Galata World Hotel

The room was large and great value for the price, and everything is nearby because the location is so good. Staff were always available, and they made the bed every day.

The value was incredible. For $45, I got a really big room with a fridge, jacuzzi tub, coffee stand, full closet, desk, coffee bar, TV, and Ari Conditioning. It had everything you’d expect in a suite, and the bed was divine, so comfortable. I’d landed here after a disastrous Airbnb nearby and found the hotel while walking past. The staff were incredible from the moment I arrived and let me see the room before I booked for the night. It’s on a street with great shopping and experiences. Lavender Cafe is the best French-inspired coffee, and just a ten-second walk away you can learn to make jewelry, Turkish coffee, a Turkish lamp, or perfume.

I booked for a few days at first, but liked the room and location so much that I ended up staying three weeks. I was lucky to get a fifth-floor room with a free city view. It was comfortable and spacious, with a nice work table, which mattered since I worked remotely during the day. Wi-Fi was perfect, with no issues on calls or system access over all three weeks. The location is central and safe, and close to transport and tourist sights.

We changed hotels because this stay was so disappointing. The location is convenient and the rooms are spacious, but the condition and cleanliness were unacceptable. In the first room, there were food scraps on the floor, dried blood stains, and the toilet wouldn’t flush all night. We wanted to check out after that first night, but staff said we couldn’t get any refund for the remaining nights, so we agreed to move. The second room had the same problems: worn towels with holes, towels left dirty after room service, a poorly cleaned toilet, a dead cockroach on the wall, dust everywhere, and old furniture. The rooms also lacked lockers and proper shower curtains, so water leaked. Only one bedside lamp worked, and the bathroom light was dim. After three nights we were given stained, smelly towels. When I asked for clean ones, they gave us brand-new towels that hadn’t been washed. Staff misled us about the refund rules, saying we couldn’t get a refund if we left early. When I insisted, they changed our checkout date but charged us for an extra night we didn’t stay. We paid twice for our departure day, once to this hotel and once to the new one we booked. They charged 100% for the days we stayed plus that extra night. We checked out around 3 PM, although checkout is at noon, which might justify a full-day charge if we’d left early for personal reasons. But I found the dirty towels after 2 PM, following their so-called cleaning, which had been delayed. They charged full price as if the service matched the description and photos, and it was nowhere near that. If cleanliness matters to you, I can’t recommend this place. Be careful if you stay, and don’t trust the staff’s refund information, you can handle that through Booking instead. I feel scammed, fooled, and incredibly disappointed. I believe places like this shouldn’t be allowed to operate because they break sanitary norms and deceive clients. I’ve now seen other negative reviews describing the same things, and wish I’d read them earlier. The positive reviews seem misleading and likely fabricated.