Megara Palace - Old City - Istanbul, Turkey 

My friend and I were here for 4 nights and we enjoyed our stay very much. The location is excellant, everything within easy walking distance. The hotel is about 100 m away from the "hostel" street (loud bars, caf?s, hostels) which made it relatively quiet, except for the morning prayers (very loud, but everywhere in the city). The walls are a little thin and if you're on the floor with the balconies you can hear the chair-scraping of the breakfast room right above you. Our first room was VERY small, we moved to a larger one two days later at no extra cost. Breakfast is nothing to write home about, they should work on that. The staff is very friendly and helpful, even if the waiters speak almost no english at all. The hotel owner is often down in the lobby and enjoys a nice chat. No, this is not a 5 -Star hotel, but as a city hotel more than adequate - if I ever go back to Istanbul again I will be sure to book the Megara Palace.

Stayed in Megara Palace for three rainy nights in April 2008. Location is ace as long as you avoid the horrible "backpacker lane" round the corner. The room was tiny but clean; facilities adequate. Room located next to reception, with ground floor window facing the street, so noise was a bit of a problem (the first night's sleep was - rather amusingly - absolutely sabotaged by a very talkative parrot kept in the lobby, but staff put it to sleep somewhere else after I asked them to...). Staff were generally very friendly and did their best, breakfast was okay and served in rooftop room with great views. Special discount rate (booked through website) was only charged after I insisted, so that was a bit of a nuisance. All in all: recommended, provided that you can get one of the more spacious rooms on the upper floors.