This place is a gem. Ahmet & Meryem are MEGAhosts! 5 Stars!
We stayed two weeks.
Ahmet was very accommodating to let us check in a little early on short notice and rest our bags while the apartment was being cleaned.
We also had a situation where a friend missed their flight and needed a place to crash, Ahmet was gracious enough to allow another person for a couple days until he could book a new flight out. Even brought extra pillows and sheets for new guest.
MEGAHOST!
THE LOCATION: You are in the heart of Kadikoy, which is now my go to locale for Istanbul. Definitely the best spot for nomads/ expats. Way better cafes with GOOD WIFI! The train and tram and boats are all literally a block away just outside of your door. Go anywhere easy and cheap. You are walking distance to all the nightlife , sights, waterfronts, cafes, bars, gyms, barbershops etc that you could ever want. As a matter of fact I've never seen so many crammed together in one city and Im from NYC.
THE APARTMENT: First off, the apartment is bigger than expected. The pictures don't do it justice. It was just me and my girlfriend, we had plenty of space to have our own work areas. There is even AN ELEVATOR, HELLO! Big thumbs up.
THE LIVING ROOM: Good size space. The coaches were comfy. and two of them let out to beds. One is smaller for a child perhaps. One is big enough to have a 6ft guy sleep, good enough at least the guest thought so. There is a relatively small TV there, we used to hook up our AppleTV as a second screen and stream movies, it was good,. A bigger TV would increase the living room experience A LOT. Thumbs up.
THE DINING AREA: Nice sized table and chairs for two, decent space. Very happy. In between here is also storage in some dresser drawers available. Thumbs up.
THE KITCHEN: Very small but very functional kitchen equipped with all the utensils that you could need to cook a breakfast or dinner. Coffee maker, tea diffuser, 2 burner gas stovetop. It even has an exhaust fan.
THE BEDROOM: Very comfy bed! Nice sized room with a staging closet and more drawer space with the washing machine in there and a perplexing huge table (maybe for folding? lol). Blackout window curtains. Big thumbs up.
THE WIFI: My gf and I both work remotely, so wifi is a major factor for us. The wifi was strong and stable. about 20-30 mbps down and about 15 up. Thumbs up.
THE BATHROOM: My only issue was with the bathroom. It's a super space economic bathroom. VERY SMALL. The Shower, toilet and sink all are virtually in the same space. It gets a little annoying when you shower everything is wet in the bathroom. It wasn't a deal breaker for us. I am not new to these types of arrangements in Thailand, but if you're going to stay longer than a few days you may want to keep this in mind. I personally need a great bathroom for long stays.
All in all the pros outweigh the cons by a lot. Tons of value here. Short stays don't hesitate! Longer stays think about the bathroom, either you really can't go wrong with the apartment host combo. A gem!