We appreciate Handan offering her home to us during our stay in Istanbul. We enjoyed the view and convenience of her home, but found that overall our stay was made bad by an encounter with the tenants acting as the hosts since Handan was away. As a result we cannot recommend this AirBnB.
After returning from a day of travel at 2 AM, we went to our room to ready for bed. After entering the room, three of the tenants came to the outdoor terrace which the room opened out to and was in full-view through the multiple large windows with only sheer curtains. At this time, my partner was getting undressed and was in full-view of the tenants who looked into the room. This made her extremely uncomfortable and felt intruded upon.
I approached the three shortly after and requested they not sit in front of the room since we felt our privacy was invaded. The acting tenant/host responded indifferently and defiantly, stating that the terrace was common space and that I "didn't have right to ask them to leave." I added that as the paying guest I expected my right to privacy and that this extended to my partner. His retort included that as renters who "also pay to live there" granted them equal access, and that if I had rather "asked them to be quiet instead, they would have been considerate of keeping noise down." In consideration for my partner, I again requested they leave, which they then complied. Shortly after, we could hear them discussing their annoyance at the circumstance in the hall.
For the remainder of our stay, we felt unwelcome and prepared ourselves for the possibility of having to ask them a second time to respect our privacy in that way. Needless to stay, this feeling of having to consider potential confrontation with the tenants was stressful, and eroded any sense of hospitality. We found this extremely inappropriate for a host and AirBnB experience.
This was compounded by an inadequate description of the apartment, including outdated photos; no disclosure about how many people were living there (5, including one living in a makeshift bedroom); no notification that a cat was in the apartment; and a bathroom that was less than stellar.
The host must disclose who is living there and how many, and what expectations of privacy guests should have as a result. We will not be staying here again, and as a result of our experience cannot recommend it to others.