This was a very good value. It is in Beyoglu, not Taksim so it is a bit of a walk to Taksim or to the nearest bus stop. That said, it was very inexpensive for what it offered.
It is a basement apartment with limited ventilation into an alley way with some apparently stray cats. On each clear night, the apartment smelled of cat urine most strongly between 9 and 11 PM. On rainy nights it was fine. One night out of four, two of the cats were crying pretty loudly between 10 PM and midnight.
Again, we are still talking about less that $40 per night in Istanbul, which is very inexpensive for a dedicated bathroom and small kitchen area. At no point did I intend to cancel. However, one who finds the antics of stray cats unbearable should not stay in this apartment.