The good things:
•AC through out the house (which is hard to find in Turkey)
•8min walk to Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Sophia Mosque/restaurants/grocery stores/currency exchange/trams
•Ramazan is near by and is very helpful and kind (he's an employee of the host), he gave me a tour of the area, showed me where the grocery store is, good places to eat, pharmacy, etc
•Muhammad arranged airport pickup which I highly recommend doing (it is a 1.5hr drive to the house from IST)
•Wifi works really well
•Verizon will have service here if you have the TravelPass
•House is clean
•The shower head in the upstairs bathroom was broken, I told Muhammad and he sent Ramazan to fix it within 15min. of me messaging him
•You can contact Ramazan easily if you need anything
•The house can comfortably fit 7 adults
•There is a washing machine, stove top, plenty of plates, cups, utensils, a microwave, kettle, dishwasher, and big fridge and freezer
•There are two full size bathrooms
The inaccuracies/things to improve on:
•There is no separate dinning room which it says in the add it has, the living area has a dinning table and grey stools to sit on, but you would not be able to fit 9 people around the table.
•There is no oven or toaster, just something to note
•There is no dryer, so after you wash your clothes you have to hang them up outside on a clothes rack, or hang the clothes around the house to dry. There is a small laundromat with a dryer, so if you have a large family I'd recommend washing your clothes there
•The stove top is gas, but there are no carbon monoxide monitors in the house, I recommend that the host purchase some for the home for added safety.
•The add says there are no stairs, but there is a big winding stair case (with no handrails) that leads up to the 2nd-3rd floors with the bedrooms on them. I fell down the steps coming from the 3rd floor; there is one step taller than the rest, just a warning to those coming down from the 3rd floor
•The add states there are extra pillows/blankets, but I could not find any. Each bed has 1 blanket and 1-2 pillows, I recommend the host place some extra blankets in the wardrobes in each room for added comfort for guests
•The add states there are two king size beds, but there is 1 full size and 1 king size bed on the 2nd floor. There are 3 twin beds on the 3rd floor. And the couch on the ground floor can convert into a bed
•There are not many towels and no hooks in the bathrooms to hang the towels up to dry once you've used them, I suggest the host add some hooks to the backs of the bathroom doors and leave some more towels for the guests
•The bathrooms are small, If you have multiple guests, you will need to keep your toiletries in your suit case, I feel like the bathroom size is a cultural aspect of Istanbul, but it's something to note if you're a bigger/taller person as well.
You have to take into account the culture of the area as well. The house is amazing for this area of Istanbul, but there are things certain people may be accustomed to that are very different here in Turkey. I would recommend staying here to someone I know and I would stay here again. The things mentioned above are just my interpretation of what I experienced and are NOT bad things, just things to note.
Thank you for a great stay, Muhammad and Ramazan!!
I hope my review helps future guests!