I will be spending 6 days in Istanbul by myself before others join me. This will be my first time. Can anyone please suggest hotels(well located)-any favourites? Thank you so much

Any recommendations please?

Patty, what is your budget and do you have a preference for what part of the city you want to stay in?

hi patty,

i spent ten days in istanbul last october. i have two recommendations for you. The first is the apricot hotel, which is well located in the Sultanahmet (the old city). It is very reasonably priced, the rooms are clean, and the breakfast served on a roof top terrace is included in the room. It is really good! They have a website. The second is also in the old city, it is the Sari Konak Oteli, a restored home, really a beautiful hotel, a little more expensive than the Apricot but well worth it. Both are two minutes walk to the Blue Mosque. Istanbul is great. Jack

Hi Pattysuericia.We stayed at the Hotel Arcadia in the Sultanahmet section. Great location and very comfortable. Good views from higher floors. Breakfast on top floor with views of the Bosphorus and the mosques.

Very accommodating staff. Tiniest elevator I have ever seen.
They have a website.
Are you doing it on your own or getting a guide?

pattysuerica,

what you get will pretty much depend on your budget (like everywhere else). sultanahmet is indeed the section of the city where the Topkapi palace, the blue mosque, Hagia Sophia, the hippodrome and the bazaar are located. however, this is also the section where all the tourists are staying and where they are likely to encounter some rip offs.
istanbul is very big. there is a section on the opposite side of the golden horn facing sultanahmet, that is the commercial and modern center of istanbul. it is called besiktas and is generally the area around taksim square. this is where the big chain and other modern hotels are located.
i would prefer staying somewhere in that section and take a taxi trip to see the sites. you will have a nice pedestrian area with various good turkish restaurants for your convenience called istlikal.
the city is less touristy here and taxi drivers are not as likely to take advantage of you. on your way back you might consider to walk across the bridge and take a taxi on that side to where you are staying.
of the big chain hotels the most luxurious (and a bit too much out of the way) is Kempinski Ciragan Palace right on the shores of the bosphorous.
the hyatt is near taksim and is very nice. there is also a german brand hotel called dorint which offers very good value.
somewhat rundown but historic is pera palace at the end of istliklal.
right on istliklal is hotel richmond where acquaintances of mine have stayed and which is quite o.k. as i understood.
on the sultanahmet side, the absolute best would be the four seasons, which certainly will set you back quite a few dollars or whatever your currency is. apart from that stick to the other recommendations here.
have fun
hsv

Thank you very much everyone!! Yes, I am going to be alone for one week and the rest of the time,I will be with a group of people.
Re Budget-as long as it is a nice place;it doesn't have to be super expensive but I definitely want a good hotel. Your suggestions are all great.
Can you suggest a guide as well-that's a good idea.??Thank you Cicerone, Waverly,getgoguy,& hsv.

Am I then better off not staying where the tourists are? I don't know the city at all. It will be my first time.
Thanks in advance

Barut's Majestic Hotel is well-situated in the Sultanahmet area, just down the hill a short walk from the Blue Mosque, etc. They also have an unobstructed view of the Bosphorus from the rooftop terrace. The rooms are basic but clean and not at all expensive. Here's a web link:

http://www.barutsmajestichotel.com/

pattysuerica,
i found the lonely planet guide on istanbul to be pretty good. quite decent descriptions of what to expect from accomodation, and of what to see.
again, i found sultanahmet to be a part of city i would not have liked to stay in, as there were so many people in the streets trying to lure you into something. the downside of not staying there is that you will have to take a ride in order to see the ancient sights of istanbul and the bazaar.
figure out for yourself, what' s important for you.
taksim square would be the obvious alternative. you're also close to a very nice neighborhood called nisantasi with upscale shopping facilities and some nice cafes and bars. however, this is a very european quarter and probably not the experience one is after when travelling to turkey. still, it is one more facette in a complete picture.
by the way: do take a tour on a boat of the bosphorus- lovely to see the city from the water.
i think you will be closer to the departure places of the boats in the taksim/ besiktas area, but again, that might be up to personal preferences and even a misperception by me as i was staying there.
more upscale hotels getting good reviews are the hilton (with bosphorus views and extensive park around it. although the hotel is a little bit older) and the swissotel (also with great boshorus views). the marmara is a high rise right on taksim with gorgeous city views (but unless you can get a very good rate i would not advise on staying there). i also would discourage you from choosing the ritz carlton, which is to high- browed for my taste and has a peculiar location on the side of a hill with quite heavy traffic passing by.
have fun
hsv

Hi HSV-You know it well-should I hire a guide? When everyone arrives,I will be staying at the Ceylan Inter-Continental.
I have no idea where that is located. I will go on a Bosphorus cruise-thanks.
Have you been there often?
Like I said,I definitely want a "nice" hotel. I will consider all your suggestions & hope to hear from you again

Hi pattysuerica,
actually I have not been there very often, nor have I been there for a very long period. However, my girlfriend used to work there for quite a while and I visited her, which gave me (I suppose and without wanting to sound arrogant) some good insight within a comparably short time.
The Ceylan Intercontinental is a high- rise very close to Taksim Place. It dates back to the seventies, I suppose and looks reasonably nice. I cannot comment on their rooms, but have been in the lobby (I have a craving for good hotels and spent a few hours during which my girlfriend had to work examining the better ones while taking a walk through the modern parts of Istanbul in case that we would decide to return to Istanbul with no lodging options). Staff were very helpful (in fact I was searching for the Austrian Airlines office which formerly had been located in the building but had moved out). I guess you will have great views from the rooms if you are on one of their top- floors. Probably you should ask them to get you a room facing east so you can see the Bosphorus (that's almost as entertaining as TV as there is so much ship traffic).
The area I think, is just fine and better than Sultanahmet. My personal favorite would be the Hyatt (at least in the summer), however, which is right next to the Interconti. It is not a high- rise and therefore will not sport magnificent views, but is pretty new and looks very attractive. I made the comment about summer, as they only have an outdoor pool, whereas hotels like the Hilton (and I think the Interconti, too, but don't take my word for it have indoor pools as well).
A good option would also be the Dorint which is in the same neighborhood and also offers an (indoor-) pool but is probably less expensive than the other ones. A pool might be nice to have in summers, as there are no public pools in Istanbul and the weather is a little exhausting, that is very hot and humid. So after a day of sight- seeing, it might be a pleasure to dip into the cool...
If you really want to splurge, consider the Kempinski Ciragan Palace along the Bosphorus. The rooms themselves are not in the Palace (but in a rather bland concrete building), but public facilities are adorably set into the palace and and they have a terrific brunch on Sundays. Also, the pool right by the Bosphorus is great.
As I had my personal guide to take me around (;-)), I have no recommendations for where to get a good one. We participated in a guided tour in Topkapi- Palace, though, and it it was fine (and better should have been for the steep fee they are charging!).
If you are still a student or have any possibility to obtain an international student card, I would strongly advise you to get one. This will reduce entry fees to Topkapi and the other sights immensely. Otherwise visits to the sights will set you back probably around 70 USD for Topkapi (including the vaults), Hagia Sofia and the Cisterns.
At night, make it to Leila at least once. This is not some suspicious lady (which, of course, I would not suggest to you;-)) but a rather chic bar right on the Bosphorus shortly behind the big bridge. Taxi fares from the Taksim area should not be too high (different when driving there from Sultanahmet, which is farther away), and the really in- crowds sometimes arrive on their yachts.
Any questions, do post- I will get some even better advice, probably, from my grifriend!
Cheers
hsv

hi patty (if I may call you that...),

one more thing which popped to my mind:
on the Sultanahmet side, there is quite a religious area somewhere behind the usual sights. The name of which has escaped my memory but might be Aksaray (not sure, though). Anyway, there were areas there that my girlfriend said she was not comfortable in as a Western looking girl during hours past the usual buzz. You might consider this, too, which would lead to another plus for the Taksim Square area. And from there you are walking distance to the Dolmabahce Palace, which is something to see, too (although expensive again)!
Toodle- loo
hsv

Since you are staying on the Taksim side when the rest of your party arrives, I would encourage you to stay on the Sultanahmet side as that is where most of the tourism is. There are several high quality hotels on that side, I haven't stayed at any because I don't generally spend that much on hotels, but try doing a search for the Four Seasons, Blue House and Sultanahmet Palace, all of which are in Sultanahmet.

For someplace a little more economical you might try the Hotel Nena (Best Western hotel) which had a very nice location right off the main street or the Sari Konak (recommended above). I've also seen quite a few positive reviews of Empress Zoe.

As to people trying to lure you into things that would be true whether you are staying in Sultanahmet or just visiting it. I did not find any of the carpet salesman to be overly aggressive, a smile and a firm not interested seemed to be sufficient.

Since you are a female traveling alone, please consider wearing a bit more modest dress than you would if traveling elsewhere. We were there earlier in the season but I noticed in Istanbul that no one was wearing shorts and you should really have your knees and shoulders covered when visiting mosques. In Cappadocia and the beach areas it was fine to wear shorts.

If you want to do the Bosphorus cruise on your own, it was quite easy. Pick up one of the public ferries from the dock at Eminonu, buy tickets from the booth and ignore the touts trying to get you on their private boats. Last year it cost about $2 for a round trip. We brought along the Eyewitness guide to Istanbul which had the route mapped out so we knew what we were seeing. It stops on the Asian side for lunch, I had the best calamari sandwich while waiting for the return journey. If money is not an object, there were also organized cruises on the Bosphorus.

Thank you Kristi & Hsv-should I make reservations directly with the hotel or am I better off going on expedia? Ever hear of the Swiss Hotel?
Thanks I will go on the ferry. I will be going in september-how hot is it then? As for money-are you better off exchanging cash? Any particular place? Any restaurant suggestions where the locals go?Would rather not eat at touristy places. Ever go to Trabzon-what is the best way to get there & is it worthwhile going to? Many thanks Is a pool necessary in september?

Patty,

sorry, I cannot be specific about whether to use expedia or the Hotel directly. You might try to find out for yourself by comparing prices quoted on the website. There is also a site in Europe called "www.lastminute.com" which you might want to try.
If by "Swiss Hotel" you are referring to the Swissotel, you will notice that I had already mentioned it in my previous posts. It is pretty modern, facing the Bosphorus on top of a hill in Besiktas and has some nicely landscaped grounds around it. It is getting fairly good reviews, I understand, however I have seen the property just from the Bosphorus, but did not come near it when exploring the city (therefore I am not so sure about its accessability in the City Center).
Regarding the weather: I would expect it to be still hot at the beginning of Sept. and mild towards the end. Check with Lonely Planet.
Moneywise, Turkey is somewhat a catastrophe as they are calculating in millions and hundreds of millions. I would draw some money upon arrival at the airport from a telling machine if I were you and had a bankcard sporting the maestro sign. Drawing cash on a Credit Card is expensive.
Never been to Trabzon.
Cheers
hsv

Hi again Pattysue, we have crossed paths many time on the Africa board.

When we were in Istanbul, my kids and I were there with a friend and her kids. I would not have felt comfortable traveling around on our own without a guide.The guide we used arranged everything and was extremely reasonable. We were never pressured by others when he was around and I would only do it again with a guide, especially if I was on my own. I would highly recommend him. His name is Mehmet and his email is [email protected]. He has a website but unfortunately I have lost the url.

We used ATMs and credit cards with the exception of our guide in Cappadocia that requested cash or travelers checks.

Hotel rates vary, I found the best deals by using the hotel's websites to book most of our hotels and used a booking site www.gtahotels.com for one in Istanbul. I have used travelocity/expedia to book non-US hotels but find mostly that they are more pricey.

Once you have selected a hotel, do a search on google and see what comes up, rates vary from website to website.

We found a lot of food just by looking in windows at take away places. Be sure and try pides (Turkish pizzas) and I loved iskender kabobs (gyro type meat with pita, cucumber sauce and tomatoes). And there was a wonderful rice pudding. I followed my usual travel habits of only drinking bottled stuff (water, pop, etc), not eating anything that hadn't been cooked and didn't end up with any problems. But I always take some pepto and some immodium just in case.

If you are there on the 2nd or last Sunday of the month, there is a whirling dervish performance at a monastery on the Galata side. Let me know if you want more details.

Thanks again for all your invaluable information. Waverley-can I have your e-mail address please. Yes, I have seen some of your posts re Africa-my most favoured destination. Just loved south africa & had a very interesting time in zimbabwe. What adventures I had staying with the locals in SA but I'm getting away from the topic at hand. I will contact that guide-thanks.
Kristi-thank you-could I have your address too,please,.Good ideas. Hsv-thank you & once I'm asking could I have yours as well.

Thanks Waverly-I sent off an e-mail to the tour guide.I wanted to ask "everyone" about the "safety factor" altogether of going to Turkey-lots of people are telling me not to go. Hoping for some feedback on this. Thanks