Hotel Amira deserves the high praise it has received on this site. The small hotel is wonderfully located near everywhere that you want to visit. The staff is super friendly and accomodating. Unlike most places in Istanbul, there are no surprise costs lurking to separate you from your money. WiFi is included in the hotel costs and the mini-bar is full of items that are almost "at cost." When you add in breakfast and the nice ambiance, you can understand why everyone loves this place. You will too.

The Amira hotel is located in the heart of turist Istanbul- you can walk to most of the sites and a great many good restuarants. THe staff are very welcoming and helpful. The hotel is intimate- small, but not cramped. Our room was beautiful- bathroom nice with good quality fixtures and amenities.

Pros: My wife and I spent five nights at the Amira and the top four reasons to stay there are the (a) hotel's exceptional staff (!!!, you'll see), (b) proximity to where we wanted to be, (c) cleanliness of the facilities, and (d) overall comfort of our experience. I just can't praise the staff enough! They're more helpful, friendly, and accommodating than most of the "luxury" hotels I've stayed at. Thank you Aziz, AJ, Tina, Baruk, Arthur, and everyone else who made this vacation so special. After leaving my Mastercard at a restaurant, Baruk quickly had a friend of his recover and deliver it to the hotel. The hotel's an even shorter walk to the main attractions than they advertise (four fun minutes to the Blue Mosque).

Cons: My mild complaints would be that the rooms are quite small (though comfortable) and voices passes through the walls like they're rice paper. When we first arrived, they told us they'd automatically upgraded us to a "Deluxe" room, which was small and on ground level, where passersby could peer into the bedroom if the curtains weren't drawn. We requested a room on a higher floor for less street noise and greater privacy. We were transferred to a standard room on the 4th floor, which was slightly smaller than the deluxe, but then we noticed the hotel's greatest detractor: noisiness. The hotel should reinvest some of its well-deserved profit into remedying this.

Through the staff's outstanding recommendations, I/we discovered the following amazing restaurants/barber:
- Matbah Restaurant (it's pretty close to a "perfect ten" in cuisine and atmosphere);
- Rami Restaurant (a 9.5, just exceptional);
- Khorasani Restaurant (an 8.5 in food, though a little touristy);
- Albura Kathisma Restaurant (an 8.5 in food, trendy atmosphere, cool ancient ruins below); and
- An amazing straight razor shave at the Sezer Kuafor (Arif the barber is pro, but no English) on the way to the Blue Mosque.

WARNING: Probably because they never got honest feedback on it, the Amira recommended the Suleymaniye Hamam because it's the only "coed" hamam in Istanbul. Avoid it if you dislike tourist meat grinders. Unfriendly staff, ridiculous tourist trap, expensive, and my wife felt like she got beat up at a karate tournament.

We had a delightful stay at the Amira. We chose to stay in the Sultanhamet area in order to be close to the things we wanted to do in Istanbul. The staff at the Amira was entirely helpful and friendly. The breakfast buffet was certainly one of the best we had in over a month of travelling through Turkey -- including excellent coffee which we had found difficult to find in other places!

My only caveat was that our room was located basically on street level and there was at times a fair amount of noise. We didn't get to enjoy the roof top terrace as the weather had turned chilly. We did enjoy the 5pm "tea". Also, the Amira is located conveniently to get to the Ataturk airport.

Would recommend the Amira highly.