35 Euro per direction is pretty high.

A taxi to the airport on a Sunday morning cost me less than 35 Lira/$20 USD (and this was from Taksim - would be cheaper from Sultanahmet) although I was by myself so I don't know if taxis charge for additional passengers for airport transport. If you're arriving in Istanbul during rush-hour and you have a large group, it might be worth it to pay 35 Euro? I really dislike how the hotels give us quotes in Euro -- from the U.S., the exchange rate kills me.

Have a great time!

Hey JClare,

I also considered staying at the Wooden House Inn in Sultanahmet, before deciding on the Uyan.

www.woodenhouseinn.com

The rooms looked very interesting with localized details -- it's built into one of the old city walls and it also has a terrace with a view of the Bosphorus. I think rates started at 70 Euro/night -- they also seemed willing to negotiate. I think we didn't go with them because there were stairs to contend with, if memory serves.

Sorry, proper link is:

www.nazwoodenhouseinn.com

I like the Ambassador Hotel in Sultanahmet. Great view at breakfast,
convenient, a block off the main drag and therefore quiet. Oh, and reasonable too.

I would Definitely Recommend Hotel Troya For YOur Stay In Istanbul. HAd A Very Pleasant Experience There. Great Service, Great Destination.
They Also Have Their Website To Check Out THeir Facility
www.hoteltroya.com
Highly Recommended

Have done a fair amount of reading about hotels in Istanbul. thinking I do want want the lack of Local flavor by staying in the four Seasons.
Think I've narrowed my choice to the Seven Hills Hotel or the Dersaadet and would like some thoughts ofrom those of you who have been. Will be going beginning of Dec. and would like some info on weather and things to see then-still a good idea to take a boat ride on the Bosphorus? Husband doing a lecture and we have some free time. Any tips greatly appreciated as we have never been.

We have just returned. It was cold, rainy, windy and one day it even snowed. Even so we found it beautiful, simply beautiful and fascinating. We were there 12 years ago but stayed at the Suisse Hotel near the Bospherus and away from the main action. This time we stayed at the Seven Hills, right smack in the middle of everything and it was terrific. Our double was 140 USD and it was wonderful in many respects and not so good in others. Good--location, location, location. It's next door to the 4 Seasons and in the middle of a small neighborhood of small hotels and restaurants and best of all right between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The room and bathroom were large and nicely kept. The restaurant on the top floor is terrific for views of the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque lit up at night, the lights of the whole city before you and the lights of the tankers in the sea of Marmara out there as well. Magical. It is the tallest terrace and restaurant in the area, so the views are better than any of the others, including the 4 Seasons.
Not so good--lighting is bad. I doubt there was a bulb over 40 watts anywhere giving the place an unfortunate and really not deserved dingy feel. Not quite as nice looking in person as on the website. The rooms have darkish furnishings which add to that feel. We had a problem with our shower head and found the shower curtains not as spiffy as we'd have preferred. So not an unmitigated rave here for the place, but it sure was tough to beat the view that greeted you in the restaurant as you went up for breakfast (which is included in the price.) There is another hotel down the street that looks like the rooms would be more attractive (around 180 a double but can't recall whether that is euros or US dollars) Sultan Ahmet Palace I think. It's in the same location but missing the views. Let me say that my husband who's a bit less fussy than I has been raving about Seven Hills to everyone, so you may want to temper my judgment. Anyway, the area is perfect, the hotel is good, but I think you'd best plan to dress warm. I plan on doing a report here soon as my company leaves (we live in Ft. Lauderdale and the winter express from MN is starting already) and I hope you'll find some useful info in it. We sure loved Istanbul. Hope you do too.

Hi Julie - looking forward to your trip report! Wish I were part of the winter expess, LOL!

thanks for the info on Seven Hills. Now I'm not so sure...were the owners helpful and accomodating? I believe the rate includes breakfast as well as taxes so there are no surprises at the end of the trip?
I heard that it will be winter over ther-I'm in CT so it's no news to me! Was the place clean and was the service good-turn down and clean bedding? I was also thinking that we would want some help for touring possibilities-would you use them for that?
Please respond soon as I need to nail this down as we are leaving in 3 weeks!
thanks for any other info you may want to share....

Don't forget to check out the Uyan hotel, literally right next door to Seven Hills and it's a little cheaper, plus an 8% discount if paid in cash. The views are beautiful -- check out www.uyanhotel.com

You can have dinner one night at Seven Hills instead of staying there. I wrote a report a while back...

The Sari Konak ABSOLUTELY !!!! We stayed there for a week last year and loved everything about it, e.g., the reasonable rates, the simple but spotless room (with lavender sachets at night on our pillow), a lovely dining room with the best breakfasts ever (wonderful fresh cheeses, breads, fruits, vegetables and heavenly yogurt), the most gracious and helpful staff and a perfect location in Sultanahmet close to everything you'd want to see yet quiet (no noise, real family neighborhood). Can you tell that we would recommend it unequivocably?

I looked up the SAri Konak hotel and read some reviews on Trip Advisor....most all were very complimentary.
then there was one-could be a quirk-but I want to share it with you. My husband is going to lecture and I am in charge of getting us rooms. I do not want the Four Seasons-want the charm of the city-altho we are used to staying in four Seasons-so you know where I'm coming from. I want a hotel with the charm, service, attention-I think you can see where I'm going with this. Below is the comment from the other dissatified person:
"This is the second time that the reviews of a hotel on tripadvisor don't seem to match the actual physical experience of the hotel itself. I hope this isn't a tremd.

Honestly, this place is two steps above a hostel and maybe one below a Motel 6. I would think it was just the room we had, but I saw 2 others that friends were staying in, that were nearly the same. Perhaps there are better rooms in the hotel. The disturbing thing is that I made the reservation almost a year in advance for a queen-balcony room. What we got was a tiny room with 3 twin beds (although they very promptly made 2 of the beds into one.) and no balcony. We can't say we were a late arrival, as we checked in at 7am (they were very kind to keep our baggage, while we went sightseeing) even though there would be no room available till 1pm.

I can't fault the staff as they were really great. Please be aware that this is not some little jewel of a boutique hotel., Maybe there are some great rooms, but we didn't see them and certainly were not offered an upgrade. I would definitely look for something else in a future trip to Istanbul."

Please reply as I need to book this tonight...thanks in advance

I commend you for your interest in staying other than 4 Seasons and I wish I could be more helpful to you in that pursuit. Like I say, Seven Hills had many pluses and I would probably even stay there again but it isn't going to please someone who is used to 4 Seasons level rooms and service. So why not stay at the 4 Seasons. It is a wonderful hotel. It is right next door to Seven Hills and Uyan and a whole raft of less commodious places. You can certainly have the feel of the neighborhood by just walking around and having drinks and dinner in the area at the cute little local places--and then crawl into your undoubtedly superior room with an undoubtedly superior bed. This 4 Seasons is built in what was once a Turkish prison (how fun to tell your friends that you've done time in one) and the architecture is great. I also think 4 Seasons is to be commended for it willingness to rehab historic buildings and offer luxury in more interesting, historic settings. For what they did to Gresham's Palace in Budapest alone they deserve all the business they can get. Why not give them yours? This is not like the Hiltons and Swiss Hotels that are set in the hills away from the city. This is in the thick of things and I'm guessing that its presence there has helped revive the neighborhood all around. For this kind of intelligent use of US dollars, this place should be commended and they are probably as close as you can get to "local" without sacrificing standards of comfort that you are accustomed to. Whatever you do, Istanbul will be outside your door and it will be wonderful.

Sorry I neglected to answer some of your questions about Seven Hills. Yes, staff very pleasant and helpful, though the night man was a bit deficient in English and failed to provide us the wake up call we asked for when we needed to be at the airport by 4 a.m. (we had taken the precaution of also setting an alarm, but it could have been disaster.) Forget about turn down service. They don't have it. Your even asking that question makes me think you'd do well to take my advice on just staying at the 4 Seasons to heart. Believe me, there's no shame in doing so. It's a respectable hotel that is highly sensitive to local customs and provides its guests as much local flavor as possible while maintaining standards of luxury that just aren't real common in the local market.

Julie:

I have been waiting for your return and the valuable info you always provide. We are going to Istanbul next week and will be staying at the Empress Zoe and then the Ritz-Carlton (Empress Zoe can only take us for a couple of nights). Do you have any restaurant suggestions or any other tips? By any chance, did you go to Istanbul 360? Thank you for any help.

Sorry, but you don't come in contact with "the locals" in Sultanahmet. You come in contact with other tourists and carpet dealers.

There is going to be a huge difference in Empress Zoe (looks pretty from the outside) and Ritz-Carlton Istanbul (I stayed there last summer).

No, we didn't eat at Istanbul 360. When you have the kind of tough weather that we had, you sort of hunker down close to your hotel--or at least we do. Overall, I have to say that food was not the highlight of our trip. As a result of posts on this site, we had excellent mezes at Nevizade near the Flower Passage on Nevizade street. We also had wonderful fish at Balikci Sabahattin, not far from our hotel. But that was pretty much the end of any really memorable food on this trip. Sorry not to be able to provide better info on that score.

Weekender, sorry to be so slow in getting my report completed. I'll do a quick check of my notes tomorrow morning and reply on this post with anything of particular interest for you. Julie

Weekender, here's my best quick advice.
Be sure to get in the line for a visa first before getting in line for customs as you exit your flight. Tricky to find the visa line--be sure you've not gotten into customs by mistake.

Be sure to go to Seven Hills for drinks in their restaurant. Go outside and up the stairs to their terrace and take pix. Food is ok, not great but not bad but also not cheap, so decide for yourself whether you want to have dinner there. You don't need to in order to get the view. They'll be happy to serve you drinks.

Bazaar--go early in the day and during the workweek. Less crowded and crazy. Enjoy it. They do give up.

Flower passage area is interesting, but I think food on nearby Nevizade street is better, especially at Nevizade restaurant. Don't miss the fish market in that area.

For sure see the fish market in Kumkapi. Most beautiful displays of fish I've ever seen. Restaurants across the street under the RR tunnel look like they'd be great fun for dinner. We went for lunch which was pretty quiet, but food was ok. I'm sure the night time scene is more fun. Also check the restaurants right by the fish market. Some of them might be fun, too and they have views of the bay.

Spice market is wonderful. Walk up the hill behind it to see local open air markets along shopping streets for real local color--goes all the way up the hill to the Grand Bazaar.

Wear slip on and off shoes. Makes it much easier to take them off to enter the mosques. Take a plastic bag to carry your shoes in. They have them there but they get kind of ratty.

Go to the Military Museum (one of the best museums I've ever been in) and plan your visit to be there for the 3 p.m. daily Military Band concert--the Jannisaries. Very cool outfits and ancient drums and instruments. I loved it.

There are a couple of Whirling Dervish attractions. the one we went to is only held once a month on the first Sunday and costs 25 Turkish lira (about 17 US). It was very long and pretty tedious especially if you had standing room only seats, but it's a once in a lifetime thing. There's another, possibly less lengthy/costly one that is offered a couple of nights a week at the train station that you may be able to do.

Dolmabahce Palace is spectacular--fabulous chandeliers and great curtains.

We loved the Ortokoy area. Cute place with restaurants under trees facing the sea. They sell baked potatoes that they pile with every imaginable topping. Again we went at lunch on a rainy day, but I bet it hops on a weekend evening.

The Turkish Villa Doluca wine brand is good. So is Kavak. Prices varied from 10 Turkish lire to 60 depending upon the restaurant.

Watch out for taxi scams. We were ripped off 3 times--meter problem one time (apparently working in old currency rates or some such), and I forget what else. Just ask how much approximately the ride will cost and in New Turkish Lire. Almost nothing should exceed 15 lire within the city.

Bosphorus cruise--don't know what to tell you on this. It will probably be cold while you're there. We went on one of the few sunny days we had there and there was a pent up demand that made the boat super crowded. It was fairly nice so everyone crowded to the back open area to take pix. You couldn't move let alone get a picture set up. We decided to get off in Kanlica, which was a great idea. It's a cute little town with a few interesting old houses, supposedly the world's best yogurt (you must try some, I would be willing to agree), a small market, etc. We walked up the shore in search of some hotel that was once the palace of some pasha. Never found it, but did fine Ajia, a new super trendy hotel in an old renovated yali (the wooden houses they build along the Bospherus) with a fantastic restaurant--not very traditional, mind you, though the did offer a trendy take on mezes and the usual fish, but also in the trendy style more typical of NYC or LA than of IST. This was a point at which we'd pretty well od'ed on typical turkish food, so the whole experience was pretty welcome and actually excellent of it's MIA Delano type. If you like that kind of thing, I'd recommend this place highly.

Be prepared for the continual carpet push. They are really inventive--one of the typical ploys is to meet you going into a Mosque, be very helpful, tell you which door to go through and that you'd best hurry because they're about to have prayers, that they'll wait for you and show you the way to x, and then find a way to detour you to their uncle's carpet shop (because they've assured you that they are not a carpet salesman.) You have to admire them, but then you have to be firm.

If you're tempted to have dinner at Yesil Ev, know that it's a lovely restaurant in a lovely setting (under glass with all manner of greenery) but with pretty mediocre food. Set your expectations accordinly.

Enjoy. Istanbul is an absolutely spectacular place and aside from 3 cab drivers and a couple of cheeky (but amusing) carpet salesman, a place of warm, wonderful people. Enjoy.

Julie: I can't thank you enough for taking the time to give me some very valuable advice. Greatly appreciated. Particularly the wine tips!

I got my visa at the Turkish consulate last week here in Chicago which should speed up the arrival process.

We had originally planned to stay at the Seven Hills but were intriged by the Empress Zoe-thus the switch. They are booked for the last couple days of our stay so we will then go to the Ritz Carlton which happens to be close to the Dolmabahce Palace. Ortokoy is on our list as is a trip to Kanlica.

Again, thank you. A great help. Will report in on my return.

Just glad I was able to get you the info (for what it's worth) before you left. Have a wonderful time--and may you have better weather than we did.