Staying with Hamide was lovely. Would highly recommend! Her apartment is in one of the prettiest neighborhoods in Istanbul, Arnavutköy, and she was very accommodating in hosting us. Coming and going was easy and we enjoyed chatting with her about her own many travels. She was very generous to help us figure out how to get to the airport and woke up very early to call us a cab. We took the bus or ferry to get to the older parts of town and major ferry and bus stops are a short walk away.