Art City Hotel Istanbul

The hotel staff proved terrific, despite concerns at the outset. Upon initial arrival, which i'd indicated would be late evening, i was asked to stay at a "sister" hotel (DIVAS) across the street...no explanation, my assumption was that they had overbooked my room, though they assured i would be moved the next day into Arts City Hotel as arranged. The room was quite large, very clean, but soon discovered the toilet wasn't working and no hot water for shower. Those were repaired the following morning, but left me wary. When the pre-arranged move didn't materialize, i took it upon myself to gather belongings and cross back over, whereupon the Arts City receptionist quickly accommodated me (although the room hadn't yet been made up & previous guest's luggage was there). Nonetheless, by the time i returned later in the day, all was good. The following morning, i was asked if i would move to yet ANOTHER room, as they needed the bed accommodations for arriving guests. I complied and must say, that while the rooms became successively smaller, they were progressively nicer...first had a mosque loudspeaker just outside window, second overlooked the street & noisy, but the third had a pleasant sea view. Afterwards, all was good - the included breakfast proved a bit "thin" if you were a later arrival, as they didn't seem to replenish the original layout, though as i was an early riser, it was fine for me. Staff is very courteous, reasonably fluent in English & eager to please. Once i began to grasp the layout of Istanbul, the location was fine, though might consider staying north of Golden Horn if on a future visit as i tired of the vendors/hawkers in the Sultanahmet area.

Hotel was centrally located on one of the back streets in the heart of Sutanamet. We had a great balcony room, clean and comfortable. The staff was great answering our questions and had recommendations for dining as well.

5 nights in Istanbul in October was perfect - not too hot and defintely not crowded except in the trams at rush hour. This hotel was well placed close to the main historic sites although you do need to be mobile since it is on a steep hill. If that is not a problem (taxi can get there)this is an excellent hotel to conside at a good price - nice views and very helpful and friendly staff. Breakfast is not exciting but sufficient for the moment.

After extensive search I selected Art City based on the reviews which were missleading. This place is great for a night stay only. This is why:LOCATION: Great; Close to the main attractions.NEIGHBORHOOD; Decreped(old town run down, very steep narrow streets and dirty). Relativly safe. Close to trolley that can take you to other places.HOTEL: Clean, very small rooms (<130ft.sq including the superior room with a view of the "romantic" broken, sunken, with huge holes-ruined roofs). BATHROOM: average nice bathroom/shower, but useless sinks-very small. Clean and with all supplies.BEDS: Superb matress, but no dawn pillows here.AC SYSTEM: Superbly efficient and quiet.NOISE LEVEL: Relativly quiet (double glass windows)and one can get a good sleep, if not for the Immams, compiting with each other at 6:00 AM for the faithful for about 5-10 min.STAFF: Mostly friendly with the exception of one.BRAEKFAST: Simple and basic, but adequate for the price: Tomatoes, cheese, serials, yogurt, bread, butter, boiled eggs, butter, jams, juicess, milk, cold cuts..WHAT SPOILED IT: The room we're given the first night was not what we paid for, since they had sold ours. No refund, just a sorry, tomorrow you'll get...It was my wife's Birthday and our daughter had paid $60 for flowers and a champagne. The bottle left in the refrigerator was leaking (Still not opened). We returned it and the new bottle was the most awful murky liquid without any gas we have tested. That was returned as well and the third one had a real cork (the first two were plastic). Despite that it was of a poor quality that will make a "Frexenet" like a "Dom Pirignon". Definetely not worth the $60 for the package..Overall impressions of Turkey. Interesting form a historical perspective. People pushy all the time trying to sell you what you do not want or need. Worth visiting but once. [*] You do not get what you paid for.

The staff were very friendly and helpful from the very moment that we arrived. Comfortable rooms everything that we needed. Great location 5 minutes walk from the hippodrome and Blue Mosque and further 5 from Haghia Sophia and Topkapi Palace.

What a fantastic experience! We had never been to Istanbul before and so didn't know what to expect and we relied on the reviews on travel websites [...] to pick our hotel. The entire experience was a delight from start to finish and we really can't say enough good things about the hotel and the staff. Mamhut and Burcu were really helpful, pleasant, and engaging people and we never went wrong following their advice and recommendations. The hotel was spotless and our room was cleaned to perfection each and every day and the breakfast was always ready on time and plentiful and fresh. I don't know why someone found the location confusing - it's a 5 minute walk from the Blue Mosque and quite easy to find - just ask Mamhut or Burcu for the simple directions. When we go back to Istanbul we will definitely be staying here again!

We thought this hotel was excellent value, very helpful kind staff and ideally situated for all the major Istanbul sights, shopping and restaurants which were all within walking distance.

Die Lage in der Nähe der Blauen Moschee ist optimal für einen Städtetrip. Viele Sehenswürdigkeit sind schnell zu erreichen. Das Hotel machte auf uns einen sehr geplegten und v.a. neuen Eindruck. Wir (25,27Jahre ) würden es uneingeschränkt weiterempfehlen