Aga Hamam

14/03/13

We rented Aga Hamam for a family of 4 & a friend (so five in total) & we can't say enough wonderful things about the apartment, location & service. The apartment is beautifully decorated with furniture from local craftsmen & with very cool Banksy reproductions & the beds & bedding were incredibly comfortable. There are 3 bedrooms (each with a queen bed) & one "dressing room" with a (very comfortable) couch that pulls out to make a queen-size bed. The apartment could easily sleep 8 people. It is 4 floors up, so the first couple of days we were winded climbing the stairs, but by the end of our stay we were quite used to the work-out. The apartment faces towards the Bosphorous, but unfortunately, there is another building in front of the view. You can still get a good view of Galata tower from the kitchen & dining room windows, however. It also faces out onto a sleepy little square which houses a mosque & a minaret with a speaker that points right into two of the bedrooms & the dressing room. So at 5:00 in the morning, be prepared for a little taste of the call to prayer. We solved this problem by wearing ear-plugs. The 3 locks on the front door made us a bit apprehensive about the safety of the area, but we were never nervous about our security. The location of the building is far enough away from Taskim Square to keep the other noise levels down, but really close to amazing restaurants, local artists & designers shops & public transit. If you have difficulties walking, this would not be the property for you though, as it is very hilly in this neighbourhood. There is a very humble restaurant (called Datli Maya) beneath the apartment that serves incredible organic & locally sourced Turkish food. Although we had the best intentions of cooking in the fully outfitted kitchen, we ended up ordering takeout from this restaurant as it was so convienient, tasty & cheap. There were grocery stores around every corner with fresh vegetables & local & imported wine & beer. There is also an excellent restaurant (Changa) up a near-by street that was spectacular. It was a bit hard to locate, costly but memorable. Serdal, the person in charge of the property, was also delightful & well informed about events going on in the city & cool places to check out. When we had an issue with the gas being turned off (someone turned it off outside the apartment) he came in a flash & solved the issue. I can highly recommend this apartment & would certainly book it again. 

What a beautiful place!

Ausgezeichnete Wohnung im lebendigen Stadtteil Cihangir

Eigentlich sind wir angereist um ein Partywochenende in Beyoglu zu zelebrieren doch irgendwie haben wir mehr Zeit in der Wohnung verbracht als irgendwo anders. Die Besitzer Serdal & Kadir sind sehr freundliche und äußerst zuvorkommende Gastgeber und stehen mit Rat und Tat zur Verfügung. Wenn Ihr euch nicht so gut auskennt fragt einfach die Beiden und Ihr werdet sicherlich ein Paar aufregende Istanbuler Abende erleben. Zur Wohnung ist eigentlich nicht viel zu sagen außer dass sie geschmackvoll ausgestattet und sehr sauber und komfortabel ist, besonders zu erwähnen ist die Auswahl der Bilder (Kunst) an den Wänden Well Done Jungs! Wir werden euch auf jeden Fall weiter empfehlen und selbst auch die eine oder andere Wohnung gelegentlich in Anspruch nehmen wollen.