Hotel Tulip House — Hotel in Fatih

Hello to everyone who want to travel in Istanbul and stay in Hotel Tulip house or Interstar Hotel, We would like to describe our complain, because we think that we are victims of fraud. On Saturday 24th October 2020, me and my girlfriend had a reservation in Hotel Tulip House in Istanbul – Turkey (through booking.com). Our reservation was made more than 10 days before and we should have paid ~25 euro for 3 nights. A few hours before we got to the hotel, we received a notification from booking.com that our “credit card was declined” and that we need to “update our information” in booking.com, in order to pay for our reservation! We didn’t understand why, because we used the same card about other things, on the same day. We updated the credit card information, almost immediately, without a problem through the booking app… There was no reservation cancelation in the booking.com app. We arrived at the hotel on time (around 17:00 – just like we’ve stated to booking before - 17:00/18:00). Arriving there, we even look at the clock and said to each other that we are “On time” and there should be no problem with the card! We told the owner about our reservation and asked him to try again with our card, because we’ve updated the card information, just in case! The owner (in the reception) of Hotel Tulip House refused to try again and he said that when he tried our card, it was declined and we had no longer a reservation! (Let’s note that booking hadn’t informed us that we no longer have reservation – this means he still hadn’t canceled our reservation). Also, he said that there were no more rooms in the Hotel Tulip house! We started worrying, because we were in foreign country alone! After the owner of Hotel Tulip House noticed that, he offered to find us another hotel. Not knowing what to do, we agreed because he seemed friendly. The owner (the guy in the reception) and his friend (friend or other owner – we don’t know), searched again in booking.com and they found a hotel named “Interstar hotel Istanbul”. The price was 66 euro (more than double) for the same 3 nights! They did a reservation for us. They said that they would be responsible for the reservation and they put their own credit card, but said to us that when we go to the “Interstar hotel” we will pay with our card! We agreed not knowing what they were trying to do. We went to the other “Interstar hotel Istanbul”. There we showed a photo of the reservation made by the other hotel owner. He agreed to give us a room and we paid with our credit card 66 euro, just like the other guy from Hotel Tulip House told us. After a few hours we received a letter from booking.com that our reservation in Hotel Tulip House (the first hotel) was canceled by the owner. And after that, a few hours later, my girlfriend checked to see and she found that in Hotel Tulip House there are rooms available in booking.com So, these guys lied to us directly, without a hesitation! We even think that there is a possibility that they even canceled the second reservation made in booking.com, probably in order not to pay booking.com at all… And in the same time, we paid 2,5 times more. Probably both hotel owners talked behind our back! Also, I would like to note that in “Interstar hotel” (the second hotel – where we slept), they gave us a very small room with only bed and nothing more, in ground floor! We couldn’t do a review-critics, because the reservation was not made by us and by our credit card! At some point, we realized how stupid we were to trust these guys, who fooled us like children, because we are foreigners, in a foreign country. Advises to all who travel in Istanbul and are foreigners. Even in coffee shops you need to be careful! When they hear you don’t speak Turkish, they change the prices… You always need to look at the menu. Many of the traders in Istanbul are so “non-professional”, the only way to name them is “low...

The travel were for three families and we took three rooms and here are what happened : 1-Be careful.. No elevator and very narrow stairs. 2-The hotel location is very bad ..I know it's 500 meters but it would be 10 KM when climb the hill specially if you have kids or health issue. 3-The Rooms are very small , before when we made the reservation we called them and they said that they will add another bed,but when we arrived we discovered that the room can't handle another small bed . 4-we tried to checkout in the second day but they refused to refund !! ,we called (booking) and they replied that it's the hotel policy and the can't do anything ,we offered them to pay for the next two days and checkout in the same day but they refused also. after spending 7 miserable days the accepted to refund for the last three days only for one family and we moved to another hotel . 5-the electricity went down in the whole neighborhood for 3 hours in midnight for two days . 6- the Internet was really bad and always disconnected 7-the only good thing was the sea view...

My experience with them began at a sour note. I was mis quoted a higher per night charge by their staff over whatsapp. Upon arrival I found out the actual charges which was lesser than what was quoted earlier. However the staff was extremely rude and told me to either pay the higher price or to leave the hotel at 4AM. Their staff continued to be extremely uncooperative throughout my 10 day stay there. Despite booking for my 10 day stay in advance they kept changing my room frequently. The condition of the rooms was deplorable. Matters covers had various stains and odour. Room service was non existent. Rooms lacked hygiene or proper maintenance. ||It's an extremely old and outdated construction with very very small rooms, no lift and the staff was beyond horrible. Rooms did not offer mini bar. Or fridge. The towels offered were dirty. The intercom system was broken. The break fast served was mediocre at best. ||||||All in all a terrible experience wouldn't...