Wings Hotel review and one other tip

Glad you made it and the hotel is meeting your expectations. If you can download CityMapper app to your phone, it works very well in Istanbul and includes all the tram and metro information. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the post(s)! I'm researching Istanbul for next year - helpful info on maps and the CityMapper recommendation.

I often find the Apple Maps on iPhone isn't as good as the google maps app. Really frustrating as Apple Maps is a bit easier to use (for me anyway)!

pjmun, I hope there will be more reports coming!

Thanks for the tip on Citymapper. I will give that a go or use google maps.

I’ll also post about my trip to Fener and Balat.

Glad you made it! Thanks so much for posting your positive review on Wings Hotel. I stayed nearby and appreciated using their big, neon green sign from the ferries as a landmark for where my own hotel was.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your visit to Fener and Balat. I'd like to go back there during my next visit to explore those colorful neighborhoods more than we did on our Best of Istanbul tour.

Thanks for the well wishes CL. And thank you for all the tips you provided prior to me making my decision to come here solo for a week and then join up with the Rick Steves tour. There really is so much to do here so I’m glad I gave myself a decent amount of time to see sights that won’t be covered on the tour. Plus my jet lag is bad right now so it’s nice to also just relax in my hotel room and read or binge watch apple TV.

Plus my jet lag is bad right now so it’s nice to also just relax in my
hotel room and read or binge watch apple TV.

I thought it was bad with a 9 hour time zone difference, you have three extra hours to deal with. I'm glad you have time to ease into your visit. Maybe book a hammam visit too - that definitely helped me with sleeping!

pjmun, thank you so very much for remembering your review. I am completely thrilled by that.

I am also so pleased that you are enjoying it. We leave next month for Greece, but don't get to Istanbul until the very end of the month. I have to say that the Wings are fabulous with responding to my emails and they have already offered to help us get Istanbulkarts. It sounds like they are even better in person!

I asked them about where to buy wine, and they explained that they don't sell or serve alcohol. I then asked if it would be a problem if we purchased a bottle of wine to enjoy on our balcony. Their response was that they would happily go and buy it for us, I was blown away by that.

We definitely plan to visit Kadikoy and Moda, hopefully can fit Uskudar in too. I wasn't planning a guide though, just winging it, but we'll see.

I also really want to visit Fener and Balat, along with Pierre Roti hill as well, so will be very interested in your comments tomorrow.

I always use Google Maps, and have everything saved to private maps there. I also have CityMapper, so great to know that it works there as well.

Any good restaurant recommendations if you don't mind?

Thanks so much once again.

Hi Deb, So I have thoughts on a few different things but I’ll start with Fener and Balat and will probably have to comment later on other questions you have as I will have to get ready soon to meet another guide to see other sights that won’t be visited on the Best of Turkey tour.

I did enjoy my time in Fener and Balat but I will mention that it is somewhat gimmicky. According to my guide, who is a huge history buff, the houses we see in photos and on social media were painted some 10 years ago specifically to attract tourists wanting to post on social media. There actually aren’t that many houses that are painted in those bright colors but there are also colorful stairs also filled with tourists trying to get great photos for posts. That said, I’m glad I visited. There are a lot of cute shops, cafes and eateries that you will probably enjoy. The bulk of my tour was spent visiting very old Churches and learning about the tangled history of the region and its various conquering empires.

We had a quick lunch at Forno Balat. I tried the Lahmacun, which is like a thinner version of a Pide, which is like a Turkish pizza. I enjoyed the vibe and food there. Was it the best meal of my life? No, but it was fun and tasty. I’ll report back later/tomorrow with my responses to some of your other questions.

I forgot to mention that the location of the Wings Hotel and Karakoy in general is ideal. CW recommended it to me so I am seconding that recommendation.

Karakoy is very close to the ferries, trams and the Galata tower (which I have yet to visit) and has a lot of shops, restaurants and cafes. Plus the view of the Bosphorus and all the activity it attracts is nice.

Thanks again pjmun. Maybe I'll have to rethink Balat, the last thing I am interested in is Instagrammers!

I did want to do a ferry ride up the Golden Horn though, we might decide on the fly.

Take your time replying, it is more important to enjoy your trip. We don't leave Australia for another four weeks, so there is plenty of time.

Hi Deb and of course anyone else who’s interested, Regarding your plans to visit Kadikoy and Uskudar, I’d say it’s definitely worth visiting as it’s very local. With our guide, we first visited Uskudar, which I was told is quite religious and conservative. We then went to Kadikoy, which is far more progressive and secular. Apparently many street protests begin in Kadikoy. We ate at a famous restaurant called Ciya Sofrasi. There were a lot of locals and tourists there, possibly because it was featured on Chef’s table. We tried a lot of traditional dishes, which I didn’t necessarily love but was very glad to try.

I’ll circle back with some restaurants that I have tried and others that were recommended to me but that I haven’t yet tried as well as a few other comments about places to visit.

Ok, I’m back to pass on a few restaurant recommendations but before I say anything, you should know that for my first two nights here I just ate a fish wrap because I was too exhausted to go out to eat.

For breakfast, I’ve grabbed a simit and Turkish black tea because I don’t eat a lot in the morning and because I’ve had tours scheduled in the am. Galata Simitcisi was recommended to me by the food tour guide. It’s a simple breakfast but it checks the box for me.

For baklava and other desserts I would recommend Karakoy Güllüoğlu. Many locals have told me it’s the best place to go for such treats and it is very yummy.

Hamdi Restaurant near the Spice Bazaar is supposed to be the best place to go for kebabs. It’s maybe a 15 minute walk from the hotel in Eminonou. I plan to go there soon to give it a try.

Rick Steves recommends Karakoy Lokantası. It’s very close to the hotel so I tried it last night. I wasn’t that hungry so I just got some cold appetizers that the waiter recommended. Very tasty but again I didn’t have a main course or a hot appetizer. I’d recommend making a reservation unless you plan to get there right when it opens at 5:30 because it’s a very popular place.

Pjmun, thanks so much for your suggestions.

Looking at a map, I’m not sure we’ll get time to go to Uskudar as well as Kadikoy and Moda, they seem quite a distance apart. Still we will see how we go.

I have read about Ciya Sofrasi, possibly on TA or maybe Facebook, so if we don’t find anything else interesting we’ll try it there.

I certainly hope to eat a fish wrap but probably lunch for us. We are big breakfast eaters and breakfast is included with our Wings hotel reservation, so we’ll enjoy it there. I believe the views are fairly good from their restaurant. Have you been up there at all?

Because we eat a big breakfast, lunch tends to be lighter, although sometimes when travelling we just eat more, or so my scales tell me when I get home! I have heard for the dessert restaurant Karakoy Güllüoğlu, but I don’t have a very sweet tooth. I have tried baklava a few times here in Australia, mainly at Greek or Lebanese restaurants because we have large populations from that part of the world, so lots of restaurants. I find it far too sweet for my taste, but I’ll certainly try some whilst in Istanbul.

As for Karakoy Lokantasi, I already have a reservation for our first night! Everything I read said that it was very difficult to get into, so I emailed them and asked when I should reserve. Their reply was right now, so I did.

We are also hoping to try a roof top restaurant or too. I do love a view, even though generally the food isn’t as good.

Thanks again for your tips, and I hope you are still enjoying your time in Istanbul.

Hi Deb and anyone interested, I would highly recommend doing a Culinary Backstreets tour called Taste of Two Continents. I’ve done four tours so far and this one, hands down was superb. You will get to see both Karakoy and Kadikoy in depth. I discovered parts of Kadikoy and Moda that I would never have seen on my own. It’s a fantastic way to learn about Istanbul and discover some of its neighborhoods. I did the SRM foodie tour and while the guide was very nice, it didn’t compare to this one.

Hi Deb, I’d skip Uskudar. I found Kadikoy to be far more interesting. Just my opinion though.

Again, thanks so much pjmun.

We've only ever done one food tour, in San Sebastian a couple of years ago, so I hadn't really considered it.

I will look into it though. Sometimes tours are an issue for me as I have a bladder condition and need more regular stops than most tours allow. Hope that isn't too much information!

Thanks also for the tip re Uskudar. We have been watching You Tubes and pretty well came to the same conclusion. We'll focus on Kadikoy and Moda.

Did you walk or public transport between the two?