Erbazlar Hotel

The location is great and the price is good value, but the rooms aren't maintained well and smell of cigars. It just wasn't clean enough.

The location is really convenient for shopping and near lots of places, with a metro station about a ten minute walk away. I stayed for five days and would definitely come back. The staff and supervisors were very friendly, and the place felt like home as soon as I walked in. The supervisors speak English and Arabic, which was very convenient. Cleanliness was good too. The mattress wasn't the best, but for this price you can't expect too much. Breakfast seemed okay, though I didn't eat there because I wanted to try breakfast around Istanbul.

There's a metro nearby, several restaurant options, and the internet worked well, although it had no password and wasn't secure. I had a smoking room even though I hadn't requested one. There was no remote for the AC, so I had to open the windows for cool air. The toilet flush buttons were held down with plastic ties, and I don't know why. The noise was constant. The hotel is by a major intersection, and cars honked once or twice a minute from 6am until midnight. Bath, sink, and toilet water stopped twice, once on the last day of my trip, and the electricity went out once. The elevator is tiny. If the power fails while you're in it, you're stuck in a very small, completely dark space with no way to contact reception. The front desk clerk barely understood English and didn't understand when I reported the water and electricity failures.

For the price, this place offers a lot, especially given how close it is to the historical monuments, food, transport, and grocery stores. The hosts were warm and welcoming, the women handling hygiene did a good job, and the food was more than alright. I changed my mind about the hotel after reading other people's reviews and thinking back on my stay. The rooms look a bit ancient, so they felt unclean to me even though I could see that they weren't. That still bothered me, which is why I give the rooms four stars. I also wish the Wi-Fi had been better. I visited in summer, and the AC only blew directly at me, which was quite uncomfortable and felt unhealthy.