Firstly the neighbourhood, Beyoglu, is terrific and highly recommended (with conditions, however, which I'll mention below). Its filled with character, lovely old buildings, cobbled small streets, cute, artsy shops and small cafes and eateries. It feels really good to be part of it. The apartment is excellently situated, near the landmark Galata Tower (but distant enough to entirely avoid the noise and congestion generated by hundreds of locals and tourists who congregate around it day and night), and within walking distance of important points like the characterful Karakoy neighbourhood, the ferryboat pier, the tram stops, the lovely old hamam, famous Istiklal high street, and magnificent Galataport. But you'll have to be fit enough to walk steep cobbled streets (though relatively short distances) and climb stairs everywhere including the apartment building. Forget those high heels ladies!
The apartment is on the 3rd floor (no elevator) and the entrance foyer is a bit odd in appearance but that's okay. The building feels very secure and the neighbourhood very safe.The amenities and furnishings are very good, with a fully fitted kitchen including quality washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher. The shower is a bit small and the mixer a bit erratic but there's always hot water and the pressure is great. There is a separate toilet and basin, all modern and good quality. The lounge is furnished with two couches large and comfortable enough to nap on and there are two bedrooms with good quality mattresses and pillows. The balcony is long and narrow with decent views and a nice place to enjoy your breakfast coffee or afternoon drinks. Plenty hand and bath towels are provided. The five times a day amplified call to prayer (beginning 04:30 in summer and the last at 22:30) is haunting and melodic and you'll certainly be aware of it. Personally, I loved the exotic flavour it lent to an otherwise very European feel to the area.
The small criticisms are these: The curtaining is not good quality (too thin) and the dawn light arrives early in summer. The overhead lighting in the bedrooms and lounge is quite harsh and only one bedroom side light was provided which was not working in any case. The TV offers only one channel in English that was mostly concerned with the Russian war and not much else. The host needs to subscribe to Netflix or similar because the rent justifies it and the guests expect better TV entertainment if they don't speak Turkish. Otherwise all was good with the apartment and I can safely recommend it.
My suggestions to the host were these:
1. Better communication with guests in needed. In my experience, Airbnb hosts usually welcome guests on arrival and make them feel comfortable by showing them around the apartment, offering advice about local amenities and being available to solve problems with the apartment or simply answer questions about tourist-related information. The information booklet provided was helpful but it would be better to be more in direct contact with guests, especially those arriving from abroad in unfamiliar surroundings.. The host's agent opened for us and showed us into the apartment but that was about all. We stayed for five nights and it would have been nice if the host had checked up only once, just to see if we were okay.
2. When we had some small complaints the host promised to solve them but never did so, for example the curtain rails for the net curtains came loose and fell down when we first we drew the curtains and remained unusuable throughout our stay because we could not reattach them ourselves; there were no English language TV stations as mentioned above; we requested bedside lamps but none were forthcoming.
Overall, this apartment is a good choice and sufficienly large and well equipped to support a small family enjoying a vacation in this truly magnificent city. You'll get a good idea of how exciting it is by getting out and about, and I recommend to take the two hour, or all day ferry trip to appreciate its true beauty from the water.