Büyük Hamit Hotel

If you are tired of the same old cookie-cutter style modern hotel rooms and want something romantic and beautiful - than this is the hotel for you! We stayed for three nights in this wonderful hotel right in the heart of the Fatih district in Istanbul. We arrived late at night and the hotel staff were very helpful and took all of our bags up to our room and parked our rental car for us. Our room was the Royal Suite and was huge. A big king-sized bed and a sofa couch that I believe would pull out to be an extra bed too. All of the furnishings were simply gorgeous and gave the room a very romantic feel. The bathroom was equally as large with a big spa tub with jets, just perfect after a day of walking through the city exploring the sites. It was only a 25 minute walk to the Grand Bazaar or Hagia Sophia and we felt very safe walking in the area at night to explore the many cafes and restaurants in the vicinity. The staff was extremely helpful though only a few spoke English. One night they brought up a birthday cake for my girlfriend and sang happy birthday for her - they were just so nice! Our room came with the half-board plan, which meant that we had dinner and breakfast included. The dining room is quite large as well and the choices at the buffet were plentiful with a great mix of western and Turkish dishes to choose from. I was sad to read about some of the poor reviews that this hotel received as our stay was truly wondrous. We found the hotel clean and well-maintained and the staff were very friendly and bent over backwards to make sure that we were well served. The only complaint I would have is that the noise from outside can be a little much at times, and the Prince's Mosque across the street does have the call to prayer quite loud but there aren't too many places in Istanbul that you could stay without hearing that, I can not recommend this hotel enough - we will definitely be staying there again on our next long visit to Istanbul!