Sheraton Istanbul Maslak, Turkey [Master Thread]
May 28, 2007, 3:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
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Sheraton Istanbul Maslak, Turkey [Master Thread]
Has anyone stayed at the new Sheraton Istanbul yet? How's the room and the club lounge? Good location for a typical tourist?
May 28, 2007, 3:51 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2003
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Noticed the W Istanbul opening in Jan/08. ^
May 28, 2007, 10:43 pm
#3
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My own observations have led me to conclude that there is little relationship between when a property is accepted by Starwood and when it is added to the starwoodhotels.com website. I know of dozens of properties that are coming soon but that are not on the website yet. Many have been in the works for many months. Some for well over a year.
Jun 1, 2007, 2:25 pm
#4
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Jun 2, 2007, 2:09 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2005
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The Sheraton must be very new. Does anyone know when it opened/began as a Sheraton or, assuming it was re-branded, what it was before?
The Renaissance Polat is the closest upscale hotel to the airport. It's an OK little neighborhood, but not too interesting, not much to do, and not a great hotel in my opinion. Benefits as a Marriott Platinum are minimal.
The next closest are the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn (co-located). This is a decent compromise between proximity to the airport and proximity to where you'd want to be in Istanbul. Traffic from the airport to Taksim (the main tourist area) can be horrendous at the time you're coming in. The CP/HI avoids part of that.
The W will be spectacular. Probably the single best location in the city to be based -- just off of the Bosphorous in Besiktas, within striking distance of Taksim.
The Renaissance Polat is the closest upscale hotel to the airport. It's an OK little neighborhood, but not too interesting, not much to do, and not a great hotel in my opinion. Benefits as a Marriott Platinum are minimal.
The next closest are the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn (co-located). This is a decent compromise between proximity to the airport and proximity to where you'd want to be in Istanbul. Traffic from the airport to Taksim (the main tourist area) can be horrendous at the time you're coming in. The CP/HI avoids part of that.
The W will be spectacular. Probably the single best location in the city to be based -- just off of the Bosphorous in Besiktas, within striking distance of Taksim.
Jun 2, 2007, 5:10 pm
#6
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Jun 3, 2007, 6:17 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Jun 9, 2007, 4:49 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 12
New Sheraton Istanbul Report
We've just returned from a trip to Istanbul where we had booked into the new Sheraton Istanbul for a week long stay while attending a conference downtown. The property switched over to Sheraton 2 weeks ago and therefore we didn't have our usual benefit of FT trip reviews. We gambled that Plat. status would outweigh the distant location, but we checked out after a day in favor of the Hilton Istanbul. We actually liked the property itself. The newly renovated rooms are large and nicely designed with hardwood floors, flat screen TV's and other nice touches. The gym is a full service heath club and the top floor lounge offers valuted ceilings and a stunning view. We also were quite happy with the staff. However, this location, coupled with Istanbul traffic, makes getting to any downtown location an expensive and/or time consuming affair. There is a free shuttle that goes to Taksim Square 4 times a day, but this means you'll often be spending close to an hour each way and likely will need to couple the free shuttle with a cab ride to get to your final destination. And for those of you who have been to Istanbul, you know that a cab ride means a 50/50 chance that the cabbie will try to rip you off (of 16 cab rides, we had 9 of them try to charge the night rate during the day or claim they had been given a 5 instead of a 50 or a 1 instead of a 10, etc. -- shameful). Finally, the area around the property istself is an unattractive business district with essentially nothing of note within walking distance. In short, if you have business in the area, I'm sure this property will suite you well, however, if you're looking to get downtown reguarly, I'd strongly encourge you to make the most of your Istanbul stay and head closer to the action.
Jul 14, 2007, 5:03 pm
#13
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The Princess was a total toilet, Maslak, the area of the hotel is a smallish business district not near anything of note for anyone not visiting the businesses in the area. That being said there will be an extension of the metro line to Taksim in 18 months or so which will make moving around much easier.
Jul 15, 2007, 7:13 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Yes, Maslak is a rather boring area of the city with not much to see or do. I'm a devoted SPG member but the Hilton properties in Istanbul are much nicer in terms of location. I haven't stayed at the new Sheraton so I can't comment on the actual quality of the hotels but the Hilton ones are very nice... also, Turkish cab drivers have always been very polite and honest with me but maybe I've just been lucky 