Arena Hotel - Istanbul, Turkey     

My husband and I were on our honeymoon in early June and our travel agent arranged for us to stay at the Arena Hotel, under the description that it was a 4* superior hotel. The location is convenient and it is on a quieter street in the Sultanahmet and, upon check-in, the staff was very welcoming and we were able to converse in English easily. However, that's where the good points ended for us. The room was tiny and was not as well appointed as a 4* hotel room should have been. Unfortunately, the air conditioning was broken when we checked in and there were no screens on the windows. The only thing the hotel staff said they could do at the time was to give us a fan, there was no discussion of changing rooms or switching us to another hotel. We found out that the hotel had been lying to other guests who's air condition wasn't working either that week, continuing to tell them that it would be fixed soon. Luckily our travel agency was able to accommodate us at another hotel. However, the staff at the Arena hotel blatantly lied to our travel agency in discussions regarding our situation and told them that the air conditioning was working just fine and that they had delivered a special honeymoon present to us from the travel agency (which they hadn't given us). The travel agency also sent a time-sensitive fax to the hotel for us, which the hotel handed to us too late. I wish the Arena hotel had lived up to it's description and (assuming) previous experiences of the travel agency. We were expecting a wonderful stay and instead got a frustrating, disappointing experience. Would not recommend this hotel for more than it's convenient location.

I found the hotel small, intimate, charming and up to all the Western standards that one has come to expect. The staff was incredibly helpful and the hotel location is fabulous for accessing the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the numerous attractions in the city. But I did have a problem. When I returned one night with a Turkish friend that that works for a respectable business in the city, he was denied access to the hotel. This put me in an incredibly ackward position with my guest. The only thing that we could discover was that this was the rules of the hotel and if the staff let him in, they could be fired. I have no problem following the laws of the country and accepting the norms of the culture if in fact this is what this was. I do have a problem with the fact that it is not stated anywhere, nor is anyone informed upon check-in, that this is the hotel's policy. Let me also say that prior to staying at the hotel I had been at the Istanbul Hilton Hotel for more than a week. I was not faced with this problem when I was there. If you have local friends or plan on meeting someone and expecting to bring them back to the hotel - do not stay here.