We booked this apartment 3 days before our trip. It happened because our previous host at Airbnb cancelled our booking 6 days before our flight. We arrived to Istanbul late at night around 10 pm. I opened Airbnb app to write the host that we arrived and soon we will take a taxi to go to his apartment. But he said that he has a problem and there is no electricity in the apartment. Basically, we cannot check in this day. In the beginning I felt scared because it was night and we did not have place to stay. But the host offered us an option to stay in the hotel one night. He said he would pay for it. We agreed and spent first night in the hotel. He promised that next day he will fix the electricity and we could enter apartment. Next day we could check in only after 4 pm. To be honest the whole situation made us feel stressed. Also, it was inconvenient to go to the hotel first and then wait for apartment to be ready. We lost some time of our vacation. We arrived late at night, even if there were other people staying in this apartment before, they would live around 10 in the morning that day. These check out hours are written at the ad. So, he could have time to check that there is a problem with electricity and let me know about that earlier. But I have to admit that the host tried his best to fix the problem and I acknowledge that he booked the hotel for our first night. I am thankful that he managed the situation.
After we arrived to the apartment, we found out that there were not enough lights. There was light in the bathroom, very soft light in the bedroom, no light in the kitchen, for living room we had one floor lamp and Christmas lights around TV. Obviously, it was dark in the living room. Then after several attempts we rearranged some bulbs and we got a light in the kitchen. So, it became much better than before.
Next, the apartment was not clean. There was something disgusting in the shower like a very old gum that we removed by ourselves. Also, the sink in the kitchen was dirty. Moreover, the previous tenant left the garbage under the sink and whoever was cleaning this apartment did not remove it. There is a cleaning fee though. We cleaned this apartment so we could peacefully live in it. Bed linen was clean.
The toilet seat was broken. The washing machine did not start. I contacted the host and he said what buttons to press but it did not work still. Maybe the water was not connected properly or I don´t know.
In the end I want to say that apartment is beautiful and comfortable. Just a good cleaning is necessary and fixing light problem and washing machine. The apartment was located in the nice area. We had a fruit shop where we used to buy different veggies and fruits. There is fish market close by with fresh fish. Several good restaurants, cafes, bakeries are available. Also, supermarkets as A 101 and Happy are very close to buy food and essential things. One big park is 5 min by walk where we could rest and walk in the green area.
I want to thank our host Gökhan who was always available and tried his best to fix problems. We enjoyed our time in this beautiful city Istanbul!