We booked the apartment because it was close to where my brother lived, so it was convenient for us. but it is very far from all the attractions, if that's why you are in Istanbul.
The owner doesn't live there, so someone else messaged me outside of Airbnb which I was a bit hesitant to answer, but it was the only communication I had so I answered and it was in fact the person who manages the place.
The check in was good, but the guy had to come to meet us in order to hand the keys to us, I guess the front desk of the building doesn't accept keys or they couldn't leave it somewhere, anyways, the check in required some planning and coordination, but it was fine. If you are driving, you cannot use the parking the first day if you arrive in the afternoon, as the car needs to be registered with the building before you can go in. One issue is if your party is more than one family who is together all the time, you might have some problems with the key. There is only ONE key and fob so if your group separates remember to give the key to the person who will go back home first!!! we forgot and had to waste an hour and also ruin my Mom's night because he had to come back and give us the key.
The unit itself was fine, it is as is shown in the pictures. It was clean, but not spotless. some of it may be just the build quality of the building (glue coming out from under baseboards, some base boards were completely separated,..). The bathroom doors slide open and cannot be kept closed unless you lock them, and locking them is also tricky! The bathrooms have a bidet though.
The listing mentioned a CRIB but there is no crib (what we call a crib in North America) in the unit. I was hoping to use it for my baby, but what they referred to as a crib is actually a pull out mattress that comes out from under the bunk beds so another person can sleep there.
The main issue we had was the heat!! The AC did not seem to be able to dool down the place, as it didn't seem to be working all the time, and the heated floors as we were told could not be turned off from the unit, so even in NOVEMBER, it was hot for us, although my mom liked the heat. so that part is subjective, however you cannot turn the floor heating down if you want.
AbuFaruq (the person who is your contact there) is very good with messages though, he answers quickly and completely. the hair dryer was missing from our unit, we asked for one and he brought one the next day.
The building is close to a grocery store (Migros), some shops, a mall with a big play area for kids in it.
The pool in the building is also nice and heated. (160cm depth all along in case you need to know!)
Check out was easy, we just left the key in the mailbox for AbuFarouq to pick up later