Tashkonak Studio Suites

The boys are great help to us for everything and the location is quiet but close to attractions, by the way the breakfast is delicious Turkish breakfast

None

1.Location 5 minute walk to Sultanahmet Square,very near Arasta Bazaar and restaurants 2.Friendly and polite staff from the Front Desk to the Room Cleaners and Laundry 3.Breakfast was very good and on time 4.Room size we took was very good for Senior couple

Nothing much to dislike

Great location very good value for money 4 min walk from blue mosque.

Breakfast was very basic

We visited Istanbul solely to see five of the major historic sites which all lie within the Sultanahmet area (in the region where the Roman Hippodrome site previously was), those five being the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topaki Palace Museum, Basilica Cistern and The Grand Bazaar. The Tashkonak Studios is probably one of the closest hotels (out of a score of hotels lying to the south of the Blue Mosque) to easily reach the Hippodrome site on foot - for us it was a perfect location, not requiring the use of any form of local transport. Visitors to Istanbul should note the Istanbul is a massive city built on very many hills - the Sultanahmet area is a plateau lying atop one of the many hills, thus being effectively flat and easy to traverse. This hotel (like all those around it) lies in a regulated historic conservation area and is thus limited to using existing buildings for conversion to hotels - the hotel was perfectly adequate for our 6-day stay. There are no modern, newly-built, branded, hotels in the Sultanahmet area. The hotel's guests came from all corners of the world - a very cosmopolitan crowd. Our room was of adequate size and layout. Note that some skill in understanding Turkish is a mandatory requirement if watching the TV in your room. The WiFi worked OK, so some English contact with the rest of the world was not a problem. Breakfast was typically Turkish in nature, but with some hot egg dishes to cater for more western tastes (also note that alcoholic drinks are not available within the hotel to conform to the owner's Islamic traditions). The staff were all friendly, very pleasant and helpful (24-hour reception desk), but sometimes a little slow to react to some requests or small problems. There is a small mini-supermarket next to the hotel - it provides very good value (sensible prices) and has a good range of items.

The toilet seat had a broken hinge and was very indecisive as to whether it would either stay up or fall down unexpectedly - for the ladies this would not be a problem, but for any gentlemen standing up it really did require a third hand for complete safety during the 'standing-up' option. When the toilet seat fell it came crashing down and attempted to emasculate a certain part of the male anatomy - ouch!!!!!! This fault was reported on the first morning, but was still present on our departure six days later - by day six I was getting very good at catching the falling seat without injury!! Purely an observation - there is no kettle in the room, so it is not possible to have a hot drink outside of breakfast hours - that said, on any contact with any local businesses Turkish tea is provided immediately as part of Turkish hospitality and custom, so hot drinks during the day are not a problem. However, a kettle would be a useful addition to allow for a late-evening hot drink without the need to leave the hotel.