I selected this hotel from reading the reviews on TripAdvisor. It wasn't our first choice but they had rooms available and it had received some excellent reviews. It was our first trip to Istanbul and we went for a week.

I don't have experience of any other hotels in Turkey so can't compare. But here's some impressions-

It's in a quiet back street at the southern end of Sultanahmet. The area was peaceful and quiet although rundown with several derelict abandoned buildings close by. The hotel does look like the picture. It's an old timber construction which has been recently renovated.

There's a primary school just down the street, although this was not intrusive in any way - in fact the sound of the kids playing in the schoolyard was just about the only thing you would hear most mornings.

It's convenient. Just a short walk to the Blue Mosque and the other main attractions.

The room was small. Not big enough to sit in. It had one tiny wardrobe/closet. It was cool and quiet.

We felt the need of somewhere to sit and read or have a drink at the end of a long day. There is a lounge area by the lobby. It was always deserted. We would have liked somewhere outdoors but there was nowhere suitable. They put a couple of chairs out on the pavement sometimes but they were only in the sun briefly in the mornings. There was no open rooftop terrace.

Breakfasts were OK but exactly the same every day. Bread, cheese, boiled eggs, tomato, olives, spam-type meats/salami, cereals, yogurt. The last couple of days there was water melon but apart from that there was no fresh fruit at all. Some kind of reconstituted fruit juice which we didn't like.

Apart from breakfast and the mini bar there was no other refreshments or food available. I think they occasionally opened the breakfast room as a restaurant or for other functions. I assume this is the Dilkes restaurant mentioned on the site - but it was never open when we were there.

Overall I felt it was OK but I am not as enthusiastic as some other reviewers.

We paid 184 lira per night (double room) - which included a 15% long stay discount. They provided free airport pick up and drop off.