Istanbul

Old Feb 21, 2009, 10:32 am
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Istanbul

Anyone have the experience of sharing a hotel room with a same sex partner in Istanbul? I am always a bit concerned about two men checking into a room with one bed in an Islamic country. It would be a high end western hotel like the Four Seasons.
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 11:37 am
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Why don't you then ask for an extra bed - just in case? FS rooms are not exactly tiny!
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 12:58 pm
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Turkey has always been a melting pot of cultures and there is a secular government.

None of the major hotel chains or larger hotels will bat an eye lid. its the same in Dubai. Money is money for the hotels. Public sensibilities are not influence if nothing is seen in public.
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 7:12 pm
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Originally Posted by KenJohn
None of the major hotel chains or larger hotels will bat an eye lid. its the same in Dubai. Money is money for the hotels. Public sensibilities are not influence if nothing is seen in public.
So true.
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 8:34 pm
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We were at the Conrad in 2001 in a King Bedded room.
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 10:19 pm
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Originally Posted by UAkls
Anyone have the experience of sharing a hotel room with a same sex partner in Istanbul? I am always a bit concerned about two men checking into a room with one bed in an Islamic country. It would be a high end western hotel like the Four Seasons.
I don't think it would be an issue at any hotel in Istanbul, and it definitely won't be an issue at a place like the Four Seasons. We spent 5 nights in a king room at the W in December, and we were treated no differently than we have been in London, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, or anywhere else we have visited.
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Old Feb 21, 2009, 11:45 pm
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I was at the Park Hyatt Istanbul in January, overlapping a night with 2 male friends. It was a non issue for them.
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Old Feb 22, 2009, 3:02 am
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In fact the only time a comment was raised in my global travels was at the Shangri-La Valley Wing in Singapore which mainly caters to executive business travellers.

Even then the confusion was cause because I got out of the wrong side of the complimentary hotel limo and the greeter had asked my partner his name then when into the panic when she could not locate a booking in his name as it was in my name. It was not an issue the second time when we stayed there. (Well, in the effort to be friendly and greeting at the car, they ask his name rather than for the name on the reversation)

The "pink" dollar/euro/pound contributes a fair bit to revenues of high-end hotels and most, given their expat management, should be fairly wise to this.
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Old Feb 22, 2009, 5:45 pm
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Originally Posted by UAkls
Anyone have the experience of sharing a hotel room with a same sex partner in Istanbul? I am always a bit concerned about two men checking into a room with one bed in an Islamic country. It would be a high end western hotel like the Four Seasons.
Not a problem at the W in January. Even got a nice upgrade.
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Old Feb 24, 2009, 10:16 pm
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Not a problem at the FS Istanbul in 2006. Heck, I think half of the male staff there bats for our team.
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Old Feb 27, 2009, 9:01 pm
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As long as you don't do anything indecent in public you should be ok in the hotel room, 1 bed or 2. They just want your money.
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Old Mar 5, 2009, 12:17 am
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Nope you should not have any problem
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Old Mar 5, 2009, 8:13 pm
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thanks

Thanks for the responses....I feel much better about the trip.
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Old Mar 14, 2009, 10:45 pm
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We stayed at the Hotel Maramar 03/1999, king bed, no problems.

My advice is no outside appearance of being together. You'll see lots of Turkish men being very close with each other; it's their society. But, strangers do stand out.

One night (7PM) I left out hotel and was heading to a travel office to buy some bus tickets a few blocks from the hotel. Rather than walk along the crowded and busy streets, I cut through the park that is in the center of the hotel/shopping zone.
I was approached by a Turkish man that started speaking English. He asked lots of questions, to which I either didn't reply or shook my head like I didn't understand. He wanted me to go with him to private club. RED FLAG alert.
No sooner had I turned away from him, when, a very tall Turkish guy came up behind me, said "Police" and the other guy grabed my arms behind my back. The "police" guy drove his hands into my front pockets where he found equivalent of $20 usd (Turk lira) and my room key. He gave me the key back, pocketed the cash and they ran off.

In the meantime, people observed this and did nothing to help or stop them.
A police car was a block away.

Be careful when you go out and who you talk to.

Also, the young boys were a problem with the shoe shine scam. If you don't see them coming at you, be prepared. If you stand still, they'll put shoe polish on your shoe (think tagging) and then they think you are oblidged to get a shoe shine to get rid of the shoe polish mark. SCAM.

Travel safely.
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Old Mar 14, 2009, 11:47 pm
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No problem for my ex and I at the FS in Istanbul, and this was almost 10 years ago.
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