Murat and Mesut's place is great -- perfect location in terms of cafes and shops and right by the Tophane metro. This is definitely our favorite neighborhood in Istanbul and this place is great value. The street is definitely more traditional and expect to hear the sounds of Istanbul even in the apartment itself. This isn't a critique of the apartment at all, merely just a fact of life in a large city with everyone living on top of each other, so perhaps download a white noise app on your phone! The space itself is well decorated, clean, and a nice size, with a beautiful modern kitchen and bathroom, and great lighting! Definitely try the Lebanese/Turkish breakfast at Arada about 2 minutes away and the guys recommended Galata Kitchen which was great. One final note: we had a terrible time getting there from the airport because of a sketchy cab driver, and Murat was super sweet and helpful, even though it was 2 am! If you stay here, maybe tell the taxi to stop at Tophane metro/park and just walk the 5 mins to the place, since the street is tiny. In any case, we'd definitely stay here again :)