Istanbul accomodations help
 

I am having a very difficult time getting accommodations for five nights in Istanbul. I have checked with probably over 30 or more hotels and Inns and all of the ones you guys have recommended and many more. I have very specific dates and am not flexible, unfortunately. Has anyone else ever had this kind of trouble there? This has become a full time job, basically! I have traveled the world for over 40 years and have never run into anything like this. Of course, I am also inflexible about not wanting to spend $2000 for 5 nights and only being in the Old City. Anyone have any thoughts on this besides-- give up! I already have my air tickets, too.

Try Hotel Tash Konak..resonable, clean, good location.. We enjoyed the plae and there is a lovely roof view..and good brkfst. BTW we got a 10% discount for TL and they have a shuttle from the airport.

Have and they are very nice. They only have 2 out of the 5 nights available.

We stayed at the hotel Hali and were satisfied. But I suspect that you are looking for something more upscale.

Not at all upscale. And I have tried them and nothing for my dates. Thank you both!

Have you searched through booking.com? You should be able to see a range of options that are available for your nights in your price range, and maybe even in the area in which you prefer to stay. Of course, some hotels and B&Bs don't use booking.com, but more and more do, so it's a good starting point for searching.

Good luck!

Have you tried http://www.grandpeninsulahotel.com/grand_peninsula/ ?
Nice hotel at good prices and great location.

We are in Istanbul right now and can attest to the fact that many hotels are booked full. Mostly the ones that are highly rated by Tripadvisor. The desk clerk says from mow until Nivember is high season.

Thank you emily!~ And kja yes, I have been using booking.com and everything else. What's available now on Booking are either rooms that are described as "hell" on trip advisor or very very high priced one. Like over $2000. for 5 days which is out of the question. I am long past a "starting point". Thank you all for your feedback. And grimmy I have sent a request to the Grand Peninsula and haven't heard back yet. Any other suggestions are gladly welcomed.

Did you try Almina Hotel? They are across the street from Tash Konak. Perhaps the staff @ Tash K. know of some place if you took the 2 nights. Worth a try!!They might be able to accomodate you in some place they know. If you like I can try to contact the wonderful tour guide we had. She may know of something. I have her email if it is still good.

Another thought...Turkey Travel Planner.. a very knowledgeable, trustworthy site.. Maybe they can suggest..

Have you tried www.flipkey.com?

Hotel Grand Peninsula: fully booked!

Is flipkey for hotels and Inns? I have used them for apartment and villa rentals. I will also check that out and Turkey travel planner and any other thoughts on the matter are greatly desired.

I did have a reservation, or so I thought, at a hotel that came recommended by another hotel. It was a new hotel with only one review. I went through their website and put in the c.c. card #, etc, and received an actual confirmation number. Next day received an email from the manager confirming my reservation again. Two days later I received an email from the assistant manager and someone else telling me that they never received my c.c. # and besides they are booked! I scanned the reservation document and attached it to an email to them along with the email of confirmation from the manager and still it took them 48 hours to get back to me to say they didn't have room for us! So, at this point, I am somewhat weary of recommendations from other hotels. And by the way, the recommendation came from Hotel Amira which is highly recommended itself. I would stay there but of course they are fully booked.

I am working on flip key now and hopefully some good results! Wish me luck! Really want to go to Istanbul!

Now on to Turkey Travel Planner~~~ Already two rejections from Flip key but still have hope.

Good luck.. TTP is a treasure trove of info. Hope they have some places to look at. saw an interesting guest house mentioned this AM..Maybe!!!

I would consider breaking my trip into 2-3 and also 3-2 and trying booking.com for the shorter time periods. You could well pick up more hotels that just don't have that full stretch of free nights.

What dates are you travelling? What about the Hotel Alp Guesthouse - http://www.alpguesthouse.com/the-hotel/. We stayed across the road at the Hanedan Hotel - http://www.hanedanhotel.com. Bare boned but very adequate. Fantastic breakfast terrace. Both these hotels are in a quiet and convenient location in the Old City.

Thank you worldinabag: full and full; they were a couple of my firsts. I have tried all the Fodors favorites. However on the Turkey Travel Planner website I believe we may have found something. I heard back from a sweet little place....very bare bones as you say worldinabag~~ I agree Amer_can it is a treasure trove. And thank you linawood, good idea. I'll let you know when all is finalized.

So glad things seem to be on track..Nice way to wake up to see that someone is perhaps finding room in the Inn.. Let me know what happens and also let Turkey Travel know. They are very responsive!!(and valuable to those who use them)

I will let Turkey Travel know for sure amer_can. The place who responded for the full week is very plain and they have told me repeatedly that the rooms are very small with no views. But what am I to do? I feel this is meant to be. It's called Terrace Guesthouse. It's the only one of all the places and I would guess near 100 that I have contacted that had a positive response. I think there is a reason and no doubt I will find out on this adventure. Normally we would like a bit more comfort than this but I think we will be kindly taken care of and that goes very far....as you know. I thank you very much. I would never have found them otherwise and was already giving up on this tickets and all.

Have you tried small hotels? We went last August and I had no trouble but when booking for April this year I did have some issues finding rooms. We also needed four rooms.
We stayed at Sebnum Hotel which is very small and you have to e-mail them to book them rooms.Great service and close to everything. Good Luck.. Istanbul is wonderful.

My favourite in Istanbul is the Turkuaz. I hasten to say that this place is very Turkish and might not suit most Fodorites. But if you are that desperate.... They speak English and are very accommodating. They will get back to you if you enquire on their website or give them a call. And it will not cost $2000.

Yes, mostly small. Believe me when I say I tried everything. I am very thorough. I heard from a friend in Europe that he has had this problem getting a room in the Spring in Istanbul for a few years now.

And thank you gertie, I will check it out and the same to ttraveler I will look into the Sebnum. Meanwhile, I finally after a week have the one I mentioned so I get on to confirming other aspects of this trip.

Hi again

Try

Oran Hotel - http://www.oranhotel.com

Tan Hotel - http://www.tanhotel.com

I am so glad you have a place to lay your head.. Perhaps after you arrive they will have a bigger room w/ a view. Hope I didn't steer you wrong!!! confirm the rest of your trip and away you go!!! You should love this area..very exotic, colorful, historicalerc, etc, etc.. Our very good tour guide, if you are interested, was with Backpackers tours..Again highly recommended.Our guide was Delik and she was a delight..

Thank you worldinabag~ both those hotels are fully booked. thank you for trying.

OMG, sounds like Istanbul is the hot spot at the moment! I booked a hotel in New York on the hotels.com site. Hassle free booking and got a great rate. I had a look for you on that site. Search for Sultanahmet, Istanbul. Looks like some good deals. Don't know what the hotels are like - Trip Advisor may help. Good luck.

Yes world I have done that already! There has been no stone left unturned.

Geez, we're going in June --- so glad I already have my reservations booked! Sorry you're having so much trouble (I obsessed too, before I found something I hope will suit all of four of us).

Empress Zoe?

JustineA - If you can <b>give us your dates</b>, you'll get recs for places that actually available. It doesn't sound like you are too concerned with the room size or view as you are with location.

I'll bet you can find a super-nice 1BR apartment on VRBO in the Sultanahmet for less than half your max budget since many people (even those who rent vacation apts elsewhere in western Europe) tend to shy away from apartment rentals in Istanbul for some unknown reason.

Twice the space and luxury for half the costs - just a thought...

We're not staying here, because we decided to stay in Sultanhamet, but we did find what looks like a really nice apartment in the Istaklal/Taksim area.

http://orientpearl.net/

We have found accommodations and are satisfied with them.
Thank you everyone for your help, it's very much appreciated.

Congratulations! Thanks for letting us know.

www.airbnb.com.

I personally stayed at the Hotel Empress Zoe, one spring, but I assume that one is booked,too.

Happy travels!

Yes, Guenmai, that was one of my first tries. I would have loved to stay there and a number of other places that were all full. Normally, I have a few months to plan but this was a last minute decision. I have planned other trips at the last minute and have never had this kind of problem before. I think that May, before the heat starts, is a popular time there. Very much looking forward to being there and I know the accommodations that I have found are not ideal but they will have to do and I'm just glad I found them. Thanks again to everyone I would not have found what I did without the Turkey Travel Planner.

Just in case you want to try one more hotel, I stayed at the Erboy Hotel last fall. Loved the location, the room and staff. The rooftop terrace had fabulous views of the Bosphorus.