Where to stay in Istanbul. Best cheap hotels in the center

Don't feel like spending a lot of time looking for an inexpensive hotel in the center of Istanbul? We have compiled a selection of cheap accommodation in Istanbul before our trip to the city of contrasts. Use it to your health!

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When preparing for our February trip to Istanbul, the question naturally arose about the choice of housing. I assumed that it would take a minimum of time - but in vain. To be honest, it was easier to choose a hotel even in Borneo than in Istanbul (and budget accommodation on the island can hardly be called good). It took two days to choose the best hotels in terms of price, quality and reviews in two popular districts of Istanbul - Sultanahmet and Taksim. The hotels were chosen for more than one night, so I went through a bunch of options and read a lot of reviews. It was decided to convert the spent time into a useful collection - I hope it will come in handy.

Since we arrived in Istanbul late (at 11 pm), at first we decided to stay in Taksim for 3 nights - this is where the Hawatash night buses arrive from the airport. It is convenient: you do not need to get to Sultanahmet by taxi (there was the main place of deployment) and you can get to know the Galata and Karakoy regions without spending money on travels from Sultanahmet and back.

How to choose housing and what to look for

I selected hotels in the center of Istanbul according to the following criteria, carefully reading reviews:

• high rating and good reviews;
• good location (not in dark alleys) and transport accessibility - in Taksim and Sultanahmet;
• Double Room with own bathroom and a window to the street;
• heating and hot water availability (for the winter season - the main criterion);
• purity in the room;
• relative spaciousness in the room - we did not want to live in a cramped room, as in Hong Kong;
• silence;
• price - up to 2000 rubles per day.

In principle, the requirements are basic, besides, we can hardly be called fastidious travelers, we are not used to the service of 4- and 5-star hotels (and even 3- and 2-star hotels are not used to it). Nevertheless, it was not so easy to find an inexpensive hotel in the center of Istanbul that satisfies all the requirements, although there are more than enough cheap hotels (February is the low season in Istanbul). I found all the options on the Roomguru.ru service.

You may be interested to see our tips on how to book a hotel in Turkey on your own.

General disadvantages of hotels in Istanbul in reviews

Before proceeding with the selection and booking of a hotel in Istanbul, it is worth knowing about common disadvantages many budget hotels in the city, which we identified from the reviews of tourists:

• Dirt in the room and a complete lack of cleaning for the entire period of stay at the hotel (or cleaning out of hand is bad). Usually it is carried out only by requestand the way the reviews indicate is not always good.
• Tourists write in reviews that the footage does not correspond to the stated and is exaggerated.
• Not all hotels have air conditioning and central heating.
• Small hotels do not have a lift.
• Plumbing is leaking or broken, mold and sewage odor.
• The rooms do not have the declared amenities: towels, blankets, kettle, dishes, hairdryer, etc.
• Sometimes the staff tries to cheat for money.
• The room is different from the booked one (very different).
• Poor wifi.
• Bad breakfast. Many recommend not to take it, but to eat at a cafe nearby.
• No soundproofing. Prayers wake up tourists, but someone, on the contrary, likes it - a certain atmosphere is created. For example, we were happy to wake up in Chefchaouen to the singing of a muezzin.

Look for interesting excursions on the Sputnik and Tripster websites. Individual and group, no crowds of tourists and in Russian.

Of course, some shortcomings are not at all critical and you can put up with them, but if in reviews every other time, for example, they write about a dirty room, you should think about it before booking.

Often, when searching, I came across the fact that the hotel had a high enough rating, and when reading reviews, it turned out that it had significant drawbacks - for example, faulty plumbing. It seems to me that many tourists turn a blind eye to the cons because of the pleasant treatment of the staff and owners - but their friendliness will not improve your stay when your room stinks of sewage, right?

Advice: sometimes in the reviews I met a description of the situation when the hotel submits data to the booking system that the guests allegedly did not call in to them, and the system requires a penalty from tourists. In this case, it is best to always keep your receipts!

So compare and book!

Cheap hotels in Istanbul: Taksim

If you decide to stay at Taksim Square and Istiklal Street, you need to be prepared for the following:

• Poor soundproofing and noise, especially if the windows face the street and not the courtyard. The closer to Istiklal street, the higher the noise level. There are many karaoke bars and clubs in the area that keep you awake until the morning. Have earplugs with you.
• If the hotel is located behind Tarlabashi Street, it is better not to walk there in the evening - in the reviews they write that homeless children, Kurds, harass tourists. For these reasons, we decided not to settle there, since this area was historically inhabited by Kurds and Roma, and over time it became criminal. True, now many have been resettled, but a dubious contingent, according to reviews, occurs.

Apartof

Where to stay in Istanbul near Taksim Square? We have chosen this particular apartment hotel and recommend it to you. It has a high rating and very few negative reviews. Istiklal and the square are literally two minutes away. The room exceeded all expectations: warm, cozy, with pleasant lighting, an excellent mattress. The apartment has heating, a private bathroom, kitchen, table and chairs. Nice interior, large windows, walls are lined with decorative bricks. Area - 30 m². The reviews wrote that there are quiet rooms. We were accommodated in exactly this (# 102) - with windows to the courtyard. The cost in February is from 1300 rubles per day for a standard double room.

We really liked the hotel, we didn't want to leave the room anywhere (especially when the weather in Istanbul turned badly).

pros, in addition to those described above: there is a hairdryer, free toiletries, kitchen utensils (kettle, dishes, microwave oven, refrigerator), sofa, TV, safe, spacious wardrobe, large mirror, towel dryer, air conditioning. Excellent soundproofing! The room is just super clean. The staff is not worried. The owner lives on the top floor. You can pay by card. Wi-Fi signal is good.

Minuses: in the kitchen there was not enough sponge for washing dishes, and in the bathroom the toilet seat was sliding down and the shower door jammed, but all these are trifles - they did not spoil the impression of the apartment in the least. There was no cleaning for two days - it was on request.

The hotel is not difficult to find: be guided by the Fedora cafe, the Apartof will be nearby. The sign is modest.

Caberia Suite Taksim Hotel

The hotel has good ratings and reviews: clean, good staff, strategic location. A standard double room costs only 900 rubles, but it is a bit cramped. A double deluxe suite with a terrace costs from 2 thousand rubles - and this is even taking into account the discount in the off-season.

Taksim Aygunes Suite (Aygunes Hotel)

According to tourists, this hotel in Istanbul is a good value for money. Taksim and Istiklal are nearby. The rooms are large enough (except for the bathroom). Among the shortcomings - poor breakfasts and noise, guests also complain about loose curtains (the sun wakes up in the morning). Better to have earplugs. Reviews about cleaning are contradictory: someone writes that it is very clean, and someone - that they are not cleaned at all. The hotel is more suitable for a short overnight stay. Cost - from 1300 rubles for an economy class room.

Mint Residence Taksim

Inexpensive hotel in the center of Istanbul for unassuming tourists. A small (10 m²), but clean and comfortable economy-class room with a bathroom in this hotel costs from 1,700 rubles per day.The reviews are mostly positive, tourists only complain about some cramped rooms, modest breakfasts and noise from the street, despite the fact that soundproofing is stated in the description. Very friendly staff, some of them are Russian-speaking. The hotel is well located: 200 meters to Istiklal, 15 minutes walk to Taksim Square.

Element Suites

In Istanbul, you can live at a reasonable price in an unusual hotel with a two-level suite with an original design - for only 1100 rubles per day. The apartments are made in various styles: standard suite - futuristic, deluxe - minimalism (1500 rubles). However, tourists noted that the furniture was a little dilapidated. A big minus - the apartments are close to Taksim, but at the beginning of the Tarlabashi district, which is considered unsuccessful, although this did not bother many guests, since it is really cheap. It is better not to walk around the area in the evenings.

If you want to live in better and more expensive hotels, we advise you to search and compare on the Roomguru.ru service - it finds the lowest prices for housing. It was there that all the options proposed in the article were found.

Central hotels in Istanbul: Sultanahmet

In the historical center of Istanbul - Sultanahmet - hotels can also reveal common problems if you carefully read the reviews of tourists:

• Interruptions in water and electricity (although this occurs in Taksim, judging by the reviews).
• Steep slopes and ascents of streets - it will be difficult for elderly and sick people to move.
• Istanbul is a big labyrinth: it is not always possible to find a hotel, even taxi drivers cannot find the desired house. Some hotels have no signage.
• Narrow steep stairs, no lifts.
• Small rooms.
• As always, poor cleaning.

But the staff's assessments go through the roof - tourists like the friendliness and willingness to always help and meet halfway.

Arven Boutique Hotel

We chose this hotel as the main one for living in Istanbul (in Sultanahmet) - in its category it is an ideal combination of price and quality, it has a high rating and there are practically no negative reviews. The hotel is small, cozy, homely, quiet. The staff, according to reviews, is wonderful, cleaning on request every day. It is better to book a standard double room (1100 rubles), since in an economy class room (900 rubles), as we understood from the photo, there is a window to the corridor, and not to the street (plus the door to the corridor is glass, curtained), and it is less size. Good internet. The hotel is easy to find. By all accounts, this is the best budget hotel to stay in Istanbul.

We stayed at this hotel for 10 nights. I must say that it really matches the reviews. We were settled in family room - a large room with two beds - and they said that if it was booked, we would be moved to a standard double room. However, we lived all the time in this wonderful room, paying for the standart room.

Pros: there is a safe, a refrigerator, heating and air conditioning, additional blankets, a dressing table with a mirror, a hairdryer, a table with a sofa, a wardrobe, a warm floor. Sconces and table lamps create a cozy atmosphere. Sociable, but unobtrusive staff who will tell and show everything.

Minuses: shallow cleaning (just change the towels, throw out the trash and make the bed), the shower door is stuck. Prayers are heard, as the Blue Mosque is very close, but we, on the contrary, liked it very much. From the hotel to the Hippodrome you will have to climb a hill - keep this in mind. It is better not to eat in restaurants around this area, as prices are exorbitant (a cup of Turkish coffee costs, for example, about 10 lira! For comparison, in Beyoglu we drank for 4 lira).