Well, just to give a bit of feedback. I managed to bargain with a taxi driver to take me from IST airport to the HI Istanbul City for TRY200, great deal. On the way, he even wanted me to taste the baklava his mother had made (and he wasn't young), which was excellent!

I thought the HI Istanbul City was quite good and extremely well placed with the tram T1 stopping just outside, which brings you to the main sights in under half an hour. The room was perfectly decent and comfortable, with good quality bedding, although it was a standard room with no upgrade offered. The usual Platinum welcome text was recited and a free drink offered but the only irritating thing was that the voucher is only valid for certain drinks. I was refused almost everything I asked for, only a certain type of beer or house wine was possible. So why don't IHG just offer their status guests a €5 reduction for a drink at the bar so you can just order what you want and pay the difference if necessary? Or is that too intelligent a suggestion? To be honest, the bar area was not particularly welcoming so I didn't hang around there, even though there was a living room area that had a fake fire which was quite pleasant. Outdoors in the central courtyard was an attractive swimming pool, but it was closed for the winter. I received an "offer" for breakfast, which worked out at around €10 per person, but I didn't bother with it. There are so many more interesting places outside for a fraction of the cost. Reception was ok, not massively warm or welcoming, just ok. Not sure if I'll come back here, but the location is definitely good.

I definitely will not be going back to the HIX Ataköy. This started badly, with an aggressive beggar woman with a child hassling me as I was trying to leave the taxi and pay the driver. In my haste to get away from her I realized she was blocking the door to the hotel so I had to fight my way past her again. This time the reception was of the couldn't care less quality, although they were perfectly civil. The free drink? Had to ask for it, no alcohol drinks, just a soft drink (think coke, sprite, fanta) or undrinkable orange juice. Ok, I can live with that, but after asking for it a third time I finally thought it might be better for IHG to completely do away with this bloody free drink thing. If they don't want to give it, then just don't give it, for heaven's sake. The room was rubbish, far too small, old Holiday Inn Express style (which is just about livable for one night), with the usual discomfort and lack of space to put anything anywhere and a bed that was far too short. There's nothing else to say about the hotel, except that the downstairs public space didn't invite lingering, in fact, actively repelled it. Despite that, there were some undesirable looking types sitting around there and fiddling on their mobile phones, presumably on the hotel's free internet connection. It's not so much that the hotel is bad, but there are so many much nicer places to stay in Istanbul. But if you go there you'll certainly survive one night.