jazzneel

So we are doing a trip to the Maldives, but with an initial stopover to Istanbul for 2 days. Staying at the Sultanahmet area (Ajwa Hotel). On the way back, we have another overnight stopover in Istanbul. Arriving at 18:30/6:30pm, and our departing flight is the next morning at 7:30am. As we are changing airlines (booked one way from MLE to IST, then another one way from IST to ORD), we will need to go through immigration / get our bags no matter what. I already have a visa for our initial two days (although I just found out US citizens no longer need it, so waste of $50/person lol), so not worried about that.

I'm not sure how long it takes to get through immigration, but here is my guess:
Arrive at 6:30pm
Get through immigration / customs (including getting our luggage) by 8pm

For getting back to the airport, as our flight leaves at 7:30, and we'd need to re-check in luggage and go through security, I'm assuming we'd need to be at the airport by 5am? We are flying business class so hoping the check in process is fast, but of course going through security may take some time.

If yes, I'm trying to figure out if it's really worth going to Istanbul main area or not. I believe it's about a 45 min taxi ride to Taksim (as we will not have seen that area), and after checking in, we'd get there at 9pm. After eating dinner / walking around a bit, we'd probably be in bed by like 11pm (we have an early flight from Maldives). Then we'd have to wake up at 3:30am, which is basically no sleep.

Alternatively, we could stay in Arnavutkoy at the Hampton, but want to see if 1) there is absolutely anything to do there including food 2) Is that even worth it?

Lastly, we could just stay in the Yotel Landside at the airport. It seems a shame to waste a night in Istanbul, but we also don't want to be crazy exhausted while flying back to ORD. If we picked this, is there any place we can taxi to around the airport for an hour or two?

As I'm typing this, the idea of going into Taksim seems like its absolutely not worth it, but just want to see if I'm missing anything? From a cost perspective, I have no issues as I have points to cover basically any hotel we stay at (I'd use Chase UR for the Yotel, Hilton Points if we stay at either the Hampton or Conrad Bosporus, or Hyatt points at the Park Hyatt).

This is the most luxurious trip we've ever taken (staying at Ajwa in IST, Conrad Maldives, flying business class from ORD to IST and IST to ORD, although economy from IST to MLE and back), and I like the idea of staying at one final fancy luxurious hotel, but not if it ruins our trip back via no sleep!

One other thought that crossed my mind is if we stay at the Yotel or near the airport, maybe it makes sense to taxi to Taksim at night time then just come back? I know we'd get like 2 hours there, but is there anything "must see" there even for 2 hours?

thanks for the input!

ISTFlyer

MLE-IST & IST-ORD is only operated by Turkish Airlines so if you are flying non-stop on both flights, TK would transfer your bags among separate tickets so you don't need to clear immigration/passport control and recheck your bags.

The Taksim area has nothing to do unless to see the Republic Monument and mediocre shopping that you could find anywhere in Istanbul. You could go to the Galata area, the Historical Peninsula if you wish. Since there is a metro line at Istanbul, you don't even have to bother with a taxi and just in case, there is a baggage storage facility at Istanbul Airport landside.

For Arnavutköy, there are places to eat, there are restaurants ( both local fast-food or sit down and chains such as Domino's, Burger King, etc... ) but don't except much touristic stuff over there.

Also, since you are flying Business Class from IST to ORD, you would have plenty of time to sleep on that flight, so I wouldn't mind the quality of the sleep the previous night personally if you can sleep on planes easily.

jazzneel

thank you! We are actually flying Qatar from MLE to IST (unfortunately no award flights on Turkish from Air Canada so we have a stop in Doha) then Air France from IST to ORD (with a stop at CDG). For now, I just ended up booking the Yotel Landside with UR points (not the best redemption, but don't want to pay $350 out of pocket) as it seems easier than taxi-ing from Arnavutkoy, and its 20-30 min of more sleep lol (which I've never flown business class before, but generally I can't sleep on planes ever).

I will look into the Galata area!

DaveS

I think you have made the right decision. The Yotel is an overpriced bed (fine if you paid with points though). At least you will get some sleep, none of the other choices would have managed that. Getting through immigration/security is not usually a problem.