There were so many Airbnb options when we were looking for a space that we were overwhelmed with analysis paralysis. We overthought location. Do we stay towards Galata? Taksim? Away from Istiklal Street? I was adamant that I wanted access to a washing machine, and I wanted it in the unit so I wouldn't have to worry about timing. And in poring over pictures of apartments, they all started blurring into each other.
I can't even remember how we decided to send an invitation request to Missy for this space, but we're so glad we did!
The apartment is modern, with clean lines in the IKEA styling and a layout that makes excellent use of the space. We had a wall of tall windows in the living room that filled the space with ample daylight; they're arranged bay-window-style, so you could throw the windows open and sit in the nook, sip coffee, and watch people come up and down the street (not a particularly busy street though).
We preferred to eat at "home" most evenings, and the kitchen has all the pots and pans and kitchen staples we needed to cook. We picked up most items at the Carrefour or Macrocenter, but we also had a tiny grocer on our street where we could pick up staple vegetables.
The washing machine is in the unit (yay!), and there was already detergent in the cupboard, so I was able to do laundry to my heart's content. It's a combo wash and dry, so it does take double the time to do a small load but being in the unit meant I could let it run overnight.
The location was perfect. It was on a side street just down the hill from Istiklal Street. I always had to do a little mental preparation to hike up the hill because I only have one walking speed (turbo). We could go down the hill and around the corner to get to Galata (5-7 min). We could walk to the other end of Istiklal Street and get to Taksim Square (15 min). We rented a car for our trip and kept it in a nearby garage (25-30 lira a day and about a 5 min walk from the apt.
My fiancé and I frequently remarked on how lucky we were to find Missy's space for all the things above, but we didn't truly appreciate her until we had an issue with the hot water one morning. I just figured I'd probably need to message her, and it wouldn't be fixed until the evening if we were lucky, and a couple of days if we were realistic. My fiancé called her at the number she left on the contact sheet, while I messaged her in the Airbnb app. I didn't know where we'd reach her first. She answered us both nearly at the same time. And got the hot water fixed within an hour! With communication being so important, it wouldn't be weird to think this was the cherry on top of our experience!
We will LOVE to stay here again if we have the chance to travel to Istanbul again!