Hotels in Istanbul

We stayed at Hotel Sultan Hill in Rick's book and liked it very much--it's right behind the Blue Mosque. They are very friendly to American tourists, speak English, and are conveniently located. If I were traveling on my own, I'd feel safe in this hotel.

Some people have recommended Hotel Empress Zoe and others Hotel Apricot.

I'd check out the recommendations on Trip Advisor to see if any of these meet your needs.

Rick Steves' Istanbul book is very helpful, has lots of great recommendations, and can be used to get a discount at some hotels.

I highly recommend the Apricot Hotel. http://www.apricothotel.com/

It's very centrally located, safe, super helpful and charming staff and inexpensive. Definitely not a chain hotel.

Have a great trip in this fantastic city!

I would also recommend Hotel Sultan Hill for the EXACT same reasons as the first post. I was traveling by myself and stayed there for 4 days and loved it. I felt very much at home.

Hello!

I strongly don't recommend you staying at Poem Hotel. A lot of bad reviews are often received at this hotel, such as: not friendly staff who doesn't speak good English, poor breakfast, tiny rooms - all that at a pretty high rate for the hotel which is rated 3 star.

Right opposite this hotel, there is an excellent 4 star hotel: Tria Hotel
http://www.turkeytps.com/details/hotel/tria_hotel/

This hotel itself is very good, with a great location, in addition they offer big discounts for rooms in summer time.

When you book on this web-site, you are getting a free transfer from the airport to the hotel.

If you need to find any other hotels that meet your requirements, feel free to contact me and I'll help you choose a hotel so that you were pleased.

Hope it helps, good luck!

We considered booking at Hotel Apricot but for the month of May when we were there, the hotel was charging 20% more for stays in May (not sure why.) While we were in Istanbul we tried to find the hotel--it difficult to find--we did finally find it another day. It looks very nice and is probably a lovely place to stay, but for us, it wasn't worth the extra cost. Hotel Sultan Hill on the other hand gave us a 15% discount with Rick Steves' Istanbul Guidebook. Hotel Sultan Hill is more conveniently located to the main sites. If you decide to stay at Hotel Apricot, I'd get very specific directions about how to get to the hotel.

Also saw the bad reviews that Hotel Poem received on Trip Advisor.
Best wishes!

In October, 2008, I stayed at the Eresin Crown Hotel. It was very easy walking distance to the major sites, the hotel staff spoke excellent English and very welcoming. The entire time that I was there, I felt very safe.

Barbara
Atlanta, GA