Host was never present and never met him. Only dealt with his assistant Abdullah. Abdullah was very cordial, inviting and always made himself available. However, the apartment was a different story... As advertised it is a large apartment (~140+ m2) in a great central location (Harbiye) in relation to center of Istanbul. Unfortunately, this apartment is a bit dated (60s -70s architecture and infrastructure). There seems to be minimal upkeep and not much attention given to detail. Cleaning is minimalistic (so be careful and double check after you arrive), some bedroom furniture (e.g. Armoire, Schrunks) are old and rickety but the rest of the furniture is fairly new but still well used. Smart TV with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, etc. but no local cable or satellite. It has a washer AND Dryer. Nice large balcony off of two of the three bedrooms. Cold floors, so make sure you bring your slippers. Minimalistic in approach to providing needed accessories (e.g towels, linen, kitchenware, living room seating, balcony seating).
Most importantly though, the host failed to inform us until the day before arrival about a very important request that states renters of the apartment could be fined $1,500 by the police if they are too loud in the apartment (what the heck does that even mean?). This alone made me very suspect of the host and the ability to trust him since this should have been mentioned in his advertisement or at least after the initial deposit was made.
However, best shopping location and other conveniences abound outside the apartment. There are all types of transportation at your finger tips. All in all the place is very livable but seems to fall well short of my expectations when trying to accommodate a family of 8 adults.