Celal Sultan Hotel Special Class — Hotel in Fatih

My trip was completely unplanned. Karem, the hotel Manager helped me book the hotel in absolutely no time.

The shuttle was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived. I was the only one in the shuttle and it made me feel very safe considering the pandemic.

As I got to the hotel, Karem was personally waiting to greet me. Checkin procedure was extremely easy and took less than two minutes. I was guided to my room. The room was extremely clean, had a light colour scheme which gave it a spacious feel. The room looked very new and well maintained. All the amenities were present, including free wifi which Karem helped me set as soon as I entered the hotel.

The washroom is clean and the fixtures were in very good condition. It came with the usual toiletries you would expect, including two pairs of slippers.

Breakfast is delicious. They do not have a buffet (due to Covid prevention SOPs) but table service included everything that would be available at the buffet. Breakfast typically included a cheese platter, bread station, two varieties of egg, cereal and a host of drinks including authentic Turkish Tea, Coffee (Latte, Cappacino, Espresso or black, hot chocolate and different flavours of juice. The breakfast serving was fit for a king.

Update on breakfast: the staff noticed my preferences and this morning they prepared for me a double serving of the cheese platter and offered pancakes instead of egg as they noticed I don’t enjoy having egg as much. Even before I had no complaints as the service was so big, I’d be full even without having egg. I never hinted in my own that I do not prefer having eggs. Very generous of them and highly appreciated.

Day and night the staff is available to help at the desk. They fixed my issues instantly (helping me set the room temperature and sourced me an adapter to fit my charging plugs for electronics.

My room was made up every morning and it looked fresh whenever I returned. Lighting is sufficient and the rooms are quiet. The rooms have very good daylight coming in from the two windows and they can be opened to let fresh air into the room.

Upon my return from a trip to the city, the staff even asked me if I’d like to have coffee or tea.

Karem provided me with a map of the city and guided me as to how I could plan my stay and either him or the other staff who were at the hotel, they always asked me how my day was and gave me tips to make my trip even more memorable.

The hotel is extremely close to Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. This means you save hours of commute time and don’t have to spend money on commuting either. Surrounding the hotel are very nice restaurants that give you a flavour of the Taste of Authentic Turkish Cuisine.

The hotel arranged my PCR test prior to my departure (without me needing to remind them). The team came to my room, took my sample and delivered the result in 7 hours (possibly earlier as I did not check before this).

My trip was planned last minute and I travelled alone for 5 days and never did I feel lonely as the hotel has such a friendly and homely environment. Extremely courteous staff and very nice hotel.

This hotel deserves to be called out for the gem that it is. I booked this hotel via a family recommendation and definitely I recommend this hotel to anyone who is travelling to Istanbul and wants to stay in an extremely central location and not compromise on quality of stay. I will definitely visit this hotel again the next time I am in Istanbul.

Thank you to everyone at Celal Sultan hotel for making my trip so...

Celal Sultan Hotel

A HOME 🏠 away from home!! I have traveled to Turkey every year - once a year, since 2006. have stayed in many, many different hotel since, though none like Celal Sultan Hotel. This hotel has everything you could ask for. The entire front desk staff to the breakfast crew and the morning cleaning crew that you don’t think much of, but They are all amazing! Front desk: Aslan and his team always make sure that your arrival is well taken care of; if you request a hotel transfer from/to hotel/airport and vise versa. Upon arrival, front desk staff always courteous and attentive; for example, tea or water. The check-In is simply a breeze! The cleaning crew: these ladies do make sure you have all you need. They are keen to detail of what you need and make sure your room is always impeccably clean; of course, you can request not to have them come in, and you can make your own bed =) yet, they still give you fresh set of towels. They are amazing! The breakfast team: wow! Everyone works cohesively well and food is always being replenish if halfway done. The variety of breakfast items available to choose from is great - Turkish style breakfast, very light and healthy. The floor team during breakfast time make sure the tables are clean and used plates are removed from sight right away. The rooms: Every room is quiet uniquely decorated and the layout is well thought of. Room with a view or no view, they are clean, spacious, pleasant and peaceful. Now, If you are not pleased with your room, Celal Sultan staff will make sure your stay is memorable; and if available rooms are open, they will offer it to you, trust me! The rooms I have stayed in are very specious, well lit, with seating areas and with an armoire to put your clothes away, oh!! Heater and AC are a blessing because they do work!! The bathrooms: I have had my share of different bathroom choices; they are spacious, but not fond of the single person cubicle shower type; though I had it for 2 days. However, on my other stays, I did noticed that the bathrooms do have plenty of space to put your personal items… imagine, I am woman with all my make up gear and my own hairdryer, the space was efficient to accommodate what I use at home and it worked for me. The Hotel: Celal Sultan is extremely centralized to what you would need to get around; such as Sultan Ahmet Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the tram, eatery to choose from and it has an amazing view from the terrace where you can see Hagia Sophia, Galata Tower, Asia side. The roof top area is enclosed with big windows to enjoy the view and breakfast… a hide away to sit and relax! Pandemic or no pandemic, Celal Sultan made it possible to bring a person to get my testing done and results within 12 hours of my return home to San Diego after 3 weeks away from home and traveling to Turkey 🇹🇷 and Morocco 🇲🇦 You will not regret choosing...

And so my two week stay in Istanbul is sadly drawing to a close and it's time to write a little about the Celal Sultan Hotel.

For the first week I stayed in a premium room, after which I upgraded to their suite, so those are the only rooms with which I can address. The premium room was more than adequate and a very nice room, with plenty space and a great bathroom. However, I'm here for my 50th birthday, so I thought I'd treat myself a little. The suite is absolutely lovely - just single room, so not an actual suite, but plenty big enough for one or two guests and very tastefully decorated. The bathroom is very nice indeed, with twin marble basins, a marble shower which doubles as a low bathtub and brass hardware. There's also a slim balcony with a lovely view of the Hagia Sophia, a table and two chairs which is the perfect place to enjoy an early morning cup of coffee or a glass of tea while enjoying the sunrise over what was for a full millennium the greatest Basilica in all of Christendom

As a quick look at the map will tell you, the location can't really be improved upon. Right outside the door you'll find restaurants and cafes a plenty (along with the ubiquitous souvenir shops), while Sophie, the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque and the Basilica Cistern is only marginally farther away. The excellent Istanbul tramway also runs virtually across the doorstep, so getting around couldn't be easier.

As far as the staff is concerned, they couldn't be nicer. The reception staff is universally friendly, courteous (almost too much so for an inherently informal Norwegian who's ever so slightly uncomfortable being addressed as "Sir" all the time) and helpful to a fault. The housekeeping staff is equally excellent and my room has been impeccably cleaned and turned out every day.

The verdict? Celal Sultan is, for me, the perfect place to stay in Istanbul: it's clean, it's smoothly run, the staff are both skilled and friendly, the location is perfect, it has oodles of charm and ambience and has been very tastefully decorated throughout. The same can probably be said of many other hotels here, but you really can't go wrong if you choose Celal Sultan as a Base for your stay...