Özgür was a great host of a great place! It was exactly what I needed.
I’d been traveling for 3 months prior to arriving in Istanbul and needed some downtime.
Özgür is very personable and easy going, so if you want to converse, he won’t let you down. He provided great recommendations, so don’t be shy, ask away! But if you don’t want to talk, need your alone time, or just want to kick back and relax, that is perfectly fine as well, it’s really up to you, go ahead and close your room door and relax away! Like I said, Özgür is easy going! He doesn’t cause a ruckus in his room, so it’s perfectly possible to sleep early if you have an early start, or just tend to be an early sleeper.
Özgür's place is nice and cozy, he also keeps the place clean and tidy. The place has a total of three bed rooms, (two of them have windows facing the golden horn, and the guest room is one of them! It was really cool seeing the sun come up in the morning over the golden horn and the sun rays hitting the mosques on the other side and the sunsets were gorgeous, completely illuminating the golden horn!!! The sun sets just to the right of your view from your own bedroom!) a bathroom (with just a toilet) and a separate room for showering (which is convenient since both can be used at separate times), and a kitchen with a dining table.
The guest room was equipped with a bed, two person sofa, coffee table, work table and chair, enough to cover most people's needs!
Özgür's place is walkable to most things (I walk a lot while I travel), some of them are a bit further than others however there is a bus station 3 min walk from his place that has multiple bus lines, you are pretty much covered. You can walk to a grocery store in about 3-4 minutes, food would be about 10-15 minutes (Uber eats is available there for decent prices, Özgür can provide some recs if needed), the ferry for the golden horn is also next to the initial food spots, there is also a really great, pretty cheap restaurant right next to the ferry stop (reader beware, do not go at 6PM or else the wait could be more than an hour. To walk to the lower part of İstiklal street, takes about 20 to 25 min, but the bus would take you there in about 5-10 minutes. The ferry terminal to take you to the Asian side is about a 30 min walk or a 10 min bus ride. I've walked from Özgür's place to the blue mosque and Haggia Sophia (right next to each other), but if you don’t like walking, I probably wouldn’t recommend it, however, again, there is a bus (this time you’ll have to transfer to a metro line if you don’t want to do much walking) that will take you there.