The staff were welcoming and accommodating, and gave my sister and me a free upgrade to a slightly larger room with separate beds for the second half of our 4-night stay. They arranged paid transportation for us from and to the airport. Beds were comfortable, there were plenty of towels, shower was new, everything spotless. The breakfast buffet was ample, varied, and tasty, with a rooftop view from indoors or from the 2-level terrace outside, which could also be accessed at night to enjoy the illuminated panorama and use wifi in addition to the connection in the room. The adjacent streets are lined with restaurants and shops, and it is a short walk uphill to major monuments such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, as well as a tram line. One can walk or take the tram to the docks for a boat ride on the Bosphorus; the bazaars and a bath house are also within walking distance, even for someone with a bad knee. The only drawback to the excellent tourist location is that the small streets around the hotel are quite noisy with vehicles and loud pedestrians way into the night, so we found it best to keep the windows closed and use the excellent climate control system to drown out external sounds when sleeping.