IggySD

I've been here the last two nights and the atmosphere has been VERY different. First of all, none of the hotels in the area (the Intercontinental is very close) seem to have been physically affected by the riots at all. There were barricades in the streets in front and graffiti and burned out vehicles as well but nothing that I could detect to the hotels.

Yesterday the atmosphere was pretty festive. The protesters were quite friendly and there were folks in Taksim selling t-shirts, flags, delicious sandwiches. I wrote a comment in the Istanbul thread indicating that there was no reason not to come.

This morning things got a bit different. I was walking around Taksim and it just seemed much more tense. Then the riot police showed up and I heard the first shot of tear gas. I went to the Old City for the day where everything is what I assume is normal. Just very crowded. Got back here around 1630 in the evening and it was evident that things had changed. The road blocks had been cleared, the burned out vehicles were being towed and there was a good bit of smoke. The tents in Gezi are still up however. Over the course of the next two hours I heard several shots of tear gas and could watch from my window as protesters in gas masks lobbed the canisters either back at the police or down into a construction zone where it wouldn't harm anyone. I opened up my window for a few pictures and could smell the tear gas at one point (it really does sting).

All that being said, the hotel seems to not be too concerned. When I went out again at around 1000 this morning they just checked to make sure I wasn't headed towards Taksim, I assume they were gong to warn me if I had said yes. But even during the evening disturbances there were a bunch of people out at the pool who just kept on swimming or sun bathing despite being about 50 feet away from the protesters.

If I were headed to Istanbul again I wouldn't hesitate to book this hotel. You can get down to the tram with a 5 minute walk and avoid Taksim altogether. The return is an uphill walk though and good luck getting a taxi to bring you here. Aside from the square itself I haven't noticed anything except perhaps a larger than usual police force guarding some of the sites / monuments.

But between now and September anything could happen. Things could stay the same, the protesters could give up, Erdogan could back down or it could degenerate. As of now though, no reason IMO not to stay here.

As for the hotel itself, it's very nice. I spent one night at the Conrad in order to get the teddy bear (and that was an effort) and then moved here. There's really no comparison between the two. Great spread in the evening in the Exec lounge here, bigger room, slightly better location for public transport (I suppose if the Taksim Metro stop were actually usable then this place would win easy). Haven't stayed at the Park so can't compare the two but I really have no complaints about this property.