Karakoy Rooms

This lovely (and small) boutique hotel was perfect for my visit to Istanbul. I deliberately wanted to stay outside of the old city, but wanted easy access to Sultanahmet and other areas on public transportation. This fit the bill perfectly — it’s just a short distance from a tram station and a ferry. It’s a 15-minute walk to Galata Tower and a easy stroll to other historic sites. The immediate neighborhood has lots of cute cafes for lunch and dinner. My view of the sea was great and I enjoyed sitting in the balcony at night with a bottle of wine. I booked a deluxe room, which is actually larger than my apartment back home. One caveat: there’s quite a bit of construction in the area. The noise didn’t bother me, but it’s worth mentioning if you’re particularly sensitive.

Absolutely beautiful stay here. The room was so spacious and the furnishings were beautiful and were exactly as pictured. The view from the terrace (below) was stunning at sunset. The foyer is small and not as pictured on booking websites and the blue tiled restaurant seen on the same booking websites are actually from the restaurant next door, not sure why they're used on the websites. Concierge were always present and helpful. Free fruit and water was also a nice daily touch

The hotel is situated in the gentrifying neighbourhood of Karakoy, so looks dodgy and dirty on street level when your cab/airport transfer drops you off. The good: The hotel itself is nice and the rooms and bathrooms are spacious, clean, stylish, with a mini-bar and they provide 2 x 500ml waters per guest every day since you can't drink tap water. There was also nice fruit upon arrival. The hotel managers and staff at the front desk are friendly and helpful. There is a nice rooftop area with a bathroom you can use if, like me, you arrived way before your check-in time. The bad: - Pillows were lumpy, you only received one per person, so made sleeping difficult - for what you're paying here, the pillows should be a decent quality. - The area around the hotel is very noisy - every night, there was loud music and construction happening outside my window till after midnight. So if like me, you want a peaceful stay so you can be ready for touring the sites the next day, this isn't the place to go. I barely slept for the four nights I was there. - The doors in the hotel are also noisy - so if the person staying next to you is a night owl, or going back and forth to party (which was the case with us) the light outside your door turns on when anyone walks into the corridor, which wakes you up and, there is lots of banging from the doors leading onto the floor - all in all my main complaint is the level of noise you have to deal with at the hotel, which is my main issue and why I probably wouldn't stay there again.