The flat itself is quite nice. You can tell that it was recently remodeled. It is a studio as the description says... there is a bed and a couch, but not much room to walk around. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was large, and the water temperature and pressure in the shower was good.

However, there were quite a few things that did not make our stay as comfortable as we expected.

First of all, the host describes the neighborhood as "not a touristy area," which is fine, but it was a bit more run-down and poor than we had expected. We did not feel any danger while staying there, but our general appearance made us stick out like sore thumbs, which made us feel that we needed to be quiet and keep to ourselves. The "local litle shops" did not carry many products, so we had to shop for groceries a bit further away in the city.

As for "essentials" ...there was a general lack of them in the flat. In the bathroom there were no hand towels or wash cloths. We had to ask for more toilet paper to be provided (only half a roll when we first arrived for a 5-night stay). And the description lists a hair dryer, but there was none.

In the kitchen there were no hand towels, no dish soap, no sponge, and no sink plug. For cooking there was only one medium pot and one medium pan. Nothing to use for cooking meals in the oven. There was only one knife and one cooking utensil. NO forks! Just a few spoons to eat with, and about five plates/bowls in total. No basics were provided, such as oil, salt, pepper, napkins, hot pads, kitchen gloves, extra trash bags, etc. We booked this flat specifically for saving money by cooking some meals, but we should NOT have to come and provide ourselves with a full-functioning kitchen. We expected that based on the description of the flat.

Also, I understand we are staying in Turkey, but it would be helpful to have information provided in English for how to operate things in the flat, such as the TV and washing machine. Also, there was no clothes rack to hang our wash up to dry.

The host provided a local man who checked on us to see if we needed anything, but he could hardly understand anything in English, and we know how to communicate at a low-level and with non-native speakers.

Overall, this was not a great experience. Istanbul is awesome, but this flat needs some basics added to make the stay worth it.