Very nice family location and for professionals. For younger guests it is a bit far from university life. But all in all a 27tl taxi ($3) puts you in the center of Kadıköy - with a predominant university community, fun shops, cool restaurants and decorated streets. It is a very nice location for those that prefer a quieter place to live and more immersed in genuine Istanbul life and community - less touristy area, but also close enough for cheap transportation to city centers. The residence is also within 15 minutes drive of 3 different shopping malls - the closest being 5-7 min drive away and various parks, including a park on the beach. It’s was also very nice having a grocery store, fresh food market and fresh fish market just down the street (5min walk at most). The apartment building itself is filled with families with children - the children and families that play and stay outside during the days are considerate of the time of day and noise level - the windows also do a very good job of shutting the noise out on morning when you don’t care to hear the children outside at all. The balcony was so nice and the upstairs space is very big. Well worth the money for the space. A side note - the building does have a white cat that frequents the building and will come into the apartment if allowed. She is a building resident herself - with food left for her throughout the apartment walk up. This is perfectly normal for Istanbul so if you don’t like cats, Istanbul in general May not be the place for you. All in all, it was a very nice stay. Sometimes you’re witness to private concerts by Hilal singing while she practices, which was nice. But also, she is very considerate of noise levels and very attentive to messages. There was one day when the microphone was higher than normal and I just sent a little message and within 20 min the noise level was sorted with no other issue. Hilal is a very understanding and communicative host. I would stay again in this room. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if there was a cooking station upstairs and it genuinely would have been a proper duplex - minus the door lol