Ottoman Suites by Sera House — Hotel in Üsküdar

This hotel was perfect!! Very friendly and helpful. Gulsah was so very helpful with logistics and suggestions for what to see, how to get from here to there, and where to eat locally. On this trip, I previously had stayed at two hotels in the Old City, and this was my final Türkiye Istanbul stay (after flying in via Izmir from my Sirince/Selcuk visits). My total trip was 3 weeks, at this hotel for 4 nights.||A very comfortable, clean home/hotel with traditional decor from the family, wonderful architectural details... it all lent to a friendly, quiet ambience. My bed was super comfortable and I slept so well! I had the top floor bedroom (lots of winding stairs to my room but it did not bother me, and is part of the inherent architectural character). The room had pleasant neighborhood views above the garden. My room also had a balcony terrace that I didn't use as the nights were cooler during my stay and I was out most of the day.||I booked this hotel based on reviews on other sites, and was interested in the Asian Side of Istanbul. A neighbor of mine here in LA is from Istanbul and suggested the Asian side, and as I had previously stayed in the Old City, to try it for a more local feel. I loved this quiet location and the hotel. ||The included breakfast in the cafe downstairs was perfect. I purchased lunch here, and also a delicious dinner one night.||If you are a walker like I am, the pleasant walk down the hill to the Kuzguncuk is worth it; that neighborhood has the colored, restored houses and more local boutiques and cafes, and then to the waterside for great views to the other side. There is also an easy bus line right by the hotel that is takes 15 minutes to nearby Kadikoy, which is a food haven. Also easy and nice to take a ferry across to the old or new city, which I took to the new city to see the Istanbul Modern Art Museum and more on that side. ||The hotel can help with suggestions and direct you and also arrange taxi for airport (you pay directly to driver, mine was inexpensive and accepted credit card). ||I highly recommend this hotel! I felt so comfortable, and Gulsah and their team were very friendly and helpful and great conversations with her that reconfirmed how much I like travelling. Plus their suggestions for the area and how...

Wir waren dort weil meine Eltern keine großen Hotels mögen .

Die Zimmer waren ganz okay aber nix besonderes. Nach unserer ersten Nacht wurde leider ohne unser Einverständnis unser komplettes Zimmer in ein anderes umgeräumt. Die Begründung dafür war ,,Ihr wusstet doch Bescheid und es war so abgemacht“. Das hat uns sehr sauer gemacht, auch weil dabei meine neuen Gold Ohrringe verschwunden sind und die Putzkraft wohl auch nichts mitbekommen hat. Als wir die Inhaberin am nächsten Morgen darauf aufmerksam gemacht haben war sie total hysterisch und hat uns dafür beschuldigt das wir wohl Anstand mitbringen müssten da wir aus Europa anreisen, und das man das Recht habe ein Zimmer zu räumen.

Meine Goldohrringe seinen eine Lüge und im Zimmer wurde nix gefunden. Die Kameraaufnahmen des Flurs hätte sie gelöscht damit wir nicht beweisen können das unsere Zimmer umgeräumt wurden. Das Zimmer inwelches wir zwanghaft hingeräumt wurden hatte kein richtiges Schloss weswegen wir Koffer davor stellen mussten, um in der Nacht nicht auf unangekündigten Besuch zustoßen. Auf die Türe konnten wir die Mitarbeiter nur am nächsten Morgen aufmerksam machen, da es nix gibt wie zum Beispiel eine Rezeption.

Am Frühstückstisch wurden dann unsere Bestellungen alle einzeln extra berechnet weil das Frühstück wohl nicht wie angegeben innbegriffen ist. Das war natürlich darauf zurückzuführen dass wir die Chefin auf ihre Fehler aufmerksam gemacht haben. Die Türe klemme ab und zu und wir hätten die Türe kaputt gemacht.

Wir entscheiden uns grundsätzlich eher für kleine Boutique Hotels um die Einheimischen zu unterstützen, aber bei so einer traurigen Erfahrung überlege ich mir das zweimal. Manchmal sind große Hotels in Metropolen wie Istanbul dann doch die bessere Entscheidung. Für unseren doch kurzen Aufenthalt von 4 Tagen in Istanbul hat uns das viel Kraft gekostet.

Türkisch :

Oradaydık çünkü ailem büyük otelleri sevmez.

Odalar iyiydi ama özel bir şey yoktu. Ne yazık ki, ilk gecemizden sonra, tüm odamız bizim iznimiz olmadan başka bir odaya taşındı. Verilen sebep "bunu biliyordunuz ve kabul edildi" idi. Bu bizi çok kızdırdı, çünkü yeni altın küpelerim bu süreçte kayboldu ve temizlikçi de muhtemelen hiçbir şeyin farkında değildi. Ertesi sabah bunu otel sahibine belirttiğimizde, tamamen histerikti ve bizi Avrupa'dan seyahat ettiğimiz ve bir odayı boşaltma hakkımız olduğu için yanımızda nezaket getirmek zorunda olmakla suçladı.

Altın küpelerim yalandı ve odada hiçbir şey bulunamadı. Odalarımızın yeniden düzenlendiğini kanıtlayamayalım diye koridordaki kamera kayıtlarını silmişti. Taşınmaya zorlandığımız odanın düzgün bir kilidi yoktu, bu yüzden gece habersiz ziyaretçilerle karşılaşmamak için önüne bavul koymak zorunda kaldık. Resepsiyon masası gibi bir şey olmadığı için personeli ancak ertesi sabah kapıdan haberdar edebildik.

Kahvaltı masasında, siparişlerimizin hepsi ayrı ayrı ücretlendirildi çünkü kahvaltı muhtemelen belirtildiği gibi dahil değildi. Bunun nedeni tabii ki müdüre hanımı hatalarından haberdar etmemizdi. Kapı zaman zaman sıkışıyordu ve biz kapıyı kırmıştık.

Yerel halkı desteklemek için genellikle küçük butik otelleri tercih etme eğilimindeyiz, ancak böyle üzücü bir deneyimden sonra bunu iki kez düşünüyorum. Bazen İstanbul gibi metropollerde büyük oteller daha iyi bir seçim olabiliyor. İstanbul'daki 4 günlük kısa konaklamamız bize çok fazla...

Cons disorganized, inconsiderate host uncomfortable bed/pillows loud terrible location

Pros quaint, cafe on site, breakfast included, clean good for backpackers on a budget, not ideal for those that can afford to stay elsewhere

Of note, I booked the suite for extra space for packing- last night in Istanbul. Wanted to spend 1 night on Asian side. Checked-in, showered, unpacked including 2 full suitcases of souvenirs for reorganization. Went to cafe for dinner at 8pm and host demanded that we move immediately into a different room as they had made a mistake. She would not allow us to eat dinner first. She was unwilling to even comp our dinner for the inconvenience. She was very unorganized and inconsiderate. Ultimately, I went up to the room to pack and found email confirmation that we were in the correct room. This made for a very stressful experience. I am an MD and have travelled all over the world. This was the worst experience with a host that...