Rooftop view of Sultanahmet
 

I think I have decided on staying in the Beyoglu/Taksim Square area for the restaurants, nightlife, etc. Does anyone know a hotel in that area with a good rooftop restaurant or bar view of the Sultanahmet area, prefarably for around $100-$150 per night?

Last night we went to the Marmara Pera for a drink (expensive but the view is incredible and the dj is excellent). After drinks we had dinner at the Ponte Restaurant nearby. Very, very good food, great service, and again, incredible views of Sultanahmet. A great ending to our trip...

You can have a view from your room if you stay at the Marmara Pera. I spent a few nights there and would recommend it although it is a bit of a business hotel and I would not call it charming. I paid a little more than your range, but I found that I got a good rate writing to them directly. Be aware that the view is in the distance; it is more of a shoreline view of the area with the mosques lit up than an actual view of the district. The restaurant at Marmara Pera is getting rave reviews.

The Four Seasons has a much better view from the rooftop and you can go there for a drink.

Go over to Sultanahmet and have a drink at the Seven Hills Hotel for great views.

Taksim is a good place for nightlife. However i don't know any hotel which has a Sultanahmet view. Maybe you can think of another way to have a Sultanahmet view. For example you can stay at a hotel in Sultanahmet and go to the taksim for nights. It would be in your range and quiet. Taksim is very crowded and noisy place. Furthermore Sultanahmet is very close to Taksim so you can go there very easy. If you want to stay in Sultanahmet square I can recommend you Hotel Spectra and Ada Hotel Istanbul. They are in Sultanahmet and as far as I remember Ada Hotel's rooms have jukuzi, historical and sea view all together. Their websites are:

www.adaistanbul.com
www.hotelspectra.com

Nice Travels...

I have just returned from Istanbul (and Goerme)....I strongly suggest staying in the Sultanemet district and the PERFECT small hotel was the Celal Sultan. What a fantastic experience we had; it was close to EVERY possible place/site you would want to see...we walked everywhere...Four women (all 50ish), and we loved it. My advice!

Katra, no advertising is allowed here...so enough with the info on your favorite hotels.

i agree that staying in the Sultanahmet area is what you probably want. We stayed in the Valide Sultan and had a wonderful experience.Great rooftop where you eat breakfast. we had a room on the third floor where you can see the bosphorus. Everyone was really great. However there are some disturbing info about overbooking on trip advisor

www.hotelvalidesultan.com

We also stayed at the Sari Konik
www.sarikonak.com. GOod rooftop restaurant though we didn't like the people working there as well.

Whether to stay in Sultanahmet or in Beyoglu is one of the more difficult decisions to make for the unknowing (which I was up until a few days ago). We stayed in Sultanahmet at the Hotel Ottoman Imperial literally across the street from Hagia Sophia. We loved the location and the hotel. All of the major sites were right there and it was really very quiet and charming at night. No rooftop restaurant, but there are enough of those close by it didn't matter. I would highly recommend the Seven Hills Hotel restaurant for the first night. Not only is the food and service wonderful, it's a high rooftop restaurant and you can really get a perspective of the city. Don't know anything about the hotel, though, just the restaurant.

If and when we go back to Istanbul, I would choose another part of town to stay in since we have already seen the major tourist sites. All of the good shopping (not souvenirs) and better restaurants are north so I'd stay in Beyoglu or even north of there on the next trip. But for the first timer, to me, Sultanahmet is the way to go. It's only about a 10 lira cab ride to get to Beyoglu so it's easy and not expensive to eat there and take in some nightlife if you choose to stay in Sultanahmet.