We are going to be staying 2 nights in Istanbul before leaving on a cruise, and I am looking for a fairly upscale hotel that will allow 4 (2 adults and 2 teenagers) in a room. Either that, or I will have to do what I have often had to in other parts of Europe which is get 2 rooms at a less expensive place--wouldn't want to spend over $250 per night total. Any suggestions?

Thanks--I'll check this out.
Yikes, I just saw the $100 per person Visa thing--that means $400 for the four of us. I knew we'd probably need a Visa but didn't expect it to be that expensive. Do you get it on arrival at the airport and do you have to pay cash?

RachelG,

Go to HALI HOTEL in the center of History here is the web page
www.halihotel.com and I am sure you will save alots of money. I am going to stay in this hotel between Sept 20-26 before go back to NYC

Sinan Akdeniz
[email protected]

Rachel: if either of the children is under 16 and written into a parent's passport, the child doesn't need his/her own visa. Otherwise you all need them. Visas can be obtained at the airport after baggage claim and sorry, I can't remember if we paid cash (I think so). You can easily take the sting out of the high visa price (upped last year after the US raised its visa prices for Turks) by spending less on a hotel. There are many hotels in excellent locations where you could stay for around $100 for 4 of you. Might not be upscale, but wouldn't be a dump, either!

Kids are 17 (too bad) and 13--but both have their own passport. Hopefully, I'll only have to pay for a Visa for the oldest. What is this "written into the parent's passport" thing? Do I need to do something now to get that done? Thanks.