Located five minutes by foot from Taksim square in a side street with a few shops and restaurants the apartment was in walking distance from everything you might need (also metro and bus stations for further attractions like Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia etc). The big shopping street Istiklal Caddesi is about 10-15 minutes walking distance and provides you with high street fashion like Topshop,H&M etc as well as local shops and an uncountable amount of restaurants, bars and clubs.

The apartment is located on the 2nd floor in a house that only has a few neighbors (we actually never saw any). Note that there is no elevator in the house but unless you have real trouble taking the stairs it is no criteria.
The apartment is very spacious, it was recently renovated and had a modern interior design with very nice decoration. It has a living room with AC, two sofas (apparently you can open one up to make it a bed), a flatscreen and two more sofa chairs. The dining room has an open kitchen that is fully equipped (+dishwasher,washing mashine) and a big dining table. The bathroom is modern and has everything you need from soap to hair dryer. There are two separate bedrooms with double beds that were very comfortable to sleep in. The air conditioning in the living room also spreads into the rest of the apartment so were able to escape the heat (avg 35 C° outside). One bedroom has a small winter balcony were you can hang laundry. The overall impression of the apartment was amazing! Since the apartment is usually being lived in it has a very homey feel and is equipped with everything you need.

Deniz and Ercan sent us a self-made city guide and provided us with info on how to get to the apartment before the trip. They came to pick us up from the bus station (where the airport bus Havatas stops, Taxim), showed us to the apartment and stayed to chat about Istanbul and everything we needed to see. We were even provided with soft towels, branded shower gel,shampoo, coffee and a welcoming package in the fridge with fresh milk, cereal, bread, eggs and even homemade jam from her mom. For using public transportation, they left a metro card called IstanbulKart that up to five people can use together and top up at every station. We were blown away by their hospitality!

Their tips on where to eat, drink, what to try and see and their insights of locals were priceless. I know I am raving, but Deniz and Ercan have set the bar pretty high for airbnb hosts! They are a very welcoming and open minded couple who love travelling themselves and have made it one of their goals to make their guests not wanting to leave again, which they definitely succeeded in. We have made great friends by meeting them and there is no doubt we will come back again!