First Impression is everything:
My wife and I were really excited. As soon as we entered the building, there were several disturbing pictures which really put a weird, sour feeling to the place. There were several, large pictures of faces with mouths open screaming, bloody skinned animals hung upside down (as in a butcher shop), and several drawing of two men making out (French kissing). Some pictures had people being hung and some had silhouette of people carrying machine guns. And there were decorations of rusted chains and pulleys (again meat shop reference). I believe that the artwork is made by someone living on the premise. We found the pictures disturbing. And although perhaps these pieces of artworks would be great in a museum, I don't think they are appropriate in a building in which you have guests coming to stay (they have more than one apartment that they put on AirBNB). I personally recommend to keep things neutral (for example, pictures of nature) to accommodate all cultures, faiths, opinions, and styles.
Now, had we known about those pictures from before hand, we really never would have stayed there. Why didn't we know? Because the pictures on AirBNB are not accurate or updated. This point was upsetting for me. They should have updated pictures WITH the strange artwork, both inside the apartment and in the staircase leading up to the apartment, to let people decide if that is something that they are okay with or not. That wasn't cool.
I was actually very embarrassed when my in-laws arrived (they are much older, conservative, religious people).
Besides that, a couple of more points come to mind:
1. Mold behind the couch.
2. Very Hot During the Day. During the night, there is a cool breeze. But during the day, the air is still and apartment is hot. Yes, you can open your windows, but you can't keep your windows open all the time if you want privacy, which the womenfolk wanted. They initially only provided one fan which wasn't enough so we asked for another, which they gave.
3. Upstairs toilet bidet does not shut off, leading to noise of running water. (If you shut it off REALLY HARD, you can lessen the water so that it hits the side of the toilet and not the water itself so it doesn't make that noise. But you have to shut it off REALLY HARD.)
4. Kitchen was really small. The "kitchen" was a three foot long counter with a one panel stove. It would be ideal to have MORE kitchen utensils (knifes, pots, etc), although they did have enough. We made due, but we weren't as comfortable. Cooking took much longer (Note: there were four adults and one baby).
5. Fall Danger. If you are prone to falling (old, physical limitation, clumsy, or a child), then you may want to reconsider. Staircase leading to upstairs are pretty steep. And the two steps leading down to the bedroom kind of come out of no where. As long as you are careful, I think it should be fine. My one year old daughter did fall on the two steps. She was fine and it wasn't a big deal in my opinion.
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The best thing about the apartment (for us), was the location. It is near the religious area and religious shops, which we were seeking. It is not touristy, which is nice because you get a real feel of living in Turkey. Carolina communicates well and is a nice lady. Although she wasn't there. Rather her brother and his male partner are there tending to the tenants. They are all nice.
Summary:
The people are nice and the location excellent, but personally I would probably stay elsewhere. Obviously, we respect everyone in their opinions, just as we expect our opinion should be respected. But the details of this review was to inform that this place is not for everyone. You know, if the whole pictures thing didn't happen, perhaps our opinion may have been different, for which reason I began this review with "First Impression is everything."