Originally Posted by lonelycrowd

On the security measures at hotels and other public facilities in Istanbul - I'd go a step further than "feel good window dressing" and suggest that it's also a product of low labor costs and a preoccupation with status and conspicuous consumption among the city's upper-middle class. Most of the private security guards in the housing sites, shopping centers, hotels ect... outside of the most touristic places do just about nothing, but make the residents and customers feel like they are well-off enough to be living in a place that requires protection. It's a very status-conscious culture, which has worked to the advantage of the many American brands actively franchising there. In fact, my wife used to work in an office building in Atasheir where the private security had a habit of watching cartoons on the CCTV monitors...

JMN57 - sorry to hear about your experience! If you are still in town you should know the metro system is surprisingly friendly to people with reduced mobility, though the metro is unfortunately a bit far from the Conrad.