Pros:
- Location is incredibly central, <10 minute walk from Tophane tram station that directly connects to many tourist attractions, close to Taksim, and it’s surrounded by many cafes, restaurants and quirky hip shops.
- Communication with Burcu was easy and her responses were quick.
- It’s a historic building thats aesthetic was well preserved which makes for a cosy stay but..
Cons:
- The building itself isn’t well maintained at all, it’s old and literally falling apart with shattered windows in the uneven staircase leading up to the apartment and creaky wooden floors and doors that don’t close properly.
- The apartment is located right by a busy pub/club area that can be noisy at night. You could hear it more from the back of the house (bathroom/kitchen) than the front (bedrooms/living room) though.
- The bathroom is TINY!! I cannot emphasize this enough. The toilet’s placement is awkward and makes it impossible for more than 1 person to be in there at the same time.
- One of the bedrooms is very claustrophobic.
- There were quite a few flying insects (mosquitos, a hornet that wanders in everyday through the balcony door that doesn’t close properly etc) Our visit was in July so this might be a summer issue.
Overall, the place was alright given that we were out most of the day. I’d recommend it if you were staying for 2-3 days and/or enjoy being at the heart of the night life scene in Istanbul.