Kadıköy Port Otel

I had three miserable days here. The one positive was that most of the staff were somewhat friendly, apart from the man in the office near the elevator. I’m a frequent traveler and have stayed in both cheap and expensive places around the world, but I’ve never had such a bad stay. The room had no chair, side table, or kettle, and the walls were filthy. The patch facing the bed looked as if someone had wiped their nose on it and nobody had cleaned it. It was so irritating that I tried to wipe some off myself. The towels were also dirty: of the three in my room, only one looked even a little clean, while the others seemed used and put back as fresh. The bed’s headboard sat below the curtain, so it touched my face. The room was small, too. The toilet flush wouldn’t stop running unless I kept pressing its button, and the soap dispenser didn’t work. Water from the shower sprayed everywhere except onto my body, and getting hot water depended on catching it at the right time. Wi-Fi appeared active but I could never use it. I was told street engineering work was affecting the connection. When I asked reception for an iron, the rusty water leaking from it ruined my clothes. I also needed to leave my cabin-size luggage for less than 24 hours, but they refused to take it. I wanted a practical place to stay, but it ended up costing me much more.

It smelled of cigarettes, including the beds, and there was no shampoo. This place was so bad you’d need to be drunk to sleep here.

The room’s windows open, which mattered to me because I don’t like sleeping in a closed room. It was clean, with a toilet, shower, good water pressure and temperature, and toiletries. The friendly, helpful multilingual staff are available around the clock. This is a good budget option on the Asian side, right by Kadıköy port. From Sabiha Gökçen Airport, the direct M4 metro takes about 45 minutes, followed by a 5-7 minute walk from Kadıköy metro station. A very good three-star choice for a short stay, and I recommend it.

We booked for 20-23 July, originally as part of a week-long stay. The location is good and the rooms are reasonable, but the hotel doesn’t allow guests beyond the lobby, not even to help with luggage. That policy isn’t mentioned on the website, and it was a deal breaker since we were visiting friends or family in the city. We paid for the nights we used plus one extra night so we could find another hotel.