I stayed here for 2 nights, booking 2 rooms for me and a friend. As a platinum guest, we were upgraded to two really large and nice rooms - 354 and 356. The hotel is in a nice, low-rise building and it is a less-than-10TL ride from Taksim Square if you take the Havatas there, and the taxi back to Ataturk airport cost 50TL on the meter.

The room was excellent - large, heavenly bed, a daybed against one of the large windows, a nice TV and a great bathroom area with two sinks, shower and the toilet. There was no bathtub which is fine with me, as I do not like wallowing in my own filth, to quote Kramer.

Service from the get go was excellent but it could have been exceptional if they had done one more thing - one of our taxi drivers was trying to gyp us for a ridiculous amount (TL35 from Sultanahmet) and we knew it could not be more than TL15. The hotel guy came, looked at us, looked at the driver and then left us to our own devices. Ideally, I would like them to treat us as one of their own and protect us from these a##hole taxi drivers.

The breakfast was very good - not cheap at TL60, but very good with interesting cheeses, spreads and what not. You even have a view of the Bosphorus from the breakfast lounge.

Positives: characterful hotel, well done decor-wise, classic W ambience, nice neighborhood with a few cafes and an older quarter with local eateries a bit further up the hill, great service, great breakfast

Negatives: Location: not close to Sultanahmet and other "typical tourist" places, but if you are a repeat visitor like me or a business visitor, this may suit you fine; likewise, there are limited dining options close to the hotel. Although I was far from the W's club/lounge, I could hear thumping music at night from I think a different club on the ground floor, next to the Cafe Nero.

It was our first trip to Istanbul and we've always loved the W brand for hotels. We picked W hotel Istanbul for we've heard good reviews about the place. Getting to the hotel from the airport was relatively painless for we followed the directions listed on the site. The hotel was hip and true to the W brand name that's been built internationally. The room was clean and well-equipped with all the Bliss products that we've been used to having in most of the W hotels around the world. We also loved the gym for it allowed us to maintain some form of exercise regime during our stay there. Public transportation around the hotel is pretty limited so we relied mostly on taxis when we went out in the evenings. Otherwise, there are neat bars/restaurants around the hotel that you could check out.

this hotel is nice & fashionable, AND is also super quiet with extremely helpful staff. everything about it is great. love the showers. the beds are SO comfortable. after a long flight or a long work day, it is so nice to have the comforts of this excellent hotel. can't say enough nice things about it.

Wish I could have spent all my time in this oasis - great 1st W experience that I return to, everytime I am in Istanbul.