Santa Sophia Hotel

LikedGreat staff and exceptional location

LikedIt was a good price and location.

DislikedThe airport transfer was 40 minutes late. The rooms weren't overly clean, and didn't provide even a small bottle of water to make coffee. It felt like a pretty shabby place that was trying to paint on a pretty face.

LikedThe location is ok. The strettamente of the hotel has some cheap restaurants close by.

DislikedActually, we never spent the 3 nights I had booked in the morning of the same day of April in the hotel. As a matter of fact, when we arrived to the hotel in the late afternoon, the manager told us that they had had some kind of unspecified maintenance problems, so we had to be accommodated to another hotel partner (friend) at walking distance. Basically, the manager was selling on Booking a family room that was not available in the hotel , acting like a local booking broker and diverting his guest to other hotels. Well, the first night the second hotel didn't have a family available but a much smaller room with 2 queen size bed, and the rating was definitely lower. We spent the remaining days of our vacation there while Santa Sophia Hotel kept selling the room during the following days. The cost of the family room in this other hotel was 105 euros per night breakfast included. The cost of the 3 days reservation in Santa Sophia Hotel was 864 euros. Breakfast was offered us for free to apologise they said....No further comment is necessary.

LikedThe hotel is indeed close to a lot of attractions but there are plenty of other ones close and I don't think it's worth it since this was mainly the only good thing about it. They gave us another room after the first night so at least we had that.

DislikedWe were very disappointed by this hotel. From the moment we arrived we noticed that the vibe of this hotel was off. We checked our booking and then we saw that the lobby and the dining area were different from the ones in the pictures. Even the rooms were not the same. They said that they were renovated so I assume they did a worse job..yeah. The first room was very dirty (cobwebs, mold); the second was cleaner (by the hotel standards) but the first time we entered the room the floor was still wet from cleaning but it smelled of dirty feet. The breakfast was disappointing, there were no fruits, it seemed to have very cheap ingredients, especially the meat. The area the food was served was dirty, the coffee cups support was full of stains. The booking said that there is an iron in the room but they only have it at the reception if you ask for it.

LikedSplendid position, near to the tram station Ceberlitas, the most important Istanbul highlights (AyaSofia. Blue Mosque Basilica Cistern etc), the grand Bazaar, supermarkets, restaurants etc. Very safe neighborhood Very kind stuff