My husband and I are flying from Rome to the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport on Nov. 8 arriving at 6:15pm. We will be booking a hotel in the old area and need info on the best means of transportation and approx. cost to do that. If taxi is the best/only way, what should we expect to pay? We will spend four nights in the city before boarding a Celebrity Cruise ship for a 12 night voyage to Rome. We have booked rooms at the Downtown Accomodations B&B for 70E/night in Rome. I've read that Turkey is supposed to be more economical, but am finding that costs for a regular Dbl. hotel room at the Zuegma Hotel exceed that by 20E/night or 90E. The Dbl room with balcony is 100E. Same type of hotel with breakfast buffet,taxes, etc.
My husband looked at Booking.com and saw the Zuegma/same room with balcony for 360E for 4 nights,all inclusive. That's 40E less and can help pay for transportation from the airport! Has anyone booked through Booking.com and can recommend it? The RS guide says to book directly with the hotel.....but for more? Any suggestions for another similar hotel? This is the last cruise for the season so rates should be less than Rome I would think! Thanks for any advice!
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
Yes, booking. com is fine. Use it all the time. As for the airport issue, you should use a shuttle if you want a more economical option than a taxi. Just google it or search this thread since someone had asked about it before you.
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
If you are staying four nights in a hotel you can probably make arrangements directly with them to have a taxi pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel for free. There are quite a few hotels in that area so it might be a good idea to do some further searching. Try a computer search for Sulthanamet (sp.?)hotels.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
22 posts
Thanks for the info. We used Booking.com to secure a room at Solkullu Pasa Hotel; it looks great and nicer than the Zeguma. Will investigate the airport shuttle.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
It is common for hotels in Istanbul to offer a free airport transfer if you are staying more then 3 nights, but only for Ataturk Airport. Since Sabiha Gokcen is so much farther away, hotels usually charge for a transfer (it may still be worth it for the convenience, and it may not be a bad value when compared to a taxi). For my trip, I found the Turkey Travel Planner website to be a wonderful resource. Here's his page of information about transport options from Sabiha Gokcen Airport: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Transport/s_gokcen_transport.html I don't agree that hotels are Istanbul are "so much cheaper" than in other European cities. It's not Switzerland, but neither is it Berlin. And yes, I've used booking.com several times with no problems, so I agree that if they give you a better deal, use them.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
Here's more info on how to get from Sabiha Dokcen into town (Taksim) http://www.wittistanbul.com/magazine/how-to-get-from-istanbul-sabiha-gokcen-airport-to-taksim-or-sultanahmet/
Posted by
Palatine
9 posts
Patricia,
Just returned from Istanbul last week. The cost of a taxi can fluctuate between 40 - 60 TL depending on the traffic. When we arrived on a Saturday at 5:00, it took us over an hour and a half to arrive at an Old Town area hotel. When we left on Saturday morning about 9:00 am, it only took us 1/2 hour to get to the airport with a hotel shuttle which was a fixed cost. Some of our group took the tram into the Old City. As we experienced daily, Istanbul's tram system is clean and efficient, though can be quite full. Enjoy Istanbul, it is a wonderful part of our world ...
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
22 posts
Thanks to all; my husband has arranged our transfers so that is completed. We are now into our 2nd week in Ireland; now in Dingle and love every minute!