Istanbul Hotels. Basic guide
There have been a lot of questions in the thread about hotels, and today being Sunday, plenty of time on hand, I thought I would do a basic guide on choosing a hotel (with a view of punting on the sides).
This is based on my experience and by no means exhaustive. The mods if they deem fit, may pin this for easy future reference.
Istanbul is. A megacity with 100's of hotels and all big brands represented. While booking hotels, you may want to check out Odamax website, which often has better rates for some hotels but does not show up on price comparison websites.
If you stay in a 4 or a 5 star hotel you will not have any issues with guests. At most your guest will be required to register at the reception. (which in my view is always recommended for your safety).
Chances are if you travel for leisure or work, you would most likely be staying on the European Side either in the Fatih area or Sisli.
These are some of the hotels I have used and why I like them.
European Side.
1. Double Tree Hilton Topkapi: - 15-20 minutes by taxi to the main touristic attractions, although not much around the hotel otherwise.
Very reasonable priced, clean and great service. No issues with multiple guests, If ypu prefer you can pic up your guest downstairs without registering. Particularly like it because they have huge bedside mirrors to enjoy the action. I think its pretty much the same setup in. A few other Double trees, Also the bedside mirror is not aways available in some of the bigger rooms (If in doubt ask at check in or put down as preference).
2. Lionel Hotel. Topkapi. Same area as above, about 15-20 min to main attractions.
Nice clean spacious rooms, however everything other than basic is chargeable. The good thing is, if you like, upgrade to the better room with a bathtub and glass walled bathroom to enjoy the views of your companion.
3. Double Tree Hilton. Esentepe (Sisli).
Compact clean centrally located. Again, if you prefer has a glass wall partition between the room and the bathroom.
4. Hilton Bomonti - (Sisli).
Biggest Hotel in Istanbul, great vibe, great rooms and food. However you can only have one guest per stay and all guest must register at check- in. So if you planning to have multiple guests or meeting someone new, this may not be ideal choice.
5. Hyatt Centric Levent (sisli).
Another great hotel, centrally located in the business district. Good rooms and again the rooms have bathtubs and glass partition between room and bathroom. Can draw curtains here if you don't like it.
Asian Side.
1. Wyndham Grand. Kadikoy.
Good area on the asia side. Again I like it because of the mirror in the bedroom.
2. Hilton Kozyatgi.
Located in the main Highway. If you are flying in or out of Sabiha airport and have a short stay this may be an ideal choice. Plenty of shops and a shopping mall across.
Rooms are clean, service not exactly upto the Hilton standards, but no guest restrictions. Strangely enough can be booked without any credit card via some turkish websites.
3. Cityloft Apartments. I believe there are 3 of these.
Fairly cheap and can be booked for under GBP 30 and quite clean and value for money.
Hope this helps.