More about Celal Sultan Hotel
A wonderful stay at the Celal Sultan
by TripAdvisor Member CDNTrvlr001
We took a chance by booking a flights + hotel package online from Canada before heading to the UK (we were two sisters and their husbands travelling together from London, 5 days / 4 nights), and the
Celal Sultan more than lived up to our expectations. Its location in Sultanahmet made it so convenient to all of the main attractions, restaurants and shopping. The staff was friendly and helpful -- glad to share a joke or story and listen to ours, and happy to help us practice our Turkish phrases (I'm sure they found this even more entertaining than our stories!).
Upon arrival, we were welcomed with apple tea in the lounge while our
bags were taken up to our rooms. We had adjoining rooms, which were clean and comfortable; the bathrooms were small but clean and functional. The hot water in the shower took a minute to get going, but once it did there was plenty of it. We were visiting in early June so the weather was just warming up for summer, but we still made
use of the A/C at night to keep the room comfortable.
The breakfast buffet provided a great start to the day, with a variety of hot and cold items that were continually replenished by the watchful staff. It was always a surprise to see how many people were at the buffet -- the hotel didn't seem to be big enough to hold that many people, and you didn't feel that you were staying in a crowded facility.
We looked forward to afternoon visits to the rooftop terrace for drinks after our daily adventures, but make sure you go up after dark
as well for a spectacular view of Haghia Sofia.
Although our return flights weren't til late afternoon, after checkout our bags were kept at the hotel for us while we picked up last-minute gifts and souvenirs. We were still welcomed into the lounge and plied with more of the refreshing apple tea before warm farewells were exchanged and we headed for the airport.
We will definitely go back to Istanbul, and the Celal Sultan will be our hotel of choice.
If you are going to Istanbul Stay at the Celal Sultan
by TripAdvisor Member okml
My family and I had a wonderful stay at the Celal Sultan during our visit to Istanbul. THe rooms are basic but have comfortable beds and everything you need is available in them. The location is excellent, the breakfast is good and the staff are wonderful, very helpful and freindly....like most turkish people.
If you are going to Istanbul it is a great value for money place to stay.
Fantastic friendly hotel, in an ideal location.
by TripAdvisor Member keefos
We are just coming to the end of our short stay at the Celal Sultan, and decided to use their "free internet" access to post a review.
This is one of the nicest small hotels we've stayed at, and we would not hesitate to recommend to friends and family. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful.
Some of the rooms may be on the small side, but are both clean and comfortable.
It's very much a home from home!
Keith & Eunice, Basingstoke, UK
Charming hotel but small rooms
by TripAdvisor Member desperatetravellers
Hi, My hsuband and I stayed at Celal sultan in Jan 2006, it was pretty cold then, chilly winds and rain.Liked my stay at the Celal sultan, its very centrally located to all the major historical sites( Blue mosque, Haghia Sophia , market place etc). There is a nearby hospital too which helped when i sprained my ankle.
The service is good, very freindly staff and the free internet facility helped a lot as I didnt have to go search (and pay) to just check my email. Breakfast is nice and simple.We got a standard room and the only problem was that the bed was so small that niether of us could even turn or the other one would be off the bed!! it is very cramped and I found that uncomfortable and had a bad neck and back for a few days after.
I would recommend it though to those who can get a deluxe or superior room and make sure the bed is atleast a real double bed.
Lovely Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member missmacLondon
Stayed in Celal Sultan for a week in November, the hotel has a great location and it is very clean, the staff are super nice and very helpful, we didnt know where to go with my boyfriend the sunday evening we were there and the receptionist suggested that we went to kumkapi which is known for its fish restaurants and live music entertainments. We were also advised that the Kalamar restaurant would give us a free ride back to the hotel if we mentioned we were staying there :) how much better can it get?
The location is brilliant its walkable to all the amazing and hypnotic places in Istanbul. Apart from the breakfast buffes which was great with lots of choice, the rest of the hotel food was not that great but not to worry as there are great restaurants decently priced all over the place it just takes you 5 minutes to walk to one and hard to choose which one to go to. I recommend the Sultan pub great food and staff.
So overall the hotel stay was brilliant its such an authentic and pretty hotel.
Started out HORRIBLE, Ended OKAY...
by TripAdvisor Member AM6143
A group of my girlfriends and I visited Istanbul from 2/15-2/20 and had a wonderful trip, but our stay at the Celal Sultan was not so wonderful. ...
I have mixed reviews for this hotel so I'll start with the POSITIVES:
-GREAT location in Sultanahmet, walking distance to Grand Bazaar and next to some good restaurants and very friendly street vendors. Safe neighborhood, no issues there.
-Overall apart from one creepy concierge guy, the service was VERY good at the Celal Sultan, they went out of thier way to answer our questions about tours to take, places to eat/hang out. Even bringing me tea when I got sick one day from the food one day- great people.
-Breakfast was also pretty good, nice selection of different breads, olives, cheeses, etc.
NEGATIVES
-Upon arrival we found out the generator had went out in the hotel so the water was not running and when it ran it came out BROWN- very disgusting. Aparently this is problem with many of the older hotels in Sultanahment.
-Our toilet (once the water was fixed) was making noises every time it flushed and the rooms are definately 'bare minimum' in terms of quality bedding, etc. However we did notice on our last night there that other friend's room was alot nicer than ours so maybe some our upgraded and others arent? I know the hotel was mediocre compared to American standards being a 3/12 star. Once the water was fixed and we got over the shabby appearance and with the service being so good..it turned out to be "OK" place just to sleep and shower, nothing fancy.
OH and a final bad point..beware of the phone services charges, we had a bunch of numbers we didnt recognize on our bill and had to fight the charges.
Istanbul is AMAZING-- it was freezing cold and sometimes rainy bbut otherwise we had a great time..the people, culture, historical sights. Cappadocia is a MUST SEE..you can book a day trip there from Istanbul and it is worth seeing the historical caves. OK didnt mean to write a book here..hope this helps!!!!
As good as it looks
by TripAdvisor Member Istanbul-lover
Having looked at this hotel on lots of websites and seeing the good reviews on Tripadvisor we were quite hopeful. From our arrival to our departure, all the staff were extremely professional yet friendly and helpful. The standard room we had was of a decent size (esp. for Istanbul where rooms can often be tiny!). Stylish decor and good quality furniture and bedlinen made it pleasantly comfortable, The room also had an excellent heating system which was useful after a freezing evening spent watching Galatasary playing a home game (quite an experience). Other reviews have mentioned the breakfast and we must agree with their favourable comments. We had plenty to choose from including fresh comb honey, cheeses etc. All served in a lovely stylish dining room.
This hotel is in a great location, literally round the corner from the main Sultanahmet sights such as the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Mosque, but is in a quiet side street so not much traffic noise.
We will definitely return!
Lovely hotel, fabulous location
by TripAdvisor Member WelshJohn
Stayed 3 nights prior to then flying onto Kalkan for a fortnight in a villa by the sea. The hotel was lovely, the location perfect. We were collected at the airport FOC by air conditioned Mercedes mini bus just for the 4 of us. We had booked a family room but they gave us 2 adjoining, although small rooms, they had everything we needed. The breakfast was good & we particularly enjoyed the roof terrace playng cards whilst having a final drink.
The loaction was excellent & meant we could walk everywhere - MMosque, Topkapi, cisterns etc but the Grand Bazarre was unbelievable - my 2 daughters spent a fortune in there even though we haggled over everything.
The only minor issue we had was that the reception guy pushed tours at £40 each person to visit all of the above - totally not necessary & he wouldn't give up!
Thoroughly recommended & would stay here again.
Fine, but disappointed
by TripAdvisor Member ThreeShoes
This is a fine little hotel in the centre of the old part of Istanbul. It is a very short walk to Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque and the Cistern is just down the road; it's ideally placed to tour this part of Istanbul. The room was comfortable without being anything special, the staff were friendly and helpful, and breakfast was excellent.
Our only problem arose after we had stayed there for 6 days and left for a week elsewhere in Turkey (Göçek): the day before we were due to return (for our last night in Turkey) I emailed them to check that they would meet us at the airport, but the reply said that they had had a problem with their system and that we would have to stay in another hotel (the Aziyade). Since we had had the booking confirmed for 9 months I found this very disappointing; it was clear to me that a booking for a single night was less useful to them than a larger booking. We managed to wangle 2 free transfers out of it, and we saved on the last night's bill, but the standard of the replacement was not good and I felt taken for granted.
Photos
Botero-Circus people
Intricate gilded trim (kalemisi) on the ceiling
zazie nisantasi
More sleeping areas
Forum Posts
Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by diana_renou
Hi, I would like to ask if any body know that hotels in Istanbul and wich is his opinion about its: erguvan hotel, nena hotel, celal sultan hotel, erboy hotel, angel hotel. Agan hotel. Thanks a lot for your help. It is for a woman who travel alone.(my english isnt good, I hope you can understand me). Have a nice day!!
Re: Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by ghosthunter
Hi Diana, Have a look at tripadvisor where you will see reviews of these hotels. Here is the link to the Erguvan Hotel. Key in the second name when you have reading these reviews, Darren.
www.tripadvisor.com/Search?returnTo=__2F__&q=erguvan+istanbul&geo=1
Re: Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by venoquine
Hi , I usually stay at Erboy, has a good location close to sultanahmet(you can walk there) the rooms are a a little bit small, the staff is very nice.Near to eminonu port, galata bridgeIt's agood hotel.Agan is not far from erboy, the cheapest one, but a good reputation.All the others are in Sultanahmet.The best one in sultanahmet is Cellal sultan.
If you don't want to go too far for dinner choose Agan or Erboy, the street ibn kemal caddese is full of turkish restaurants.
Re: Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by venoquine
Hi , I usually stay at Erboy, has a good location close to sultanahmet(you can walk there) the rooms are a a little bit small, the staff is very nice.Near to eminonu port, galata bridgeIt's agood hotel.Agan is not far from erboy, the cheapest one, but a good reputation.All the others are in Sultanahmet.The best one in sultanahmet is Cellal sultan.
If you don't want to go too far for dinner choose Agan or Erboy, the street ibn kemal caddese is full of turkish restaurants.
Re: Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by Martin_S.
Shalom, Shalom:
We recently (just last month) stayed at the Cara, just across the street from the Istanbul University (Beyazit area). There is also a tramm stop there on the corner, very convenient for getting to all spots in the city. Many of the main attractions of the Sultanhamet area are within walking distance if you enjoy walking. If not the tram comes every few minutes.
The hotel Cara itself was clean and very acceptable. It alsohad a pool, which was a nice addition to relax in after a day of walking and visiting all the sites. The only slightly negative aspect was the noise (when the window was open), but from what we saw of many of the other hotels in the area they have the same problem. The hotel puts out a decent breakfast, not fancy or varied, but filling.
Martin
Re: Would you help me I need a hotel in Istanbul
by diana_renou
Thanks a lot all of you for your help!!
Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by stuartp
Please can anyone recommend a decent central hotel in Istanbul, where I can get a double room with en-suite for about 40GBP / 60 EUR / 80USD?
[I had looked at worldhousehostel (as they seem to be ideally placed between Beyoglu & Sultanahmet) but unfortunatly they don't have space.]
We need 3 nights from 27 Sept.
Many thanks in Advance
Stuart
Re: Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by Ladymarian1
We stayed in the Celal Sultan a couple of minutes or so away from Sulhamet square. Not quite sure how expensive it is now as its about 2 years or so ago that we stayed. Service and rooms were good, excellent breakfast. Beware of the Star Hotel - its terrible --- and make sure that you're at the Topaki Palace good and early otherwise you will queue for best part of 2 hours even in off peak season. Hope this is of some help. I seem to remember the hotel has a good website - we booked via the web without problems.
Re: Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by ruffen
http://www.hoteltroya.com/
Standard double for 55 euro.... it is central in Beyoglu (Taxim) area.
Off to test this hotel in a few days ;)
Re: Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by iaint
try Terrace Guesthouse (ask for Dogan) or Cosmopolitan Park (ask for Kamil) - details on my Istanbul pages
Re: Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by profannie
I like to go at the Erboy (www.erboyhotel.com). They are located in the Sirkeci district (tram station Gulhane is about 100 meters), so just near Sultanhamet and near Beyoglu.
The staff is very professionnal; they will answer your request for availability within 24h.
Re: Decent central hotel in Istanbul for EUR60 ish
by stuartp
Thanks very much - hotel looks ideal
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