Optimist Hotel — Hotel in Fatih

Good thinks:||The location of the hotel is great, right in front of the Blue Mosque. The hotel has four rooms and we have the one with spectacular views of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Marmara Sea. Walkable distance to almost historic location. Breakfast was good and staff were friendly.||We arrived very early at the hotel, so our room it wasn't ready, so we’ve returned at 1 o’clock to check-in, the owner told us that the rooms is going to be ready early, not at 2 o’clock.||||Bad thinks:||- try to contact the hotel owner before our trip to Istanbul and to book a private shuttle service from the airport to the hotel. Unfortunately, after 2-3 messages via hotels.com nobody answer so we've taken a taxi.||- at 1 o’clock we’ve got our room which was not so clean, no heat, frozen water at the sink/shower in the bathroom, the TV doesn’t work (the owner told us that you don’t need TV, you book the room for the view). All the winds are in the room if you do not have heat, many spaces between windows, walls, and doors. When we asked about the TV why it does not work, they remembered ti start the heating, after that it was ok in the room.||- we’ve never made a real check-in in the hotel, so the owner start tell us that we are staying for 1 night, I’ve told him that we’ve booked for 2 nights, but in real we are staying 1 night and a half because we have the flight at midnight on the second night;||- Second day we’ve gone exploring the city and return on 6 pm at the hotel and went to our room which, surprise: was clean expecting new guests. Therefore, no luggage, no any other thinks that we’ve had in the room. Therefore, we have gone downstairs and trying to find where were all our belongings: nobody knows, the staff call the owner and after that we have started a long discussion about all: reservation, our thinks, missing thinks. Because they have guests, the owner told us to not make noises and try to calm down. We have discover our luggage at the front desk but without thinks that we have out of baggage: perfumes, books, clothes, toothbrushes, etc. All this conversions was something like that: the son’s owner make a call we talk, after hang up, new call – new discussion, hang up, etc. I had to repeat a several times that we’ve missing thinks, so we are going to call the police. They told us to wait to talk to housekeeping, who arrived later very upset and give us our missing thinks who putted in her cupboard and started to talk to us in Russian. After this, the owner come and start to apologies and explained that he was very upset because all night was fighting with his girlfriend who talks too much, like me. I have told him that we have booked something and received a very big disappointment. It is not normal to take my stuff without tell me, they could call me. After all, that, I wanted to pay the room in local currency, and the owner told us that he will charge only for one night (as if he made us a favor). The owner tried to exchange at the highest rate possible, even more than we have founded in the street – I gave him the right amount at the exchange rate that I have seen. No trusty, bag jokes about my country and other like that – he tried to make peace with a glass of wine. For us it was the worst holiday ever.||Be very careful when you make your booking, give him the voucher and repeat several time how many nights you are staying in. Maybe this was our misfortune for this holiday and hope that nobody feel...

Good thinks:||The location of the hotel is great, right in front of the Blue Mosque. The hotel has four rooms and we have the one with spectacular views of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Marmara Sea. Walkable distance to almost historic location. Breakfast was good and staff were friendly.||We arrived very early at the hotel, so our room it wasn't ready, so we’ve returned at 1 o’clock to check-in, the owner told us that the rooms is going to be ready early, not at 2 o’clock.||||Bad thinks:||- try to contact the hotel owner before our trip to Istanbul and to book a private shuttle service from the airport to the hotel. Unfortunately, after 2-3 messages via hotels.com nobody answer so we've taken a taxi.||- at 1 o’clock we’ve got our room which was not so clean, no heat, frozen water at the sink/shower in the bathroom, the TV doesn’t work (the owner told us that you don’t need TV, you book the room for the view). All the winds are in the room if you do not have heat, many spaces between windows, walls, and doors. When we asked about the TV why it does not work, they remembered ti start the heating, after that it was ok in the room.||- we’ve never made a real check-in in the hotel, so the owner start tell us that we are staying for 1 night, I’ve told him that we’ve booked for 2 nights, but in real we are staying 1 night and a half because we have the flight at midnight on the second night;||- Second day we’ve gone exploring the city and return on 6 pm at the hotel and went to our room which, surprise: was clean expecting new guests. Therefore, no luggage, no any other thinks that we’ve had in the room. Therefore, we have gone downstairs and trying to find where were all our belongings: nobody knows, the staff call the owner and after that we have started a long discussion about all: reservation, our thinks, missing thinks. Because they have guests, the owner told us to not make noises and try to calm down. We have discover our luggage at the front desk but without thinks that we have out of baggage: perfumes, books, clothes, toothbrushes, etc. All this conversions was something like that: the son’s owner make a call we talk, after hang up, new call – new discussion, hang up, etc. I had to repeat a several times that we’ve missing thinks, so we are going to call the police. They told us to wait to talk to housekeeping, who arrived later very upset and give us our missing thinks who putted in her cupboard and started to talk to us in Russian. After this, the owner come and start to apologies and explained that he was very upset because all night was fighting with his girlfriend who talks too much, like me. I have told him that we have booked something and received a very big disappointment. It is not normal to take my stuff without tell me, they could call me. After all, that, I wanted to pay the room in local currency, and the owner told us that he will charge only for one night (as if he made us a favor). The owner tried to exchange at the highest rate possible, even more than we have founded in the street – I gave him the right amount at the exchange rate that I have seen. No trusty, bag jokes about my country and other like that – he tried to make peace with a glass of wine. For us it was the worst holiday ever.||Be very careful when you make your booking, give him the voucher and repeat several time how many nights you are staying in. Maybe this was our misfortune for this holiday and hope that nobody feel...

Horrible experience, try every means to avoid it!

We (me, my wife and my 2 years old son) visited Istanbul from June 5 to June June 8, 2017, and we booked optimist hotel via booking.

The location of this hotel is great, but it might be too great to let the hotel owner too lazy to provide any decent services to its customers. Here is our experience:

1. We contacted the hotel owner before our trip to Istanbul and booked a private shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, which has been confirmed by the owner ( I can provide evidence if you want). Unfortunately, when we arrive ar the airport at 11 pm in the evening, the taxi did not show up without a good reason. I contacted the hotel owner who simply told me that they were too busy.

2. I contacted the hotel owner before our trip and requested a room with twin beds on the highest floor with a mosque view, the hotel owner confirmed it and promised we will have it. Again, we did not get it, without any explanation from the hotel.

3. We pay the hotel fees by cash and requested a change and a receipt, which I think is a reasonable request in any countries. The hotel owner threw back the money and said that I did not trust him. It is very rude to refuse such a basic demand and throw back my money on the floor. Indeed, I did not trust him given my experience from this hotel concerning the room and shuttle services from the airport.

4. Next day, me and my 2 years old son went downstairs and the hotel owner (with long hair) was sitting there alone. I said good morning and "Can we have our breakfast?" That is what said before the hotel owner all of sudden yelled at me and my 2 years old son "I gave you everything" and then threw the breakfast in front of us. All I plan to ask is some bread and orange juice, while what we got is such a rude and shameful response.

5. regarding the hotel facilities, the toilet is very smelly, the lights in the room are too weak to see anything in the everning . The stairs are very narrow and steep. I am 178 cm and I hit my head twice when I walked downstairs.

We are traveling a lot in Europe, and this hotel gave us the worst experience until now, so I think I have the responsibility to write my horrible experience down and I hope other customers, especially families, can read my comments and avoid this hotel by...