Cemre Suites — Hotel in Kadıköy

I normally don't write reviews, but I don't think the overwhelmingly positive reviews reflect my experience at all. The TLDR is that there was a massive language barrier, staff (with one exception) were unhelpful and inhospitable, and there are significant fluctuations in room quality and cleanliness.

When I travel, I don't expect perfect, flawless English everywhere I go, but I expect a hotel that houses foreign guests to have at least a very basic command of English. Even if that isn't the case, I expect hospitality staff to find avenues to communicate with me (ie: translation apps). The AM front desk staff on weekends speaks no English (not even "name", "today", "1 o clock"), and he made very little attempt to communicate with me in anything other than Turkish. Luckily, I know a bit of survival Turkish so I could just scrape by, but I find it ridiculous that tourists have to cater to hotel reception staff. The AM reception man also made no attempt to use a translation app; he just continued to talk to me in Turkish. He was dismissive and generally quite unhelpful, I barely knew what was happening half the time. The PM reception guy (Ömer) is much friendlier and is willing to communicate, but the difference in hospitality is quite literally night and day.

Smoking is also a noticeable problem at this hotel. To my knowledge, it is a smoke-free space, but I've seen staff smoking in the reception area (which is right above the basement room I was staying in, which unfortunately receives a waft of smoke from their smoking upstairs!), as well as smoking in the laundry room (directly next to the basement room). Not only is that a fire hazard, it's incredibly unpleasant to go back to your hotel room and have your things smell like cigarette smoke. Maybe the smoking in the laundry room is the reason why some of their towels are a little greyed out...

In the 3 rooms I saw the interior of, I didn't catch sight of any air conditioning (or heating), which is something to note for travelers who are sensitive to temperature. I came in the winter so I wasn't so worried about the rooms temperature wise, but I can't imagine how bad it could get in the summer, especially in the basement room. The shower area has a slight gap on one of the door flaps, so if your showerhead is rotated at a certain angle, water will leak out into the bedroom area, which surely cannot be good for the flooring or the bed frame. I've seen other reviews of the basement room say the same thing, so it seems to be a recurring theme.

I took a brief trip away and came back to Cemre Suites several days later, and upon check-in, I was given a ground floor room that was significantly smaller. No explanation was given, and the interim reception staff also spoke no English, and I was too exhausted to question it. Later, I talked to Ömer, who helpfully explained through Google Translate that they had changed my room because he was worried the basement room would be too cold. It may have been meant as a thoughtful gesture, but as a guest, that kind of change should be communicated to me upon check-in, not after I take the initiative to bring it up.

On their hotel listing they also write that they offer luggage storage, but upon checkout, I Google translated my request to store my luggage at the hotel, and the AM reception guy initially told me no. Then he changed his mind and decided to put my luggage in the laundry room (??). Later on, I return to the hotel and my luggage is stored at the front desk like I originally asked. Very strange and very unprofessional behaviour - it's as if the staff don't even know basic hotel protocol.

Also upon check-out, I had to bring my luggage up the stairs from the basement unit, and the AM receptionist just stood at the top of the stairs watching me visibly struggle with my massive luggage, without even the slightest intent to offer any help. Horrible hospitality even until the very...

A thorough disappointment. I highly doubt that the latest 5-star reviews for this hotel are genuine. Please look at the 1 and 2-star reviews first and you will understand what I mean. The hotel's photos seem fine but in reality everything from the lobby to the rooms is old, cheap and poorly maintained. It seems that some rooms and bathrooms have been given a makeover (and these are the ones you will see on pictures), while the lobby, the corridors and older rooms look like they are from a horror movie - old, mouldy, with shabby discoloured furnishings, grey old sheets and a sad smell that lingers.

We had to move to a different place and there are DOZENS of new, nice hotels in the area which offer more or less the SAME pricing. Some of them have a more modest rating but are in fact worlds apart in terms of appearance. I struggle to understand how a place like this can still exist. It's basically a scam because the reviews on both Google and Booking are really good. They were the only reason I booked the place. I should have taken pics but I was too busy trying to book something else and leave. Leaving this review on Google bc the place was booked from partner's...

Adequate hotel very close to all the transportation to take you to and fro airport (metro) Istanbul (ferry) all other places there is bus terminus 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel (downhill). ||We walked towards to waterside looking for restaurants to eat in on the first night. There were plentiful but the next night we walked upwards to the main street... so many quaint cosy cafes along the way, also a wonderful Pizza place called Picco Italy and then nice places to eat along Karakolhane street.||No elevators in the hotel but the staff is so helpful and took the bags up for us. The staff translates English into Turkish and communicates but that was not a problem for us. Very helpful with information and always welcoming and courteous.||Room - the room we had was basic and clean and the decoration was ornate. It was a suite room - which meant it was larger with a sitting area and bed. There was a coffee kettle and tea and coffee provided. There was also a small fridge in teh room. The bathrooms are renovated, the water is nice and hot and shower pressure is good.||The heating was more than adequate so we...