Istanbul

I stayed in the Sultanahmet district when I was there a month ago. The area was close to the major sites and had a number of restaurants. I stayed at the Grand Pennisula hotel.

Depends what you're looking for and what you plan on doing during the day and night. Istanbul is HUGE (13 million people and several hundred hotels both on the Asia side and European side) and there are plenty of locations that are "best" depending on your criteria (if you want to be by the airport for an early AM flight, one location may be best vs another, etc). If you want nightlife, then I would recommend Beyoglu/ Istiklal Street/ Taksim...if you care more about being super close to the key tourist sites after you wake up, then I would say the Old City (Sultanahmet). There are lots of other areas as well, those are just two.

Define what you're looking for and you'll get more helpful responses.

I stayed in the Sultanahmet district when I was there 6 months ago. The area was close to the major sites and had a number of restaurants. I stayed at the Adamar hotel.

View from the roof top hotel restaurant https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C9F4C533EB93D92E!7358&authkey=!AJd0ErociF_u2yk&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

Just came back from Istanbul last week, and we stayed in the Sultanahmet area because the tour concentrated in the Old Town sites. It depends what your purpose is in visiting Istanbul, is it for business, for visiting the touristy places, for shopping? After staying in the Old Town area, and then visiting the New District and the Asian side of Istanbul, we decided that if we ever go back, we would not stay at a hotel in Sultanahmet (Old Town) area. However, if your main purpose is to tour the famous sites, do stay in the Sultanahmet area, because you'll be within walking distance to those sites. However, be warned that the area is very touristy oriented with touristy prices. Plus, there were several panhandlers out on the streets (near the hotel areas) once the sun set. It felt very uncomfortable to walk back to the hotel, because there would be the touts from the restaurants or stores, plus the panhandlers along the roads. If you are a woman and alone, it could feel a bit intimidating.

One other thing, being in Sultanahmet is closer to Ataturk Airport, cab fare would be less than going to the New District,which is north of the Galata Bridge. However, there is newer things to look at in the New District. For experiencing what the locals do, go to the Asian side, but you would have to take the ferries or take the Marmaray train to cross the Bosphorus to the Old Town area. More modern on the Asian side.

I stayed at the Erboy Hotel. Great hotel, great location in the Sultanakhmet. It's modern, clean, excellent breakfast buffet, good restaurant, staff were very helpful and knowledgeable.

As most of the previous posts stated, Sultanahmet has a lot of hotels in the most tourist dense part of the city. I like the Empress Zoe and Blue House in this area, but have not stayed in either recently. There are also lots of hotel options near Taksim Square. If you prefer larger chains, most of those are north and east of Taksim Square. I've stayed in the Hilton in this area and it was nice.

Those two areas are probably the best options for tourists in my opinion.