Review : Artisan Istanbul MGallery (ex Mercure Istanbul Taksim)
 

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I stayed 3 nights in this hotel and had an excellent stay there. I choose it because it is one of the very rare Accor hotel in Europe that have a lounge. In addition, it is well located in town and had excellent reviews. I had booked it with a -40% promotion, which was great because otherwise this hotel is expensive (contrarily to what many people think, Istanbul is not cheap at all for hotels, especially at this season).

The hotel is located at walking distance from Taksim square and also from the end of the Tramway line (Kabatas station), so it is very rapid to join all the interesting areas of the beautiful city of Istanbul.

The lobby area of the hotel are quite nice as you can see below :

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I arrived very late at the hotel (1:30 am) due to horrible lines at immigration in IST (close to 1500 people in line – a nightmare). Check-in was very smooth and my 1st contact with an employee of this hotel was already excellent : immediately my platinum status was mentioned and due to this I was upgraded to a Deluxe Privilege room with Bosphore view (I had booked a superior room, city view). Lounge access was granted without asking (it was precised that I booked a rate not including breakfast, so I could not have free breakfast at the main restaurant, but I could have it free in the lounge). He asked me if I needed a late check-out and 4 pm was granted immediately.
No drink voucher was given and I didn’t ask for it because with the lounge access, it’s not a problem.

The room was nice, large enough for me. I couldn’ t appreciate immediately the view because it was the night, but the following day, I was very happy of this view !

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View of Topkapi palace from my room :

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Pictures of the room and bathroom :

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Nespresso machine in room :

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Plates of chocolates and fruits + spring water was placed in the room :

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Bathrobes and slippers were provided in the bathroom

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I will present the lounge in the dedicated thread :
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24897757-post95.html

The hotel has a terrace, you can have drinks there (service is done by the adjacent lounge attendants).

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Views from the terrace :

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Check-out was very rapid. All staff in this hotel has just been great. Another example showing how nice the Mercure brand has become. Way better IMO than the very cold and standardized atmosphere of the Novotel. After check-out, I received the ususal satisfaction survey, and I just received an e-mail of the GM thanking me for having completed it and for the ratings I gave in it.

Definitely an hotel I recommend, and also knowing that it is one of the very rare to have a club lounge.

Review : Mercure Istanbul Taksim
 

Excellent! Thank you for this review. At least I now know where to stay in IST!

Excellent review Goldorak, looks very nice.^

Surprised to see they are not using the usual Mercure logo on the outside.

Hello Dear Goldorak,
As Mercure Istanbul Taksim Family, we would like to thank you for such a lovely review and taking time to load all those nice pictures...I am very glad to see that you enjoyed your room and your stay in general. On your next visit to Istanbul, we are looking forward to seeing you with us again. Deniz Kerse Guest Relations Manager

Welcome to FT and the Accor forum Mercure Istanbul Taksim ^

Beautiful! I think I want to visit Istanbul now, and I think I know where I want to stay!

Goldorak

I fully agree with your review of this excellent Mercure hotel. In fact, we probably were there around the same time. I just finished a 3 night stay here yesterday and a 2 night one the previous week.

All in all an excellent property and staff.

Would additionally like to point out for the benefit of those interested is:

1. That I too was given an upgrade to a room with Bhosphorus view (i/o the Base with City View). So thumbs up from me for status recognition.
2. On my second stay in as many weeks, I was upgraded from base room to the deluxe room. Both times without asking.
3. I was given the free drinks voucher on both stays. It was however was only of use in case one was at the bar/restaurant downstairs.
4. Lounge was open 24 hours with 5-7 PM cocktail hour (which includes complementary wine and beer).
5. There is even turn down service.
6. In addition, Accor plats get 3 drinks (non-alcoholic) from the mini bar at no charge per stay.

All in all an excellent hotel with a courteous and professional staff.

Merci Goldorak and KC01 for the reviews, am staying there for a week in the end of July so very happy to see these positive reviews! In fact, will be staying at many different Accor properties (mostly Novotel) for our 5 week trip this summer so will report on all of them.

Thank you for your comments :)

Welcome to Flyertalk Mercure Istanbul Taksim :)
We are very happy to have you on this forum as a company representative. We hope to read you here often :)
And thank you again for this excellent stay in your hotel.

Correct. I forgot to mention this point. I was pleasantly surprised of this.

Agreed. Every single staff member was great, sympathetic and professional. This hotel could be used as a training center for many others :D

Merci!!!
 

Dear all,
It's wonderful seeing our valued guests here on this forum. I would like to thank you for your lovely comments regarding Mercure Istanbul Taksim. We would highly appreciate to see your review also on TripAdvisor to give useful information to all our future guests as well as Flyertalk. Kind Regards Deniz Kerse / Guest Relations Manager :)

Thanks for the very thorough review Goldrak! Will keep it in mind in case I ever end up in IST :=)

Perfect review. Thanks.
I am going to Istambul in November. I did not notice the hotel have a lounge. Mercure usually do not have it. I will check and use it.
Mauro

De rien ! :) well deserved.

highly recommended ;). It is such a nice and interesting city.

Excellent idea :D

You are all welcome any day any season to our cozy house in Istanbul!
 

I would like to thank you all for the positive feedback. We are more than happy for every single word regarding your stay with us. You are all any time of any season are welcome to our cozy house and we will be delighted to accommodate you with our hospitable people...:) Deniz Kerse / Guest Relations Manager

What a brilliant review and so incredibly surprising to read one like this of a Mercure. Thanks Goldorak. We are considering a trip to Istanbul in the next 12 months so will be sure to check this out when booking. And so good to have the hotel rep on here. I often wonder how many read this forum.