Pinar's place has been one of our favorite AirBnBs. If you are on the fence, book now.
LOCATION: The location is perfect. Beyoglu has a very European feel and the apartment is situated right next to bars, restaurants, wine shops, and cute cafes. The area feels very safe and we walked everywhere, day and night. You are only a few hundred feet from Istiklal Avenue, which has tons of restaurants and major retail stores. The apartment is situated near the south end of Istiklal, which is prefect, because you can easily walk maybe 5-10 minutes through cute streets to Galata Tower — Galata is on a hill, so walking downhill is definitely a benefit. You are also only a few hundred feet from both the Metro, as well as the historic Beyoglu tram that takes you down the hill to the start of Beyoglu bridge — this makes it extremely easy to get anywhere in the city, including Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. After staying in Istanbul and exploring many different districts, we believe this is the perfect location as the Old City, Sultanamet, mostly closes around 4-5PM.
PLACE: Pinar’s place is beautiful, exactly as in her pictures. You can tell a lot of thought and love (and money) went into the decor. There are a ton of personal touches, beautiful art and furniture. The rooftop terrace is amazing and a great place to enjoy a glass of wine during sunset. The apartment is on the 5th floor, so there are quite a few steps — however this is more than made up for by the view, which is amazing from every window in Pinar’s apartment, as well as being very quiet since you are so far above the crowded streets below. The building itself is a beautiful old historic building with a lot of character and charm, situated in-between two restaurants.
HOST: While we did not meet Pinar in person, she was extremely responsive and helpful throughout our stay. She went above and beyond to accommodate us and we are very thankful.
We would highly recommend staying here over a hotel. You are in a very cool and convenient location, and the apartment is stunning. This was our first time traveling to Istanbul (and Turkey), so we were not sure what to expect. After exploring the city for several days, I cannot imagine a better choice to stay than Pinar’s place. We booked private street food tour the day we arrived, which was a great way to get acclimated to the city and transportation, then went off on our own for the next few days.