Faros Hotel Old City — Hotel in Fatih

Review of Faros Hotel, Istanbul

I booked a corner suite at Faros Hotel in Istanbul for one week (2–9 November) because of its excellent location in the city center — close to the main historical sites, restaurants, and shops. I have visited Istanbul before and know how lively it can be, but I did not expect the experience I had at this hotel.

When I arrived, I felt uncomfortable with some of the restaurant staff. Their behavior was overly personal and sometimes crossed professional boundaries. As a solo female traveler, this made me feel uneasy, and I decided to limit my contact with the restaurant team.

My corner suite was directly facing the main street, which made it very noisy both day and night. The room was generally clean — the bed linens and towels were fresh — but the bathroom had a slight odor, and some maintenance details could be improved, such as the window not opening properly.

The breakfast was one of the few positive aspects of my stay. It was delicious and varied, with omelettes, traditional menemen, several types of Turkish cheese, fresh vegetables, jams, and marmalade. Everything was fresh and tasty. However, the service during breakfast felt distant and inattentive. The staff rarely asked what guests would like to drink, and I often had to ask for coffee or tea myself. So, while the food was very good, the service lacked warmth and professionalism.

The main issue was that the hotel was under renovation, which was not mentioned anywhere at the time of booking. Despite this, the hotel charged the full rate as if everything were in perfect condition. The renovation work often continued late into the night, sometimes until 3, 4, or even 5 a.m., with drilling and loud machinery that made it impossible to sleep. After several sleepless nights, I decided to shorten my stay and move to another hotel.

The management, especially Ms. Sema and the general manager, were polite and tried to handle the situation diplomatically. On my last day, 6 November, the manager offered me a free meal or an extra night as a gesture of goodwill. While I appreciated this, for me the issue was never about receiving something for free but about transparency and respect for guests.

There was also a noticeable difference between what was offered and what was actually experienced. Although the management expressed willingness to help, in reality this was not consistently followed through. Communication often seemed more focused on preserving the hotel’s image rather than truly addressing the guests’ difficulties. Toward the end of my stay, I was even encouraged to leave a positive review (around 7–8 points), which made me uncomfortable. Such requests can feel manipulative rather than professional, and they reduce trust. True professionalism means taking responsibility and showing care through honest action, not negotiation.

Honestly, I felt as if I was paying to be disturbed by constant construction noise. The owner clearly has the means to renovate the hotel, but this should not come at the expense of the guests’ peace and comfort. For this reason, I feel it is necessary to raise a serious management concern about this property.

Finally, I sincerely urge Booking.com to review this situation carefully, to consider my honest criticism, and to re-evaluate the hotel’s rating, which does not reflect the current reality of the experience at Faros Hotel.

The building itself is beautiful and historic, and with more transparency, professionalism, and respect toward guests, it could truly reach its potential. But as it stands now, I will not return and cannot recommend it to...

Please note the one star is specially for the service experience of the hotel's restaurant and not a comment on the hotel entirely.

I stayed here previously and had a comfortable stay at the hotel despite the rooms being old and slightly worse for wear. The staff were just incredibly warm and kind and made my stay so positive and enjoyable. The location is central but reaching the hotel is difficult by taxi and with bags due to the blocked off road surrounding.

The team at the restaurant was exceedingly warm and welcoming and just went above and beyond to meet my requests and deliver and great experience.

I really felt at home here and wanted to come back just to eat or have coffee as I sometimes work in the area.

Unfortunately on my return, the same staff, who recognised, were not so pleasant and didn't deliver the same experience. While it was winter, they were not under any kind of obvious pressure due to demand as there only a few patrons dining.

The waiter named Hamza who previously served me and was kind cheerful and welcoming to all guests this time just didn't seem interested in wanting to serve me. He wasn't sincere or genuine in his approach to me and I felt instantly uncomfortable when I sat down but was too embarrassed to leave straight away.

When he served my table he didn't bother to do so courteously and just dropped my meal and left. Ordinarily in Turkish culture meal service is exceedingly polite and one would always say afiyet olsun or enjoy your meal for example when attending your table.

I then waited for some time when the same waiter wouldn't come to check up on me to see how my food was or whether or not I need a tea refresh or my plates cleared. He came up to the tables next to me to fix the chair and linen but didn't even look my way.

For a minute or so he was on his phone when I was trying to get his attention for the bill.

When I made it clear I wasn't happy with his treatment of me he was very defensive and rude instead of trying to understand why I seemed uncomfortable. He obviously didn't want to deal with me and I was not sure why as the entire team was really friendly and welcoming to me and other guests last time I had come.

I then complained to the manager Mr Nazim who was really kind and courteous in trying to empathise with me and did his best to rectify my experience.

I am extremely disappointed in how a 10 to 15 minute interaction completely changed my perception of this restaurant and hotel with one staff member.

I am a travel agent and wanted to establish a contract with the hotel for my clients but will no longer do so based on the inconsistency of service experience.

There may have been a misunderstanding but it is in how someone handles a problem not causes it to become worse that is most important.

This was made even worse when I saw Hamza talking to his manager and colleagues and a female worker turned around to eye and stare at me from inside the hotel's restaurant.

A complete disaster of a service experience.

I was looking forward to enjoying my breakfast at this restaurant and left feeling very uncomfortable.

I will never return to this place and regret even having tipped the staff last time.

What a poor show of commitment to the customer retention. Poorly trained and immature staff members really should not be placed in client facing roles as they carry the face of create a perception for the business...

I’ve had a very wonderful experience with Faros Hotel Old City. Our group was 27 people. We took 12 days Mediterranean cruise. Our last stop was Galata Port in Istanbul. We booked 12 rooms at Faros Hotel for 2 nights, size from standard double to family room. Everyone in our group was pleased with the stay at Faros Hotel and thanked me for discovering it. 🥰. At the beginning, the staff (Jacob) came to greet us at the cruise terminal (part of the hotel service) , took us back to the hotel and we were greeted with even more friendly staff from reception as well as the hotel’s restaurant. Everyone communicated well in English and that was an A+ for poor communicator like me. Along with the well established local area, it was a pleasant surprise. Our stay was extremely comfortable, clean room, well appointed, great view. Along with the included breakfast package, the all-day complimentary gourmet coffee for the connoisseur, the hotel staff served us well every time we saw them. And then, my husband accidentally left his wallet in the safe upon checking out to travel back to the US. We got a message from them some 10 hrs later between our flights home about his wallet. Then they took the time to mail the wallet to us in certified mail. Needless to say, this was way more than the “extra mile” that anyone could ask for. If there is a scale from 0 to 10, Faros Hotel and its staff deserves a good round of 10 by my standards. Kudos to Faros Hotel staff. I highly recommend this...