The Tugra Suite in Sultanahment was a perfect base of operations for us. It was clean (we were surprised to find that it was cleaned daily while we were out and about), charming (the balcony overlooks a tiny alley that's fun to just sit and watch), and well situated, though saying it's in Sultanahmet may be a stretch (more on this below).

The neighborhood it's in felt very local, between Sultanahmet and Kumkapi. If you stay here, do NOT miss out on the fish markets and restaurants in Kumkapi, a 5-min walk from here. The Hippodrome is probably a 15-20 min walk, though through some very charming streets and alleys. We loved staying in a "locals" neighborhood and I really felt like it was a unique experience to see everyday life in Istanbul. Be aware, though, that if you are a party person who wants bars, clubs, or even a restaurant that serves alcohol this may not be for you -- try Beyoglu or closer to the Hippodrome instead.

Just two small gripes about the place: it was smaller than it looked in the pictures (didn't matter at all to the two of us) and a couple of times the toilet didn't flush. The toilet didn't seem to fill up again right away after flushing, but this was such a small issue we didn't even need to contact Saban about it.

As for Saban: he really went above and beyond for us! He gets five stars all the way. I thought we could find our way to the place from the airport via metro, and although we eventually did, we were 2 hours later than expected. Saban was waiting for us the whole time and was extremely courteous, though I still felt like we put him out quite a bit. I recommend you take him up on his offer of a ride from the airport because the place can be hard to find.

Saban was also very knowledgeable and helpful regarding what to do in the neighborhood and Istanbul in general.