We stayed in Guven/Guner's apartment for 2 nights - and had a pleasant experience.

The booking process was quite smooth. Guner was very quick to respond, courteous and polite. He emailed us the airport shuttle schedule, satellite image of the location, contact details and directions on how to find them if coming from the Taksim airport shuttle stops.

The apartment building has 2 flats on each floor - and is very nice. The building is secured, well maintained, well lit and feels new. Guven himself lives on premises on the first floor and is quite reachable in case u need help. We disturbed Guven at night (about 9:30-10pm) while having trouble opening the main building door - which was my fault with the key. However Guven was quite accommodating and helpful in general with any queries we had.

The unit is nice, clean and bright and adequately sized for two people. We were very happy with the unit. The shower area is separated from the toilet by glass door - which doesn't seal properly. This caused the water spilled outside to get somewhat collected and there didn't seem to be a drain around on the toilet section. I missed mentioning this to Guven to fix the glass door sealing, coz we realized it late and didn't manage to speak to Guven during our exit.

The location is quite close to Istiklal street (about 10 min walk under the bridge) and Taksim square (about 15 min uphill walk). The neighbourhood is definitely not touristy, is local residential, a bit run-down and may come off even as intimidating to someone at first look, especially if they travel alone at night. However, we faced no concerns or issues. While talking to locals, in shops and for directions, we found that even-though no one spoke any English, they were always courteous and warm and made a great effort to communicate and help. Much appreciated!

Like every big city there are pockets to avoid - especially for tourists; and from what little I understand there are parts of Beyoglu associated with crime - especially the interiors. Guven's place is close enough to the main road - two lanes away - and i didn't see any issues with this area. I feel it could be a chance to stay slightly off the beaten path, yet be able to reach everything quickly.

I did feel that the place was just slightly expensive though - mainly for the location. It may well be that this is the price of the area, but I did stay elsewhere earlier - literally a few steps away from Istaklal and Taksim square and that was slightly cheaper. Honestly, it may well have been the fact that we travelled during peak season - and they were fully booked. And possibly could have got it a bit cheaper had we booked more in advance. Or maybe this could be well be one of the more well-maintained apartments in touristy neighbourhoods.