The hotel looks quite good and is priced likewise but there are better hotels around, with better service at lower rates and much better located. At 45 USD, it was okay but this is certainly not worth any more.
The room was just enough to fit a double bed and have some space around. Bathroom was clean but staff didn't clean it properly and there was underwear and other toiletries from the previous guests! Some rooms have a balcony overlooking the streets, also not cleaned and was full of ash and cigarette buds.
The staff is good at things that are expected of them but very reluctant and stubborn otherwise. While we were there, a couple had booked a room but it was for single use and staff was very unaccommodating charging them almost the room price for breakfast. I think it finally got sorted when the manager arrived, a few hours later after we were done with breakfast. We found this quite frequent in Turkey where staff were helpful only so far as they were getting anything and absolutely rude once payment was done, with exceptions of course.
Breakfast is good and certainly the highlight. The hotel is walking distance to attractions nearby, taking about 20 minutes uphill to reach the Sultanahmet tram station. The neighborhood is quite pretty and certainly worth walking around though there's little to do around here. There is another area behind the Blue Mosque/ Arasta Bazaar which has a lot more hotels with bars and restaurants open at nights and, importantly, about half the distance to the tram station.
We tried booking our return leg while we were there but staff did not give us the booking.com prices! When we looked around, the hotels behind it, like Deniz Houses for budget and similarly priced Bucolean Palace hotel have much better, bigger rooms with views of the ocean otherwise head closer to the tram station.
- Albatros Hotel Istanbul
