Sublime Porte Hotel

The people here are warm, helpful, and genuinely lovely. There are adorable cats all around, and breakfast is definitely worth getting up for. My room was right in the heart of Istanbul, with an unbelievable sea view and a bunch of silly, funny seagulls. We had a great time together. Thanks to the hotel for rescuing me from the street. I nearly had an unexpected night outdoors, and they were in the right place at the right time. P.S. Please build that weird wall with a door. You know what I mean ;)

We stayed for 16 nights in September 2025 and paid 200 euros a night through booking.com. It was definitely not worth that. The standard felt similar to a midrange hotel in India. Because poor management had double booked our room, we spent the first 7 nights in other mediocre hotels, moving between 4 different places. One of them refused to carry our bags up four flights of stairs. We’re a couple aged 68 and 78. Booking.com didn’t help at all. Definitely a ripoff experience.

The room was in awful condition. I woke up with ants around me, felt insects crawling on my body during the night, and there was a strong sewage smell that made it almost impossible to stay there. When we reported these problems, the response was dismissive and unhelpful, and the hotel refused to refund us despite how serious the conditions were. We later found we’d been charged up to four times the normal price. They justified it as a “special situation” that night, which felt like taking advantage of guests. I had a very unpleasant stay at Sublime Porte Hotel and would strongly advise other travelers to avoid it.

It’s a small but clean hotel, with nice service and an excellent location. You can reach many popular sights, including the Blue Mosque, in 10-15 minutes. There are also many restaurants with rooftop sea views. Highly recommended.