Hilton ParkSA Istanbul - Istanbul, Turkey 

Good value, great staff
Posted: Sat, Apr 19 2008
If you have conquered the historical sites in Sultunamet, they is a conveniently located hotel for exploring the neighborhood. I moved here after being at the 4 seasons and was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. Pros: --Couldn't upgrade my room, but gave me free breakfasts. Not the best in the world, but the view is spectacular (even if it was snowing!) and it was a nice way to start the day. --Nice bottle of wine and fruit waiting in room. --Rooms look exactly like they do on the website. Very modern, good update of an older building. --Exceptionally helpful staff. At the bar, they remembered my drink after one night and since I had lost my voice insisted on sending up some hot lemon water with honey. This didn't show up on my bill. --I wasn't billed for using the business center to check email quickly. --Doorman was very helpful and considerate. Great at telling Taxis were I was going. --Nice robe in the room make it feel a bit more upscale. Cons: --Some taxis have a hard time finding it. They keep wanting to take you to the big Hilton. --The bath tubs ARE deathtraps. I couldn't figure out what people were talking about before I checked in, but they are slick and completely curved on the bottom. Recommend standing like you are snowboarding. --The beds are just no good. So low to the ground you fee like you are having a sleep over. And about as hard as the floor would be. All in all, a good value for the money and I would stay there again.

Pleasant weekend break in Istanbul
Posted: Sun, Mar 02 2008
Getting of Ataturk airport was stressful; it took us almost two hours, due to very long lines for visa and immigration. Outside we took the Hava? connection, a luxury bus with enough space for luggage. There are only a very few stops to the city and the fare is 9 TRY (new Turkish Lira) p.p. or ? 5.50/$ 8.00. From the end stop at Taksim Square it is only a short taxi ride to the Hilton Park Hotel. The hotel is situated on a hill. From outside it doesn’t look very special, inside it has a modern lobby and there are 7 floors, on the top floor is the restaurant. Front desk staff was very friendly and we were given a nice room on the 5th floor with view on the Bosphorus. The room is not very spacious, but it had a comfortable chair with small table, a working desk with chair, a small LCD flat screen TV and a large closet, all very modern furniture. The bathroom was marble and had a bath with shower. Nice detail, there was a fresh flower next to the sink. It is mentioned in former reviews that the bed is terrible and we can only agree. It is hard, not comfortable at all and the thin mattress was too big for the frame underneath. So on one side it felt that you are rolling out of the bed. In the room are also a minibar and a water cooker with cups and Nescafe and tea bags. For our welcome as Diamond members we were given a plate with fresh fruit and a bottle of red wine. Everything was already in our room when we arrived. In the evening we had dinner in the restaurant. There is plenty of staff, but the food is very pricey. For instance, my husband had a small steak for 32 TRY (? 19/$ 28) and this is served on a further empty plate!!! We had to buy everything as potatoes and vegetables extra, and then you get extremely tiny portions of each. At the end we took coffee and we are used that in restaurants this is served with sweets. Nothing at all, and a coffee or cappuccino costs 8 or 9 TRY a cup, be aware that is for the latter ? 5.50 of $ 8.00 each. We have been all over the world, but have never paid that much for just coffee. There is a business center with two computers and printers. You have to pay for every half hour you use it, but when I checked my mail for just 10 minutes or so, they didn’t charge me, what was very friendly. Breakfast was included in our rate and was very good. Many things to choose from and eggs could be ordered in every way. Again, there was much staff in the restaurant. The view from the top floor was fantastic in the early morning hours. On our second day we took a taxi to the city center, not very expensive (rather odd, we paid the same amount as for a cup of coffee in the hotel!) After our return we found a plate with delicious bonbons in our room. From the hotel it is a 10-15 minute walk to a very busy area with shops and restaurants (out of the hotel go the right and keep walking in that direction, after a while the road will split and you have to make a slight curve to the right). Istanbul is a nice city, but far to busy with tourists when we were there (last weekend in 2007). After all we had a pleasant stay in the hotel. The staff is very forthcoming, the room is okay besides the bed and the breakfast was great.