Hotel Amira Istanbul — Hotel in Fatih

My best friend and I were staying in the Hotel Amira in the Sultanahmet area in Istanbul from July 29, 2023 to August 5, 2023 and we also spent the night of August 19, 2023 in Hotel Amira before we got up very early on August 20, 2023 to take a cab back to the new Istanbul Airport to fly back home.

Hotel Amira has a basement floor where there’s a gym and five other floors and on the fifth floor is the delightful rooftop restaurant and bar called Amiralto which is open for lunch and dinner. We stayed in the Room Numbers 601 and 604 which you have to get to by taking the elevator to the fourth floor and then walking to the right down the metal winding staircase that overlooks the lobby near the front desk of the hotel and the restaurant on the ground floor where the breakfast is always served. So in other words the Room Numbers 601 through 605 are not on the sixth floor because there isn’t a sixth floor at all.

The rooms are white with some white and cold grey furniture and decor. The rooms come with a bed, closet with an in room safe in it and robes and slippers, a kettle, water glasses, cups, saucers, spoons, tea bags, packets of instant coffee, packets of sugar, a free large bottle of water, desk, chair, a flatscreen TV, a mini fridge and an armchair. The rooms are kept quite clean.

The bathrooms in the hotel rooms are quite clean as well and everything appears to be in good shape however the bathrooms look like your grandmother’s bathroom that she got fitted in her house back in 1986 even down to the tiles on the bathrooms’ walls. The fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms aren’t scratched up, dirty or dilapidated - it’s just that the bathrooms in the hotel rooms in Hotel Amira look like the bathrooms that were probably in Blanche’s house in Miami on that TV show from the 80s called ‘The Golden Girls’. The bathrooms have bathtubs in them that have shower heads in them and sliding glass doors and the side of the bathtub is a bit high to step in and out of so Hotel Amira should take out all of those bathtubs and modernise the look and function of the bathrooms by putting in shower stalls that have glass doors or partitions because that would be a lot safer also. The bathrooms are quite clean and the bathroom floor can be a bit slippery when you come out of the shower so be careful when you’re walking around in there.

The restaurant on the ground floor by the lobby across from the front desk is where the breakfast buffet is always served and the breakfast buffet is absolutely delicious. The breakfast buffet consists of a traditional Turkish breakfast and a continental European breakfast and there are definitely options in the breakfast buffet for vegetarians and vegans too and they have enough food to serve an army during the breakfast buffet in Hotel Amira seriously. There’s also a room right by the restaurant where the breakfast buffet is served where a lady makes gozlëmes for guests from scratch every morning also and you can have your choice of combinations of fillings in the gozlëme such as ground beef or ground lamb with onions, feta cheese, potatoes, spinach and the Turkish equivalent of mozzarella and the lady will brush some melted butter on the outside of the gozlëme if you’d like that.

The rooftop restaurant and bar on the fifth floor which is called Amiralto has polite and helpful wait staff and the hummus that they serve is absolutely delicious and tastes like it has a hint of curry powder in it. The vegetable mezze platter that Amiralto serves is also very delicious as is their fresh and tasty bread. Plus Amiralto has wonderful views all around and especially of the Blue Mosque which is very close to the hotel.

I highly recommend the Hotel Amira because of its great location right by the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace, the wonderful customer service from their staff including the staff in their restaurants and their delicious food at breakfast time and...

This is an unbiased review of Amira hotel.

1.Location: The hotel is located in the most historic part of the city, literally 5 minutes walk from Hagia Sofya and Blue Mosque as well as the Sultanahmet tram station which is all that you need to move through the busiest parts of Istanbul. The neighbourhood is very busy but not loud and annoying, very very safe even at late night, in front of the hotel are plenty of cabs anytime of the day.

2.Staff: The staff is truly the heart of this hotel.From the guys at the reception front , to the breakfast service staff, the cleaners, the restaurant staff.I was amazed by the level of professionalism shown, the knowledge, the genuine smiles, the allocated -no rush time you were given by the staff and the detailed suggestions to help us organise our trip better.We travel a lot and to be honest its a very rare find.

3.Rooms: We stayed at the top floor in room 801 which is a deluxe room with balcony.Beware, all rooms in Istanbul are tiny, do not believe anything you see.I was surprised to see that the room was even bigger in real life,literally 35 sqm which is way more than enough for 2 people( we stayed for 3 nights). The room is bright, with a classic-classy style, the bed is amazingly comfortable and crisp.
Cleanness of the room is more than spot on, you could smell the linen and the bathroom was shiny. The balcony is adequate and overlooks a part of the city and the small Haghia Sofya church, providing wonderful sunsets. What’s most important is that the room is so quiet, you can’t hear anything once the doors shut, and heavy curtains allowing you to sleep deep and well.

4.Breakfast: To be honest, this was the freshest food we ate during our 12 days trip in total. Everyday fresh items, the best scrambled i had in a hotel for years, organic honey in the comb, organic butter, delicious coffee, great variety of cheeses and cold cuts. The buffet is being refilled by the staff non stop and they tirelessly try to make your breakfast experience amazing.

Overall, i wish i could rate the hotel even higher, it’s a true oasis in Istanbul, we will surely come back.
If you are looking to travel and have proper peace of mind to enjoy the beautiful Istanbul, well look no more. Lots of love from Greece, see you again...

The word perfect doesn’t even begin to describe Hotel Amira Istanbul, let me explain!

The location is ideal. Although about 45 minutes from the airport, it’s absolutely worth it because the hotel is within walking distance of many historical landmarks. In just about 10 minutes on foot, you can reach the Grand Bazaar (perfect for souvenirs), Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, and even a palace nearby, plus more that I didn’t get to visit. If you book a Bosphorus boat tour, they even arrange hotel pickup and drop-off, which is super convenient.

Now, the hotel itself: I booked the breakfast-inclusive package, and wow, did they deliver! The spread was abundant and absolutely delicious. A highlight was the sweet older lady making fresh Gözleme every morning right in front of you, such a wonderful touch. They even allow you to bring breakfast back to your room if you wish. The rooftop restaurant is also worth a visit; the food there was just as tasty, paired with beautiful views. My room was spotless, spacious, and very comfortable.

But what truly sets Hotel Amira apart is the staff, amazing doesn’t even cover it. Every single person I interacted with was kind, attentive, and genuinely eager to make my stay enjoyable. To everyone who worked at Hotel Amira during my visit, thank you so much, I truly appreciate you all! 🙏🏽

I highly recommend this hotel to anyone...