IAATM

I've used the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel before, which offers a free airport shuttle during certain hours (see their website). If you instead choose to take a taxi, it's not very expensive, and there are always taxis waiting at the hotel to take folks to the airport.

If you get a room on a high floor, the views of the IST airport are reasonably good, too. The pool is huge, clean, and looks out over the sea. There's a nice sports bar next door if you want to watch a game and have a reasonably good meal - or just sit on the terrace and smoke a hookah with a few locals.

While the Renaissance Polat isn't downtown, and it won't give you a chance to play with the pigeons in Taksim square, it's IMHO the right way to go for a one-night MR with an early departure. In other words, it gets you out of the airport and the opportunity to see a little something of Istanbul. You also avoid the (insane) traffic jams and the time wasted trying to get to the Old City for a single night's sleep.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...stanbul-hotel/

P.S. When you're departing IST the next day, assuming you're *A Gold, don't forget to use the separate *A Gold entrance to the international terminal, since it'll get you through the metal-detector line much quicker. Similarly, once you're inside the terminal and have your boarding pass, look for the special entrance to the TK lounge, with it's own security and passport control - but you can only use this lounge entrance if you're on TK (i.e. it doesn't work for UA passengers).