Hotel suggestion for short overnight @ IST? [Part of a TK MR]
 

I'm doing an MLK weekend MR to IST with the fares out of Chicago. Arrive mid-afternoon from CDG and leave at 6:25am the next morning.

Was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on hotels for that evening?

Two best options seem to be:

1) The Courtyard by Marriott which has shuttle service but it doesn't start until 5:30am (I believe) to the airport, which would require a taxi to get back to the airport. (Are they readily available at 4am?)

2) The Airport hotel. About twice the price, but located in the terminal. Also provides easy access to the subway if I want to head into the city for dinner.

Any thoughts between these two (or other options)?

Thanks,
Greg

Don't ever, ever stay at Atakoy Marina Hotel. It's the rundown sister to Sheraton, sharing the same free shuttle from IST. I ended up there with a Hotwire 2* hotel for the price of a 4* hidden deal. I think Hotwire was actually conned, thinking they'd contracted with a Sheraton. Pics posted on TripAdvisor. Got my money back.

Just back from a 2 night stay in IST to break up a SIN-JFK trip and would highly recommend the Basileus hotel in the heart of town.

Room will set you back 70 euro and a private transfer another 20 euro each way. So for 110 Euro all up, its much better value than the airport hotel and allows you a few hours sightseeing and a nice dinner in town too. Transfer to airport will be <30mins at that time of morning..

Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel
 

I've used the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel before, which offers a free airport shuttle during certain hours (see their website). If you instead choose to take a taxi, it's not very expensive, and there are always taxis waiting at the hotel to take folks to the airport.

If you get a room on a high floor, the views of the IST airport are reasonably good, too. The pool is huge, clean, and looks out over the sea. There's a nice sports bar next door if you want to watch a game and have a reasonably good meal - or just sit on the terrace and smoke a hookah with a few locals.

While the Renaissance Polat isn't downtown, and it won't give you a chance to play with the pigeons in Taksim square, it's IMHO the right way to go for a one-night MR with an early departure. In other words, it gets you out of the airport and the opportunity to see a little something of Istanbul. You also avoid the (insane) traffic jams and the time wasted trying to get to the Old City for a single night's sleep.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...stanbul-hotel/

P.S. When you're departing IST the next day, assuming you're *A Gold, don't forget to use the separate *A Gold entrance to the international terminal, since it'll get you through the metal-detector line much quicker. Similarly, once you're inside the terminal and have your boarding pass, look for the special entrance to the TK lounge, with it's own security and passport control - but you can only use this lounge entrance if you're on TK (i.e. it doesn't work for UA passengers).

I would recommend the Holiday Inn Istanbul Airport, its avaible for about 100$ and very close to the Airport.

However, taxis are avaible anytime, at every hotel. You just have to ask the hotel in advance to call one. This might take some time.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm actually ST Elite+ (DL PM). :)

Greg

Renaissance Polat Hotel
 

Was staying at Renaissance Polat due to flight cancellation at the end of November. Not sure how much the nightly rate because it was provided by UA. Spacious and clean room along with free internet and also very close to the airport.
It has an onsite restaurant but few kabob restaurants within walking distance as well.

If you define 'very close' as actually 20 minutes away, sure.....

But I still wouldn't recommend it. We stayed there for 5k PC points (pointsbreak) and it was hardly worth the $35. The room was too hot. And the halls are lit like a nightclub!

If you were driving 20 minutes you had really heavy traffic or the taxi driver made a little detour ;) In my case we needed 10 minutes with normal traffic. I know thats not walking distance, but for IST its close.

And if your room was to hot: There is an AC in the room and also a regulator...

Are you sure the entrance is for all *G?

AFAIR is every special treatment from the airport only for TK elites and C pax.

Well, I make no reps or warranties, but in my own experience (flying UA and/or LX) all I had to do was flash my UA 1k card to gain admission to the *A gold metal detector line. N=3 so there's a little bit of statistical certainty behind my experience.

Again, this is the metal detector that gains you entrance to the terminal's check-in area. It's NOT the metal detector that gains you admission to the secure air-side part of the terminal.

I just stayed at the Courtyard on 30-Dec. I used the pre-pay option and it was around USD$70. I arrived while the shuttle was running, and utilized that. It was on schedule, leaving on the 30.

Hotel was ok. Didn't try the food. Walked up the street to a good kebap place.

My flight left pre-shuttle in the AM as well. They called a taxi for me. It was a short ride and cost TL16 ($9) before tip.

Under any other circumstance I would take the tram into Sultanahmet, but short turn around mileage runs are the exception.

BTW: I flashed my Aegean *A Gold Card for access to the good lines, even though I was on KLM that day. Successful. ;)

If you are thinking about going into town for dinner or a bit of evening sightseeing, then definitely stay at a hotel in Sultanahmet or Taksim.

If you're after convenience as this is a purely MR trip, then I'd stick with the airport hotel.

The "E" gate is accessible for all *A Gold card holders, not just TK Elites. Like others have said, I have used this gate even while flying non-Star airlines by showing my gold card. On a few occasions when I was dressed more formally they even waved me through without checking any credentials.

+1 on the Renaissance Polat suggestion. I stayed there in September on an overnight MR. I got a huge room on the concierge level, and the lounge's food offerings were great. The hotel is within walking distance to a rail stop that can take you to Sirkeci station -- about a ten-minute walk from Sultanahmet, Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, and the Galata Bridge. I took the train downtown the night I was there, had a good dinner, saw some sights, hopped on the train and returned to the hotel. Perfectly safe, and there's plenty of great people-watching in addition to the other sights. The hotel's shuttle to and from the airport was quick and convenient.