Heading to Istanbul for 3 days the first week of January and trying to decide between the Turkoman Hotel, the Empress Zoe, and the Nomade Hotel. The Turkoman is offering rooms for $45/night with free airport transportation. The others seem to be a bit more expensive and I wasn't sure if they were worth the difference. One other determining factor is room size -- although we don't plan to spend too much time indoors, my husband gets really antsy in very small hotel rooms. Any recommendations? thanks!

if you visit these web sites you ll find a proper hotel..<BR><BR>www.silkroadhotels.com<BR>www.istanbulshotels.com

that's where I found these.

We stayed at the Empress Zoe two years ago.Friendly staff, excellent breakfast. Rooms were very pleasant, nice sized by European standards, with large bathroms. Best of all is the rooftop patio looking out to the sea--perfect for cocktail hour relaxation or morning coffee. Neighborhood is great and walking distance to everything in the old city. I would definitely return to Empress Zoe on my next trip.

WE also stayed at the Empress Zoe last year. I enjoyed it but you have to realize that there is no elevator and our room, with a view was at the top of the building. The first flight is a spiral staircase that is very steep and the climb to the top can be difficult if you are older. I also loved the location surrounded by restaurants and all the sights and a good walk to the Grand Bazaar.

Greetings...<BR>please check the prices for ayasofya pansiyonlari, blue house, sultanahmet palace or the nena hotel. you can view a list of the hotels in that area from www.turkeyhotellist.com (the site doesn't have the rates yet but you can ask for special rates).<BR>Hope you a nice trip...

We stayed a hotel called the Celal Sultan. The location was great to the old city sites, the staff very friendly, and the hotel charming. Their site is http://www.celalsultan.com/<BR><BR>If your husband gets antsy in small rooms, you might have to look in a more standard type hotel in Taksim area. I can't say the room was big at the Celal, but it was adequate.<BR><BR>Take a look at least.<BR><BR>Richamoo

Ask about suites at the hotels you like. They are usually bigger and the price may not be much more.<BR>That is an amazing price.<BR><BR>Usually the hotels include breakfast too.

Turkoman is the best idea. The hotel Empress Zoe is well known but the rooms are the smallest that i have ever seen during my travels in Turkey.<BR>Go for Turkoman. Ask for the front rooms facing the Blue Mosque. Nomade and Empess Zoe do have worser locations than Turkoman.

<BR>My husband and I stayed at the Sultan Ahmet Place - across from the back of the Blue Mosque - and found it lovely, reasonably priced, and convewniently located. They have a web site.<BR><BR>We loved Turkey and were there on 9/11 for three weeks. All Turks we met were sympathetic and friendly. <BR><BR>Especially liked Cappadocia and the Turquoise Coast cruise.<BR><BR>Wish we were you and planning a trip!<BR>

Thanks for all the suggestions. We decided to stay at the Turkoman Hotel and we extremely happy with it. Our room was large, nicely decorated, and had big windows that directly faced the Blue Mosque. It was an especially beautiful view at night when the Mosque is lit up. Also liked the breakfast room, also with a great view of the mosque, and a fireplace. The people who own the hotel were very nice and went out of their way to be helpful (including helping us get out of Istanbul since we happened to be there during their worst snow storm in 20 years). <BR>I thing the price is higher in season, but off season it was only $45 USD if you paid cash and that included getting picked up at the airport.