We really enjoyed our stay at Berk's place in the Tomtom neighborhood of Istanbul. I would absolutely stay here again and would really recommend it for anyone looking for a central place to stay in the city. This was our third trip to the city and this time we brought two friends who had never been to Istanbul. We opted for Berk's listing because of the value, location, and other reviews. It is literally only a 5-minute walk from Galata Tower, Istiklal Street, and the Tophane tram stop for the T1 line that will take you to most of the historic sites in Sultanahmet. We also liked that the flat was in more of a neighborhood area versus being in the middle of a major tourist area as this felt more immersive for us.
Be sure to check out the Pide shop across from the Galata Falls restaurant, if you are walking down to the tram, they have GREAT pide and it’s much, much less expensive, compared to what restaurants charge. We got 4 pide for 87 TL (I mention that because they were typically about 145 TL each in most of the restaurants we ate at) and they were so fresh and delicious!
Check-in and check-out were very both very easy. Bayram, who works for Berk, met us to give us the keys and take us on a tour of the flat, explaining how everything worked. He was an amazing gentleman and very, very helpful. He does not speak English but my basic Turkish and the Google Translate app conversation feature filled in the gaps. Bayram was eager to help in any way, making restaurant reservations/recommendations or lining up transportation, if that is something you need.
The flat itself is very nice and had everything we needed for the 8 nights we were there. There is a clothes washer and a drying rack, if you need to do laundry while visiting. We all loved the patio/terrace for our morning coffee/tea. The stairs going from the main living area to the bedroom area were a bit of a challenge at first as there is no rail and their smaller steps but we quickly got the hang of them.
Just a note about the listing in case it helps others. This is really only a 1.5 bathroom home as there is only 1 shower. The bathroom downstairs is a half bath with only a toilet and sink. The good news is that even though there is only one shower, the hot water is “on demand” so even though there were four of us, we NEVER ran out of hot water for showers, which was great!