Me and my girl spent a long weekend in Istanbul, a short leave from the frosty bites of Sweden at winters best.

I first booked the hotel via hotels(dot)com. When I later checked out the hotel via there websites I found out that not only did they have better rates, they also provided free airport pickup! (This might be a limited offer and not a regular service they provide, but for us, a hustle free welcome)

The welcome to the hotel itself felt more lika a a family thing then hotel check-in, we sat down with the receptionists, Ramanoz and Femihn, they served some tea and a very welcome Efes and talked about all Istanbul has to offer. Guess we sat there chatting for half an hour or so.

The room actually looked like in the hotels official pictures, how often do you get that?! Even remember that I updated my facebook status with " got the room they used in commercial :)) The room was clean, nice, quiet with no buzz from the streets below, and full of surprises. The way they have created the glass bathroom was really beautiful with printed relics of an old harem.
Our cleaning maid, was just marvelous to. A big smile whenever you saw her, and the room looked like new after every time she had been there.

As we went to Istanbul in December we were expecting some days of less sunny weather. So in advanced I had organized a Turkish bath with massage at the hotels in-house facilities. The bath was a new experience for me and I do recommend you to try this ancient treatment.

The Hotel also has a rooftop restaurant "Olive", overlooking the Hagia Sofia and The blue Moské. Even though the rooftop only extends to the 6th? floor, the view is stunning. The restaurant was close to empty when we ate, and I kindly asked the personnel to dim down the lights a bit. Like floating in the dark night with old Istanbul under your feet!

And the food was great to!

Other things to mention:
-Great Breakfast, omelets on order, and nice assortment of all you could possible need. This was included in the room price, not very common in Istanbul hotels.

-Free snacks in the lobby area, dried fruit and small cakes 24/7.

-Location. Well, Istanbul is BIG. A weekend wont let you do more than scrap the surface. But we had simple goals. Hagia Sophia/Blue Moské. about 5-10 minutes walk. Grand Bazar would, if you do not get lost like we did, be a 10-15 minutes away. The Bosphorus strait and all the guide boats are a 10 minutes stroll. And If you are going over to the bridge to shopping and Istiklal Street you have to spend some 45 minutes by foot.

I travel around quite a lot, often city weekends or short trips to the Med whenever schedule allows. My general review of Hotel Sultania, is that you pay for 3*** stars and get 5*****. Many times you get the flashy pictures of hotels you book, and most often they do not correspond to reality. Sultania did.

The costumer care is exceptional, not only do I get a personal mail from guest relations a week or so before arrival, letting me know that they stand ready and ask if there is anything they can do for us during our stay, pre-book tickets etc.

The same lady then sends me a mail the week after getting home, asking if the trip back home went well and just checking in on us. That is a costumer concern I have never seen before.

So, thanks Gokce and all your staff! If we return to Istanbul I would guarantee that we come back to Hotel Sultania! :)

Emil and Nadja