post cruise hotel in Istanbul?

[poss]

Would love to hear where any Regent passengers are staying pre/post cruise in Istanbul who are not doing Regent hotels. (Four Seasons and Ciragan too expensive; not interested in slightly more affordable Ritz, since I think we'd not enjoy its location).

Cruise coming soon. Hooray!

And thanks!

[traveller333]

I love Istanbul. I've stayed in various areas but my favorite is the old historic part of the city. You will likely want one of the Boutique hotels, not a chain hotel. Many have roof top views and they'll include your breakfast each day.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree, there are some really nice boutique hotels in the historic part of the city, the Sultanahmet. I can't really recommend a specific one, since I have not been there for 4 years, but I'm sure others will. You can also have a look here, lots of information:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/IstanbulHotels/IstHotelDistricts/SultanahmetHotels.html

[petlover]

Poss, It seems to me I have answered this for you before when you were concerned about the noise from the morning call to prayer...but here goes again.

We were in Istanbul for 4 nights in April and stayed in the Sultanahmet area at Hotel Nena. http://www.istanbulhotelnena.com/

We loved this hotel and it's fantastic location, near all the sites and less than a block from the tram stop. We had a deluxe room with a balcony. The staff was so helpful and kind, the BEST. Our rate included pick up and delivery from the airport plus a delicious breakfast (even hot eggs) each morning. There's a nice restaurant on the top floor where you can sit inside or out (also used as the breakfast room) and opened for dinner. This has a great view. The hotel is air conditioned and has an elevator (something not all the hotels have). We would stay there again in a heart beat. If you're expecting something real fancy and upscale than you're probably better off paying more and staying in a snazzy hotel to avoid disappointment.

[poss]

Thanks for replies.
We have no need of (or even desire for) anything real fancy or snazzy (hate "snazzy"!) Wouldn't turn down "upscale" if it dropped in lap, but can't afford when it comes out of pocket.
Main thing for us is commodious and quiet. My understanding is that Hotel Nena does not have king beds, and that the bathrooms are quite small. Various reviews have also noted noise, both from buses out in the street and from rooftop and other sounds if one has a somewhat larger deluxe or suite.
Just hoping to find the kind of place most suited to us (super-friendly management, e.g., matter less to us than degree of quiet).
I appreciate the input. (Petlover-- thanks for taking the time to post again.)

[poss]

Thanks for replies.
We have no need of (or even desire for) anything real fancy or snazzy (hate "snazzy"!) Wouldn't turn down "upscale" if it dropped in lap, but can't afford when it comes out of pocket.
Main thing for us is commodious and quiet. My understanding is that Hotel Nena does not have king beds, and that the bathrooms are quite small. Various reviews have also noted noise, both from buses out in the street and from rooftop and other sounds if one has a somewhat larger deluxe or suite.
Just hoping to find the kind of place most suited to us (super-friendly management, e.g., matter less to us than degree of quiet).
I appreciate the input. (Marcie-- thanks for taking the time to post again.)
(And of course one does have to wonder whether ships will be making port in Istanbul at all. Que sera, sera-- or however that goes in Turkish.)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You may have to go upscale if you want a king size bed. I'm thinking they are very rare in this type of boutique hotel. WHen I was there everybody was raving about Yesil Ev (Green house.) The beds look large in the pictures on their website, but I'm sure they will tell you. At the time it was pricier than our pick, Dersaadet Hoteli. As I think I mentioned the last time you brought this up, their great views of the Bosporus included a muezzin just a block away, with the loudspeaker pointed at our room. And I'm fairly certain our bed was a European queen.

Another thing, make sure the hotel has a lift. Most of them do, but it's worth asking

[petlover]

Poss,
We had a king size bed. This is a photo of our room https://www.istanbulhotelnena.com/en/roomsc3.jpg

The bathroom was small though. It had a tub/shower combination but there was very little shelf space by the sink to keep things. The room was large which was good for us since we had extra luggage for our cruise that we never opened in Istanbul. We did hear the morning call to prayer calls but never heard any traffic (we kept our balcony door shut at night). Have you read about various hotels on tripadvisor ? I'm sure there are good ones in the area that would be fine for you.

[poss]

Wendy and Marcie--thanks once again.

I have looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor --which I always take with a grain of salt, but which I much appreciate because many people tend to get very specific there, which is terrifically helpful. I also, by the way, always check the reviews of those who rate a particular hotel lowest as well as the opposite-- that's most helpful of all, i.e. to get a good sense of the negatives as well as the raves. I'm never sure how TA figures its ratings. E.g. Hotel Sirkeci Konak continues to be rated #1-- seemingly forever-- and someplace like Four Seasons Sultanahmet is rated well below. No way! What most people who report on TA seem to respond to is the friendliness, etc of the management. That detail seems to be more important than things like surroundings of hotel, degree of quiet and privacy, quality/spaciousness of rooms and furnishings, etc. Different people have different priorities, different comfort levels-- and that's why I so value all the various websites and so appreciate all the folks who generously share their own particular viewpoint.

In fact, we've never been especially fond of "boutique" hotels (and totally dislike B&B's, for instance-- but love great inns) because they tend to lack the privacy that we value. Also, I think we tend not to like "charm," as much as we like excellence (yes-- I know those two qualities aren't mutually exclusive) And very friendly service, while rarely disagreeable, seems to be less impt to us than other kinds of factors. (Good bathrooms and good soundproofing, e.g.) (but truly don't like "ritzy"-- blah)

Anyway, I really do appreciate your patience and kindness in answering my many questions (and patience with my not knowing how to use the "edit" function). I'm leaning, now, towards the Best Western Regency (which rates on TA lower than the two hotels you mention) just because it seems (but only "seems"!) as it might be more quiet, and it definitely has larger rooms and bathrooms. It also seems to have a newer feel to it, while (hopefully) retaining enough of the ambience of the area to not make us feel as if we were staying in... well, a Best Western. By tomorrow, I may have flip-flopped (as we say in this election season), or Regent may decide to skip Istanbul altogether. (And of course I wonder--and worry!-- what in the world one does about non-Regent-booked air if that sort of thing happens!)

Many thanks!!

[leese]

My husband and I stayed at the Nena at the beginning of July before our Navigator cruise. We had a king bed in a regular room. We didn't hear any sort of noise (traffic/call to prayer/ or other). Bathroom was small (only a shower) but very fine. Would highly recommend.

[petlover]

When we stay in European hotels we find that it's worth the extra $$ to get a more deluxe room. Since their standards are different than ours, the standard rooms are usually quite small and the bathrooms smaller yet. I was very happy that we had the larger deluxe room at Hotel Nena, especially since we were there for 4 nights.