultan AHMET), where the attractions are. To save some steps, you can buy a “jeton” and hop on the tram. The closest stop is “University” (the campus of Istanbul University).
The hotel itself is decorated in typical Turkish style, with lots of ornate, dark furniture, patterned carpets, upholstered sofas and chandeliers. We stayed for 3 nights, paying about $50 per person a night. That included a buffet breakfast with a passable, if unremarkable, selection of rolls, cheeses, eggs, vegetables and fruit. The room was clean, again a bit heavy on the patterning, but adequate. A bathroom feature that should be copied by ALL hotels was a shower curtain that slides on a track. No puddles on the floor to mop up with your precious supply of towels.
And yes, you will hear the muezzin calling people to prayer at an ungodly hour of the morning. In Istanbul, there is no escaping it. Leave a Comment Theme: HotelPrice: US$40-80 » Currency ConverterComparison: about averageAddress: Gencturk Cadessi, Cukur Cesme Sokak 38, SehzadebasiPhone: +90 (212) 5129860Website: www.yigitalp.com Map: Hotel Yigitalp
|
| | |
More Sponsored Links for Istanbul |
|
Istanbul
on December 11, 2006
on August 15, 2005
on May 15, 2006
on March 4, 2004
on January 17, 2005
on March 11, 2004
on July 10, 2006
on December 16, 2004
