Hotel-Pension Side has it admirers and detractors. I am a bit of both. The location is ideal, just a short walk from Istanbul’s big three tourist attractions (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sopia, Topkapi Palace) and from the Sultanahmet tram stop (just 2USD=3TL=1.5EU from the airport by metro and tram). I booked a single room without bath, the only room category available in late March for my mid-April stay. Although there are reports of rooms without external windows and back rooms facing air conditioners, I was given a very nice front room with large windows and twin beds. The room was pie-shaped, and about 120 sq.ft. = 11 sq.m. in size. The bathroom was across the hall and was clean and almost always available. My room started out very clean, but remained ostensibly untouched during the first four days of my stay (I left early and forfeited the last two days of a six day pre-paid reservation for reasons discussed below). I did obtain a fresh dry towel from the front desk after the third day. The hotel web site has good information about the hotel, including photos. They make it clear that they hold an internet reservation with one’s credit card number, but payment is in cash, due on arrival. The front desk is flexible about currencies (TL, USD, and EU are all acceptable; currency conversion rates are based on internet quotes at the time of payment). There is a three...Hotel-Pension Side has it admirers and detractors. I am a bit of both.

The location is ideal, just a short walk from Istanbul’s big three tourist attractions (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sopia, Topkapi Palace) and from the Sultanahmet tram stop (just 2USD=3TL=1.5EU from the airport by metro and tram).

I booked a single room without bath, the only room category available in late March for my mid-April stay. Although there are reports of rooms without external windows and back rooms facing air conditioners, I was given a very nice front room with large windows and twin beds. The room was pie-shaped, and about 120 sq.ft. = 11 sq.m. in size. The bathroom was across the hall and was clean and almost always available.

My room started out very clean, but remained ostensibly untouched during the first four days of my stay (I left early and forfeited the last two days of a six day pre-paid reservation for reasons discussed below). I did obtain a fresh dry towel from the front desk after the third day.

The hotel web site has good information about the hotel, including photos. They make it clear that they hold an internet reservation with one’s credit card number, but payment is in cash, due on arrival. The front desk is flexible about currencies (TL, USD, and EU are all acceptable; currency conversion rates are based on internet quotes at the time of payment). There is a three day cancellation notice, so I did not request a refund when I left two days earlier than planned.

Recent reviews have almost uniformly complained about the front desk staff. I found them neither friendly nor unfriendly. They did not seem eager to please, but they did fulfill requests. Their attitude made no difference to me. As a rule of thumb, younger staff (such as the night staff) tended to be more accommodating than older staff.

Recent reviews have also faulted the (included) breakfast. A noticeable effort has been made to improve this. The breakfast now includes an omelet. The breakfast staff is quite friendly, and the view from the breakfast room and the roof terrace is awesome.

Two internet terminals are available near the front desk at a nominal charge (1 TL per 30 minutes). This was very useful for those guests who were trapped by the volcanic eruption and needed to re-book flights into northern Europe.

Safe deposit boxes are available without charge, but be aware that the safe box master key is not monitored -- on request it is handed to each guest who...More