Azure 1

Turkish Delight

This is a classy and well appointed modern apartment in a quiet street. The five Azure apartments in the Cast portfolio, painted an azure blue on the outside, are one apartment block with Azure 1 on the first floor. And an interior azure decor creates an ambience of calm - an oasis in a teeming city of sensory overload. It contains everything necessary for a comfortable stay. It was clean, inviting and a haven to return to each night. A spacious kitchen, dining area and sitting room were our highlights. A large shower with copious hot water and a fresh smelling bed is not to be ignored as an imperative to this fastidious couple. An even larger fridge for all your turkish pillaging and foraging is an added bonus. One cannot resist hunter gathering on an obscene scale . There are a multitude of food stores around the apartment which appear to be open for business 24/7. And everything is good. You will waddle home sated like a sultan on pastries, halva and turkish delight. A "simit" bakery is a short walk away and the appetising smell of new bread and toasted sesame seeds has you slavering in anticipation even if you've just eaten breakfast! The ten minute walk up a very steep hill from the tram station back to Azure 1 should be embraced as a necessity:)
We have only a few cavils. The photo's don't give a real life view of how compact the bedrooms and bathroom are. Your bed is literally wall to wall and this necessitates clambering onto it and out of it at the foot base. If you are not agile this could be problematic. The bathroom is as wide as the shower. A one person standing space only. Fine for a couple but a larger party would have to have a roster in place. Although there is a downstairs loo. The apartment building next door is presently being renovated (this will be a necessary consideration for the next few months) and this created such a cacophony of noise it was impossible to stay in during the day and equally impossible to utilise the very pretty little patio due to the dust and wet cement that accompanied the noise. The apartment is on two floors - the stairs might not suit toddlers. Finally, although we were promised a linen change during our two week stay, this did not materialise. These are small gripes and should not disway any decision to make Azure 1 your home base while exploring Turkey. An added incentive is the courtesy extended to you by the Cast team. They are charming.

Good place, try it

"A comfortable, roomy apartment for the 3 of us (it will take two couples). A few minor flaws but nothing serious. Malfunctioning light bulbs were sorted out the next day by Kadir, very efficiently. There's a phone you can use for local calls at no charge, so it's handy to book a restaurant.

The location is great. You can walk to Istanbul's major shopping street in 5 - 10 mins. You can even walk to the Blue Mosque in 30 mins, so if the weather's nice you can enjoy the city at first hand.

It's on a quiet side street so you won't be disturbed by too much noise, but it's only minutes to find a place selling fresh bread and pastries in the morning, or the local Carrefour supermarket where you can stock up on excellent Turkish wine and beer.

Good place, try it."

Amazing Place and City