Neighborhood/corresponding hotel to stay if coming a week prior to RS Best of Turkey Tour

I thought this article gave a nice overview of different neighborhoods to stay in:

https://www.moganddogtravels.com/blogs/best-areas-to-stay-in-istanbul

I took the Best of Istanbul and Best of Turkey tours, back to back, in 2022 and loved them both. We stayed in Karaköy for the Best of Istanbul and Sultanhamet for the Best of Turkey. I liked getting two perspectives, just as you suggest.

When I returned this past August, I stayed in Karaköy again. The hotels in the area where I stayed are a short walk from a tram stop. More importantly, they are a short walk from the ferries, which I took more than trams to visit the neighborhoods of Besiktas and Ortakoy on the Europe side and Kadikoy and Uskudur on the Asia side.

So if you're thinking of venturing to any of those neighborhoods, you can think of the ferries as a primary mode of transportation.

Karaköy gave me easy access to the tram and to ferries, a delightful and lively neighborhood near my hotel for cafes, dozens of restaurants for evenings, and walking distance to Cihangir, the Spice Market and Galata Tower.

You can read more about my most recent visit and the neighborhood where I stayed:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/8-nights-in-istanbul-solo-this-time

My Best of Turkey tour stayed in Karaköy neighborhood, so I did the opposite and stayed in Sultanahmet (very close to Blue Mosque) pre-tour. Given your preference for something quieter, I'd stay in Karaköy or Galata neighborhoods so as CWSocial pointed out you have easy access to transportation. It is true the RS tour hits the ground running so it is wise to ease in to Istanbul ahead of time.

A food tour is an excellent idea - look closely in your tour materials to see if SRM Travel is offering the foodie tour the day before your tour starts. If so, I recommend contacting them to take it - you go to the Asia side and eat SO MUCH yummy food. If that isn't an offering, scroll through the forum posts for Turkey several people have made recommendations.

You'll have the chance to do a Turkish bath later in your tour at a local place, but I loved the very posh bath I had in Istanbul at the Hurrem Sultan Hamami. It is beautifully restored and quite a pampering experience, and fun to compare to the local experience later in the tour.

Hi CW,
Thank you for your feedback. I've been reading a lot of your posts. They have been helpful and just plain fun to read. Based on your feedback, it seems like Karakoy or Galata would be great neighborhoods in which to base oneself prior to the trip.

Did you stay at the Haze Hotel both times? I read one post where you said the Haze was very close to the ferry and the strip (don't remember the proper name) along the Bosphorus where one can get a fish sandwich or eat at many waterfront restaurants. If you did stay at the Haze, could you tell me the pros and cons of the hotel? Location is definitely important to me as is a helpful staff or concierge service as I can be directionally challenged (lol)!

If you did stay in Galata, are there any hotels you would recommend? And I guess finally, if I'm choosing between the two neighborhoods, is one more locationally advantageous than the other? I'm getting the impression that Karakoy might be better located in terms of transportation (especially if taking the ferry) while, if walking on foot, perhaps Galata might be more central?

Hi CL,
Thank you too for your feedback. I am definitely going to check into the food tour offered by SRM.

As for the hotel you stayed at in Karakoy, could you tell me the name as well as the pros and cons of the hotel? As I mentioned in my reply to CW, I'm looking for a central location as well as concierge service or at least a helpful front desk person who might be able to advise me on the best ways of getting from point A to point B as it seems wifi can be spotty.

Lastly, I've been going on sights like booking.com and feel like I'm going down on a rabbit hole as there seem to be many hotels with exceptional ratings so I thought it would be easier to ask folks from the forum.

Thank you for any additional insights you can provide!

Did you stay at the Haze Hotel both times?
Yes, I stayed at the Haze both times, during my Best of Istanbul tour (and a few days before) and during my 8 night stay this past August.

the Haze was very close to the ferry

The Haze is in the New District, across the Galata Bridge from the ferry stop that I used, a 15 minute / 1 km walk. (That's "close" in my book, so you can judge accordingly.) There's also 1 ferry stop on the same side of the Galata Bridge as the Haze Hotel which we took once during our Best of Istanbul tour - perhaps when we were going to the Asia side for lunch and a walk with our tour guide.

and the strip (don't remember the proper name) along the Bosphorus where one can get a fish sandwich or eat at many waterfront restaurants.

On the lower level of the Galata Bridge are oodles of restaurants, ready to entice any tourist, and with a great view of the comings and goings of the ferries. Our Best of Istanbul guide took us to one of them for one of our first group dinners.

You can get your fish sandwich and a coke on either end of the Galata Bridge....I get mine on the Old Town side (across the Galata Bridge from the Haze Hotel.)

If you did stay at the Haze, could you tell me the pros and cons of the hotel?
I chose the Haze Hotel for my 2nd visit to Istanbul because I knew the hotel, I knew how helpful the staff were, I liked the location - near all the cute little cafes, restaurants and dessert "factories" (details in my trip report.) And because of its location for tram and ferries.

Location is definitely important to me as is a helpful staff or concierge service as I can be directionally challenged (lol)!
The Haze Hotel is a family owned business. The owner, Rafi, is there himself a lot of the time. If you decide to stay there, I can WhatsApp him just before your arrival to make sure that you get a warm welcome - which you will get anyway. The English-speaking front desk is staffed 24 hours.

The first time I stayed, we wanted to take the little tram that goes up the hill to Istiklal St. We didn't know how to get there and didn't know how to buy our tickets. Rather than explaining, the front desk clerk walked over with us, and paid for our tickets when even he couldn't get the machines to work.

I love the 7th floor restaurant, where breakfast is served, with views across the Bosphorous to the Asia side and back towards Old Town and the Hagia Sophia. The one thing that isn't my favorite is that the delicisous Turksih breakfast is brought to your table, rather than buffet style. And they bring a LOT of food. After the first day or two, I learned how to point to things to say "no thank you."

I will be traveling solo and am female so I do want to be able to be near great restaurants for dinner and would prefer not to have to catch a tram or walk far after dark.

As a solo, female traveler (on my August trip) I also chose the Haze because I knew there were so many restaurants and cafes nearby that I could comfortably walk to, even after dark. Within a 5 minute walk, there must be dozens of places, all lively in the evening with mostly Turkish-speaking patrons. And the little dessert "factories" were a fun find this trip, as well as the nearby soup place where you can get a different soup every day, at almost any hour of the day.

There is an ATM about 20 steps outside the front door of the Haze Hotel. That one charges a fee, but I used it out of convenience and for security.

I do want to be able to be near great restaurants for dinner

Within very short walking distance (1-5 minutes) from the Haze Hotel are everything from a small lokanta, serving cheap meals to local workers, to a high end restaurant in the JW Marriott, and everything in between. We liked that little area during our 2022 visit and it was even better in August, with just the right amount of people to feel safe wandering around, even late at night, but without feeling jammed. I could have had my pick of a different restaurant, and a different cuisine, every night.

As for the Galata neighborhood, the only thing that strikes me is that I remember the uphill walk to the Galata Tower. I would check any hotel to see whether you would be making an uphill trek each time you wanted to take the tram or ferry. I remember a lot more shops up there (I didn't go up there this visit.) I liked the restaurant scene near the Haze Hotel much better.

Nippon Hotel at Taksim square. Very reasonable, good location. Number 16 bus from airport drops across the street.

pjmun of course - I stayed at Galata's Hotel with the RS tour. It's within a few blocks of CWSocial's Haze hotel.

Pros: It is a modern business style hotel with 24 hour desk staff and one of the nicer showers I've ever had in a hotel. The breakfast buffet is enormous and diverse. They also have an orange hotel cat named Princess, which was a pro for me :)

Cons: it's a modern business style hotel, so very little charm. The street it is on can be backed up with traffic, so some people reported their airport shuttle dropped them off a few streets away and the hotel staff came to meet them. It was pretty loud with street noise/music on a weekend evening.

PS on the SRM food tour, they aren't always fast responding to email requests. In fact I wasn't even sure if I was confirmed on the tour because I had stayed at a different hotel pre tour (they always meet in the lobby of the designated tour hotel, the day prior to the tour starting). It all worked out ok in the end and we ended up having Lale Surman as our guide (she's the owner of SRM and also co-author of the RS Turkey guide)

Thank you all for providing such detailed responses. After reading through everything, I think I'd like to stay in Karakoy and am going to look up each of these hotels. Galata does seem nice but as I research this a little more, it does seem like one may be walking many hills if staying in that area. Not a big deal but I'm just getting over meniscus surgery so don't want to push my luck--especially since it seems there is a TON of walking on the Best of Turkey tour.

I'm very much looking forward to reading CWSocial's trip report for Istanbul, since we are having our first visit there in October and there doesn't appear very much information online.

I am pleased to read about the Haze Hotel, and its location. Not that that is where I have booked, I have booked The Wings Hotel, where we got an amazing suite with a balcony and water views for a very reasonable price. The Wings is a two minute walk from the Haze according to Google maps so all the wonderful advantages of the Haze should work for us too.

Thanks for leaving a trip report, I'll comment when I have had time to read it tomorrow.

Well, I have just read your very enjoyable trip report and realised that I had already read it!! It was a few months ago though, so my forgetfulness is hopefully forgiven.

I do have one question though if you are back here reading.

You mentioned using Google Pay on public transport. Can you do the same with Apple Pay? I don't like the idea of purchasing an Istanbulkart, we will only be there for five days and I have no idea how much money to put on it. I would much rather just pay as we go.

Thanks in advance.

Can you do the same with Apple Pay?
I think any contactless (tap to pay) method will work. I used Google Pay with my phone on trams and ferries - holding it patiently against the reader to wait for it to register.

Note, however, that I couldn't get Google Pay on my phone to work on buses. For those, I had to pull out my physical credit card and tap to pay.

Perhaps I wasn't being patient enough, holding the phone sufficiently long for it to work while a line of people was waiting behind me. But if my experience is more than a fluke, and Apple Pay doesn't work, you can still try to tap with your credit card.

I have booked The Wings Hotel, where we got an amazing suite with a balcony and water views for a very reasonable price.

And The Wings Hotel has the advantage of an enormous green sign that says "Wings" that can be seen from a ferry on the Bosphorus. It's a handy visual landmark, whether you're staying there or at the nearby Haze Hotel or Galata Hotel. I bet its views are even better than those of the Haze.

I was just looking at pricing for the Haze Hotel this coming August and it's much more reasonable than when I stayed, the same week this past August. Prices nearly triple for September and October, dropping again for November.

Pricing at the Wings Hotel looks more consistent.... not as low as the Haze in August and much lower than the Haze in October.... checking the same week for each.

Deb, So funny that you mention the Wings Hotel because I was also looking at that as well as the Haze.