The place is close to main attractions of Istanbul. On the second day the host went with us to nearest restaurant so we could have some meal (we paid) while waiting all day for the installer to show up to install the ac. The other good part was that the host sent his assistant to let us checked in late as our flight landed late night and this place is one hour from Istanbul airport. We tipped his assistant for helping us carrying our luggage to the apartment.
But we had lots of problems staying here.
-No air conditioner for first two days. 2nd night he installed a new ac around 9:30 pm after airbnb intervened. That also didn't make the bedroom cold enough to sleep. So me and my son slept in the living room. Then from 3rd day, no hot water. I told him on 4th day morning but it was never fixed.
-The smaller room is very dark with no good light
-Basic cleaning items like soap or shampoo were not provided. The towels were very very old
-The apartment is on 3rd floor with no elevator.
- I understood the ac could break down without any warning but since he knew the ac was in repair shop, he should have arranged something else so we wouldn't have to go through this hassle. First night we slept even without any fan. It was 82 degree in daytime in Istanbul. He suggested us to keep the window open but that wasn't enough.
I have learned my lesson this time. Not to depend on the reviews too much. Maybe other guests won't face this problem since the new ac has been installed. But I wanted to give my honest review for future guests.
-The apartment building is pretty old.
We have been using airbnb for couple of years. We never had this kind of experience. You can go to my airbnb account and read my reviews on other places we stayed and even other hosts' reviews about us. This was a very bad experience.