This is a nice modern flat on the upper floor of an older building near bustling Taksim Square. The flat is very secure with key pad entrance at the street level and the fourth floor. The apartment itself also has a heavy door with modern locks. The apartment is easy to find and accessible without having to meet the host - nice for those with unsure schedules. It’s about an hour with traffic or 30 minutes with less traffic from the airport. The area is residential and on a hillside that leads down to the water edge. We found the apartment to be quite well equipped and comfortable and the location to be great for exploring the Taksim Square area and Old Istanbul which is across the Bosporus. Taksim Square never sleeps and has great walkable areas with street vendors, fast food, beautiful sit down restaurants, and dessert shops. There’s also plenty of local and major shopping. The shopping is very western with many American and European brands interspersed with local market shops. There’s an above ground train station at the bottom of the hill along the water that goes to Old Istanbul or its also walkable. There’s also a station at Taksim which we did not use. The host was very friendly and provided great communications checking in on us regularly. It’s a good choice for a stay in Istanbul.