Hotel Bazaar

I stayed for ten nights. The location was excellent, but the rooms and service were very average.

The room was noisy and smelled of cigarettes, and the beds weren't clean. The place was filthy. We're asking the Turkish authorities to investigate and shut the hotel down for breaking the law.

The breakfast was decent, with a fair choice, and the coffee and tea were good and always available. The location is also very convenient, close to the Grand Bazaar and Sultanahmet, with a metro station nearby. But the entrance is easy to miss, tucked between pushy clothing shops on a busy street. Our room felt cramped and poorly kept. Its dirty window looked into a closed-off inner space. The toilet seat had cigarette burns, the shower seal had mold, and both soap dispensers were loose. The bed was made on the first day, but untouched on the second, so the cleaning didn't seem adequate. I left a small tip on the bed. When I came back, a Twix bar I'd brought and hadn't left out was gone, which made me question whether the staff could be trusted. Checkout was another problem. We were repeatedly told it was strictly at noon, yet when we returned from a brief outing around 11:30 on departure day, the receptionist had already gone into our room. We still had time, and that felt intrusive and unprofessional. Even with the good location, I wouldn't recommend Hotel Bazaar. The hygiene, service, and general comfort fell short, and there are better places in Istanbul for the same price.

The breakfast was limited and exactly the same each morning, and communication was difficult because nobody spoke fluent English. The photos online were misleading: the rooms looked nothing like them, and the hotel felt very outdated. The staff were odd and unhelpful, and an older man was especially rude. When I asked him to change our room, he ignored me as if he couldn't hear. His behavior made us uncomfortable. The hygiene was the worst part. I was bitten by bed bugs on the first night and showed the bites to staff, but they did nothing. The mattresses looked very old, and there was visible mold in the washrooms. I believe other guests could have similar bed bug problems. Please don't be fooled by the photos or some reviews. I visited with my mother, and our stay was very unpleasant. I wouldn't recommend this place under any circumstances.