Sidonya Hotel in Istanbul

As a solo female traveller I would absolutely steer clear from this hotel. Evening staff are questionable and gave me the absolute creeps!

When I arrived reception and staff are very welcoming, nice, friendly and super helpful when you

Breakfast is really decent and has good variety and fresh, nice view of the Bospherus and lots of seagulls around, serving staff are lovely too, the location is excellent and that’s why I booked this hotel however a few things happened during my stay! Which completely freaked me out and made me feel very unsafe and wary and I demanded a refund and left!

If you’re planning on working ABSOLUTELY forget it their WiFi don’t work and NON EXISTENT -you can get in but it’s permanently an issue and goes off all the time. You will NOT be able to work.

There is no tea and coffee in the rooms and they charge for the basics of water 40TL what a joke and for the cheapest price surely they would just include it out of principal! Let alone basics of tea and coffee.

The first room they put me in absolutely stank of cigarettes and I wanted to be sick when I walked in which seems to be a major issue across Turkish hotels of travellers smoking in rooms even if not permitted. Not sure why they don’t tar a credit card at check in and a holding deposit and if you smoke in the room then charge the card so the next guest doesn’t have an unpleasant experience as that smell sticks to everything. White spirit vinegar and charcoal for days to absorb it may help but disgusting!!! Thankfully they had other rooms and moved me

Rooms are clean and so is the bathroom BUT very outdated!!! Bed is ok not the best!

Walls are paper thin in this hotel so if your neighbours are talking they will wake you up AT ALL HOURS inkcufin 2am!!! not to mention housekeeping in the passage in the mornings to clean rooms you will hear everything. If sleep is not important to you then you will be OK!

If ALL of the above doesn’t bother you go ahead and stay for the price! Please be aware that their pricing direct is NUTS and cheaper available on other booking platforms but to add a guest costs more than the nightly rate oh but they will give you a deal. Laughable too.

There are actually far better hotels in the same area you just need to do extensive research and check reviews across many sites to get an exact feel.

Tourism is on a massive decline in Turkey and it’s sad but it’s no surprise! I will never EVER come back to this city. From my experience and I’ve travelled the world!

Everyone sadly in Istanbul sees tourists coming and RIPS them off and takes the absolute piss from restaurants and taxi drivers being the worst. Shameful and disgusting but burn more people and they will then sit and wonder why others just simply never return!

I came out of hospital and a taxi driver for a ride of 460TL added on an additional 2 zeros total 46000 to the end! In my fragile state hardly able to see as it was dark and late at night. I only noticed a day later. Take a photo of the meter before getting out and put in Google maps so driver is aware that you’re aware of what they are like. Never in all my travels across the world have I ever dealt with a consistent pattern of RIP tourists off!

English is a massive problem and it doesnt seems to be a norm in hospitality industry here and not widely spoken same with cab drivers but when you’re angry and lose it they quickly seem to be able to rectify the problem, so really makes one wonder!