The apartment in Beyoglu was wonderful. It felt brand new with modern design details such as beveled subway tiles in the bathroom and beautiful facets. Even the lighting was well thought out. It was on the 3rd floor, so the view reminded us of when we lived in San Francisco. From the foyer to hallway to the apartment, the place is immaculately clean. The bed was so comfortable and roomy for two people. There was a coffee maker and ground coffee (which we really appreciated for our morning cup), a refrigerator and small stove as well as everything needed to cook a quick meal. Not that we did because Aylin helped us with places to eat. She's a wonderful host—more like a professional concierge you'd find in better hotels. She's very warm and helped us with airport transportation and made reservations for dinner at a beautiful rooftop restaurant with stunning views. The apartment is right down the hill from four and five star hotels, shops, restaurants, coffee shops and patisseries.

Just across the street were three little bodegas with nice shop keepers. Convenient for buying drinks and snacks (we also bought sandwich meat to give the friendly stray cats and dog nearby—Istanbul is similar to parts of Italy in that there are a lot of strays, but people seem to put out food for them). Wear comfortable shoes with a decent tread because the cobble stones on the steep incline can be a bit tricky at times in that neighborhood. Because my wife had injured her foot just before our travels, we mostly travel by cab to site-see. It was easy to grab a metered taxi right on the corner just a half-block up from the apartment.

We highly recommend staying at any of the properties that Aylin manages. You'll appreciate being so well taken care of in the largest city in Europe.