swuswu

Not LA_FadeAway, but my wife and I just stayed here. I found it to be a pretty good hotel for the price we paid, but I may have been able to be more efficient with my use of points (not sure). Ended up paying 12k points + 97 TRY per night for a King room. Gold members get a free breakfast either in the executive lounge or in the Terrace restaurant. Terrance restaurant offerings for breakfast are better than executive lounge, with some additional items / buffet stations. Executive lounge was open every time we wanted some food or drink. They have hot food available during most hours around meal times and snacks otherwise. We did not really try the other hotel restaurants/facilities as we were out and about quite a bit.

Location is so-so. I feel our stay would have been more enjoyable if we stayed in the Old City/Sultanahmet area, as we kept going back there for restaurants and sites. We did not really explore the Taksim Square area too much, but one of our guides mentioned better night life around Taksim Square (which we did not take advantage of).

Staff is very friendly, both in the lobby as well as executive lounge. Always very helpful and spoke good English.

Room was clean, cleaning staff was very good and almost seems like they were waiting for us to leave our room so they could freshen it up. Our lady gave us flowers! View from the room leaves something to be desired (we faced the back, not the main street).

Not sure what else should go in a review, I haven't really written any before. So let me know if you have specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.

LA_FadeAway

We stayed at this Hilton in Istanbul and had a great stay. I believe we had the same rate as posted above 12k points + 97 TL per night. I thought that to be a good deal considering they were charging $300+ for rooms during the time we were there, although it did not seem like the hotel was very full. We did try room service from the Lebanese restaurant the night we arrived and it was pretty good. We also tried the Dragon Chinese restaurant. It was very good although a tad pricey for Chinese food. Unlike the person above, we were glad to not be staying right in the mayhem of old town. We found it to be nice to get away from there after a hectic day of site seeing. We booked direct private transfers to and from the hotel since we had a little extra luggage with us on this trip for 20 EUR each way. Here is the overly long review I posted on Tripadvisor:


We spent five nights at the Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus last month and were thoroughly satisfied with our stay. As Hilton Honors Diamond members we were upgraded to an executive floor room with an amazing view of the Bosphorus. The room was spacious and comfortable with all the amenities one would expect from a Hilton. The nightclub that others have mentioned was right by our room but we didn't find it too bothersome. It was a little loud in the evenings but we couldn't really hear it if our balcony door and window were closed.

The executive lounge is nice with a great view too. We loved how they leave it open all day so you can grab a bottle of water, beer, or soda any time. The breakfast in the morning and snacks at evening were decent too. Not spectacular but sufficient.

The staff were amazingly friendly and helpful. The first night we were there they had a Manger's reception in the bar downstairs with the outside terrace. While making conversation with one of the Managers we mentioned that we were having a problem with the keyboard on our laptop and asked if there were an electronics store nearby. They ended up lending us a USB keyboard for the length of our stay. On our last day there, we were finally able to fix our laptop so we never had to go buy a keyboard. I was very impressed by their level of service. All the staff we encountered during our stay were great.

We thought the location of the hotel was perfect for us. It was an easy walk to Taksim and Istklal and the entrance to the public transit system was very close to the hotel. We quickly learned how to get around on the trams and funiculars and never once had to get in a taxi. It would take about 30 - 40 mins to get from our room to Old Town using public transit. We liked being able to go to Old Town to see the sites but then retreat back to the peacefulness of the Hilton.

The only critique is that the room got rather hot at night. I kept fiddling with the controls trying to cool it down with no luck. Another guest informed me that they had the same problem and had called for maintenance and was told they don't turn on the A/C until April 1. Perhaps they should consider turning it on sooner in the year if temperatures are unseasonably warm.

Oh, and watch out for the shoe shine guy who "drops" his brush as he passes you. We encountered him while walking back to the hotel in the evening. We did stop him and give him his brush but quickly remembered reading about the shoe shine scam so avidly refused his attempt to shine my shoes and walked away quickly. The next night we passed a couple who had fallen for the scam and heard him demanding 19 lira from them while they stood there looking shocked. He seems to work that stretch between Taksim and the Hilton and targets tourists walking toward the Hilton after dinner time.

Overall, we would definitely stay there again whenever returning to Istanbul.

rjmaype

Just stayed on points and currency one night and checked in at 3pm.

Offered River view on third floor or backside view on executive floor.

Took the backside view.

Executive lounge free flowing wine and adult beverages, food plenty but continually need replenished due to volume of families.

Offered breakfast in EL but went to first floor main dining without their disclosure. Breakfast great but omelet chef, when asked what could be put in omelets, the answer was eggs.

Nearly always no seating near the EL windows available.

For an executive lounge, the most kids I have ever seen.

My worst experience as a Diamond overseas and highly disappointed.

My first negative vote and first warning to others.

paul4040

Were you on the bottom floor?

frequentflier2014

Has anyone ever took the Aromatherapy massage offer from Nor1?

If yes, how is it and how many minutes is the massage? Thanks!

Aromatherapy Massage
Refresh both body and mind with special Aromatherapy Massage
Experience the massage therapy which is applied with essential oils extracted from natural herbs and flowers
Try the comfortable atmosphere of Sentinus Wellness & Spa with miraculous gifts of nature
Please note that this price is subject to local taxes

whimsey21

This thread seems to be lacking recent updates, so I'll add my experience. I just stayed at the Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus based on the info in the general Istanbul Hilton thread, and was very happy with my experience. I had booked a city-view family room and was hoping for an upgrade to a bosphorus view, as hh gold. Instead, they upgraded me to a huge corner suite (1300sqft with balconies on both sides). I was also given lounge access, and was quite impressed with both the space and the offerings. We were at the end of a long trip, and my kids were too tired to go to dinner; they were quite happy with the snacks and juices in the lounge, and I was pleased that they offered a variety of alcoholic beverages.
I found the walk to Taksim Square to be quite easy, and as someone else mentioned earlier, I liked being able to leave the tourist areas at the end of the day (I had also been considering the doubletree) and get closer to a regular city experience.
I also had quite a good experience with the staff- they were very attentive and quick to help out when we had problems with the wifi (down quite a bit of the day we were there) or needed something in our room.
I don't think I've had as good treatment as a HHonors Gold at any other property-- I'm very glad to have stayed here, and will definitely do so again when next in Istanbul.

shonamac

Does anyone know whether this hotel is easily accessible by public transport (like the DoubleTree Old Town is)?

Also, have others also experienced the Wi-Fi problems posted above?

georgebaz

A few years later, the same chef (or his younger brother) still can't take orders in English, and I can't give them in Turkish.

Otherwise, the hotel was great - I stayed twice this summer, and while I'm a bit embarrassed that my granddaughter might have annoyed the hell out of real executives in the Executive Lounge, we liked the food, the views, the grounds, the whole experience. It was like a big kindergarten most of the time, with an occasional wedding thrown in for a good measure.

Andriyko

Your review made me chuckle. :-) It pretty much describes our experience there. I love this hotel. It is one of the better Hiltons out there.

camsean

Yes. This hotel is great. A slice of history as well.

FlytheTail

That describes the common areas of the hotel and executive lounge very well! I just stayed at this hotel 5 nights and overall had a rather poor experience. Probably in the lower 20 percentile of Hiltons in which I've stayed. The rooms are spacious, some of the common areas are nice, the internet worked well, and the views from the executive lounge were fantastic. I was also pleased that they offered coffee in the room. However, I experienced a number of issues (some of which are minor in the scheme of things) that collectively led to my unfavorable review:

• Unbeknownst to me, there is an outdoor concert near the hotel every night for 2 months in the summer. This ends at midnight each night, although one night it didn't end until 12:45am. It was loud enough that I couldn't sleep until it ended.
• Above my room was a restaurant. I could hear each chair as people moved into and out of their seat. The walls are not soundproofed, which is surprising given the old construction of the hotel.
• No room upgrade as a Diamond, despite changing rooms mid-stay, when rooms with a river view were bookable online.
• The rooms are outdated and the carpet was stained.
• The elevators are very slow.
• The quality of the breakfast offerings in the lounge and the main restaurant was quite low, and things that were supposed to be hot were not, and vice-versa (eggs were cold, milk was warm).
• One evening, a maid just walked into my room using her key; she didn't knock or give any forewarning. She had come to provide turndown service and must have assumed no one was in the room (?).

When I checked out, I mentioned a few of these issues when asked how was my stay. They proactively offered to reduce my room service charges by 30%, which is better than nothing, but only reduced by total hotel bill by about 1%. I didn't ask for anything more and was eager to leave the property.

:D!

This is why I avoid major tourist destinations in August. I stayed early in the year and had a great experience.

I found the food quality to be good; I was shown to an express elevator further back in the lobby; and I didn't get the best upgrade, but it was to a river view room. I paid GBP 70.

BOStonTravels

If an option for people I think the Conrad is best for a Hilton property now.

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

Andriyko

I stayed here for 3 nights last week. A very enjoyable stay overall. The occupancy was very low as I could tell by how few people turned out for breakfast. The lounge is closed but they provide limitless soft drinks via room service and one can request a plate of snacks and alcoholic beverages between 6pm and 8pm. I took the plate once for the photo opportunity but did not try anything, but it looked good. They also gave me drink vouchers for the bar which I forgot to use. The voucher is good for a soft drink or house wine/beer. There is no buffet for breakfast; instead, they give you a plate of cold cuts and you can then go to the cooking area and order something hot. For some reason they had no fish which was disappointing. The pool was open, and was very nice. The pool cafe is open too. Again, a very enjoyable stay despite my initial fears that due to the Covid situation travelling would not be enjoyable.