If you want to experience Istanbul to its fullest for a reasonable price - this is the place to stay. Located in the hip and cool area, kind of Soho of Istanbul, a few minutes walk to Taksim square, at the same time it’s on a quiet street - so you literally get it all. We went to Istanbul for a family reunion as well as our friends wedding. This place literally became our home for a week. So simple, authentic, warm and cozy. It just felt right.
Be ready to do a lot of walking since all 4 bedrooms are on different floors - but we enjoyed it! It felt like we own this big rustic house with all these stairs and the terrace on the very top. My friend who was getting married and originally is from Istanbul later said that we got really lucky to stay in that area and have an actual outside terrace at the same time. We ended up chilling there every day, drinking tea and chatting.
Right next to it there are many cute and family owned spots to have a delicious Turkish breakfast or made on the coals in front you kebabs. The best shisha place is a 5 min walk. The grocery with essentials is right there too. The neighborhood is super friendly and cozy - in couple days the local business owners were recognizing and cheering us.
We were really impressed overall by the Turkish culture and hospitality.
Omer and his co-host Eren were super helpful. They were giving us recommendations on the places to see, were responding right away if we needed something. The best hosts you could wish for. I will be definitely in touch with them next time I am in Turkey.
To finish this up I’d like to say that by the end of our stay we needed to move for one night to one really fancy hotel where the wedding of our friends was. And it didn’t feel like home anymore. We missed THIS place. We went back to take a picture in front of “our house” to keep in memories the amazing times we spent there.