Location, location, location. Taylan’s place is wonderfully located in the confluence of Hackney, Shoreditch and Bethnal Green -which makes it a very attractive place for those who are not so interested in the “theme park” central London has become (like many other big cities, btw) but in the “real London” where the locals live. At the same time, you have three bus lines (26, 48 and 55) that will take you to the center, if that’s what you want, and the Bethnal Green underground station is just about 15 minutes away on foot.
The four rooms (I was in Porter) that Taylan operates are on the first floor (no elevator, so keep that in mind should have mobility issues, temporary or permanent) and share two bathrooms and a kitchen. Everything looks new, well-kept and sparkling clean. Unfortunately, there are no other common areas to chill out or watch TV -which means that when you are home you are (mostly) stuck in your room.
My room (Porter) wasn’t big enough to accommodate a closet or a drawer chest of any kind -which means that I had to keep most of my personal belongings in my suitcase at all times (I say “most” because there was a bar in one corner and four hangers, so I could hang a few things there, and the night stands on each side of the bed had a small drawer each for small items). However, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and the photos on the listing reflect that accurately.
Everything worked very well, from the showers to the heating to the WiFi. The only thing that made me unhappy was that the room wasn’t cleaned nor the sheets in my bed changed for the duration of my stay -which means that if I had stayed for 1-2 nights I wouldn’t even have noticed that, but I was there for 12 nights. I contacted Taylan when I was halfway through my stay asking about that and his response was that I could have the sheets changed... for a fee (he didn’t even address the cleaning of the room). Thus, I would consider using this listing again if I were in London for 1-2 nights, but would look elsewhere for a longer stay.