I have booked a hotel in Istanbul

LOL. I stayed there on my first visit to Istanbul and loved it. On my second visit it was closed for major renovations (I thought it was fine - very modern and comfortable) just the way it was and figured that it would be a high end hotel when it was done. Apparently not. I thought the location was excellent.

That was 2013. I just checked - I paid €450 for 5 nights back then. Now I want to go back to Istanbul. . . . maybe next September.

Chani

I think that I read it went from a three star hotel to a four star hotel after renovations.

I may have gotten a. very good price because I booked so far in advance

Go, what is stopping you. Aren t you in Tel Aviv. isn't it sort of a hop, ski and a jump to get to Istanbul from Tel Aviv.

Thank you for your input. I like to speak directly to someone who stayed there.

I don't know Erboy but currently, it is preferable to stay in the Sultanahmet region rather than residing in Taksim. Taksim is notorious for being overrun with fraudulent individuals.

Really? We prefer staying in Taksim. Our Turkish friends recommended we stay in Taksim and it was an interesting area to stay in.

So glad you found a hotel that seems to meet your needs. You will get lots of advice, often conflicting, about hotels and areas to stay.

My only thought is for you to think one step ahead about what your exit strategy is to the airport. If you are taking the bus (lowest cost option), have you found how far that stop is from your hotel? If you are taking a taxi, will you just have your hotel arrange for one?

I am going the opposite direction (airport to hotel) in October. The bus stops one block from my hotel in Taksim. I know there are buses that go to the neighborhood you are staying in. Just do a little research to find out where the stop is.

I booked for three nights and rate is $330.00

Is that per night or the total for all 3 nights?

I do have to check with hotel and be certain that it is not on a hill

What is wrong with being on a hill? (google map view looks pretty much flat )

Taksim is notorious for being overrun with fraudulent individuals.

Bit of a broad brush you're painting with there. Got a source for that?

Taksim is a very busy street/square/neighborhood. Rick Steves spoke highly of it, and I think called it "the Times Square of Istanbul." I spent a lot of time there in October, stayed at a nice hotel near Taksim, and I encountered no "fraudulent individuals" that I noticed...just a lot of people who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Staying in the Sultanahmet does have it's advantages (it's closest to many of the historic sights) but it comes with it's own challenges, as does any neighborhood in this vast and ancient city. Taksim has it's charms and challenges, too, but can be just as good a choice as anywhere else.

Edited to add: Just realized this thread was from July 2023, so presumably the questions about this hotel/neighborhood have been settled (OP's trip seems to be for October 2024).

As to the concern about whether or not the hotel is "on a hill" - I'd say that Istanbul is somewhat hilly in general. This neighborhood isn't super-hilly (other neighborhoods are more so - in fact, Taksim is up fairly high - there are steep funicular lines to get up there); the land around this hotel does slope down a bit to the water that surrounds it. Not very steeply, but it might feel steeper than someone with mobility challenges would like. Of course, that's going to be true of many Istanbul neighborhoods.

Joe32F, their rates are about $100/night so I'd say that's for all 3 nights - not bad huh.

As far as being on a hill, I believe the OP has some mobility issues so I think that's important to her.

The area is flat and the tram is very close to the hotel.

I don't even think this thread is still current, at least for the OP. This seems to date from when bostonphil was to cruise from Haifa to Turkey. That has now been swapped for a cruise out of Barcelona- which I don't believe is a one way Barcelona to Istanbul cruise.

Good Morning

yes, I was going to sail from Haifa to Istanbul once upon a time but when war broke out, I decided to change my cruise to a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona.

I think it is going to be a very very long time before there are cruises leaving from Haifa and sailing to Istanbul.

It is so sad what is happening in the Middle East.