Bon Hotel Hagia Sophia

The location is near historic sights, restaurants, and bazaars. The clean, good-quality sheets and the room's cute appearance were positives, as were the staff. Celine was charming and communicated especially well, thank you, Celine. Getting there by taxi was difficult during daytime traffic. Drivers coming from the waterfront or bridges wouldn't take us, even when I offered 500 TL. At night I paid 300 TL for what should have been a 100 TL fare to bring my things from a waterfront hotel. The entrance was also dirty and used as a garbage collection point for trucks. The bathroom was awkward to use: no towel hooks or toilet paper holder, and the shower area wasn't separated, so water spread across the room. Hot water was extremely hot at times and somewhat cold at others. Some side wall boards and floorboards were missing and needed fixing.

The staff were excellent, attentive, and quick to try to sort things out, and breakfast was good every day. We had several room problems along the way. Room 102 had a drain smell, broken A/C, and a broken bedside lamp. Room 104 was fine after its fridge was replaced. We moved from 102 to 101, but its A/C malfunction caused an overpowering formaldehyde smell, which wasn't the staff's fault, so we were moved again to the better room 203. We spent the rest of our stay in 104 and 203, both spacious and comfortable. Excellent location.

The price and quality were good with our discount through booki, and I'd stay again, though I'd ask for several things ahead of time. The hotel has welcoming people, and the staff were warm and attentive. We booked two suites. The larger room for the other two guests had plenty of space and light, two balcony doors, and a good-sized shower. In the Sophia suite, the bed, pillows, duvet, and overall lighting were good, although the duvet cover was too small. The bathroom had a good size and non-slip floor tiles, but it smelled very bad. We heard the other room and another double room smelled too, after talking with other tourists. The showerhead was broken, leaked on both sides, and had no proper handle on its fancy-looking fitting. The shower tap leaked too, while the sink tap was fine. Bathroom cleaning happened daily but seemed to mean just arranging things. Wet towels were folded rather than changed, and then smelled; soap was provided some days but not others. There was no soap dish at the sink or soap holder in the shower. We asked for an ashtray for the balcony and used it for soap instead. Toilet paper sat on the bin, which didn't feel clean, and there was no toilet brush or toilet paper holder. The hairdryer socket was right next to the sink with no safety. In the room, sockets and the light switch were only on one side of the bed, with the switch also near the entry, so we couldn't both charge phones overnight or operate the lights easily. The TV remote didn't work, there were only Turkish channels, and it wasn't a smart TV, so no Netflix or similar at night. There was no room trashcan or clothes hanger at the entrance. Breakfast was a buffet with very few choices, mainly omelette since the other items weren't filling enough. They replenished food occasionally, but it was better to ask when containers were empty than wait for them to notice.

Helpful staff, good service, and a healthy breakfast. The location is central and within walking distance of the main sights and tram, with Hagia Sophia just 50 meters away. I recommend it.