Celal Sultan Istanbul

I recently stayed at this hotel with my group in November, 2005, and was thoroughly impressed! The Celal Sultan is located on a quiet dead-end side street in the heart of Sultanahmet (Old City). The rooms were somewhat small, but nicely decorated and charming. The bathrooms were exceptional and there is even a bidet on the toilet. Hamit, the hotel's manager, was very helpful in meeting my group's needs in every way (I felt he worked very hard in making our stay very enjoyable). The breakfast was its weakness, though, as the orange juice wasn't that good and the breakfast spread was on the limited side (however, the breads were very fresh). The biggest strength of this hotel is it's rooftop patio. The view is incredible -- especially in evening with St. Sophia all lit up just a couple of blocks away. The rates are reasonable, too, and I would definitely stay here again.

We found the Celal Sultan to be well located, friendly, and comfortable. The hotel is just a short walk from Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi, the Hippodrome and other attractions. The terraces on the 5th floor have spectacular views of Hagia Sofia to Topkapi on one side and the Bosphorus and cruiseport on the other. The rooms were farily basic, but comfortable. We had a view of Hagia Sofia from our window. The staff were friendly and welcoming. The breakfast buffet (included) was quite varied and filling. As an added bonus, the hotel gave us free transportation to the airport because we stayed 4 nights.

My wife and I stay at the Celal Sultan based on comments from an acquaintance who stayed there a few years ago. He mentioned the good location and clean rooms as the primary strengths.

Overall, we were disappointed. Rooms were basic and clean which was what we expected. However, the room that we were given was very dark and we had a view of a wall and external airconditioning units. If the service was great, this may have been acceptable for a short stay. However, we were not very happy with the service. A number of the staff were friendly, but many had challenges dealing with basic requests and problems. In addition, we encountered one staff who was quite rude when dealing with some requests (to the point of being insulting). There were clear deficiencies from a hotel management perspective, which even a two star hotel should not have.

We hoped to move to another hotel nearby, such as the Yesil Ev which we were particularly impressed with. Unfortunately, we could not find rooms available and decided to move to one of the international hotels near Taksim Square in order to end our three week holiday on a positive note.

If location and clean rooms are what you are looking for, this hotel will deliver. However, there are many other hotels nearby that can probably deliver more with similar or slightly higher prices.

If you need a 3 star style hotel near the Blue Mosque & Haghia Sofia, The Celal Sultan Hotel is perfect. Reasonabe rates, good size rooms, many with good view of Haghia Sofia. Roof terrace has fine views of these sites and also Topkapi Palace.

Th staff are absolutely the most friendly we have ever met in any hotel anywhere.

Breakfast is very good.

The new modern tram that connect the area with the ferries and the grand bazaar is 150m away.

Tip - eat in one of many back street cafes rather than more costly main street restaurants.

We stayed at the Celal Sultan hotel on our way home, stopping one night in Istanbul. The location is without question fantastic. Many of the 'must see' sights are in the Sultanahmet district, including the Ayia Sofia and the Blue Mosque for starters. It's also round the corner from one of the best (and cheapest) meatball shops in town, which is always a bonus and across the road is the Byzantine Cistern, which I'd highly recommend visiting.

The lobby of the hotel is nicely designed, with a clean bright interior and lush red fabrics on all the upholstery. It's really welcoming and the friendly, helpful staff are fantastic.

Unfortunately, the rooms are variable. Out of the three that we booked, two were very average, considering this hotel was more expensive than the Sari Konak where we stayed previously in Istanbul). The aircon blew tepid air around the room and didn't really help, whilst the bathrooms were small and badly designed - N.B. a tiled shelf with a sharp point is at head if you drop the soap in the shower. Ouch!

The third room was much nicer, but sadly wasn't mine. We were there for a night, but compared to the other hotels in Turkey the rooms we had were a let down.

However, the breakfast helped to make up for this. It really is a splendid buffet breakfast, similar to many Turkish hotels, but with more variety and attention to detail. In particular the eggs and sausages (chicken, I'd guess) were lovely as was the honeycomb. I particularly like the Turkish tomatoes and cucumbers with the local cheese. Try the cheese with jam, as a friend of mine describes it, "bonkers".

So...overall, I'd say this was an average place to stay. I suspect there are better places for the money, but it's OK. Other reviewers seem to have had much nicer rooms here, so maybe we're just picky or got rooms that were due to be rennovated, the hotel was very full.

The hotel was ideally located, very clean, hotel staff very friendly. Breakfast was GREAT - I would definately stay there again -

Overall I couldn't fault the service, cleanliness, comfort of the bed, etc. The hotel is small, full of charm ( as are the staff ). They were particularly helpful re safety of certain venues for teenagers. Next time I am returning with just an adult partner and could thoroughly recommend this hotel as an ideal base for sightseeing Istanbul as well as relaxing.

We stayed there in December 2004. It is a great location for sightseeing the staff were so helpfull and told us all the places to go. They went out of there way to help a older guest who travelled on her own. The hotel is clean and very nicely decorated. We had a great time there and are thinking of going again next year.

A very nce quiet hotel, excellent staff, and the manager was more helpful. Great breakfast buffet. Room was immaculate. A pleasant stay and close to all tourist attractions.

I found the Celal Sultan from a lot of searching on the net. I settled on it because of the Fodor review which mentioned that some embassy workers had suggested it to friends. We were very pleased with the choice and it was exactly as it had been represented to us. It is a delightful small, elegant and friendly hotel. Three of us stayed in the 'family room' which was a single and twin with connecting door. We compared a few similar rate hotels once we arrived in Istanbul, and decided to rebook the Celal for the end of our trip because it just was a lot nicer than anything else. They have a great breakfast, nice decor, fresh linen and furnishings, nice casual atmosphere and a great position back from the main tourist avenues. Go up to the terrace at sunset, it's glorious. I would gladly recommend it.