We stayed 4 nights in Mid-September on our first trip to Turkey. Overall the hotel was great, although the traffic to get back to the hotel was annoying. After a wonderful buffet breakfast on the terrace on the Bosphorous with clear views down to the Sulthanamet we'd leave around 10, grabbing plentiful taxis to Taksim for around TL10. Returning around 6 was like trying to get into Manhattan, it was faster to walk. There's no tram to the hotel, it stops about a 30 minute walk away. There are no ferries either. If you've been walking all day save some energy for this walk. We even had some taxis refuse to take us, I assume because of the traffic, but of course since they don't speak English we never figured it out.

From Taksim you can get good public transport or take the hop on/off bus. The bus was not working for us as it stopped too long at monuments, every time we went to reboard it would not be leaving for another 30 minutes. So we'd wonder off to get a beer and return too late invariably waiting for a check that never came. In fact I would say patience is a virtue in Istanbul.

The area around the hotel has everything you could want in nightlife, so really why bother leaving. You have very high-end restaurants around as well as affordable eateries. The breakfast buffet was very complete. We had it 2 days. There's a bunch of smaller eateries around like Kitchenette that had great coffee and croissants and deserts at night. There's a large pedestrian area that extends from the hotel door to the bridge with shops and restos. We tried Ferriye's next door and it was a beautiful place but the food disappointed. I asked for a medium filet and it arrived way too fast and undercooked. It was only 9PM and they were anxious for us to leave. We did a dinner cruise on the Transtur which although the food wasn't great the entertainment and experience made it great and memorable. The boat stops at a nearby dock (200 yards) to board and return you so you don't have to deal with transfers to the dock.

The room was very well equipped. The bed and sheets were excellent. The rain shower had such great pressure you didn't want to get out. There was some noise if you face the alleyway where the front door is. There is Anjelique right outside and it goes to late as does Zuma and the partygoers, their cars and limos aren't concerned with their noise. If you want to be on the Bosphorous and the Ciragan is not in your budget, the Rad Blu is a good choice.

BTW I'd recommend a car and driver you can hire at the airport for I think around E50, much more comfortable for the long drive and the driver was gracious to point out the sights. Also the Ortakoy mosque is under renovation and comlpetely covered.

Radisson Bosphorus Hotel is well located near many coffee shops, restaurants and attractions.
View from restaurant and bar is great and staff well trained and polite.
Wellness area poor and not matching the rest of the hotel standards. However they have some good therapists.
Happy to recommend the hotel apart of recreational facilities.

Stayed here for a business conference, location is great with easy access to cafe, restaurant and super market, etc.
The meeting room on the terrace is great with seaview, can really enjoy it during breaks, but the hotel room rate euro 200 per night is bit too much for the facilities it offerd.
Lack of staff in the restaurant at early morning breakfast time (6:30 to 7:00), not all tables are set and ready, however during lunch, it is another situation, service is much better.
Staff at check in counter are nice and friendly, as some reviews mentioned, the concreige was not manned at all, difficult to ask for information.
Doubt that will pay this price for a private stay!

I love this charming city 'Istanbul' and will definitely back soon .. actually it was my first visit to Istanbul and as usual i did ,i preferred to stay in the Radisson Hotel. There were 3 hotel , one was near the airport, one another was in the asian side. I found the hotel, one was in the bosphorus. It takes quite long to getting Hotel from the Airport , there was a huge jam, but city was incredibly big and lively. And at the first saw hotel just fascinated me, i found it near the Bosphorus with a lovely view on the water. It was like a dream. I booked for a business class room. I had a lovely sea view from room. Staff was definitely amazing. During my stay, they were all helpfull , especially front desk were all speaking very good english and was very smiley and friendly. I had my breakfast on the terrace. And in the evening i had this time my dinner in the lovely restaurant sitting in the terrace again. The bosphorus bridge was magnificent , with one word.. during the night i enjoyed, and i realized i felt in love with this city. i would like to say only thank you once again for this great experience.. , i will come back back for sure discover rest of the city at soon . ..