We wanted to love this hotel, and it does in fact have a number of things to recommend it, chiefly the lovely, authentic, solid-stone, 17th century architecture. It is indeed a lovely place. The problem is that it's also impractical and poorly realized as a hotel.

We decided to splurge on the suite--not the "king's suite" which another reviewer wrote about and sounds very nice, but the smaller suite. (There are three room designations: "standart" which is the Turkish way of saying "standard"; the suite, and the king's suite.) For 250 TL, we were expecting something spectacular, and indeed the photos looked great on the internet. When we actually saw the room--exhausted and hot after a 10 hour bus trip--we were stunned. Basically, it was a room that was a bit bigger than the "standart" rooms, but had the distinction of having some hard, bench-like seating with a rug-like covering, and a tiny little room to the side of the bigger room that had a single bed in it--that was the suite. I don't consider this a "suite" given that it had less accommodations than most "standart" rooms just about anywhere, i.e. there was no comfortable place to sit (the bench seating was too uncomfortable, plus there was no table in front of the seating, to put things on like drinks or snacks or books or whatever, rendering it nearly useless) nor was there a desk and chair. Perhaps it counted as a "suite" because of the second little room; maybe the place is intended for a family with small children. But beware--this "suite" is unsuitable for even a family if the children are much older than toddlers, because as you go into the small room, you pass the bathroom, which doesn't have a proper door but has a sliding, semi-translucent door like the kind used in showers, providing very little privacy.

We were so shocked that we went downstairs right away and asked for another room--any room, but unfortunately a tour bus had filled the hotel that day and so we had to spend the night in the suite.

I could nit-pick things like the tacky decor, which included maroon craft netting around the sconce lighting, but there's bigger fish to fry, namely we had no--NO--hot water. And: the electricity kept going off. And: the sink water came out in such a trickle, it was actually a challenge to get our toothbrush wet enough to brush our teeth. And: I had to pick up/wipe off some kind of filth on the floor (I believe it was excrement.) And: the disco is right under the suite, and the noise was loud and intrusive until almost 1:00 a.m. And: the wireless signal was too low to get the internet. Perhaps worst of all is that early in the morning, we were woken up by the sound of cleaning staff who appeared to be IN our room. The noise was so very close I finally got up and investigated. Standing in the small room, I looked up and realized that the wall separating the small room from the cleaning supply room didn't go up all the way to the ceiling, but stopped a good 5-8 feet short! (The ceilings are very tall, perhaps 20 feet). This meant ANY sound--any sound at all--made in one room was entirely audible in the other! Worse still, it appeared that staff would go into the cleaning room to sneak ciagarettes--so our room soon filled up with smoke in the morning! Truely, it was one of the top three worst rooms I've ever stayed in.

The next day, we were transferred to "standart" room that was simply lovely, with a domed stone ceiling. We much preferred it to the "suite" but it still had problems: the shower water temperature could not really be regulated and either turned cold quickly or lingered in a tepid state. The hand-held shower head would not stay attached to its holder, so you either had to manipulate whatever else you needed--i.e. opening up a shampoo bottle--one-handed, or put down the shower head, or turn the water off. Turning the water off resulted in a waiting period for the water to crawl back to tepid, leaving me very cold.

Other small complaints about the second room include: The heavy hand towel holder fell and almost hit my foot and the window was difficult to open.

Almost daily, a tour of 40-80 schoolchildren would crowd the corridors around 9:00 or so. They would run about, yelling and screaming, and some would try to open the doors to the hotel rooms, which would be annoying.

As another reviewer noted, rooms don't appear to be really cleaned daily, aside from the towels being replaced. Drinking glasses were never replaced; the bed was made but sheets don't appear to have been changed, and we had to call several times for more toilet paper.

As another reviewer noted, the breakfast was pretty lame--very, very limited and the same thing every day. It was one of the least inspired breakfasts we've had in the almost-dozen places in Turkey we've stayed.

I think if we weren't expecting this magical, wonderful place, it might have been okay. My mother-in-law LOVED it (even though the main electrical switchbox was in her room and so personnel came in and out continuously when the electricity went out.) My husband seemed to like it pretty well once we switched rooms. It is in a great, convenient location. The shampoo they provide smells nice. It's pleasant to hangout in the courtyard and drink tea (2 TL). The internet worked fine in our standart room and since the standart room was well away from the disco, the music didn't disturb us at all. Some of the reception staff are extraordinary. The best one--I did not catch his name, unfortunately--was superlative, but is unfortunately going to go to hospitality school in the States in the very near future. With the exception of the manager, most everyone was friendly and nice.

They gave us 70TL off the suite for our bad experience the first night, when we asked, which one the one hand was decent, but on the other hand, I didn't think it was enough, given we couldn't shower, sat in the dark part of the time, had disco music pounding in until 1:00 and then were woken by cleaning staff early, followed by being smoked out from the staff's second-hand smoke. It could have been a disaster and it wasn't because we were able to get another room, but it's also true it was not the special, romantic splurge we thought we were buying.

You're probably bored of reading reviews about how lovely the Cinci Han is. But it is. You get to stay in a marvellously restored caravanserai for just over thirty quid a night. It feels like a luxury hotel, the staff are courteous, the rooms wonderfully done, the courtyard breathtaking.

As soon as we arrived we booked an extra night - we just didn't want to go. We abandoned our schedule and just hung around, napping on the lovely beds, or sitting watching the canopy of the perfect courtyard wash up and down. In the evenings we ate in the restaurant and played cards on the balcony and just made the most of it. In an ideal world all hotels would be like this. As it is, it felt like a privilege to stay there.

There are downsides, if you really look for them. There's no laundry service and the television is limited to Turkish channels. It's also a mild irritation staying in the town's biggest landmark, as you'll get tourists rattling your door or peering through your window (note to self: make sure the bedroom door is firmly shut before showering). But my word, it's really nit-picking to raise this kind of thing when you're staying somewhere so gob-smackingly beautiful.

Plus the staff are charming.

Safranbolu (the old town) is a beautiful town, stunning scenery, lots of tiny streets with interesting shops and cafes. And at the centre of the town is the recently restored Caravansaray, Cinci Han. The rooms are clean, a little small, but look amazing. Mine had a domed ceiling (see photos). There really is nothing to complain about. The restaurant in the courtyard serves some tasty and very reasonably priced food. There are also plenty of great places to eat nearby. It's just such a great location - I can't fault it. We loved it so much we extended our stay.

This place is incredible. Staying in a caravanserai on the Silk Road - but renovated into a tasteful, modern hotel. Our room was spacious and elegant, and the dinner we ate (alone) in the courtyard was excellent. Spectacular view from the roof, and it's easy to imagine life on the road for the 17th century camel caravans who stopped here. The staff was very helpful and the han is central to historic Safranbolu, a delightful town.