Wonderful stay at Asli and Ali's apartment. Few days before my arrival Asli sent me a very useful info on how to get to the apartment and list of restaurant recommendations. It was my first time to Turkey so I had lots of questions. Asli was very responsive and helpful. A+ lovely host! I highly recommend them and the listing.

Check-in was super easy. The apartment was clean and very very spacious. There's some beautiful art pieces displayed in the dining room. Plenty of clean towels and sheets. Internet works well. Full kitchen and washer. Good water pressure. We brought our own amenities. Bedroom has good thick curtains blocking out light. we slept very well! AC in the living room. We didn't open the windows much however as I am sensitive to the smoke from the cafe below.

The location was great. Lots of local restaurants near by. Not touristy and very lively, very safe. Accessible to Istiklal street. Easy to find cabs, even at 5am in the morning to the airport. It's a steep uphill from the tram station and the streets are narrow / cobblestone. I would recommend taking a cab if you have a lot of luggage. Also by coincident I signed up a food tour (Culinary Backstreets - Hidden Beyoglu) and just happened to be in the same neighborhood. It was so much fun sampling all the great food nearby.

Thank you Asli and Ali for hosting us. We had a fabulous time in Istanbul!!