Ferman Hotel Old City -Special Category

Received free room upgrade on arrival, nice view of Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the sea from our balcony. Breakfast terrace has stunning views both at daylight and at night. Service at reception and during breakfast is outstanding. Housekeeping does a perfect job. If you want to have a relaxed stay at the core of the old city of istanbul, go here. We didn't even go to the spa, although we chose this hotel because it has a spa and gym available. There are so many options in Istanbul that makes it hard to chose. So - keep it simple, go for this one, because you won't regret it and you can fully focus on your stay at this wonderful city. As it is super close to the old city, still in a calm and peaceful neighborhood, you might even enjoy a late evening walk down to the sea or the Hagia Sophia, both are 5 minutes walking distance away and - this is a special hint: you can see dolphins playing in the sea in the evening. they usually don't get much further into the bosphorus, but when you walk down to the sea from the hotel, you can spot them easily when the sun goes down. with oculars you might spot them even from the balcony.

The location was great close and walking distance to the main attractions. It was clean, spacious and beds very comfortable. Staff are very friendly and happy to assist. Breakfast was tasty and plenty.

Amazing hospitality by the staff, everyone including the cleaners were incredibly kind and welcoming. The receptionists especially Nuri were very accommodating and answered the many questions we had with no problem. They also speak fluent English which is great. The hotel is located a very easy 5 minute walk from sultanahmet square and there are many restaurants in the area. The best convenient location if you were to go for your first trip like I did. The rooftop views were also amazing.

We booked this hotel through booking.com, which was in itself, a very smooth experience. We received messages from hotel admin soon if we needed help with transportation from airport to the hotel. They arranged the transport very promptly and sent us detailed info about how to find the location of the transport. The transport process went very smoothly(As everyone knows taxi experience in Istanbul is not the best). We were greeted very warmly by the reception and the bell bot took care of our luggage promptly. The receptionist was very pleasant and welcoming and made us feel at home. We asked for advice about dining close by. The staff actually took us to a restaurant which was hardly a 3 minute walk. The food was so good that we returned to that restaurant a day later. There were several other options to dine close by and all of them seemed very good. The hotel is walking distance from Hagia Sofia and you can view this majestic building from its terrace while enjoying a great breakfast. Breakfast was very good. The rooms were spacious and we had a great balcony facing the sea and you wake up to a beautiful view of the sea(We had to pay a nominal charge to upgrade our room to the sea-view but that was my best decision). Please keep in mind that spacious rooms are not the norm in tourist central areas. Public transportation was close however we preferred walking as it was a very safe area. We google mapped travel times walking vs public transport and it used to show only 5-10 minute difference. The pictures provided on the website are not exaggerated at all. Didn't need to call reception as everything was well explained. There was a mini market near us. Room service was prompt and they kept on stocking the refrigerator daily with water(free). I would recommend this hotel to others as well and will stay here again if I visit the city in the future.

The rooftop breakfast room is a stand out plus for this hotel. In a few hundred yards in one direction is the Hagia Sofia and in the other, the Blue Mosque. Also in view is the Bosphorus. At the end of a day of sightseeing it was very restorative to have tea and biscuits in the same space. When we stayed it was early in the season so we only sat outside occasionally. In or out, it was a lovely space with panoramic views.