Darkmen Hotel

The hotel delivered what it promised, and the location is amazing. The manager is great and very accommodating. You can scan his WhatsApp as soon as you come in, then contact him whenever you need help. Rooms are warm and cleaned every day. It's not somewhere to spend all day, but it's comfortable and safe.

My wife and I booked through Check24 about a month before our Istanbul trip, and the booking initially seemed ordinary. We reserved Darkman Hotel, listed as a five-star property with a perfect Check24 rating. It became one of our worst trips. We arrived on October 26th and, on the first night, reception and management couldn't find our reservation and were very rude. They didn't even know Check24, which made us suspect the listing misrepresented the hotel, its features, and its star rating, while charging twice as much. Once they found our booking, they put us in a cramped, appalling room with separated beds, though we hadn't booked that. The bathroom was filthy, the lights and TV didn't work, and the window looked out onto a garbage dump and neglected waste. We insisted on the hotel we had booked, but were moved to another property of theirs that was even worse. We felt deceived: this seemed like a three-star hotel, not the advertised five-star one. The second room was a little larger, but dirty windows and bed linens were among the problems. Towels weren't replaced regularly, drinking water wasn't refilled, and the room wasn't cleaned or tidied. When we asked reception to address these things, they said they'd already done it or would do it, but we had to keep reminding them. They handled each request reluctantly and rudely. Breakfast had little to choose from: bland dishes, wilted salad, bad coffee, undercooked fries, and bland eggs. The breakfast area looked like it was falling apart, with a construction site or something similar next to it. I took photos of everything and will post them here. The stay and what we saw as the hotel's deceit ruined our Istanbul trip. I'm deeply disappointed that places like this exist, and strongly urge that such establishments be closed and have their licenses revoked. I hope this review helps someone avoid our mistake. This hotel is a disgrace.

A very nice hotel, and the location works well if you're here for clothing business.

The room was comfortable enough to sleep in, and it was cleaned each day with fresh towels and the bed made. Still, the shower drained badly and left water on the bathroom floor, the walls let in noise, the toilet area was cramped, and there were occasional unpleasant smells. I also had to ask reception to switch on the AC. The bigger problem came the night before checkout, when my room card suddenly stopped working. At reception, a staff member offered to arrange an airport taxi. I said I’d take the metro, which I’d used to get there, but he and a colleague spent about 20 minutes insisting it wasn’t running to Istanbul Airport and that a taxi was necessary at €40. When I questioned that, he got angry and spoke to me as if I were foolish and would be stranded. I took the metro the next day for €1.30, so I felt the hotel was trying to scam me. When I arrived, staff initially said they couldn’t find my booking, even though I’d paid through an online agency. They eventually located it, but the staff came across as unprofessional, unfriendly, and very monotone. Getting help in English was difficult too.