Istanbul Holiday Hotel — Hotel in Fatih

An Absolute Catastrophe: Avoid This Hotel at All Costs

I wouldn't wish a stay at this hotel on my worst enemy. From the moment you step foot inside, you're assaulted by an environment that can only be described as utterly repulsive. The cleanliness is not just appalling, it's virtually nonexistent. The so-called "cleaning services" are a cruel joke; they manage to make a room feel less clean after their visit. Don't expect a vacuum to ever grace your floors or a single bathroom fixture to be wiped down. It's as if the "cleaners" are paid to simply rearrange the dirt.

A Disaster Zone

The building itself is a sanitary nightmare. Forget minor inconveniences; we're talking about the water pressure fluctuates wildly, making a simple shower a gamble against a pathetic trickle. And speaking of showers, prepare for water to drip incessantly, creating swamp-like conditions around your feet. To top it all off, every corner of the room is permeated by a pervasive, stomach-churning foul odor that no amount of airing out can dispel.

A Repugnant Dining Experience

If you value your taste buds or basic hygiene, DO NOT attempt the "breakfast." It's a testament to how low quality food can sink. The limited options are barely recognizable, and the rusted, filthy hot water faucet on the tea machine is enough to make you question every health code violation. Adding to this delightful morning ritual is an elderly man who lords over the meager offerings, staring you down as if you're stealing from his personal pantry. His complete lack of basic customer service is as offensive as the food itself, which is, aside from a solitary piece of passable white cheese, barely edible.

Extortionate Prices for Unacceptable Conditions

To charge a single penny for this abysmal experience is an insult. The price is utterly exorbitant, a blatant rip-off for a room that feels like a forgotten dungeon and services that are actively detrimental.

The only sliver of humanity in this otherwise soul-crushing establishment was the front desk lady. She's a multilingual gem who genuinely seems to care, but her efforts are tragically undermined by her complete lack of authority to fix anything. Save yourself the misery, the money, and the potential health hazards. You can effortlessly find a vastly superior hotel for the same price. I implore you, for your own well-being, absolutely, unequivocally, and emphatically...

The hotel's location is excellent and it is within walking distance from Sultanahmet square, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace. It is located in a street without much traffic, but with many shops, restaurants and cafes. Staff members were very polite and friendly, especially Mohammed, who deserves praise for his attitude towards guests. The air-condition in the room worked very well, which is very important since during the summer temperatures in Istanbul can be rather high, even during night.||||I reserved a standard double room and the one I got was much smaller than 12 sq meters and not nearly as comfortable as the ones I could see in the photos during the booking process, so I practically could not walk around my bed (compare my picture with the ones related to "standard double room"). Plus, the bed was very short so when I lied down my feet would touch the wall (and I am 185 cm tall, which is nothing extraordinary). The wallpapers were starting to peel off on several places. Cleanliness was not at a high level either. For example, in the shower there was a used shampoo bottle and a soap with hair on it, which were never taken away during my three-day stay there. The mold could also be clearly seen around the bathroom. The Internet connections was unstable all the time and sometimes you would have to reconnect several times within several minutes as its signal was getting lost. When compared to my previous five stays in Istanbul, which is known for fresh food of very high quality, breakfast here was...

When I arrived at the hotel around midnight, the entrance was locked. Had to knock several times to wake up the reception staff who was asleep on the sofa near the restaurant area. He appeared to be intoxicated. Didn't know what to do with my passport and also forgot to give me the room key on arrival. The room walls were so thin that I could here the noise and every conversation in the room next door. Shower was so small I could hardly stand in it. I had booked an excursion one of the days and was being picked up at 8.15am. Breakfast should have been served 8am sharp but this was not the case and I could not have breakfast. As a result I had to buy breakfast separately. The staff was late, breakfast items such as bread had not been delivered etc. I was accused of not making payment on day 3 of my stay despite reception staff giving me the key on arrival when I reminded him. Please beware when providing card details on sites such as Agoda. These details are passed to hotels who I suspect pass these details to fraudsters. £125 was taken out of my account. This also happened to another card of mine when I visited Turkey previously. Use a card for Turkey that you don't use for regular payments, standing orders or direct debits and ensure the card is freezed (ie it can't be used unless you defrost or unfreeze it) using the bank app. Be very careful in Turkey with your bank cards and cash. Try to make cash payment as much as possible and withdraw cash in your country of origin rather than using atm...