We had a comfortable and enjoyable 5-night stay at Melis’ apartment. We are a family pf 6; our 4 children are aged 17, 13, 11 and 8.
I liked the location of the flat the most. Everything is easily accessible from it, yet it is in a quiet and safe neighbourhood. The tram/buses are 10-minutes’ walk away, many supermarkets (I preferred Orka Supermarket), cafes and restaurants 5 minutes (try Tomtom Kebap, just down the steet and to the right; our children rated it 10/5, meaning greater than great), about 30 min. to reach the pier for Bosphorus cruises, 50 min. to Sultanhamet and the Grand Bazaar, and 10 min. to Istiklal Street.
Communicating with Melis was very easy; she is responsive, helpful and speaks English well.
The apartment itself is like in the photos, showing slightly more wear and tear. It is well equipped and we were comfortable. Everything is in good working order, excepting the following: we couldn’t use the television, the pull out sofa bed did not stay fixed, and the toilet flushed slowly. I informed Melis of these concerns, and I believe she will address them before the next guests. We used our own laptops and tied the pull out bed with string because we preferred to have our privacy and not have anybody come to fix those things while we were there. Melis said the toilet flushing is what it is because of low water pressure in the building. There was a mold smell when we arrived, but it was gone once we aired the apartment.
Overall, we had a good experience with this Airbnb, would recommend it and would stay there again if in Istanbul.