I'll try to do this early May on my return trip.

I'll start looking for this during my outbound journey next week. My goal is to send off my parents to Asia 1-2 am at gate, then go outside for hotel to get some rest and return.

p.s. Based on the FAQ from YotelAir, you may leave the airport so I'll check around once I'm at IST next week.

I would also have a trip from Istanbul Airport in mid-May. If I arrive early to the airport, I would try to discover the secret pathway to from the departures level to the arrivals level. Just be aware that to access YotelAir, you must have a valid boarding pass for your onward flight.

Does someone know what are peak times for sleeping rooms and when it's easier to get one? I will arrive at 5:20am. I am assuming I should not have a problem getting a room at that time?

I am arriving at IST from SFO at 17:10 and departing to CMN the next day at 11:20 (Economy). Do I get to the hotel desk via arrivals or transit? I have a Turkish visa already. I assume they will bus us to a hotel near the old airport? Anyone know where they will take us?

You would reach the hotel desk after clearing passport control and customs. The hotel desk is located at the arrivals level at the landside on the right side of the terminal after you exit the baggage claim hall. Nobody has currently reported which hotel they bus passengers but it would be useful to check this thread regularly in case someone reports their own experience. But, I know that the free stopover hotel is not the YOTEL which is located inside the airport terminal.

By the way, consult e-mailing the respective hotel desk for a reservation. You could find the e-mail address at the WIKI section of this thread. They also accept walk-ins, but previous experiences ( in Atatürk ) report that pax who pre-reserves their room get a better hotel. If you decide to e-mail add your reservation code, full name, flight information ( flight numbers, date, route ) and write a simple text that you would like to book the free stopover hotel service.

I have booked YUL-IST-SIN in J for next year. In both directions, I get the hotel symbol in my itinerary during the stopover, which is about 9.5 hours in each direction. In the return direction only, I get the Touristanbul symbol and the hotel symbol. Does this mean I get to do both the city tour and the hotel? 9.5 hours doesn't seem like enough time to take full advantage of both these options.

But in case it is recommended and possible to do both, does anyone have advice on how to organise this? Should I email the transit hotel organizers at TK first, per the wiki? Should I mention the Touristanbul option in the email? I'd probably want to go to the hotel first, then go to on the tour, and then go back to the airport. But do any of these tours leave from the layover hotels?

It sounds like one would need some pretty reliable logistics operation to make all this work in 9.5 hours. Is this realistic?

No, you could choose one of the options technically. However, you could prefer to go back to the airport by your own expense and present yourself to the Touristanbul desk. This might work. The tours leave from Istanbul Airport and the only hotel transportation that TK would provide would be just after your flight to the hotel and back to the hotel 3h-3h30mins before your flight.

If you want to reserve the hotel option, mail them; however, if you prefer to use the Touristanbul option, you need to be present at the dedicated desk at the arrivals level of Istanbul Airport, 15 minutes before the tour.

Thanks for the detailed and very helpful reply.

The SIN-IST flight gets in before 6 am, supposedly. Are the hotel transfers running at that hour in the morning? And does the hotel room include breakfast? It would be nice to clean up at the hotel, have breakfast, and then decide whether to take a nap at the hotel before returning to the airport or try to go on one of the tours by going back to the airport on our own.

Hotel transfers are running 7/24. An e-mail reservation would minimize your wait for the shuttle at the airport; if you decide to book your hotel room on the spot, you would wait more. The hotel room would include breakfast, lunch and dinner depending the time of the day. However, previous experiences from FT members report that you should request meal vouchers at the hotel desk; otherwise they are not handed.

Any luck on that?

The YOTEL FAQ's are a bit funny. So I won't trust on that.

For example, how could you retrieve a boarding card without checking in?

Hi, anybody know the details for Bosphorus tours that is commencing on 1 May 2019?

18:00-23:00. You could find more information at the website linked at the WIKI section of this thread.

Sorry. my earlier question is too brief. Whats the pick up and ending point? would it be possible to join the tour at the dinner place (if so, where is it) or leave the tour early (or when we disembark from the cruise). Where is the location for disembarkation?