This apartment has an amazing view of the Bosphorus and is very conveniently located within walking distance to restaurants as well as to one of the most vibrant shopping streets in Istanbul (Taksim street).
You've got a minimarket open until late (around midnight) about 2-3 minutes away to stock up on all the basics you might need (food, drinks, and more). Walking further up (quite a steep climb, but otherwise short distance, for another 5 minutes), you'll reach a cozy street packed full of restaurants with great food.
On the other end, walking downstairs towards Galataport you'll find ATMs, a bus stop, as well as quite a few taxis passing by that you can flag down within a few minutes if you wanted to reach the old town or anywhere else for that matter. For instance, the Grand Bazaar is just 3km away from the apartment (so it's technically walking distance). Taking a taxi is not particularly productive as the traffic jams are absurd, so you could just walk if you wanted to, totally doable.
That being said, the area the apartment is located in is safe and quiet, so you get the best of both worlds.
The apartment itself is spacious, with a full sized fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, decent wifi, and anything else you might need. It is comfortable, and again has an amazing view of the Bosphorus on the spacious terrace upstairs. Really charming, especially at night!
Now about the host: they've been nothing short of extraordinary! They've arranged our airport transfer to the apartment, which was not a walk in the park as the airline has lost our luggage along the way so things got delayed by a couple of hours. So our transfer got resolved through a few messages with the host who further liaised with the transfer company.
The next day when our luggage finally arrived in Istanbul, the host went out of their way to coordinate with the courier over the phone, and the luggage was waiting for us at the apartment when we got back from downtown. Nothing short of incredible service!!!
So overall, highly recommended!
As a suggestion unrelated to the apartment and to make things easier for you in Istanbul, please look for eSIM providers (we've used Airalo) so you can get a local 4G data plan rather than spending absurd amounts on roaming data with your provider at home. This way you can easily connect with the host for any help you might need, and also have maps in your pocket at all times to help navigate the city.