I've read pretty much everything I can search for on this site and the web about Istanbul hotels. My criteria for this search is 1. moderately priced 2. good location 3. Nicely decorated rooms, with the possibility of a suite 4. Good views 5. Friendly and welcoming staff. These are pretty standard desires for a hotel stay. We are a middle aged couple who enjoy travel and have taken to staying in apartments, but are opting for a hotel this trip. I have read all the recommendations and have some thoughts, but hoping that someone out there could help push me towards a special place in Istanbul. It is our first visit and we are operating with no first hand knowledge. Thanks all.

ttt

What do you consider "moderately priced?" Good location would be near the Blue Mosque IMHO. Walkable to most sights. What hotels have you researched?

Moderately priced would be 100-150 euro per night. Of course less would be great. I know that you usually get what you pay for. Some of the hotels that I have looked at are Kybele, Valide Sultan, Dersaadet, Celal Sultan, Tash Konak, Empress Zoe, Apricot Hotel and the list goes on. I like the idea of a special class hotel with modern conveniences.

I didn't stay at any of the hotels on your list but I remember trying to get a reservation at the Celal Sultan as it looked great. They were booked for the time I was there. You can easily walk to most sites shown on their map. If you scroll over each number on the map you can see how far the site is from the hotel.

The Empress Zoe apparently has had construction going on. You might want to look into that before you book.

The Apricot Hotel looked very nice when we were in Istanbul last July. We also thought the Yesil Ev hotel was very charming and beautiful. We didn't stay there, but had a lovely dinner in their outdoor garden. The hotel is within walking distance of all the major tourist sites.

One other to suggest is SARA KONAK, although that might be out of your budget.

thanks all.

adrienne and weadles, where have you stayed in istanbul?

I stayed at the Ararat for 2 nights but wouldn't recommend it. The location was perfect but the room was pricy for what we had and the room wasn't cleaned after the first night. Also the shower drained slowly and I flooded the bathroom by the time I finished washing my hair (didn't realize I had created a flood until I was done with the shower).

What they call a "suite" is really a large room, not a room with sitting room. Also the windows were low so you had to sit/lie on the bed to see the blue mosque.

Right next door to the Ararat was another hotel that looked good but I can't find my notes and don't know the room rates. We had drinks on their terrace both nights before going back to the Ararat.

We stayed at THE SEVEN HILLS, just across the street from THE FOUR SEASONS in Sultanahmet. We had two very beautiful suites, one with a huge terrace, but I can't recommend the hotel because both rooms smelled most of the time like raw sewage. Apparently, there was a plumbing problem coming from the restaurant bathroom which was directly over our rooms. This happened last July. It's very possible that the hotel has been able to fix the problem by now, but they couldn't resolve it for the entire six nights that we were there, and also couldn't move us since the hotel was fully booked.

I can recommend the Mavi Ev. Nice staff...take a bottle of wine for the recepetion manager...worked a treat !

I appreciate all of your responses. I reserved the corner suite at the dersaadet for 120 euro per night and one way transportation from airport to hotel. The website certainly shows the rooms to look very nice and the reviews on tripadvisor are excellent. Does anyone have personal experience with this hotel? If so, they have two suites, one with a city view and the other with a sea view. I wonder which would be the better?