Istanbul, Turkey, Radisson SAS Hotel
Wow. Traffic in Istanbul is an absolutely nightmare! Even at 11:30 at night when we finally cleared customs and collected our baggage, the transportation situation was crazy. It took nearly an hour to get to our hotel, which wasn’t close to the airport. Still, it was surprising to see that much traffic late at night.
I learned the next day that Istanbul is a city of 15 million people. A truly massive city.
We stayed at the Radisson SAS Hotel, nearly at the base of the Bosphorus Bridge on the European side (the bridge connects the European continent to Asia). The hotel is immediately on the water. Check in was easy, though we learned our reservations gave us the last rooms in the hotel that evening. We didn’t even drop our bags at the room, but instead went to the patio just out the back door of the bar. Wow… what a great patio, overlooking multiple night clubs, the river, a phenomenal mosque and the great Bosphorus Bridge, which was built in 1973.
After a few cocktails, at approximately 2am, we finally headed to our rooms. I found two double beds in my room, an adequate shower, a refrigerator and plenty of air conditioning to battle the heat that Istanbul has this time of year (though the weather outside at 11am reminds me of Los Angeles…. A bit cool and no humidity at all. In other words, perfect!)
It’s been a long time since I slept in a double bed, and it’s smaller than I remember. But how much room do I really need? Not much, so it was fine. Corporate cost for the room, per night, was 180 Euros. Not sure what it was per night in Turkish Lira. Breakfast was included and wireless internet was also included, though a bit spotty in my connection. Even wired internet was spotty.
We did our business and enjoyed Istanbul quite a bit. We were staying in Europe over the weekend, so we had a guided tour of the old city (Constantinople) and we had a chance to enjoy the Bazaar, billed as the oldest shopping mall on Earth. Lots of great deals to be had if you bargained successfully, though there were a lot of illegitimate knockoff products (i.e. Rolex watch for 120 TL, or about 60 Euros before bargaining). I bought a few trinkets but skipped on any purchases of gold, electronics and carpets. There’s no shortage of pushy people though!
Our trip ended Sunday morning with a quick trip to the airport. No traffic this morning when we left, so getting to the airport at 6am for a 7:50 flight to Brussels was a breeze.