Radisson Hotel Istanbul Merter — Hotel in Zeytinburnu

Horrible experience and unacceptable behavior by the hotel’s reception. Is this a four- or five-stars hotel? Not even by a long shot. Avoid. I stayed in this hotel for four nights: 7th to 10th of May 2025. I was on a business trip, as I was attending a conference. My main problems were:

1. the Internet connection was horrible. Actually, it was nonexistent during the evenings on the 8th and 9th of May. After 19:00 on these days I was not able to even download a single e-mail.
2. the people at the reception were (to put it politely) completely unprofessional and not helpful. On top of that, they were quite disrespectful as they were lying in my face. The only good thing was that the room was exceptionally clean. That is why I overall give them two stars instead of just one, but obviously this is a hotel that people should strongly avoid. The first evening that I was in the hotel I noticed that the Internet connection was exceptionally slow, but I didn't pay much attention to that. The next two days, when several tourist groups arrived, it was impossible to use the Internet after 19:00 in the evening; nothing was coming through. As it turned out (after a lot of struggle from my side) this was because the bandwidth that the hotel was using was not able to support high demand, something which you should not expect from a ‘good’ hotel, or to be frank from any decent hotel. In the evening of the 8th of May I called the reception saying that my Internet was practically not working. They tried to tell me that I have not connected correctly, which was obviously not true. When I explained that I was correctly connected, they said that probably there is a problem with their Internet, and they will report it and ask for the technician to fix it. This was again not true, because nothing happened on that day and the next morning, when I asked the receptionists if the problem had been resolved, they told me that they didn't have any idea about any reported problem!!! At that stage they said again that they would try to fix the issue during the day. I asked them to inform me about the progress on this issue by e-mail, as I had to do something important in the evening and I needed internet connection, and they agreed to do so, something which never happened (again)! Another lie in my face. In the evening of the 9th of May the same problem appeared, no internet at all! I called again the reception and this time they told me that there is a general problem in the area (again not trus as it turned out!) but if I wanted to have a good Internet connection, I could work from the lobby using another network. At that stage I pointed out that if the problem is in the area, then also the other network should not work properly. This forced them to admit that the problem was that their bandwidth is not strong enough to support many visitors, something which you understand is completely unacceptable for a ‘good’, expensive hotel. At that point I asked to speak with the manager and the receptionist told me that the manager would call me in the next 10 minutes. This again never happened. Noone called me back; how disrespectful is that? After 35 minutes I had to call again and to be informed that the manager had already left for home and of course nobody cared to reply to my complaints. I want to emphasize that since I was on a business trip, and I had to work using the internet. Thus, I ended up waking up at 4:30 in the morning, when the Internet connection was okay, as most of the visitors were sleeping, in order to do my work!!! Again, this is torture is unacceptable at any level. Finally, in the afternoon of the last day of my stay, I managed to talk with a reception supervisor who admitted that my previous complaints never reached them due to “miscommunications”, something which in reality means that nobody was really caring about my complains or reporting them. Bottom line: the most annoying thing is not that I was not able to do my work, or that I ended up losing my sleep in order to work, but the disrespectful way I was...

UPDATE:

I travel frequently for business and stay at many hotels worldwide, including several times a year in Istanbul. I chose this Radisson Blu only because I needed access both to the city center and to the Expo halls. For this rather remote location, the price is already extremely high.

Upon arrival, I wanted to use the gym simply to stretch on a yoga mat because of back pain after my flight. At the reception, I was told that without proper sports shoes I could not enter. I fully understood and accepted this rule – no sports shoes, no gym entry – that is absolutely correct.

However, my polite request to borrow a yoga mat for 20 minutes to use in my room was met with mockery and complete refusal. Instead of offering a simple solution, both receptionists laughed at me, told me to “go to Adidas and buy shoes,” and then ignored me when I asked again. In a four-star Radisson Blu hotel, this lack of professionalism and hospitality is unacceptable.

The following day, after buying shoes, I witnessed other guests freely using the gym in jeans and loafers. This made it clear that the strictness applied to me had nothing to do with policy, but with the staff’s personal attitude.

It is shocking that Radisson Blu employs staff who are not only unwilling to assist but who also openly mock paying guests. These two women are completely unfit to represent a hotel of this category. At a Radisson Blu, providing a simple yoga mat for a guest in need should never be a problem.

Because of this experience, I will not return to this property and will advise colleagues and employees to avoid it as well. Spending 15 extra minutes traveling to the Expo is far better than enduring such unprofessional and...

I travel frequently for business and stay at many hotels worldwide, including several times a year in Istanbul. I chose this Radisson Blu only because I needed access both to the city center and to the Expo halls. For this rather remote location, the price is already extremely high.||Upon arrival, I wanted to use the gym simply to stretch on a yoga mat because of back pain after my flight. At the reception, I was told that without proper sports shoes I could not enter. I fully understood and accepted this rule – no sports shoes, no gym entry – that is absolutely correct.||However, my polite request to borrow a yoga mat for 20 minutes to use in my room was met with mockery and complete refusal. Instead of offering a simple solution, both receptionists laughed at me, told me to “go to Adidas and buy shoes,” and then ignored me when I asked again. In a four-star Radisson Blu hotel, this lack of professionalism and hospitality is unacceptable.||The following day, after buying shoes, I witnessed other guests freely using the gym in jeans and loafers. This made it clear that the strictness applied to me had nothing to do with policy, but with the staff’s personal attitude.||It is shocking that Radisson Blu employs staff who are not only unwilling to assist but who also openly mock paying guests. These two women are completely unfit to represent a hotel of this category. At a Radisson Blu, providing a simple yoga mat for a guest in need should never be a problem.||Because of this experience, I will not return to this property and will advise colleagues and employees to avoid it as well. Spending 15 extra minutes traveling to the Expo is far better than enduring such unprofessional and...