I read the reviews on this site before booking in at the Cem Sultan for 4 nights. There is a couple of really good reviews and some really bad ones. As an easy going and optimistic type of person I decided to ignore the bad reviews, book my girlfriend and I in get on with our holiday planning. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels and hostels around the world from $2 huts in Thailand and very budget hostels in Bolivia to the Ritz in Jamaica and Bellagio in Las Vegas and I have to say this is the WORST accomodation I have EVER stayed in. Trust me basic hotels do not bother me. First of all the room is horribly presented, ok I'm not overly bothered about that. Next the walls are paper thin, I could hear the room next door talking like they were in the same room and doors were slamming throughout the night. Next they turn the heating completely off so it wall really cold so we had do use the old air con unit to keep the temperature in the room. There were big black hairs in inside the bed which were probably from the previous people and the sheets were like they had never been washed, were old, very dusty and probably had all sorts living inside them. The dust being wafted around the room by the air con made me feel really sick and disgusted. Went to bed at midnight, was still awake at 3am when I just wanted to go and find somewhere else. I was still awake and 5am when the call to prayer started over loud speaker at the Blue Mosque (yes great location!!!) and by 7am I finally fell asleep after deciding to sleep in my clothes. At 10am I got up, refused to risk breakfast and checked out, refusing to stay the following night which my girlfriend I were book in for. and went to a different 3 star hotel called Asur which was basic but quiet and clean and a palace in comparison. Cem sultan would have ruined my first days sightseeing had I not been so tanked up on Turkish coffee (which is excellent!) I honestly would have rather lost all the money I had paid to stay any longer at the Cem Sultan then stay another minute!! After we were out of there our holiday was amazing, the people were really friendly. I really can't understand where the good reviews could have come from on this site for this place as this was literally the worst hotel or hostel I have ever stayed in!!!!!!!! Take it from me and please don't risk it!!!

The location is really good but with the same price (50 EUR) you can go to a better hotel in the area. I don´t think is worth it more than 30 EUR. It was a total rip.off.

Disgusting attiude of owner and staff. Did our laundry, caused over 50Euros of damage and refused compensation, despite repeated promises to pay. Wouldn't stay there again if the rooms were free. Undoubtedly the worst service experienced in Turkey

My stay at the Cem Sultan was nothing short of a dissappointment as I paid 50 euros to stay in what should be described as a sleazy and noisey HOSTEL, not hotel! When we arrived we were abruptly asked to pay up on the spot at reception for the four nights that we had booked. However, it would only get worse as the lights in the hallway to our room flickered on and off as I passed rooms with their doors lying open and half naked teenageers lying on their beds with their televisions blaring loudly. The room was shocking as the ceiling lamp hung with wires exposed and also flickered on and off and for most of the stay did not work at all which was a problem as it was the only light in the room. The furniture was filthy and not acceptable to place your clothes in due to the dirt and the amount of space it offered and so we lived out of suitcases. I had to pile up some of the furniture to make enough space to put two suitcases in the room. The beds were hard and uncomfortable and the bathroom had no shower cubicle and so the water flooded the bathroom floor. The tiles near the toilet were not secured properly and looked like they were ready to drop onto some poor victim's head in the near future. The window in the room faced a brick wall and we could hear a baby crying a lot with a Turkish family chatting/arguing a lot at night and during the day. The first night we stayed, someone knocked on our room door several times and tried to open our door at one o'clock in the morning by turning the door handle - not pleasant! The breakfast room was dusty and old and very out of date decor and the view minimal and mostly of horrible crumbling roof tops. The breakfast consisted of stale bread and the jams etc looked like they had been there for some time! Overall poor and considering the hygiene of the place I mostly relied on a slice of water melon and a cup of coffee and avoided the rest. This hotel did effect my time in Istanbul and I advise you to find another hotel in this area as the location is very good but it has nothing else to offer.