Elite World Grand İstanbul Küçükyalı — Hotel in Maltepe

They claim to be a 5-star establishment, but in reality, it’s a 2-star at best. My experience was beyond disappointing, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

First, the hotel looks nothing like what was advertised online. I specifically booked this hotel for the pool area, as I was staying in Istanbul for surgery and wanted to be able to enjoy some fresh air without having to leave the hotel. To my shock, the pool area was filthy, completely different from the pictures, and had no seating whatsoever. The entire hotel is dated and dirty—marks all over the walls, doors, and carpets made it feel like it hadn’t been maintained in years. The hotel turns on tacky flashing lights when the sun goes down which illuminate your room for hours making it difficult to sleep. To make matters worse, my air conditioning was broken. I contacted the front desk three times, and no one ever came to fix it. Every night, I woke up sweating because my room felt like a sauna. Breakfast was another huge letdown. There were barely any protein options, except eggs and the occasional chopped-up sausages that looked like dog food. Most of the breakfast spread consisted of canned fruit and different types of olives—nothing substantial at all.

Originally, I had booked for 10 nights, but I couldn’t take it anymore and requested an early checkout. It took days for the hotel to even acknowledge my request, and they only responded after I caused a scene in front of new guests. Even then, the process was a nightmare. They made me sit in the reception area for over an hour despite knowing I was only four days post-surgery. Then they told me I had to contact the booking website for a refund, something they conveniently failed to mention before I packed my bags and made my way to reception. When I asked them for the website’s contact details, they claimed they didn’t have it. How does a hotel not have the contact information for the third-party site that books their guests? After a frustrating back-and-forth, I finally left, but the nightmare wasn’t over. Days passed, and I received neither a refund or a confirmation email that the refund was being processed. I had to travel 40 minutes back to the hotel and sit in reception for THREE hours before they finally sent written confirmation of my refund but even this wasn’t enough. They didn’t state any details of how much was being refunded or for how many nights. Even then, my refund never arrived. I had to get my bank involved to chase it up, and when I finally received the money, it was still short of what I was owed. Thankfully, my bank covered the difference. This was, without a doubt, the worst hotel experience of my life. Poorly managed, dirty, and completely dishonest. Save yourself the stress and...

The hotel is beautiful, but unfortunately, there are some key areas that need serious attention to meet the standards of a 5-star establishment.

1st Issue – Housekeeping Despite activating the cleaning button, the room was not cleaned daily unless we called reception to chase it. This is not the level of service we expect from a high-end hotel. Additionally, the housekeeping team replaced towels every day, even though they were hung up and not placed on the floor, contradicting the hotel's own environmentally conscious policy. Furthermore, brand-new slippers were provided daily, which seems wasteful. This approach not only disregards the hotel’s sustainability goals but is also inefficient. Housekeeping also missed clearing dirty cups and replenishing mineral water as expected - each day should include two bottles per person, but we often received less or none. I suggest management closely review these practices and better train staff to adhere to both service standards and environmental commitments.

2nd Issue – Room Service Room service did not reflect 5-star expectations. Meals were delivered on plates without a cart, which diminished the experience. Interestingly, the cart was used when delivering missing water bottles, so I know the proper procedure exists. On the first day, room service provided generous portions, but the subsequent orders were notably smaller, suggesting inconsistency in the value for money. This felt misleading, as if trying to impress initially, then cutting back. Additionally, staff seemed to expect tips for bringing items, such as missing water, which should have been provided initially. It would help if the hotel focused on delivering high-quality service from the outset, rather than guests having to follow up.

Staff Praise The standout in the entire stay was the woman checking the breakfast list. She was consistently polite, smiling, and attentive - a true asset to the hotel. More staff like her would vastly improve the customer service experience, as many of the male staff appeared less invested in providing quality service.

In summary, while the hotel itself is visually stunning, the inconsistent and substandard service will deter me from returning. I recommend that management invests in more thorough staff training, pays attention to detail, and ensures a consistent 5-star experience across all departments. There is so much potential here, but the current level of service...

GOOD BUT NEEDS SOME WORK

Hotel’s amenities and common areas are gorgeous. The rooms are also nicely decorated. We stayed at Presidential Suite, which had an amazing sea view. The bed is super comfy and A/C works great. Mini Bar selection is great. Breakfast buffet was delightful and top notch. Some design flaws and/or bad executions in the room that affect the guest experience are as follows: Nearly all appliances and decorative lamps were unplugged. Didn’t understand why we were expected to plug these ourselves? Cut my finger while laying on the bed by touching the edge of metal mirror frame, which sits behind the bed. It’s a health hazard and not expected from a 5 star property. They need to round the edges of metal frames. It was like a blade! Some light fixtures can’t get turned off because they are not tied to a light switch. It took me some time to figure out which light switch turns off which light. It turns out that some lights are “hidden” and can only be turned off by digital Crestron system, which wasn’t very user friendly. I would want all lights to be tied to a physical switch that can turn them off. Digital switch is not for everyone. Curtains in Master Bedroom leak a lot of light. I am surprised to see this type of an error at a high calibrate hotel. This was a huge turn off for me, because the room was lit as soon as the sun has risen. I woke up at 5:30am and couldn’t sleep after. Why would you put a blackout curtain if you can’t figure out the sides and edges? Especially the sides. Funny thing is they already had a curtain pocket that goes beyond the length of the curtain, but because curtain track was cut short, it couldn’t fold into pocket to block the light. These are basic details that should be captured at a 5-star hotel. Another strange thing is the telephone device near the bed. The screen was always on and very brightly lid. There was no way to turn off the screen. I like to sleep in a dark room, so this was a big turn off for me. Lastly, shower heads in Master Bath were mostly clogged and only 20% of the holes effectively pushed the water. Maintenance team needs to take better care of rooms, especially Presidential Suite.

Other than these small issues, the overall experience was very nice. With small touches, this hotel can easily turn into a true 5 star hotel that can provide top notch...