Hotel Sultanhan - Istanbul, Turkey 

We stayed in the Sultanhamet for three nights prior to a cruise. Our room was lovely, with a comfortable bed and small balcony that opened onto the street that the hotel faces. Since we knew we were in a large city, we closed our windows and ran the a/c at night; therefore, we missed the 5 a.m. call to prayer that awakened our friends. The rooftop restaurant has great views and good food - breakfast was included and was bountiful. Some of our best videos of the trip were taken from the rooftop garden above the restaurant - you could see the mosques as well as the Bosphorous beyond. Our room had a nice bathroom and ample storage in an armoire and a few cabinets. We booked the Turkish bath in the basement, which turned out to be self-service, so we had an entire Turkish bath suite to ourselves for an hour. The staff was extremely helpful, from the desk clerk to the bellman to the restaurant staff. When we return to Istanbul someday, we will definitely stay at the Sultanhamet!

We recently spent 4 nights at the Sultanhan Hotel before touring other areas of the country and then returned for a final night before heading back to Canada. The hotel is a little gem in the heart of the old city of Istanbul. The rooms were beautifully furnished with well stocked bathrooms including toiletries and towelling slippers embroidered with the hotels logo on them. We had been warned that we may be woken up before dawn with the call to prayers at the surrounding Mosques, but with the double glazed windows and the aircon switched on, we heard nothing. The buffet breakfasts served on the rooftop patio were wonderful - everything you could imagine - breads, buns, waffles, all kinds of homemade jams and preserves, REAL yogurt (not the kind we are used to getting in North America), fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, cereals, cheeses, olives, meats, juices, tea/coffee/juice. The staff were friendly and always ready to fill your coffee cup. There is a sauna and Hamam downstairs, but you do have to make a reservation and there is an extra charge - we went a couple of blocks away to the historic Cemberlitas Hamam and had the works which included a 30 minute oil massage after being slathered and pummelled on the hot marble slab in the hamam! An experience you'll never forget and not to be missed! When we returned to stay at the Sultanhan a week later, we were recognized and asked how our trip had been. On our last night we decided to eat dinner on the rooftop patio. There was a set menu for 55 Turkish Lira which included assorted mezes plate for each person, a huge salad, choice of steak, chicken or sea bream and a chocolate lava cake with ice cream for dessert. This also included a glass of wine, which was quite the bargain considering the price of wine everywhere in Turkey! The food was delicious and our waiter, Ali was fantastic. Except for one other couple, we had the entire rooftop to ourselves. We heard the call to prayer from the surrounding mosques as we ate our dinner and watched the sunset - a perfect ending to an amazing trip!