Hotel Arcadia Blue — Hotel in Fatih

We went on 5th Sept 2024 – 9th Sept 2024 and booked 8 months in advance for a family trip – 2 double rooms with sea view/mosque view next door with pre-booked taxi service.

Arrival to Airport: Instructions for Taxi not 100% accurate – No Driver waiting for you with a B1 sign as stated, instead a selling group with a sign on a central board next to 10 other signs and then they take you downstairs Pre-booked taxi service was the worst in the world – Took 45mins to get a driver and when the driver did come, we had to walk all the way back upstairs through the airport and when asked the driver said “Do you speak Russian, if not then don’t talk to me and talk to the hotel this is their service”. 50 euros for this disgusting service, what a scam. The driver took the longest route taking 1.5 hours.

Pre-booked taxi service: 0/10 rating – Scam, bad attitude, rude, disorganised.

Hotel: Upon arrival No welcome and was surprised their taxi dropped us off without this welcome service. Explained the poor taxi service and the management was dismissive and said they’ve never heard this before, it’s not possible (a line they keep using for any issue found in the hotel or room). They tried to force a return cab service through the hotel and when saying no kept telling lies (Taxi will scam you, Uber won’t come etc) – Please note we got an uber when leaving and it arrived in 4mins and was £15 cheaper than the hotel service. DO NOT book the hotel Taxi service it’s a SCAM. Manager said they would upgrade 1 room (room 601) Hotel management: 2/10 – Lots of attitude and did not take guest issues serious porter boy – 8/10 – Only people willing to help and spoke to management about the unusable room (601).

Rooms (601 = 0/10, 501 = 8/10, 602 = 6/10): 601 is a raw sewage pit and not fit for guests. It smells of sewage and when approaching management, they are dismissive and state it is the best room in the hotel and nobody has ever complained I had to complain 3 times and all they did was spray fragrance which did not mask the smell and came back immediately. Only when the porter boy came with me and then told the manager it is disgusting did he do something. Management forced us to stay in this room for 1 night and then moved us the next morning to 501. 501 is fine with no issues 602 (our second room), is fine with good views but towards the end had the same sewage smell as 601 and you guessed it, the management said the same lines (old building, best room etc). Do not stay near 601, 602, ask before and then refuse. 501 and 502 is better The rooms are thin and you can hear a lot from other rooms.

Facilities (501/602 - 8/10): Free minibar without additional top-up if you register on their app No daily complimentary water Room spacious. 2 shower head bathroom, toilet with built in douche, sink with light. Lighting fine, but 501 has a flickering ceiling downlight Dressing table Large comfortable bed

Breakfast (6/10): No buffet, no large traditional Turkish breakfast Menu and order system with limited options however you can order as many items as you want Top floor of hotel and good views

Location (10/10): Best thing about the hotel. Within walking distance to everything you need

Cleanliness: 8/10 rating – Overall clean, however some areas were dust wasn’t cleaned (near bedside cabinets)

Overall stay: 6/10 Rating – Bad Pre-booked Taxi service, Horrible room in 601, and eventual sewage smell in 602, however 501 no issues, views good, facilities good and...

Hotel Statistics, based on my subjective experiences (Scale 1 - 5):

Location: - 5 - Great! Room: - 5 - Spacious with the two mosques' magnificent view Check-in/out: - 5 - They let me check out late Breakfast: - 2 - They dictated what you want to eat! Housekeeping: - 3 - Nice and good smell toilet but not the room Staff: - 5 - Attentive and helpful (Front desk) Other Facilities: - 5 - Breakfast on the rooftop restaurant Wifi: - 4 - Good enough to surf the internet

My thoughts: At first, I was impressed with the location, the (front desk) staff welcomed and treated me well, and the magnificent view of the two mosques right from my window. I even like how the toilet smells. Something different from what a hotel usually offers.

I have to admit that my impression drastically fell when I had my breakfast on the next day. For a 4-star hotel, I could not believe the hotel served the breakfast on a tray instead of a buffet! Even the tiny hotel in the small town of Kusadasi made a buffet breakfast for their guest! I am not saying that having breakfast on a set menu was terrible, but please, give us a break! We want to eat for the food we like, and how much food we eat is determined by our eyes at first sight! This is why a buffet in the morning gives us a good mood to eat, not just filling the stomach with food that is not even our taste!

On the last day, we found a used face mask behind the minibar (see attached picture) left by the previous guest and not cleaned by the housekeeping! This was totally unacceptable due to safety and hygienic reasons!

The hotel had an application that could be used as a mode of communication, whether to request extra towels, order food from the room, complain about the room, etc. I used it for complaining about something, but until I checked out, my complaint was never solved. The good thing about the app was if you fully register, you may drink all beverages in the minibar for free.

Nevertheless, I still amazed at how close was the hotel location with the iconic landmarks in the Fatih area and appreciated for the front desk team who arranged an airport...

I made a booking directly from Arcadia blue website. Picked the link which enables you to pay for 4 nights and stay 5. We have email showing that this is the case but on arrival they deny this. The staff at reception are not helpful and act like they don’t know anything. They state they will speak to manager who is named Can. We asked Cemil at reception to give Can’s contact number but he states he cannot. The next day we approach another reception staff member and he willingly hands us the managers business card with his mobile number. We call Can the manager on his mobile and he states he will get back to us on the same day. He fails to reply. In fact Can the manager is apparently never around when we ask reception. Very unprofessional. We had to change our plans and the hotel was not helpful at all. We booked between 20/7/22 to 25/7/22 but we’re told only booked till 24/7/22 by reception. As a result we had to change our plans in Istanbul and our relative that was going to pick us up on the 25/7/22 ended up picking us on the 23/7/22. Hence we lost 2 nights stay at the hotel. They didn’t even refund the night we lost. My advice if booking through their website be careful as they will try to avoid giving you that extra night they promise on their website when you pay for 4 nights. Me being Turkish living in Australia, do not recommend this hotel to any of my Australian fellows. They are a rip off, the breakfast they serve is not authentic Turkish and very low quality. For the price you pay, poor service and breakfast. Never again and definitely...