Yasir's place was my dream Airbnb in Istanbul. Located just a few minutes walk to the famous Istiklal Street (while the apartment itself is in a completely local neighbourhood), it has the benefit of both worlds: staying like a local and maximising your stay as a tourist.
The apartment is a very lovely historical building with a cosy hipster makeover by Yasir with brick walls, which somehow harmonises with magnificent vintage ceiling decoration.
A high ceiling and lots of sunny windows make it spacious while it is fairly compact in terms of square meters. Those windows are half covered in ivies and green leaves, creating an adequate sunshade and giving me privacy from neighbouring buildings and the street. The bed was very comfortable and it was indeed hard to get up from as Yasir told me it is too comfortable to leave in the morning ;) The window blinds could shut the light very effectively too.
While I absolutely loved my stay at Yasir's apartment, one of the few downsides might have been that when I closed the windows, I could hear the neighbours' noise very clearly, especially coming from downstairs. On the other hand, when you open the windows, you hear street noise, particularly the traffic noise from the nearby road (, which I preferred to the neighbours' music and laughter from downstairs). At least the neighbour was not very noisy late at night, so I could sleep without the help of earplugs. If you are busy sightseeing during the day, you probably won't be bothered by the noise at all.
Lastly, Yasir was a very engaging and helpful host. He picked me up in the nearby metro station during his lunch break at work nearby. He messaged me every morning if I had any requests or problems at the apartment. I was fortunate enough to have become one of his first guests on Airbnb, and I hope more travellers get to stay at Yasir's cosy apartment in central Istanbul! Teşekkür ederim!