Need hotel near Istanbul airport
 

Would love to hear recommendations on a hotel near the airport.
My family and I arrive in December at around 4:00 PM and leave early the next morning to Selkuk.
We will probably want to go out to dinner in the city but want to stay near the airport since we leave early the next day.
Any suggestions? Thank you!

Hello kikiv,

We recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Istanbul Airport North on points. It was quite convenient for the airport - they have a free shuttle the leaves the airport for the hotel on the odd hours and goes to the airport on the even hours. It is maybe 10-15 min from the airport.

If by "the city" you mean Sultanahment or Taksim area for dinner, please note that it can take a while to get in from the airport due to traffic.

The HI has a nice restaurant for dinner, but there is absolutely nothing around it that you could/would walk to.

To get into the city we took the shuttle to the airport, hopped the train at the airport to Zetinburnu station and transferred to the tram to the historic center. It took approx 1.5 hours for the whole route in May.

I chose it because it was free, you may also want to check out Turkey Travel Planner - I think they have a section on airport hotels.

Thanks HappyCheesehead, I will check out the HI. Appreciate the heads up on the traffic. We'll just have to see if we have enough energy after traveling 17 hrs to make the trip into the city that night...
Since we are coming back to Istanbul for 9 days at the end of our trip we might have to wait until then.
Checked TTT already, it's a great website with an enormous amount of information but it's nice to get first hand input from fellow travelers as well : )

Wow, 9 days in Istanbul at the end??

After that very long day traveling and knowing I will be back in the city shortly, I personally would probably not want to hassle with airport arrival, hotel check in and then try to get in and out of the city center. I would imagine it will be dark by 5 that time in December anyway.

We didn't even eat dinner the night we arrived, LOL, just some cereal bars we had and a dip in the pool. We were done. I can't sleep on a plane though and that doesn't help me.

I see there is also a Marriott Renaissance fairly close to the airport that looks as if it might have a shuttle.

Have fun!

I know I am ambitious to think we might go out the night we arrive. To tell you the truth I didn't even think about it being dark by the time we get out of the airport.

I am going to check with the Marriot now, someone suggested the Airport Inn hotel which costs 100 euros for each room w/ bkfast and one way transfer included...

Thanks again!

fyi,
Just got back from Turkey. Istanbul airport to old city (Arcadia Hotel) took about 30 minutes and cost 35 Turkish liras. Traffic was heavy but cab driver was fast and crazy.

There is a hotel actually located in the airport. It's wisely named the Airport Hotel and it's extremely convenient. Here is the link: http://www.airporthotelistanbul.com/DefaultEng.aspx

Hi,

Hope this reply is not too late for you but we just spent one night in the WOW Airport Hotel(there are two-the other called the WOW Hotel and Convention Centre--they are side by side)This hotle is 4star but presented like a 5star in our opinion.It is new and the rooms are large,clean,modern and very comfortable.They have a free shuttle to and from the airport and a nice restaurant on site.I booked via www.asiarooms.com and the rate was around US$80.I highly recommend the hotel-it's one of the best I have stayed in anywhere in the world.I agree with the other posters about leaving the Istanbul sightseeing until later---9 days will be more than enough to see everything.Enjoy Turkey-we certainly did!!


Good luck.