Not too old of a thread but wanted to bump it up.
I'm in the process of figuring out and booking my hotel for IST for the first few days of October.

Similar to what I posted about Bangkok a while back.
30, single, male. Not there to cruise lol but will be traveling solo and spending about 4 nights. Have no specific association with any hotel groups except for Ritz/Marriot but it bears no real weight in decision making.

I prefer to walk…if it is 20-25 min in a decent area even in the evening/night that is not a problem for me. So something where I can check out some of the sights (Grand Bazaar, HS, etc) but that also isn't dead in the evening/night.
I'd rather walk/travel/commute to sights during the day but then in the evening be around a nice area to stroll around, grab some food, maybe a drink…if that happens to be where the boys are then all the better, but not a must!

Budget is pretty flexible.