I've been debating about strategy for booking a room for 4 nights. I want to reserve a place the first night so I have somewhere to go when I arrive. <BR><BR>Given all the talk about bargaining, would I be wise only to book the first night in advance and then check around when I arrive. Or should I book ahead? Do places like Blue House and Yesil Ev baragin? This would early May.<BR><BR>Thanks

Don't know about the Yesil Ev (very nice hotel but IMO their high rates don't justify what they've got to offer; I highly recommend having dinner there, though). The Blue House and other hotels in the area (like the nextdoor Spina) do bargain. If they have vacancies, expect to pay around US$ 25 less for a double in person than you would from abroad.

The Yesil Ev is a very nice hotel but I feel too expensive. There are plenty of hotels in this area that you can check out when you get there. You might want to try the hotel Spina.<BR>http://www.istanbulhotels.com/spina/english.htm<BR>In any case,do stay in this area of Istanbul

So let's get this straight. You have four nights -- that's three days in Istanbul. So in order to maybe save a few dollars, you're going to give up the better part of an entire day wandering around looking for a hotel? Why not just book one and have that out of your way? I would think there are far better ways to enjoy Istanbul than wandering around examining hotels and price comparing.

There a a dozen good hotels within a few blocks of the blue mosque. It will take all of 45 minutes to look a 3-4 find and negotiate a room. <BR><BR>Maybe your are a millionaire, but saving $100 is worth the trouble for many people. <BR>

OK, now I'm really confused. What advice were you asking for? If you already know of a dozen hotels near the Blue Mosque and know that's where you want to stay, you can either negotiate the price in advance by emails or wait till you get there and wander around with luggage. So what was your question, do places bargain? The answer is yes. They do it by email as well as when you arrive in person. The only difference is that if you bargain in advance, there are more places to bargain with. If you wait till you get there, the good ones are much more likely to already be filled with the people who bargained in advance. If you are actually saying you know you want to stay in one of the two places you mention, but want to know whether to wait till you get there, the answer is even more obvious, as those two places are nearly always full, so you are likely to be disappointed if you wait and can't get in at all.

What price are you looking for?

Only you know the balance between how much you want to save and your tolerance for the angst that might be part of your luggage when you arrive in Istanbul without a reservation. Stayed at Mavi Ev in Oct.2000. Well run, friendly staff,& <BR>tastefully decorated throughout, great roof garden restaurant. (Yesil Ev has nicer outdoor garden restaurant area). Rates quoted at both Yesil & Mavi include breakfast, and will pale in comparison to the what you might pay at the Four Seasons, which is all of two or three short blocks from either hotel. I took the time to check rooms & rates in different hotels in the immediate area one afternoon,and without exception the rates given to me in person were drastically less than "rack rates". An example: Mavi Ev is immediately across the street from the Arasta Bazaar & at the south end of the Bazaar is the Sarnic Hotel (very nice)in a beautifully restored building which sits over an old byzantine cistern.(Web site www.sarnic.com) Rate at the desk was US$60. Rack rate $130. Hope this helps.

check out the Safir Hotel, it's near the Erboy but all around a much better hotel, I stayed there over Easter in 2001.

Yes&yacute;l ev and few other hotels are always offeer&yacute;nh high rates.<BR>I may be able to arrange or suggest htl<BR>between 50 Usd to 95 in good standart.<BR>&Yacute;f this is the pricerange let me know so<BR>I can forward all the information.<BR>You should also visit Ephesus etc.<BR>regards<BR>Nejat<BR>Guide<BR>

In May you don't need a reservation. Just get in the cab and let tell the driver the district and price you want (you should stay in Sultanahmet region but every price is available there) and he will take you to a place. Of course he will get a commission out of the deal, but that is part of the fun of Turkey! We went in May 2001 and did exactly this. We had intended to get dropped off in front of a hotel where we had no reservation since it looked like there were about a dozen hotels in the area. The driver took us to a different one, $60US cash a night and not bad. If you are American, bring cash. It is like gold there.