There are some things I wished I had read in a review before I booked this place so I'm going to go over those here. First of all, Metin is a great host, he responds to all my messages on a timely manner and he even helped us arrange an airport transfer at a reasonable rate. He
1. Location. - This place is located super close to the Ayasofya Mosque. You can walk to the main plaza and be there in 5 minutes or less. Please note that the apartment is located on a steep hill, so you'll need to do some hiking going up to the street that leads to to the Ayasofya. If you're fit you won't have any issues but if you have mobility problems this is not the place for you
2. Noise. -The location of this apartment is not busy as the street itself is narrow and you rarely see a car drive by, so it's mostly quiet all day long. NOTE: since the apartment is so close to the Mosque, you'll also hear the call to prayer, even at 5AM!!!! which I found crazy. I'm a light sleeper so I did not appreciate being woken up at 5am daily during vacation. If you're Muslim then you'll probably be used to this and you won't have any issues.
3. Apartment. The apartment is located on a second floor, so you'll need to climb 2 flight of steep stairs. You first climb some stairs to get to the reception desk and then climb stairs once again to get to the apartment. I guess it also depends on which apartment you stay on, as there are a few located in same building. The apartment itself was just as shown in the pictures. Each room has its own air conditioning unit but you can also open the windows to get some fresh air. The beds were confortable for my liking and there was a sofa bed in the living room. The kitchen was pretty basic but we only used the small fridge as we spent most of the days out exploring.
4. Restaurants and Shops.- Sultanahmet area is full of restaurants, but just be aware that this is where most tourist stay so it's also very expensive. If you have lunch at any of those sit-in restaurants in the area you'll end up paying a lot more than you would if you stay in an area that's not so full of tourists. We only had lunch there once because the prices were so high. I tried to find a supermarket so that I could buy some bread, fruit or milk for breakfast but there aren't any good options in this area. You'll only find small shops that sell water, some bananas and not a great variety of foods.
5. Transportation.- There is a tram you can take if you want to go to the other areas of Istanbul. You'll need to walk about 500m or about 8 minutes. There are also taxis around but I won't recommend it as the traffic in this area is really bad
6. Security. - This area is very secure and you'll feel safe even walking at night. There are police officers near the entrance of the main square so you won't have any issues, but as always, take precaution everywhere you go.
In summary, everyone has different needs so your experience will be different. We had kids so I wished I knew about the stair climbing and the location on the hill, but this is very common in Istanbul too. We didn't find a lot of good supermarkets around too, which is important for us wanting to save money on food. The apartment has a common washer and dryer that's located on the upper floor, but you'll need to let the host know so that they wash the clothes for you, but I don't recommend it as the person in charge speaks very little english and you can have communication issues.
Thanks Metin for being a great host.