This relatively new hotel in Sultanahmet has a location that is extremely hard to beat. It's small, in a quiet side street just off the park where the Hippodrome used to be, but just around the corner you have all the major downtown attractions as well as shops and restaurants easily accessible. The T1 tram stop is just a short walk away.
I told Malik, the hotel manager, that the online photos of their hotel do not do it justice. Sure, it's not a luxury hotel by any means, but it is certainly tastefully furnished with a good balance of modern and traditional touches, and much nicer/classier than in the photos. The breakfast room has a spectacular view of the blue mosque, which we enjoyed not only in the mornings, but also in the evenings when it's all lit up, while having after-dinner tea. The breakfast spread is very good.
The beating heart of the hotel is its wonderful staff who treated us like family, always making sure that we were enjoying our stay and everything was going well. Malik had some black Turkish coffee prepared for me (twice!) as a remedy for my ailing tummy; Yunus lent us an Istanbulkart so we didn't have to buy one, and also quickly sorted out a problem we had with a taxi driver (who, within five minutes of Yunus putting down the phone, drove back to the hotel and refunded us our money!); and Erhan's restaurant recommendations are very on-point.
Despite only being rated as a three-star hotel, there are small luxuries that Hai Bayram has that even some four- and five-star hotels don't have. A box of facial tissue on the dresser. Disposable bedroom slippers. Quality toilet paper. Unlimited coffee and tea at the breakfast room at any time. Refilled water bottles in the ref. And personalized attention from the hotel staff that would put concierge services in some luxury hotels to shame.
The reviews are true and I vouch for them. 10/10, very wholeheartedly given. Would absolutely recommend, without hesitation.
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