Istanbul Sapphire

Hotel was clean, was in a wonderful location, and the staff was helpful (although English challenged). Hotel was quiet and very clean. Surrounded by wonderful restaurants. Breakfast was extensive and although not to OUR tastes was well liked by all other guests. Had a heating problem with our room which was fixed by the next night. Would certainly stay again. Suggestion: Do NOT book the night dinner cruise on the Bospherous. Bad food but good entertainment. Expensive. Take a day cruise instead. We booked an official Turkish guide through the hotel and were very satisfied with him and official Turkish guides are highly regulated and VERY knowledgable. In all of our travels on the Med. we liked Istanbul the best over Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon (although all of those are world class cities). NOTE: Change money in Turkey. Evidently everybody does and the exchange rates are MUCH better than we got with our bank and there appear to be currency exchange kiosks with 4 on every block. Almost everybody LOVES dollars or Euros but carefully note the exchange rate that merchants are giving. Turkey appears to be a bargaining culture and tips are appreciated although not expected. We found Turkish merchants to be persistent but NOT objectionable. Turkey is NOT a touching culture. Arrange airport pickup through the hotel. The "new" Istanbul airport is large and modern with a LOT of walking and poor English signage. Note that Turkey is not an EU country with significant passport procedure

Who are very clean, the staff are very courteous and professional, it is located in a great area for food and shopping

The room was clean and very comfortable. The breakfast was substantial and had lots of variety. The staff were pleasant and helpful.