Ottomania Rug Gallery — Local services in Fatih

I absolutely love the family at Ottomania. We purchased two rugs in late 2018 and we just got back from another trip where we purchased our third.

Suat goes above and beyond and provides the best customer service that I've ever experienced--EVER in my entire life. The experience really does feel like family. I messaged him that my husband and I had an 8 hour layover at IST and he took care of everything else, including breakfast! I'm so excited for our new rug to arrive in the next couple weeks. I'm not kidding when I say that when I build my future house in 10 years, I will purchase more rugs from Ottomania and build the spaces around these rugs.

The prices are not cheap, but the quality is insanely great. I think as an American, we expect everything abroad to be "cheap[er]" than we'd pay at home, but you have to leave that mindset at home. You're going to pay "American" prices since they have to pay import, duty and shipping to get these rugs home to you. Maybe a little less, but don't expect Overstock or Amazon pricing. They are also completely fluent in English, with some of them living in the States previously, so this isn't like buying a blanket from a market vendor in Mexico.

I have three very hairy dogs and the two rugs we bought last year still look amazing and will continue to look amazing throughout our lives. My husband jokes that our kids will be fighting for these rugs when we pass.

I say all of this as someone in enterprise-level technical software sales. I hate to be sold and I hate my time being wasted. I travel 100+ days per year for work and I want my vacations to be relaxing. We met Suat at Sultanahemet Square when we got off of the train and my husband latched on to him. I was a bit irritated at first, but Suat blew us away with his history, showing us around and the whole rug buying experience was just exceptional. We'd just bought a new house and had no decor and this was what we needed. I didn't know his shop name at first, so I couldn't "vet" him on Google/Yelp. Call me a skeptic, but I even made him show me the bagged rugs on our way out the first time, because I didn't 100% trust that we were walking away with the rugs. He wasn't offended and he understood. Trust but verify.

Suat and his whole family have become our family and I can't wait to spend more time with them in the future! Thank you for...

Okan is part of the family that runs this shop, and met me as I was on my way into the Blue Mosque. He was dressed very sharp. Typically, I am pretty put off by being approached in this way, but it happens everywhere we travel. Even though I know the main goal is to sell me on something, I typically will engage a little to see where it goes.

Okan offered me some very helpful tips about visiting the blue mosque, and with excellent salesmanship (but not overly salesy), he said he would see if we met up when we came out of the Mosque.

He was (of course) there when we came out, so we walked with him to the gallery. It really isn't that far away from the mosque, surprisingly. (Like right around the corner. On the way, you pass by ancient Byzantine obelisks.)

The picture I've posted with my review here is the view from the roof of their shop.

For that reason alone (even if you didn't spend time with their rugs), I would recommend going to take a look, and getting a picture from the roof.

Okan's uncle, who met us outside, offered me some of his lunch. He then offered us tea, coffee, soda, a beer, etc. I had a tea with him while we discussed rugs, and they showed us some beautiful handmade rugs.

Guess what? We don't have a space for a rug right now.

We told them that... and they very politely (and with excellent salesmanship) just showed us some rugs, wished us well, and sent us on our way, letting us know to contact them if we ever have a need for rugs.

That alone speaks volumes to me about this place. I didn't feel overly pressured. I actually felt cared for. It was amazing.

If you ever have a need for rugs, go tell these guys you want a picture from their roof, and then surprise them by buying a rug. Also ask them how they've employed people who otherwise wouldn't have work.

I give a 5* review for salesmanship and care for relationship.

Keep up the good work...

I visited this charming carpet shop after my tour of the Hagia Sophia and was impressed with their beautiful selection of rugs, especially older vintage ones, dating 150-200 years old. The employees were super polite and didn’t pressure us into buying anything, which was so refreshing! We would definitely recommend this shop if you’re looking for a quality Turkish rug and you are in the Sultanamet area 👍 Also, one of the employees gave us a great tour of the Hagia Sophia (Adnan Pecker) - was super knowledgeable and had us laughing the entire time. He gave us lots of extra info about the area that made the rest of our stay so much more...