Four of us (my parents, my sister and I) stayed at Hatice's (Ruby) apartment in Istanbul and had a great time. We did not meet Hatice in person since she was away, but communication through email was extremely easy and she was always quick responding back and always kind and helpful. She was also kind enough to arrange us transfer from/to the airport which worked very well. The apartment was very nice and clean, with a breathtaking view of the Golden Horn from the living room (the other two rooms and the kitchen don't have the same view and are facing another building). The apartment was equipped with everything we would need and more (dishwasher, iron and iron table, washer, drying rack for cloth, turkish coffee and tea, water cooler), she was even kind enough to live us some fruits in the fridge upon our arrival. Another nice thing about the apartment was the air conditioning, we visited Istanbul in August and it was quite warm and humid, but thanks to the air conditioning inside the house we were quite comfortable. Finally, the location of the apartment is great. It is a 5-minite walk to Istiklal St. with tones of cafes and restaurants, which takes you to Taksim square in 15-20 minutes by walk (or you could take the tram that runs along the street to Taksim). There are also lots of Bakeries and shops close to the apartment, so you can have fresh bread and nice cheese every morning. From the apartment you can also reach the Tunel Station Funicular in 10 minutes which takes you to Karakoy, and from there you can take the ferry to the Asian side (Kadikoy would be a nice place to visit for instance). You could also take the tram from Karakoy to cross the bridge to Sultanahmet where all the mosques are, as well as the grand bazaar and Spice bazaar. Taxi is also not expensive in Istanbul, and since the apartment has a very central location you can take a cab to eveywhere and pay around 10 to 30 TL (5 to 15 dollars). The only thing to keep in mind is that before you get into a cab make sure they will turn on the meter, sometimes they don't and therefore once you got to the destination they ask whatever they want. All in all, we had an amazing stay at Hatice's place, and would recommend her place very strongly.