<p>We are planning a trip to Turkey and the tour guide has booked us in the Hotel Arcadia in Istanbul. In researching the hotel we found some not so good reviews. However, only 2 were recent. We also researched The Hotel Empress Zoe. Has anyone had any experience with either of them?
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Turkey Hotel
Message Submitted by GMR on Thu, 09/30/2010 - 16:16
How long are you going to stay there?
Last time we were in Istambul we split a
week between the Arcadia and the Hilton
because we wanted to stay on both sides.
This worked to us. Here are some specifics:
Very good location, half a block from a main artery,
very close to Blue Mosque, Agia Sophia, and the
Spice Bazar. Quiet street, unusual in this city.
Around the corner from trolley and you can walk across the bridge to the other side.
We paid a little more for a corner room with windows in 3 sides and we could see the water, and the major mosques.
We could also heat ALL the calls to prayer.
Breakfast (included) served in the terrace was good, not luxurious but more than OK.
Now the cons:
We went during the summer and the air conditioning was inadequate because they kept turning it UP the moment
you step out and again a few minutes after you came into
the room. This was a big issue for us. To a much lesser extent the same thing happened at the Hilton but there it was not a major problem.If you are not going in the hot season this may be irrelevant.
Would I stay there again? Not necessarily on a return trip
but other than the AC it was perfect for us, especially the location, we walked everywhere and loved it. The view was great too. I hope this helps.
We loved the Richmond Hotel on the historic, quiet, old diplomatic area pedestrian street on the European side just off Taksim Square which is a perfect home base from which everything around this area and across to the main city as well across the pontoon bridge and into the hearts of the bazaars. An older and more modest hotel, but perfect location: http://www.richmondhotels.com.tr/eng/istanbulrichmond.asp