Apartments in Istanbul?
 

We are a family of four (2 daughters in late teens) considering staying in Istanbul next January. I have not found much information regarding staying in apartments, which is usually our preference when travelling in Europe. Does anyone have apartment experience in Istanbul they can share?

You really should also mention:

- how many days
main interest as
- historic touristic sites
- arts and/or architecture
- culture and the people
- nature, scenery, walking, hiking
- night life
- music, jazz, pop, Turkish folk, classical Turkish, Sufi
- food, gourmet, street, home-cooking, meyhane, southern, aegean, black sea, Kayseri region.

Do you prefer generally, upscale, middle of the road, on the cheaper side?

For your information, last January the temperature ranged from 40-58F and there were many sunny days. Today, it is 32 and snowing.

Thanks Otherchelebi,
We are still in the very early planning stages (have read some great trip reports here), but do have our flight from Istanbul to Sydney booked for 17th January next year. Made plans to visit Jordan and Egypt, but after 100s of hours in the planning Egypt is looking rather dubious at the moment - hence we have changed our return flight to come home from Istanbul rather than from Cairo, and are now looking at an alternative trip.

Very roughly we are thinking of flying into Istanbul from Amman, (we will also have been to France and Spain) and then have about 10 days in Turkey. I know the weather can be bad, but so be it - this is what we work with when travelling in the southern hemisphere's long holidays over Christmas (and after the heat of Sydney this summer, we may just welcome those chilly days!)

Generally we are countryside rather than city travellers (so love nature and scenery), but have found that cities work well in winter as there is always plenty to do if the weather lets one down. Whole family is very keen on history and culture, but less so on art. Not into nightlife, and food is not a large part of travel budget - really prefer self catering with fresh ingredient. When we have an apartment we tend to self cater, and when having shorter stays in hotels we obviously eat out. We often hire a car, but not in winter as we have zero experience with icy roads.

We are thinking maybe 3 nights in Cappadocia (Kelebek Cave Hotel in Goreme looks promising) and 2 nights in Ephesus / Pamukkale area (perhaps a hotel in Selcuk), and the remaining 5 nights in Istanbul (probably split 1 night in a hotel to start with and 4 nights in an apartment to end with). I have my heart set on visiting Cappadocia and am not fussed about Ephesus area for this trip, but my husband is keen to go there. Still trying to figure out if we can fly directly from Kayseri or Nevsehir to Izmir in winter, or whether we will need to go back through Istanbul.

Regarding an apartment ..... we are not 5* renters, but would probably tend middle to upscale – 2 bedrooms, very clean, comfortable beds, washing machine ideally (don’t care about dishwasher), and kitchen with enough equipment to be able to turn out a decent meal. Location is important – quiet(ish) but central or relatively central with good public transport. (We can generally find very nice apartments at a much better rate than the 2 hotel rooms we need for the 4 of us).
Have “shortlisted” some apartments, but am still concerned at a lack of apartment reviews.

(http://www.manzara-istanbul.com/en/living/ ),
http://www.vrbo.com/318831
http://www.vrbo.com/148423
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/istanbul/94299
http://www.istanbulholidayapartments...reketFour.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationR...html#amenities

Usually when we rent apartments we read lots of reviews and have always found the Fodors board a wealth of information (and in all the years we have only had one bad rental - in London many years ago). My concern is that I am not seeing many current reviews of apartments and wondering if this is not a good idea in Istanbul. I would love to hear from anyone who experience with an Istanbul apartment.

Nobody?

We will be in Istanbul in early July for 3 nights before heading to Cappadocia (Kelebek Cave Hotel in Goreme, also). Our Istanbul accommodation is at the Ekim Apart Hotel in Sultanamet. We booked it based on the excellent reviews I read on Trip Advisor.

Thanks ggrace. Looks promising. Please report back after your stay, and I hope you gave a great trip.

Check Cheya residences, the Taksim (gumussuyu apts. very close to our home, top floor with good Bosphorus view) or the more expensive but very chick location Nisantasi apartment. The Tesvikiye apartment is not a good location because it is not really in Tesvikiye proper.

Last year a number of our guests stayed at these apartments and they had no complaints. I do not know how they compare to others in terms of price, but their furnishings and kitchens were fine.

Both nisantasi and Taksim are better locations for Winter because you have reasonably good access to 24 hour open places. I like this in a new city, if i canot sleep and feel like a walk at ungodly hours, and these locations are both very safe.