We had a wonderful time in Ilan's apartment in Istanbul. He spoke to the taxi driver and explained the directions as it is not easy to find though it is close to everything in the Galata/Taksim area. The view is as described. The beds were clean and very comfortable. Yes it is 87 steps to the apartment but this is not a surprise. There is a washer and a functioning air-conditioning unit. It was cool in the evenings ( cross ventilation) so it was not necessary but it worked well in the mid afternoon. The bathroom could use a good grout cleaning but over-all we had a great experience and would use it again. The hallway of the building was musty but this did not affect his apartment at all (thankfully). He had great tourists books ( like Istanbul Eats) that we relied on. He also had transformers available for use which was nice. We had 2 sets of keys which was convenient. There were many small to large grocery stores in the area for necessities.